Platform Choice
For our MINAP mobile application, we have chosen to go with the Android mobile platform. One of the main reasons behind this choice of platform (as opposed to the option of creating a mobile web app) was due to the issues of security if the app is developed further in the future for actual use in the hospital. A native application would be the ideal choice, to ensure full utilisation of the platform’s security features.
A bonus of choosing the Android platform (or any native platform, really) helps lock down the user interface to the design standards in place, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. Most apps would conform to these standards, and so it would help with reducing the cognitive load when learning to use our mobile app.
Although this would mean a departure from the current web app’s structure (programming-wise), the benefits of following UI standards and security will hopefully far outweigh the initial cost of time (and effort) in programming.
