Category : Mobile Technologies

Mobile Technologies

iOS 12 and other announcements at WWDC 18: what it means for enterprises

Jun 8,2018 / By / No Comments

WWDC is a much-awaited event not just for the Apple developer community but also for the tech world, business enterprises and tech savvy consumers. There is always some pre-event buzz round WWDC, but this year was marked by relative quiet on the rumor mill. Apple WWDC event kick started on June 4th. In this article we discuss a few critical announcements made and their implications for enterprises.

iOS 12: focus on performances

iOS 12: focus on performances

Image source: Apple.com

The next version of iOS focuses largely on delivering better performance rather than charming users with newer features. It promises faster app launches, smoother gestures while bringing in some breakthrough features in technologies such as ARKit, Siri and Core ML. iOS 12 maintains backward compatibility too, supporting a lot of the older devices. In fact, every device that runs iOS 11 can run iOS 12. Product parity is common in hardware and revolutionary new features are virtually impossible on that front. Hence the only way to keep the users glued on is to improve the performance of the existing software significantly.

The Implication:

For enterprises it could simply mean improved performance of their apps by getting them ‘iOS 12 ready’. Since adoption rates of latest iOS releases are high thanks to a centralized update system, support for iOS 10 and lower can perhaps be dropped.

Augmented Reality: catalyst for more use cases

Augmented Reality: catalyst for more use cases

Image source: Apple.com

In recent times AR has become a buzzword and a sought-after technology. However, one can’t but help feel that the use-cases baked into apps did not really lend themselves for repeated usage. AR-enabled apps have largely novelty value and hence the benefits of the technology have not been exploited yet. ARKit 2 hopes to change all that with improvements like multi-user support. It means that several users can view the same AR scene from their own device’s perspective. This opens up for a lot of opportunities for game developers and even brands considering bespoke games. With features like persistent and shared AR experiences, Apple is also bringing social element into AR world.

Entirely new experiences could be created using these technologies. For e.g. a group of people can get together every day to build ‘AR worlds’ of their own and persist the AR world between sessions so that they can rebuild from where they left off. Persistent experience could also allow people to engage with AR world for a longer duration.

With 3D object detection one could bring real world objects to the AR world and manipulate them. In a way it is a marriage of the physical world with the virtual world. I wonder if one could save this model into the new USDZ file format for later manipulation using Adobe software. Currently it sounds like it supports known objects such as sculptures, toys and furniture.

The Implication:

Being able to share the same AR world between multiple users will open up a new mode of experience design for Gaming and Education industries. Earlier all engagement had to be done with a single session and hence it was not so appealing to the customers. But now with persistent experience the engagement can be real and hence more people can engage with AR experiences. Two chess players could play a game of chess in AR without an actual chess board during a coffee break and continue the game later on. Aside from games, Augmented Reality could enrich the experience in the content of news apps. An article showcasing a new car model could be accompanied with 3D model of the car or travel related content can showcase a destination or landmark like never before.

Apple also demonstrated that ARKit 2 could reveal the interior of the physical set but may be it can do so only for known structures. If it works in a universal fashion then this could also be used to show the interior of vehicles, engines etc. – a feature that automotive industry or maybe the real estate industry can explore.

Siri gets better

Siri gets better

Image source: Apple.com

Siri shortcuts can be a useful feature if used smartly – it looks like any app can add a shortcut to Siri, enabling the app to complete a sequence of events.

Also, it appears that you can combine shortcuts from different apps to create a workflow that will be executed in the specified order as defined during the shortcut creation. With Siri opening up for other apps and support for creating workflows by combining Siri actions from multiple apps this creates a whole new way of automating common use cases that involves multiple apps.

The implication:
Apps with repetitive tasks – e.g. utility payments can make use of such a feature.

The Apple differentiator and privacy

The Apple differentiator and privacy

Image source: Apple.com

Not ‘selling’ consumer data and not relying on advertising as a major source of revenue has been a priority for Apple. Apple once again affirmed their position with respect to user’s privacy. They already provide protection for lot of data such as location, contacts, photos, camera, microphone etc. Now they are taking the privacy one step further by blocking software based approaches of identification. With additional confirmation dialogs when browsing in places like when adding comments that requires login to social media they are putting users in control of their privacy. Also techniques like Fingerprinting are also not going to work reliably as their access to algorithms they used to generate will be blocked.

Recently, iPhone’s co-creator and Apple investors also highlighted concerns about growing mobile phone addiction among teens and kids. They had urged Apple to own up the responsibility of controlling phone usage. It looks like Apple heard them and hence the new features like Screen Time and App Limits. These two provide features such as Reports, Summary, Time limits, Allowances to enable better control over yours and your kids’ phone usage.

Ironically, soon after announcing features which enable some sort of discipline to phone usage, Apple announced the addictive Memoji feature. The ability to blend Memojis in FaceTime or messages on top of your face is something that’s fun. I can see people trying this out along with the new camera filters. So I guess wherever there is Camera integration you can get this feature as well.

Core ML 2

Apple’s Machine Learning framework Core ML got a significant upgrade both in terms of speed and model size. With improved performance I think app developers might now be able to integrate Core ML in their apps since it does not bloat app sizes. Create ML tool brings machine learning training and modelling to the Mac. With native support on the Mac, Create ML can significantly improve training times for custom models. With Core ML 2 if the app developers see a significant drop in the model size, then I think people might experiment with it and start integrating it in their apps.

WatchOS 5

WatchOS 5

Image source: Apple.com

Although targeted at sports and fitness enthusiasts, Apple Watch is soon proving to be a lifesaver device and not just a fitness tracking device. Of late the device is strongly linked as a health monitor and even a life saver

WatchOS 5 is adding a Competition feature using which you can challenge your friend for a fitness activity and monitor the progress. Better tracking of your activity such as workout alerts allows you to track your activities more accurately. Walkie Talkie feature is a cool feature that enables watch-to-watch connection, which when established, allows you to walkie-talkie each other. And this works over Cellular and WiFi, making it very usable. It could be a replacement for quick chats.

