Harvard Mobile Initiatives June 15, 2011

Moving toward mobile-first m.harvard.edu Harvard launched a university-wide mobile initiative to improve the mobile experience of students, faculty, staff, alumni, visitors, and neighbors who interact with Harvard’s campus and community. The first products are: 1.a mobile web application, accessible by browser on any smartphone or feature phone 2.a native iPhone application

Harvard Mobile Features Version 1.0 launched September 2010 Courses (iCommons) People Directory (University Information Systems) Map (University Planning Office) News & Events (Gazette) Student Dining (Hospitality & Dining Services) Version 1.1 October 2010 Shuttle Tracker (UOS) Version 1.2 January 2011 Library (OIS)

Modo Labs, Inc. Based in Cambridge, MA Harvard and MIT alumni Custom development built on Kurogo open source framework iMobile U A community of educational institutions with a shared interest in mobile development. Participating higher education institutions including MIT, Rice University and the University of North Carolina

Harvard Mobile: Policy & Governance App management resides in Public Affairs & Communication, as a public facing touch point for the University Data and features included were driven user experience, not organizational imperative Close collaboration with data owners and a strong network of internal developers was essential to success

Data owners are distributed Managed by distributed groups, centralized in the app Courses (iCommons) People Directory (UIS) Map (University Planning Office) News & Events (Gazette) Student Dining (HUDS) Shuttle Tracker (UOS) Library (OIS)

Harvard Mobile Use Case from MITX submission Janet leaves Mather House, headed to a class at the far side of campus. She checks Harvard Mobile and sees a shuttle will be leaving Mather in three minutes. After the lecture, she has some questions she’d like to discuss during her professor’s office hours. In Harvard Mobile, she flips to the Courses module and taps on the class in her “My Courses” list. She taps on the professor’s name to find him in the directory, and then taps the office address to locate it on the campus map. It’s nearby, but a grumble in her belly reminds Janet to break for lunch. She checks the Student Dining module to see what’s for lunch – it’s Korean barbeque, which sounds great. After lunch, the Harvard Mobile map helps her navigate to her professor’s office. They have a great conversation, during which he recommends a book for further study. As she’s leaving, she finds it in Harvard Mobile’s Library module. A quick glance tells her she’s in luck – there’s a copy available now right down the street at Lamont Library.

Usability and Beta Testing Usability testing One-on-One and small group testing with students Usability testing for each feature that is released Beta testing Data owners and HPAC staff conducted a two-week period of testing, bugs were submitted daily

Harvard Mobile Results Total downloads of the native app since launch: ~20,000 Even on the Mobile Web, most users are iPhone June 13, 2011

Harvard/Radcliffe College Reunion App Product owner is Harvard Alumni Association, collaboration with Alumni Affairs & Development Communications Launched mid-May 2011 with Reunions Mobile Web, iPhone and iPad Improve the experience of reunion attendees in connecting with classmates and to Harvard in useful ways, by leveraging the power of mobile communications Demonstrate to Harvard alumni that Harvard is progressive in adapting technology, especially to engage recent classes

Harvard/Radcliffe College Reunion App: Event-driven, location-based Authenticate using Harris alumni login to see who else is attending the Reunion and individual events Complete reunion schedule is available in the app –Some backend still manual, need better integration v2 Bookmark events to add to your schedule

Harvard/Radcliffe College Reunion App: Social integration Check in via Foursquare and see who else has checked in to events Tweet from the App using your reunion hashtag View pictures and video from your classes Facebook group

Harvard/Radcliffe College Reunion App: Results Overall positively received as useful and forward-looking (HAA constructing a more detailed analysis) 1,333 native apps downloaded >30,000 mobile web page views Desire for greater functionality: more events, more opportunities to connect with one another (“who’s here in this room?”) 50 th reunion class with the app

Harvard Mobile, What’s Next? Will continue to iterate and revise through releases of new versions and features Mobile Tour of Harvard Yard –Partnered with Information Center and Marshal’s Office –Part of 375 celebration –Will feature landmarks of Harvard Yard –July launch Multimedia – Curated videos and audio –July launch

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