POSTED BY DAN YOUNG

Building on a previous article on Matryoshka dolls and mobile apps, I wanted to continue the discussion on how we interact with mobile apps. If you haven’t read the previous article, it’s a good place to start before diving into this post.

A mobile device is a multi-purpose device. They are designed to do many different things, make calls, send and receive messages, run software. Unlike a dedicated device like a desktop calculator or pencil where a user interacts directly with the object they’re using, apps running on a mobile device are embedded within the device, much like the Matryoshka dolls.

We like to think as humans that we too are multi-purpose devices that can multitask and accomplish many tasks in parallel. If you’ve ever watched someone text and drive, you can see that we really are not as good at multitasking as we’d like to think.

The truth is that we need to focus on one task at a time to get anything done. In a previous post, I referenced in Matt Gemmell article on “Apps vs the Web.” He pointed out that we have to have a “separation of concerns” when we approach separating and organizing our tasks.

Since a computer is a multi-purpose device, we have to make significant compromises. When we read, write or consume information on a computer or mobile device, we’re trading off functions and features found in a native, dedicated device designed for that specific task.

An example of this is drawing. Many of us are not artistically inclined, but if given a pencil and paper, we can create relatively understandable diagrams and illustrations. Now, if given an iPad with a drawing app, the resulting outcome will be quite different. Paper and pencil still have their advantages.

Going back to the “Matryoshka” article, when we use a computer or a mobile device to replicate something that we could otherwise do with a dedicated object, we’re recreating that function within a frame of interaction. The more frames of interaction we have, the harder it becomes to replicate the same functionality of a dedicated device. With each level we go, the user is distanced from the analog in the physical world.

With that said, one might quickly conclude that it makes no sense then to nest apps within frames of interaction. The truth, however, is different.

Creating a dedicated device requires quite a bit of effort and expense. Prototype design, engineering, testing and manufacturing are all expensive endeavors. Native mobile apps, or ones that run within the second frame of interaction, can also be an intensive undertaking and, as such may not be the most cost-effective solution for the task at hand.

There are numerous strategies in developing a mobile app, all of which involve significant compromises between cost, functionality, technology and usability. Being cognizant of these variables will help in finding the best balance to replicating a dedicated tool on a general, multi-purpose tool like your iPhone or Android device.