WatchOS 5 allows you to view web content on the Watch. This is cool because you now can reuse some of your content as is without having to create native version of the content for the Watch. Does this mean a new form of responsive web pages that supports Watches? Replacement for Student ID cards is another cool new feature that WatchOS 5 brings to you using which you can add your ID to the Wallet and use it in places where a student ID card would be accepted.

Summary

At the beginning of the Keynote, Apple reiterated their commitment to put the ‘customer at the center of the experience’. The slew of new features seem to live up to the promise – aimed at better app performance with emphasis on privacy and safety.

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Mobile Technologies

UX upgrades for the airline industry – design suggestions for a deeper, more intimate airport experience

Jun 7,2018 / By / No Comments

To fly, we must. For some, the regularity has numbed us, for others less frequent; it remains a daunting chore — You stand, you wait, you get frisked, you wait, you fly, you eat, you sit and stand again, and then you make a last restless dash for the doors, as if every second counted in this inevitable race to nowhere. The baggage carousels and Uber queues are the great levelers. Nobody gets ahead of this game.

This essay is about design suggestions that would help create a deeper, more intimate “airport experience”. These insights are personal, derived from hours of waiting at airports and watching. And over time the process has become almost meditative, resulting in a few distilled concepts around design and technology. I hope this would urge airlines to embrace emotionally designed journeys, wherein technology becomes a pillar of dependability rather than just another tick-mark to a digital transformation mandate.

It’s only through consistency and reliability, born out of unflinching focus that a business can truly succeed. And not through the contemporaneous handstands of forced digital disruption.

The 7 Stages of flying

There are subtle rhythms behind every process. They are like musical compositions, miss a beat and the tune goes for a toss. To better understand these rhythms we need to break a process down into precise stages, with each stage possessing a clear demarcation of purpose.

Currently, a typical airline journey is broken down into four stages — Booking, Departure, Flying and Arrival. While this may hold good from a macro perspective, there are micro-rhythms that are missed. How do users plan their journeys? There is definitely more to planning than just a pretty booking interface. What are the strains from pre-trip anxiety? And arrival at a port of call is not necessarily the end of a journey.

In order to accommodate these micro-rhythms of the new age traveler, I expanded these four stages into seven steps. The new flow adds three essential stages — Planning, Pre-trip, and Post-Arrival. These seven steps form the base-framework of the new UX flow.

Image 01 – Seven steps that form the base-framework of the new UX flow

The Users

Decades ago, flying was a unique experience, happened once in a while, and to distant places. There was a certain romance that existed. Airports weren’t crowded, counter experiences personalised, flight attendants were courteous, security personnels smiled, and your baggage weight was not part of a revenue model. You had butterflies in your stomach every time you entered an airport. I still have butterflies occasionally, especially at take-off. With the advent of low-cost carriers, flying went supernova, and almost everyone flies now.

Time is of the essence and when that happens romance jumps out of the window.

To keep things simple, I have bucketed the users of new age airline travelers into four profiles based on their needs.

Image 02 – Four user profiles based on their needs

Four user profiles based on their needs

Business Traveler — Always late or in a hurry, quick check-ins are the priority. Connectivity and swift transfers always on their minds. The rewards and lounges access is something they gun for.

Switching between phones and laptop, emails and messages, coming and going, lost in transit and they sometimes get isolated.

The Leisure Traveler — Off to places where the sunny side is up. Usually, on a tight budget, they make choices on recommendations and keep a sharp eye out for deals on tickets. Flying frequently, they are casual and relaxed. Shopping at the arcades, they look at things they otherwise wouldn’t need. May buy a book but not the Sony LCD. May have a beer as opposed to a coffee. All is good, a life of fun awaits.

Family Groups — Large groups shuffling through the airport, constant head counts of children and luggage alike. Seats need to be together. Baby tantrums and seat belt extensions for the grandfather. Check-in, in-flight food and comfort are a priority.

Special Needs — Care for specially-abled and elderly calls for a rooted sense of empathy. Flying can become an extremely anxious experience of our older folks. The sheer sizes of airports today, language barriers, new digital systems that breed impersonal attitudes all cause a fair amount of disorientation.

Wheelchair or personal assistance is not just limited to a physical want. It needs to be administered in the most gentle manner, it is only then that the experience has a profound emotional effect. Care-giving is the focus here.

The experience map of family travelers

I have chosen to elaborate the experience of the family groups, as their needs are more varied and demanding. Compressing the entire journey into main nodal points, the red dots are the areas of maximum pain. 

Image 03 – Experience map of a family traveller

In the above map, while planning and bookings having their own hurdles, the focus here is on what happens in and around the airport like immigration and security checks. There is the chaos of the boarding lounge, then baggage collection and finally transportation at the destination, while check-ins, baggage drop-offs, lounges could all do with some improvements.

Pain points summarized for the Family Traveler

Besides Facebook and banks, airlines seem to have access to a lot of user data. By efficiently using frequent flyer data, can we answer some of the below questions?

It’s been a long and hectic year. We need to take a break. Where can we go this year?

Challenge — Planning a family trip is an emotional and repetitive decision. Can airlines preempt this need and help suggest relevant destinations?

With more significant aspects of the travel taken care of. “Hope I haven’t missed out on anything.”

Challenge — At the last minute, small things tend to be forgotten. Travelling with family requires meticulous planning & confirmation of all logistics.

“Hopefully, we are done quickly with immigration and get our bags soon.”

Challenge — Travel doesn’t end at the port of destination. Being a reliable partner means focusing on the complete end-to-end travel experience, from the baggage carousel to the hotel room.

Below is the experience map for a Business Traveler.

Image 04 – The experience map for a Business Traveller

Business Travelers are usually too preoccupied with their personal agendas and don’t get into the nuances of travel planning and execution. They want to just go with the flow, herd their way through.

The emotional pillars

Identify the negative emotions, and you will understand the nature of a specific pain-state.

The primary need of product features is to address these pain-states. Very often we do not resonate with the real pain and land up treating superficial pain points, creating features that are benign.

