MobileFirst, MobileLast, or MobileOnly: Navigating the Mobile Landscape in 2023

A decade ago, in 2013, IBM's mobile app development platform was renamed from Worklight to IBM MobileFirst to leverage the growing trend of mobile device adoption and the increasing reliance on mobile technology to create better customer experiences and improve business processes. The MobileFirst axiom spread like wildfire through the IT landscape as the fascination with the potential of mobile apps grew exponentially. 

The thrust behind the MobileFirst axiom centered around the notion that any IT initiative should begin with implementing a mobile strategy first, hence the concept of MobileFirst. It prioritized mobile devices and experiences within an organization's IT strategy.

The excitement about the MobileFirst strategy waned as companies realized that mobile dividends did not live up to the billed expectations. To be sure, the mobility revolution continued on its track, but the ability to leverage this sea change fell short of its potential. 

Mobile initiatives failed to deliver promises on a broad range of goals, such as "creating single-purpose, first-class experiences" as put forth by Mark Zuckerberg. The excitement over mobile's potential gradually faded and has morphed into a problematic "MobileLast” approach.

We are experiencing today that the web portal has taken precedence over mobile. The web development and implementation effort often occur ahead of the mobile. It is not that mobile is an afterthought. On the contrary, mobile is a well-known priority, but arriving at a working platform is more readily accomplished with the web portal.

This approach is fundamentally out of step with the platform adoption patterns. The mobile platform is generally the most utilized platform; as such, we must prioritize it, and the project resource allocation must reflect this focus. But the reality is that given the complexity of a mobile implementation, the attention turns to delivering on the web portal to arrive at a desired set of functionalities in short order.

Given the rapidly growing predominance of mobile over the web, it is a wonder that resources get allocated specifically to web UI design and development. We can pattern web UI to simulate mobile UI and, using cross-platform native tooling such as React Native, develop both with a single code base adhering to the responsive design approach.

Now that the tech community has relegated the MobileFirst approach to the category of "can't do it, therefore we will ignore it and hope it will be forgotten (which it has been)"; I would like to suggest the adoption of a new axiom to drive the importance of mobile more poignantly home. The new axiom moniker would be MobileONLY.

MobileOnly would imply that we allocate resources only to mobile according to the specific user platform adoption (iOS vs. Android) and allow all other portals (web or desktop) to follow suit accordingly. The MobileOnly approach is possible by adopting relevant technologies (such as cross-platform native tooling) and a robust architectural design. 

Ultimately, the user base will benefit from this approach as mobile continues to increase its dominance through its rapid adoption by the newer user generations. Organizations with the wit to realize this and adopt the MobileOnly approach will ultimately stand to gain a competitive advantage by focusing on what their user base would like them to focus on.


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