Unless you are a forest dweller who has yet to purchase a desktop for its handy uses in the jungle, you will have heard of Macromedia Flash. Since its release in 1996, Flash has grown to become the authoring tool of choice for delivering rich media websites. It has built up a community of over one million designers and developers, and the Flash client alone is installed on more computers than any other software. This powerful technology is now setting its sights on the mobile space. The burning question is, will it do for mobile what it did for the web?

It has built up a community of over one million designers and developers, and the Flash client alone is installed on more computers than any other software. This powerful technology is now setting its sights on the mobile space. The burning question is, will it do for mobile what it did for the web?

Flash for mobile devices comes in the form of Flash Lite, the Flash player profile for mobile phones. It is designed to run on devices with low processing power and comes with specialised phone integration features. Flash Lite can be used to create animated content, or for interactive interfaces for content and features on the mobile device. The mobile market has already extended its arms to embrace Flash Lite. As of June 2005 Macromedia has signed deals with three out of the six major mobile device manufacturers to license the product. What's more, Flash Lite is now being used to deploy Flash-based user interfaces in Japan on NTT DoCoMo's i-Mode handsets, and Samsung released a phone with a Flash powered menu earlier this year. There's certainly no shortage of support to see it thrive.

One of Flash's key capabilities is that it is cross-platform, and this will no doubt be a large contributor towards its adoption in the mobile space. Traditionally, for a mobile solution to be deployed across multiple devices, developers are required to re-implement the same user interface for each different device. To add to the complexity, design specifications are often interpreted differently by the different suppliers responsible for each implementation. This long and costly implementation process inevitably leads to disjointed user experiences. A benefit of Flash is that it enables a core user interfaces to be built and used across multiple devices. While there is still some effort required to optimise the user interface for each target device, the overall effort is greatly reduced and the delivery of a consistent user experience is simplified. Operators clearly benefit, because with less effort and less cost they can consistently brand their products and create specialised solutions for specific markets based on one primary user experience.

Another interesting characteristic of Flash development is that, unlike mobile user interfaces written using current native languages, a distributed Flash user interface can be very modular. This modularity simplifies OTA updates because units of code are deployed only when required. This cross platform and modular functionality contribute to a reduction in development, distribution and maintenance costs - an appealing prospect for OEMs and operators alike.

However, a concerning aspect of Flash for mobile is its power consumption. To date, it is unclear exactly how resource-hungry a Flash-enabled user interface is. Also, while Flash Lite is optimised for and runs smoothly on high-end phones, it has not yet been deployed on lower end devices. A user experience that runs slowly while rapidly burning through your phone's power will not see the light of day for long. While managing power consumption and playback speed will always be one of the major issues for mobile designers and developers, if Flash is to float, these concerns will need to be addressed by Macromedia.

From a design perspective, having Flash on mobiles is an exciting prospect. When working with Flash, a designer is no longer bound by the fundamental structure of the device's platform, and there is the opportunity to use animations and rich graphics to communicate ideas more creatively and effectively. Whilst native code supports animation and graphics, the time it takes to implement such features is arduous and costly. After implementation, one can only fantasise about making changes. In contrast, Flash is designed to generate smooth animations and highly compressed rich graphics that can be viewed and changed instantly. It offers the freedom to invent sophisticated user experiences that previously would have been realised only within the minds of mobile designers.

Take data services as an example. Currently the experience of using these services on mobile devices leaves a lot to be desired. Users are given a false hope that the process will be quick and painless. They are often provided with integrated menu options to access downloadable content, only to find that on selecting an option they are thrown into the web browser, where they must troll through list after list of text to find what they want. Clearly, on a small-screen device with limited bandwidth it's an ordeal that the user would not care to suffer often.

One appealing aspect of Flash is its capability to merge online and offline content into a single solution. Imagine being presented with a personalised list of downloadable games that you can preview and purchase without leaving your games menu, or being able to download, preview and purchase ringtones all within your ringtone settings. Envisage being offered an integrated solution where data services are easy and even enjoyable to use. This has been a goal of operators for some time - to deliver solutions that increase their average revenue per user (ARPU) and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. There is no doubt that mobile designers too have wanted such a tool that enables them to create truly integrated and engaging user experiences.

Of course, with all this creative power being newly bestowed on mobile designers there comes the danger that this freedom will be abused. Flash has endured some high levels of mistreatment on the web. At some point or another, we have all fallen victim to the 'Skip Intro' syndrome that over-zealous web designers thought was a brilliant use of Flash. How wrong they were! What a frightful thought that this disease could spread to our mobiles. For the sake of us all, mobile designers will need to curb their enthusiasm and resist the temptation to add too much creative flair to their solutions. The basic rule of keeping things simple will still be vital if Flash is to be embraced by users, and seen to enhance their mobile experience rather than hinder it.

It is quite evident that Flash has a lot to offer the mobile space. By simplifying the distribution of user interfaces across various devices, it stands to reduce the overall implementation cost and time to market. If used for good and not evil, it gives designers the opportunity to create optimal solutions that customers will benefit from using. As long as any potential power consumption and playback speed issues are addressed, Flash for mobile looks set to be the key that opens the door to a new generation of cutting-edge designs.

Entire Article (c)2005, Keny Depaz, UI Designer, Mobile Innovation (www.mobileinnovation.co.uk)