Hence I make it a practice of drawing up the key emotional pillars — celebrating the positive emotions that negate the negative ones. In this case, designing that end-to-end travel experience requires three key emotional pillars.

Image 05 – Emotional Pillars

Reliability

Air-travel seems to be caught in a continuous tug-of-war with time. And it’s not just about flights taking off on-time, it starts with the booking experiences, counter transactions, baggage safety and a host of other services. Reliability is not about doing new stuff every time, but doing a few essentials correctly and consistently, so that travelers can depend on these services blindly.

Comfort

When things get reliable, they start to get comfortable. True comfort transcends the physical needs. It is not just about creature comforts, it is more about mentally being at ease. Hassle free rescheduling, notifying a change in boarding gates, subtle in-flight experiences, baggage drops-offs and so on.

Delight

You are happy when an experience exceeds your expectation, you are delighted when you least expect it.

Through the essence of reliability and comfort, delight can be experienced time over. Only when an airline has embodied reliability, will it have the ability and time to focus on the other more humane micro-rhythms — the gentleness of speech, seamless transfers, quick rescheduling, the rhythms of baggage handling, ownership of screw-ups, quick compensations and forgiveness.

User errors and mistakes should not be looked upon as a monetisation event but as an opportunity to delight the traveller.

The new experience

Here is a new take to create a seamless airline experience. Below are insights that help address the above pain points, creating a connected experience of delight.

How can airlines understand emotions and use big data to help users plan a trip?

We all have a fair guess as to how much of our information is really out there. Every time we fly, there is information we voluntarily and involuntarily divulge — the time of year we tend to travel, the places we have visited and how long we stayed, the exact dates of entry and exit. The seats we preferred and the food we like, our payment modes and credit cards. The extra baggage we haggled on, whether we have been “good or bad”, it’s all out there.

Image 06 – Airlines tap into those past moments to create relevant discounts and offers

The aftermath of a holiday is nostalgia — “The passion of reliving a good moment.” Can airlines tap into these past moments, based on the user’s flight histories, to understand where and when was the last significant event/holiday, and at the right time suggest new/similar places?

Can an email/notification sound like this:

“Remember Sweden, the snow-clad mountains and the beautiful museums? This summer we offer a customized 20% discount not just on your tickets but on your hotels too. And to make it easier, you can pick a destination anywhere in Europe!”

All you need to do is to pack a bag. Click here to let our Travel Planners sort the rest out.

Tapping into our nostalgia, they can create a desire to travel and then facilitate this new want further by relevant discounts rather than a generic 20% off. Also, bring in assisted travel planning through the seamless booking of tickets, hotels etc. A host of services can then be added on. (Image 06)

Create a “pull” notification instead of a “push” notification.

Focusing on the UX of the booking interface is a start to an error-free journey

The primary needs of the booking interface are to — discover, communicate, and encourage a booking.

Family or multiple bookings can get complicated, simple things like getting the names, dates, destination or timings right need a certain amount of effort and focus. For example, there are many cases where the users had selected the dates right but mistakenly booked the destinations in reverse order. To avoid these human errors visual checks should be designed to communicate and validate each decision made by the users at every step.

It is important to avoid jargon by maintaining a direct, uncomplicated tone of voice. Large and legible type should be encouraged. Section grouping brings focus, for example, have a clear demarcation between selecting destinations, dates and number of people flying help in quickly comprehending the priority of information needed. (Image 07)

Avoid the hidden costs and click bait prices. Final booking dates, time and cost should be summarized with clarity before a payment gets initiated.

Image 07 – Flight Bookings — An elegant interface makes booking flights a breeze

Check-ins, boarding passes and rescheduling from the comfort of your phone

Create one step mobile check-ins, which are designed to be inclusive of seat upgrades, meal preferences and choice of entertainment. For repeat user, these preferences should automatically be auto-recognized, linking them directly to the user’s airline membership and loyalty programs, earning points as you go.

Cancellation and rescheduling trips are often last-minute decisions that give rise to a fair amount of anxiety. Once a booking is done, they should appear upfront on the ticket interface as prominent buttons. (Image 07)

The cancellation should offer immediate clarity on implications such as the refund amount/policy. The rescheduling journeys need to intuitively recognize rescheduling from a normal booking and produce smart results instead of querying the user for previously stated information like destination, passenger info etc.

Relevant weather updates

Most often the weather within a country varies –  it might be dry on the west coast and pouring on the east. Rather than just displaying temperatures, a thoughtful reminder to carry an umbrella would go a long way.

Image 07 — With seats, meal preferences and weather updates, check-in is only a tap away

Mobile boarding passes

While some airlines have adopted digital boarding passes, many have not. It’s time we replaced the printed tickets with a digital one. Besides being eco-friendly, this feature creates a seamless journey especially for the business traveller who is always in a rush. (Image 08)

Image 08 — Mobile boarding pass, clubbed with relevant features like cab bookings and rescheduling

A notification strategy built on the pillars of time and relevancy

The core of an effective notification-strategy is based on time and relevancy. Notifying the users about an event that had or will have a direct impact on their lives.

Over-enthusiasm in firing out generalised notifications can antagonize users. The notification triggers have to based on personal actions of a specific user’s micro-actions that are developed over time through intelligent learnings of the macro behavioural pattern.

A notification strategy for a traveller should able to pre-empt a future situation, avoid anxiety, be sympathetic through an honest tone of voice and most importantly do not generalize the moment through irrelevant offers and suggestions.

Boarding reminders and gate change notifications

Today most airports are going silent, minimizing boarding and flight announcements. While this seems like a boon, for the sleepyheads it could spell disaster. I know of quite a few tired folks who have slept off in the terminal, missing their flights.

Often times, boarding gates are changed at the last moment. Then sprinting across a large airport with your hand baggage needs a certain sense of humor. A timely mobile notification of a gate change will have travelers board on time, especially the elderly. (Image 09)

Image 09 – Boarding or gate change notifications

Baggage tracking notifications lead to peace of mind

Even though this may be your hundred and tenth flight, your baggage is always on your mind. Has it been loaded on the same flight? Will get lost in transit?

