For OEM developers creating families of products with multiple members, being able to deploy the same application code base with different user interfaces saves time and money. It also can help focus development effort on truly differentiating features. For subsequent iterations of the same product line, an AUI helps new products in the family get to market more quickly and with confidence.

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The arena where this phenomenon is most evident is in common operating platforms. Designers may choose a common, interoperable commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) OS like Android or WinCE to save on non-differentiating engineering and to leverage existing (or evolving) ecosystems that revolve around those platforms.

However, these platforms typically leave little room for OEM branding and customization. Unless developers invest in significant incremental engineering, (as Motorola did with BlurUI), users will be greeted with the same UI as on every other Android gadget, relegating the new device to the status of commodity (as in the PC market). And if OEMs do make the required investment, they will likely need to repeat that effort with each new platform release. Figure 4 is an example of how an SMS application can sport two different “looks” in different phone models.

Android Phones

In 2009 and 2010, OEMs launched dozens of devices, and the Android Market applications store mushroomed to offer more than 7 0,000 applications. With projections for growing Android deployment for the remainder of 2010 and in 2011, developers must increasingly invest in customizing Android to avoid delivering “me too” devices and applications. AUI, with its rich graphics and multimedia capabilities, provides the ideal vector to customize Android without forking the platform.

An AUI multimedia applications framework gives original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of Android-based devices and their channel partners new capabilities to create visually rich applications and completely control and customize the look and feel of the end-user experience, easily differentiating their wares in an increasingly crowded marketplace. For example, using the AUI, designers can create different home screens quickly and easily (Fig. 5). 

Benefits Of Decoupling The Application And UI

AUI design isn’t just another way to subdivide application functionality. It also offers developers benefits that emerge directly from decoupling the UI and application code. These include:

• Shorter development time to create a brand new, unique UI without modifying application code
• The ability to add intelligence to existing UI code, e.g., to make decisions and process events unforeseen in the original design
• The ability to create a family of products based on a single application code base; high-end devices can have different UI presentation and reactions than low-end phones.
• Shorter time-to-market for product iterations as the quality assurance time and software development time are reduced
• Enhanced brand retention with the ability to build devices with a unique look and feel, even on commodity software (and hardware) platforms

Conclusion

The ability to decouple UI and application design principles expands the market and extends the lifetime of application code by offering developers and other ecosystem players new opportunities to brand, differentiate, and refresh device software. In today’s dynamic landscape of multiple application operating systems (especially in mobile), it’s important to build a strong base product that can be easily tailored for different packages, channels, and markets.