Helping users get their heads in the cloud

How much do you really know about ‘cloud computing’? Although there are some people who are happy to offer a broad definition such as “it involves delivering services over the internet” or “it is internet-based computing”, most people remain pretty vague on the subject if pressed. But ask the same people if they use applications such as webmail (Gmail/Yahoo Mail/Hotmail), Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Lovefilm and so on, and far more positive reactions are likely, even though these services do make use of cloud computing.

Consumer web service companies are extremely good at communicating the benefits and qualities of their apps to end users. But this doesn’t mean that a basic understanding of the underlying technology necessarily follows. Ask these end-users if they were considering using cloud services to sync and backup their data, and you are unlikely to receive any joy, but why? Some may not backup their data at all of course, but would this reluctance to use the cloud for these tasks negatively impact take up and usage of productivity applications such as Google Docs?

What about developers working to produce cloud-based apps for mobile phone users, predicted to be a major new force in the mobile world and perhaps eventually the dominant way in which mobile applications operate? Does it follow that impact and penetration will also be slow in this area?

It seems improbable now for us in the UK that any exciting, productive mobile technology wouldn’t be seized upon immediately. From our Western-centric perspective the smartphone is ubiquitous, accessible through affordable handsets and data plans and driven by a consumer demand to social network ALL the time. But in reality, smartphones (with their inherent ‘app-ability’) do not dominate the mobile phone market globally. Market penetration of smartphones has not reached critical mass in many countries. Instead, these markets are saturated by lower-end, feature phones which do not have the capability to run some of the apps built for the iPhone, Android and other leading smartphone platforms.

Fortunately, the cloud has far greater potential than smartphone usage alone. Rather than having to store data on the limited memory capacity of mobile devices, web-based apps offer a completely different back-end system with data stored in the cloud and not on the mobile devices themselves. This not only frees up processing power but also enables apps to become more powerful. Cloud-based apps are more attractive to more developers. They have more resources to build web-based applications than for specific types of mobile devices. In addition, web-based apps are not tied to a particular carrier. As long as you have access to the web then you have access to the app.

For all these reasons there is a good argument for the integration of cloud and mobile in the future of mobile phone and app development. However, I have personally completed international research around the concept of cloud computing and in doing so, identified a number of barriers to usage.

People are very concerned about the security and privacy of their data. They believe that data in the cloud will be out of their control and protection. They question whether the data that they upload to the cloud will remain their personal property or become the property of service providers. There are also issues around the availability of mobile signals to access cloud services and the suitability of the speed of the mobile internet when working with large data-intensive files. Even in the UK, we often experience problems using the 3G network both in regards to signal loss and speed.

The market penetration and awareness of cloud technology is another problem. People tend to lack the knowledge and understanding that pushes an offering such as this towards the tipping point for mass usage. This is exacerbated by the current deficit in products being developed, creating a ‘Catch 22’ problem – why develop if no one is going to use it, and why use it when nothing is being developed?

The cost of using the mobile internet is critical for some users, especially those on bit rate plans. This has massive implications in countries such as China where the monthly cost of upgrading to an unlimited 3G data plan is equivalent to 25% of an average worker’s monthly wage. Consequently, most use GPRS and bit rate plans – and unsurprisingly, prioritise mobile internet usage to the most essential and ‘fun’ tasks. People are also put off using a service if they have a current method – such as backup using an external hard drive – that now costs them nothing. Finally, people are concerned about a service provider going out of business, losing all of their data.

So, in conclusion, for cloud computing to be successful it is vital that providers take on board people’s concerns, design the right user experience and offer them something that will prove irresistible. It’s not enough to aim services at the computer user sitting at home on broadband connections, because interaction paradigms and context of use differ greatly. Not considering users will just mean they’ll have a less than satisfactory experience, a poor return on their investment and represent a lost link in a potential billion dollar market.