A thoughtful system can be designed that monitors baggage loading. It can send out a gentle notification keeping travelers informed about their baggage status, helping them have a relaxed flight. (Image 10)

Image 10 – Bags loaded. All is safe!

Carousel notifications

Once travelers land, a notification should be triggered informing passengers of the carousel location of their bags. In spite of all good intentions if baggage does get misplaced, a quick call to action to flag the lost baggage should be instantly available. This will provide some comfort by sparing the unnecessary anxiety of a runaround. (Image 11)

Image 11 – Carousel notification and lost bags

Getting your ride home

All’s well that ends well! The last leg of the journey is about getting your ride home. An integrated transport booking & tracking system built into the app will let users plan and pre-book their travel at their end destination. (Image 12)

Image 12 – Out of the airport and into a cab. An end to end travel experience

A notification on your Air Miles.

Every time I fly I wonder if my air miles would get auto-credited to my account. Sometimes I ask the lady at the counter and with a smile, she tells me “This time, it has.” Too lazy to keep a tab of the many past times, I let it slip of my mind.

A timely confirmation of air-miles updates works as a great way to proactively acknowledge a customer’s patronage, rather than just a generic notification — “Thank you for flying with us.” (Image 13)

Image13 – Proactively addressing a customer’s patronage

In my view, loyalty programs should be based on the fundamentals of micro-patronizing and smart redemption. Repeated usage of any part of a service offering should be rewarded seamlessly, and should not be limited to only big-ticket items or purchases. In this case, Airmiles — flying should not be the only opportunity for rewards, the program should extend to measurable acts done within the airport, early check-ins, pre-booking of meals, the overall good behavior of a guest could be a reason to reward and appreciated. Just like Uber rates its guest, letting them know that being polite matters.

Redemption programs should be smart and meaningful. Rather than the users having to keep a tab on their point score or waiting until they are about to expire, redemption deals should be intelligently invoked when the opportunity arises.

For example, when you have earned enough number of points an auto upgrade to business class or a seat of your choice can be an automatic prompt. In an intelligent eco-system, users do not need to figure out how and when to redeem points.

Remember, a reward program is only as good as its redemption. The ultimate goal here is to genuinely appreciate loyalty and encourage healthy usage.

Summary

To summarize, in the above image, I have broadly listed down the features that would help make a traveler’s journey comfortable. Some of them are basic hygiene features, things I would personally like to have. Though some of the features may seem simple, there is always much more to simplicity than what meets the eye. Finally, through quality and consistency, an airline reflects its true personality.

Disclaimer: All logos shown here belong to the respective brands and used in mock ups for illustrative purpose only.

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Mobile Technologies

GDPR and its implications for app developers

May 25,2018 / By / No Comments

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is going to be effective from 25th May 2018 and enterprises across the globe are already geared up to update their data privacy rules in compliance with the GDPR regulations.

In this article, we will outline what GDPR means for app owners and how they can ensure that their app is GDPR compliant.

What is GDPR?

GDPR is a set of regulations that every enterprise collecting user data should comply with. The primary objective of GDPR is to give control to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for businesses by unifying the regulation within the EU (European Union).

Although most European countries have their individual data privacy laws, GDPR aims to standardize these rules and make safeguarding users’ data stronger, easier, and more uniform across the EU, unifying existing data protection regulations across its 28 member states.

What are the aspects that come under GDPR?

Besides the data collected by enterprises through their digital interactions with the customers on websites, apps, etc., GDPR also protects user-generated data such as social media posts, personal images uploaded to any website including those which might not have been uploaded by the individuals themselves. Additionally, any other uniquely personal information commonly uploaded or found online about the user will come under the purview of GDPR.

Essentially, GDPR is aimed to protect all personal user data across every online platform

Here are some of the key changes to come into effect with GDPR:

  • Expanded rights for individuals: The GDPR grants users the right to be forgotten and the right to request a copy of any personal data stored in their regard.
  • Compliance obligations: GDPR requires organizations to implement appropriate policies and security protocols, privacy impact assessments, maintain detailed records on data activities and have written agreements with vendors.
  • Data breach notification and security: Under GDPR organizations will have to report certain data breaches to data protection authorities, and under certain circumstances, to the affected data subjects.
  • New requirements for profiling and monitoring: The GDPR places additional obligations on organizations engaged in profiling or monitoring behavior of EU individuals.
  • Increased Enforcement: In case of failure to abide by GDPR regulations, authorities can fine organizations up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of a company’s annual global revenue.

What does GDPR mean for enterprises?

It means for enterprises across the globe interacting with customers in the EU region will have to ensure stringent compliance with GDPR. Even if a business doesn’t operate in the EU, they will still have to be GDPR compliant if the business holds data of EU citizens.

This means businesses will need to provide and be accountable for information like:

  • How was the data collected?
  • How will the data be used?
  • Have users given approval to use their data?
  • How long will the business hold the user-data?
  • Did businesses give users a chance to opt out?
  • Ensuring that users are able to access all the data businesses have on them if they want.

It will also imply that businesses will have to shift from an ‘opt-out’ approach for collecting user data, to an ‘opt-in’ approach. Which means enterprises will have to ensure that users have the option to opt-out of sharing the data they do not want to share, beforehand.

While right now this approach will only become a mandate when it comes to EU based customers, adopting such approach at a global scale will be helpful for enterprises in a long run, in the light of the recent data fiasco of Facebook.

How will GDPR affect app owners?

GDPR is one of the most significant data protection legislation that has been introduced in the European Union. Apps will be one of the platforms which will be most affected. While GDPR will also apply to websites, for websites it will be a lot easier to comply with the changed regulations. However, in case of apps, it will be a bit complex since they will have to be updated with the new SDKs that are used by apps for analytics.

As mentioned earlier, GDPR fundamentally ensures that no data is collected about a user and the device to which the user is associated with, unless the user specifically opts in. While it might be possible that that app owners might by default continue to collect the data, it will be mandatory for them to give users an opt-out option.

Role of the mobile app ecosystem in the purview of GDPR

To understand GDPR it’s important to first understand the three roles in the mobile app ecosystem.

