Last week I was pleased to be the closing presentation at the Designing for Mobility 2013 conference, held in Melbourne. It was an enjoyable and interesting day, covering a huge range of mobile topics, from mobile testing to accessibility of mobile devices.

My talk explored the impact of mobile within the enterprise. A few of the topics covered:

• I started in the mobile space 20 years ago (1993!), developing enterprise solutions for the Apple Newton, and early Windows-based tablets. That makes me feel old!
• The talk was structured around our recently released five layers of enterprise mobile design model.
• Access is the starting point, including support for BYOD and alignment with activity based working.
• Touch means designing for small devices and touch interactions. This may involve focusing on six key things staff need, or providing a responsive web design version of the intranet.
• Device involves making use of the hardware capabilities of mobile devices, including GPS, camera and accelerometer.
• Context recognises that it’s critical to understand the environment the user is in, the tasks they’re doing, and who they’re interacting with.
• Process shows that mobile isn’t just a copy of desktop, and that there are entirely new ways of working that deliver real benefits.
• If you’re delivering enterprise mobile solutions now, then you should enter this year’s Intranet Innovation Awards, which open in April. Register your interest, and we’ll inform you when the Awards open for entries. (Hint: there will be a new “mobile” category, recognising how important this all is.)

Enterprise mobility is a key focus for us at Step Two. Drop us a line if you’d like to chat further, or to get help with mobile strategy, planning or design.