  • Data Subjects – This is you, me and everybody else who uses a mobile app
  • Data Controller – This is the app developer or the company that develops the app.
  • Data processor – This is the company whose SDK is integrated into the app. E.g. Localytics, CleverTap, Amplitude, MixPanel, Firebase analytics etc.

The revised definition of personal data

With the introduction of GDPR, the definition of personal data has changed. It goes beyond traditional personally identifiable information – name, email address, etc., it will now include identifiers such as device sensors, IP address etc, which when combined with other data, can identify an individual. This is a huge change in the way we think about personal data.

Impact of GDPR on the app ecosystem

The impact of the GDPR, although is limited to the EU region it will have a widespread impact on the entire app and analytics ecosystem. If a business has an app that uses an analytics SDK of any kind to track the user or a device then they are affected by this regulation. If the app is available in the EU region then they have to update it with the latest version of the analytics SDK that complies with the GDPR.

What can app owners do to ensure GDPR compliance?

Just updating the SDK is not enough. Even if an app owner doesn’t operate in the EU region, if the app is available in this region then it is mandatory to comply with the GDPR.

Here is what enterprises and app owners would need to do:

  • Businesses will have to ask for explicit consent from the user of the digital asset such as a website or an app whether the user would like to opt-in to collecting the data. This can be done via a custom screen in your app or some SDKs provide their own default messaging dialogue asking the user’s consent.
  • Based on the user’s consent they can use the methods in the SDK to enable or disable data collection for that user.
  • Businesses will also have to take care of conditions where the user might be using multiple devices in which case they have to cascade the consent setting across multiple devices based on whether he has opted out from the first device or not.
  • If a single device is used by multiple users they also need to take care of that situation wherein the data still continues to be collected for a user who has opted-in as opposed to a user who has opted-out even though they are using the same device.

How will GDPR impact targeting options

GDPR will have a huge impact on reaching the customers via targeted communication. At this moment it is a bit ambiguous whether GDPR requires the data processors to delete the existing user profile data by default or will the users have to explicitly do it after this regulation comes into effect. So, at present, we can assume that app owners will be able to reach out to users whose data might still be there with data processors unless they are also deleted.

Nonetheless, moving forward, user segmentation, targeted push notifications and marketing communications based on user demographics may become things of the past as businesses will not be able to segment users. App owners and marketers will need to find other ways of segmenting their users. For e.g. Interest areas.

Further, while using any Google products such as Google Analytics, Tag Manager Adwords to personalize the ads served to customers and track their on-site actions adhering to GDPR guidelines and getting user consent is a must.

According to Google:

“Advertisers using AdWords will be required to obtain consent for the use of cookies where legally required, and for the collection, sharing, and use of personal data for personalized ads for users in the EEA. This includes the use of remarketing tags and conversion tags. Where legally required, advertisers must also clearly identify each party that may collect, receive, or use end-users’ personal data.”

GDPR might also imply that in the coming days, marketers will no longer be able to share additional content assets with users, other than what they have opted for; for e.g. while doing a lead-generation campaign if the user downloads an ebook, marketers will not be able to send additional emails, newsletters etc. to them, unless these users opt-in for additional resources from these brands. Hence, marketers will have to devise newer ways to engage with their target audience.

In conclusion:

GDPR by far is known to be one of the most ambitious consumer data protection regulations that have been devised globally. While GDPR right now is limited to the EU, it will pave the way for more secure and stringent data protection laws for consumers globally.

Though initially the implementation and compliance with this regulation might cause some difficulty for businesses, it’s important to remember that this legislation is being introduced to protect users’ rights. And while it isn’t required for businesses to follow such regulations elsewhere, it will help businesses in a long-run to alleviate the privacy-related concerns the users have from apps and other such digital platforms.

Note: This is an opinion piece and enterprises must seek legal advice to ensure full compliance with GDPR regulations.

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Mobile Technologies

The right app metrics and other hallmarks of a good app analytics framework

May 18,2018 / By / No Comments

There are approximately 5 million apps in App Store and Google Play.

With over 1.2 billion mobile users worldwide, it is predicted that by 2020 the app economy will reach $189 billion, an increase of 270% from 2016.

While these numbers look promising, the truth is, though there are millions of apps out there in the app stores vying for users’ attention, the apps which get downloaded are abandoned in an eye’s blink. Almost 77% of users never use an app again 72 hours after installing. Time spent on apps is also low with 34% of mobile app engagements lasting less than one minute.

So, how can enterprises ensure that they course correct before it is too late?

While in a digital world, there is an avalanche of data available, this data deluge is precisely the problem. App creators often get overwhelmed by the availability of the information at their disposal and choosing to ignore what is not relevant can be a tasking job.

But this is a job that needs to be done.

Tracking the right metrics is the most critical aspect for determining the success of an app.

‘You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” – Peter Drucker

However, to ensure the success of an app, it is essential that for app creators, analytics is not an afterthought – not something to be thought of after the app release; they have to be clear of metrics which they want to measure when planning.

Not all metrics are created equally

Fundamentally, an app needs to help users accomplish whatever they set out to do, faster and better through delightful interactions. At the core of it, all are human emotions.

At Robosoft, we believe that mobile solutions need to strike a chord among users and engage them emotionally.

And, that is the most critical factor to ensure the success of your mobile app. However, even to get to a point where we are course correcting basis consumer engagement and interest, we need to track the right metrics. But more often product teams waste their precious time and money chasing useless metrics, which do not provide any real value.

Often app metrics are divided into four broad buckets

  • Performance metrics: these metrics focus on how the user is experiencing the app.
  • User and usage metrics: these data points provide visibility into the user and their demographics
  • Engagement metrics: these metrics highlight how the user is engaging with the app
  • Business metrics: Focus on business (revenue etc.) flowing through the app

Though there is no one-size-fits-all approach to measuring metrics for your app performance, it is different for individual businesses. However, for ensuring that you are tracking the right ones, it is important to look at these app metrics from a different perspective.

For instance, today, almost 22 percent apps users download on their smartphones end up not being used ever. So, if an app owner is concerned with mainly tracking downloads, they are chasing an empty metric.

Here are some tips on how app creators can approach tracking of the right metrics:

Identifying Vanity Metrics and Clarity Metrics

While there are a plethora of metrics available, app creators should move away from the broad categorization, which is mentioned earlier.

Not all apps are the same, so defining the right metrics for your business puts you a step ahead.

Our suggestion would be to divide these metrics into vanity metrics and clarity metrics

Vanity metrics

These are surface-level metrics that define macro-level trends. While we can use vanity metrics to support a high-level narrative, we can’t use these to make tactical product-level decisions.

Vanity metrics can measure baseline performance. However, vanity metrics cannot provide insights to allow for better product management decisions.

For instance, while tracking the Monthly Active Users (MAUs) may help us understand if overall engagement with the application is increasing or decreasing – it doesn’t help us understand the value of a specific feature to the business.

Example of vanity metrics include – number of downloads, monthly active users, and ad impressions.

Clarity metrics

These are product-level metrics that define micro-level usage trends. We use clarity metrics to inform decision-making around product modifications. Clarity metrics underpin competitive advantage.

While both vanity and clarity metrics will be used across operations, design, product, analytics, quality assurance, and marketing for team-oriented data, it is essential to have an organization-wide transition from purely using vanity metrics to adopting clarity metrics.

These are metrics used by engineering teams, product teams, and business teams to monitor the performance of the application. Clarity metrics provide insight on the performance of the business. Recommended clarity metrics include – feature adoption rate, feature abandonment, and goal-oriented conversions.

Progressing from clarity metrics to KPIs

To define clarity metrics, we need to start with high-level vanity metrics and apply more granular filters that are feature-specific and/or goal-oriented. However, to make use of these clarity metrics, it is crucial to progress them to KPIs.

KPIs are the clarity metrics which are connected to the business targets of an organization.

Converting clarity metrics to KPIs will ensure that app creators can make better product decisions faster and with a higher degree of confidence. Defining clarity metrics as KPIs will also ensure that the key stakeholders can take the right decisions and make product improvements in real time.

Typical issues faced and recommendations for setting up a result-oriented analytics framework

Here are the most common issues faced by the analytics team while setting up an analytics framework to measure app metrics

App Analytics

Collecting the right data

As mentioned earlier, often app creators are confounded by the flood of data available to them through various metrics, that they miss the important ones. At Robosoft, we take various measures to ensure that the data we collect is relevant and helps in achieving business goals.

Here is what we do:

  • Proper event tracking implementation

Events are a useful way to collect data about a user’s interaction with interactive components of your app, like button presses or the use of a particular feature in a game. We help businesses in identifying the clarity metrics while tracking an event.

  • Well defined event tracking specification (‘Event Taxonomy’ specification)

In this step, we define parameters against any action that a user takes and derive insights accordingly. For e.g., if a user is using the mobile wallet app on their phone to recharge their mobile, then parameters like – amount recharged, the name of the operator etc. might be useful for the business owners to make product based decisions.

  • Comprehensive event tracking within the application

Our event tracking is aligned to insight-driven analysis. Funnels track the user’s behaviour starting from acquisition to conversion. We include conversion event tracking and campaign tracking as well.

  • Allow for quick modifications to tracking

Most analytics tracking measures are archaic and hard coded. However, we use tools like Google Tag Manager; it helps is real-time tracking and modifications.

Collecting data you can trust

Identifying the data to be collected is just the first step. It is important to format this data in a manner so that it can be used right.

Here is what we do:

  • Clean and reliable data through the setup of proper filters

We add appropriate filters while collecting data. We also use the method of cohort analysis, which helps us in deriving insights related to user behaviour. Cohort analysis allows businesses to derive actionable insights. For instance, for an e-commerce app, data points like – in how much time did a group of users checked out, how much money did they spend, etc. may be helpful in making product level decisions.

  • Verify and augment analytics with back-end application data

Relying only on analytics data might not give businesses accurate understanding of the performance of the app. Especially, in case of any glitch in the analytics tool or if the tracking hasn’t been set up properly. So it is important to verify this data with the back-end data as well.

  • Implement back-end performance monitoring

While insights that are derived from analytics data can help app owners can enable app owners in customizing the user experience, it will be a pity if the app performance isn’t up to the mark. When an app crashes on a user’s device, app developers need to know about it. Users who experience severe performance issues aren’t going to write in and inform—they’re going to leave bad app store reviews. Hence, we implement performance monitoring metrics to keep a track on how critical features in an app are performing. We track the time of logging of an API request and its response time.

Access data quickly and efficiently

Like mentioned in the earlier points, it is vital to specify event taxonomy. Doing it right is important.

Here are is what we do:

  • Detailed and descriptive events taxonomy

While creating event taxonomy we make sure that we define the purpose of tracking a particular data point. For instance, if after the sign-up process the users are expected to update their profile, defining why tracking how many people update their profile is important. Or defining which information that is a part of the profile update process is important for the app owners.

Basis this analysis, app owners can take decisions like making some critical data points a part of the sign-up process instead of adding it to the next step.

Access to data across the organization

Sometimes different teams in an organization depend on the app metrics data to take decisions. For instance, product teams might be relying on this data to take feature level decisions at the same time marketing teams will depend on this data to take consumer-facing decisions. Hence it is important that everyone is looking at a unified format of the data.

Here are is what we do:

  • Real-time analytics

While most app owners track periodic data (weekly/monthly), tracking real-time data for some critical app features is important. It helps app owners in taking right decisions at the right time.

  • Standardization of data

Sometimes the data that is captured by the analytics team is in a raw format. Further, different analytics tools will have a different method of collecting this data. It is important to standardize the data visualization process across all divisions.

It will help every stakeholder derive and understand the data in a unified manner than leaving a room for ambiguity in the insights. It will help all decision makers take unified, informed and data-driven decisions.

Make data-driven decisions

Understanding your audience, their in-app behavior, and the natural screen flows are necessary for iterating and refining your app for better results. You can use these engagement insights to launch app marketing campaigns, redesigns, UX changes, and stronger funnels that boost ROI and make your app a profitable channel in your brand’s overall marketing strategy.

Here is how we aid app owners to achieve this:

  • Rapidly deploy the best performing features to optimize KPIs

A lot of times the product team is blind without feature level insights. Hence it is important to define the critical features and track them on a real-time basis and optimize them according to changing user behaviour and performance metrics.

  • Understand your user and use data to prioritize features

Only tracking performance data isn’t enough. It is important to capture user’s intent with analytics-driven features. Further prioritizing features basis, this data will help app owners in getting higher rates of user engagement.

In conclusion:

Most app developers pay heed to setting up an analytics framework after the app is developed and released in the market. Sadly, it is often too late to course-correct. It is critical to identify the clarity metrics that a business wants to chase and then define an analytics framework to capture that data. And, all this needs to be done before the app is released in the app stores.

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Mobile Technologies

How Design Thinking helped me understand the customer in a digital world

May 7,2018 / By / No Comments

As long as businesses have existed in the history of humanity, customer has been king. However, with the advent of digitization, customer is not just king but an empowered one, fortified with the armor of information.

Digital economy has brought about a profound change in the way customers make their purchase decisions. In the past decade, this change has accelerated faster than businesses have evolved.

It is no longer a world where the customers need to be ‘told’ by the businesses about their products; rather customers have a plethora of options to find out about any product or service. The circle of word-of-mouth for today’s customer has expanded from just family and friends to the entire online world, where thousands of reviews about a product are available at a click.

It is easy for businesses to find out what their customers ‘need’ given the vast amount of consumer data that is available today.

But do businesses understand what customers really want?

Until enterprises find this answer, they will continue to push products and services that they think customers need, instead of fulfilling the latent or unsaid needs of the customer.

And, data alone wouldn’t serve that answer to organizations on a platter.

Empathy is the key to innovation

As rightly said by Steve Jobs:

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

Customers cannot always articulate what they want; they can tell you their pain points but meeting the latent needs of customers from those pain points is where real innovation happens.

To understand these latent needs, it is crucial for entrepreneurs and product innovators to empathize with their customers. This will only be achieved when we step into the customers’ shoes and live with them, and that cannot happen inside an air-conditioned office, looking at a heap of data.

I call this GOOB – go out of the building, and live with your customers.

We will have to move out of our comfort zones, observe the customer, understand how they behave, their challenges & pain points, derive insights and then develop a product.

This is where Design Thinking becomes extremely important. It is critical for organizations to approach innovation from a Design Thinking perspective.

Learning Design Thinking – my journey

With this realization of how critical it is for any executive to have the knowledge of Design Thinking, I started my journey of learning the concept.

While there were institutes like Standford d.school and MIT which were offering courses on Design Thinking, they were doing it predominantly from an academic perspective. However, for an executive like me, it was essential to find out something which was flexible yet detailed enough to fit into my schedule.

During my stint with Nihilent Technologies, along with overseeing the growth, profitability and expansion of the company in 5 continents, I was responsible for the creation of new products and services in the areas of strategy, digital transformation and IT alignment. To fulfill this role successfully and deliver value to customers it was critical for me to apply the concepts of Design Thinking.

This was when I was introduced to Interaction Design Foundation (IDF).

It was without debate the best online portal available, and to my delight, IDF had over 25 online courses on design.

When I enrolled, I intended to do a course on services design. However, in just a matter of 5 months, I ended up doing six courses:

The fact that these courses were exceptionally well designed and the entire process was enjoyable helped me take up six courses in such a short duration. Moreover, I not just finished them but also was able to excel in all because of the structure of these courses. Recently, I was delighted to receive this email from IDF on my performance:

‘’One of our developers did a database extract of the top performers (1%) in our courses, and your name came out on that list!’’ – Mads Soegaard, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Interaction Design Foundation

Learning Design Thinking – my journey

 

Learning Design Thinking – my journey

That was not the end – I continue to take various courses on IDF. In fact, I am doing three more courses on the portal currently!

All the concepts that I learnt through IDF have had a direct impact on my work and the way I design solutions for my customers. For e.g. in one of my earlier roles, I was responsible for designing balanced scorecards and CEO scorecards for my customer. Some of the learnings from the course – what certain colors mean, how people perceive colors, what a specific design element can mean for the audience, etc. helped me immensely in the successful completion of the project.

In fact, applying these concepts helped me deliver these projects with minimal iterations and with utmost proficiency. This was the feedback I received from my customers while working on this assignment using the principles of Design Thinking.

‘’Ravi, you get the deliverables right in the very first time.’’

I also use these concepts in my day-to-day professional life. Any element that I use in my presentations, documents, website, etc. has a specific connotation that connects with the end-user. Further, the importance of the concept of ‘less is more’ was something which I learnt from IDF. A concept that I have used while designing dashboards, mobile applications, software solutions, and even for a presentation.

Prudent entrepreneurs and product innovators understand the business implications of applying Design Thinking to solve real business problems. They take measures to implement Design Thinking at an organizational level. At Nihilent Technologies; I had the opportunity to work with LC Singh (Executive Vice Chairman, Nihilent Technologies) who understood the value of Design Thinking for business solutions and had set up a ‘Design Lab’ in the very initial phases of starting the company.

At Robosoft, our founder, Rohith Bhat realized early-on that Design Thinking is a practical and creative method for problem-solving that has evolved from fields as varied as engineering, architecture and business. And, to apply the principles of Design Thinking while creating products for customers a Design Lab was set up in 2013.

Today, at Design Lab, we have a robust and talented team of designers spread across Udupi and Mumbai. These designers are crafting delightful digital experiences for our customers by bringing the concept of ‘emotional engineering’ to life, day in and day out.

Democratization of design education

I believe that any professional should be a student for life. Digitization has transformed the landscape of education and training. In this digital era, we have to learn and unlearn continuously, and for that to happen portals like IDF are extremely helpful.

At Robosoft also, we do not call ourselves a bunch of engineers – we are a bunch of designers and above all ’empathizers’. And, this is where Design Thinking becomes extremely critical at an organizational level. Portals like IDF are helping in inculcating designing thinking process at a global level by democratizing it and making it easily available for professionals across the globe.

Three tips for learning online

With the digitization of education, the online world has opened up a plethora of resources for professionals to learn and keep updating their knowledge base. However, given our busy lifestyle, it requires dedication and commitment to benefit from these

3 Tips for Learning Online

Here are few tips to make the most out of portals like IDF:

  • Find 1-1.5 hours every day as soon as you wake up or before you go to bed to go through the courses, and stick to that routine.
  • Pick up courses that offer certifications – it will motivate you to keep going and also build your professional profile.
  • Gamification – have a healthy competition with yourself and peers who are taking up the course… it will keep the excitement going.

Design Thinking has become an extremely critical skill for any professional irrespective of the field they are into. And, portals like IDF are helping in building a talent pool of design thinkers across domains.

IDF has been an enabler for me in my professional journey, and it continues to help me upgrade my knowledge and skills. As Henry Ford said:

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.

I hope this account will help and inspire professionals across the industry in starting their journey of Design Thinking.

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Mobile Technologies

How Design Thinking can accelerate Digital Transformation

Apr 30,2018 / By / No Comments

Technology is part of a consumer’s everyday life, as it keeps our world connected. Thanks to technology we have come to expect all value providers – from businesses to government, to deliver personalized solutions on any device, anywhere in real time. It has also changed the way customers and businesses consume goods and services. It implies that the ways in which companies design and build their services must evolve to keep pace with the digital world.

In that context, Digital Transformation is imperative for all businesses. This message comes through loud and clear from every keynote, presentation, panel discussion, article, or study related to how businesses can remain competitive and relevant as the world becomes increasingly digital. What has thrown business leaders in a tizzy is a common understanding of what exactly ‘Digital Transformation’ means.

It is impossible to derive a single definition of ‘Digital Transformation’ that applies to all businesses. Digital Transformation will look different for different companies. We at Robosoft define Digital Transformation as:

The incorporation and unification of digital technology into all areas of a business resulting in positive changes in how businesses operate and deliver value.

Also, it’s a fundamental change in culture that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo and experiment often.

But, why should Companies have Digital Transformation as a priority in their strategy? Pragmatic syllogism dictates- “because they have to”. It has become a survival issue for businesses in a digital savvy world. Howard King, in a contributed article for The Guardian, puts it this way:

“Businesses don’t transform by choice. Why would they want that? It is expensive and risky! They transform because they have no other alternative.”

The term ‘Digital Transformation’ is also often misunderstood as the application of ‘hyped’ or trending technology as the first step to solving any problem. At Robosoft we understand both the necessities as well as the risks surrounding Digital Transformation. That’s why when we work with our clients to implement Digital Transformation in their organizations, we do it based on the principles of a holistic problem-solving framework: Design Thinking.

The principles of ‘Design Thinking’ can be of great help to anyone trying to solve a problem or looking for better ways of getting work done. Design Thinking is a practical and creative method for problem-solving that has evolved from fields as varied as engineering, architecture and business.

Why Design Thinking?

The Design Thinking approach is especially useful for solving problems that require innovative solutions since it’s a powerful tool to tackle tasks that are unfamiliar or have never been done before. Problems and therefore innovative solutions seem to be apparent when you look at them from a distance.

“Design transcends innovation. It speaks to the politics of optimism.”
– Paul Bennett

How Design Thinking helps

Design thinking is a tool that helps to better conceptualize the tasks involved. It is a tool that helps us understand all the hidden loopholes and lets us have some measurable assessment while approaching a big project. It is a framework that lets us challenge the scope and narrowness of our thought process, and to push its boundaries. That is the key to transformation itself, and the basis upon which we construct our Digital Transformation strategies.

There has been considerable research around the process of adopting a Design Thinking approach to solve each specific kind of problem.

Define, research, ideate, prototype, choose, implement, and learn. These are the seven steps involved in one of the renditions of the Design Thinking process.

The steps aren’t linear – they can occur simultaneously and be repeated. A simpler expression of the process is Robert McKim’s phrase “Express–Test–Cycle”.

Another, five-phase description of the process is described by Christoph Meinel and Larry Leifer: (re)defining the problem, need-finding and benchmarking, ideating, building, testing.

Yet another way to look at it is Shewhart’s “Plan-Do-Study-Act” PDSA cycle.

PDSA Cycle

Image source: NHS

All the above approaches have their own merits and are applicable within various contexts. But the Design Thinking method shares a common, universal set of traits, mainly: Empathy, Iterativeness and Collaborative Approach.

3 Traits of Design Thinking

Empathy:

Organizations approach users with empathy, understanding about user’s troubles and grievances. The key here is for organizations to be able to put themselves in the user’s shoes; think what they think, feel what they feel, understanding the various pain-points for the users and be able to map these pain points in accordance to magnitude and scope of each.

It is not only about making things more efficient but about understanding people. Conventional research methods, like focus groups and surveys, can be useful in pointing towards incremental improvements, but those don’t usually lead to breakthroughs because these techniques simply ask people what they want.

It is important to understand that users may not always be able to fully comprehend their own needs or demands, because of their limited understanding of viabilities and feasibilities of possible solutions.

Therefore, the key is to put oneself in the user’s shoes and think from their perspective while also holding on to the knowledge and insights about the technologies that could make the solutions possible.

Henry Ford understood this when he said:

“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said ‘a faster horse.”

No one would have asked for a car.

Iterativeness:

Once the organization is done with understanding the pain points of the users, it formulates problem statements and works through them to think about solution ideas. When the best ideas generated during ideation are crystalized, the implementation process begins.

At the heart of the implementation process is incremental and iterative prototyping: converting concepts to realities, turning ideas into actual products and services; which are then tested, iterated, and refined.

With the Iterative approach, a manifestation of the Agile Development process, first the organizations do ‘just enough’ planning to get started with building the minimal feature set, formally called the ‘minimal viable product feature set’, which they go on to build.

Next, they test and review that small set and get it ready to ship. When that cycle is complete, we end up with a potentially shippable product.

Through the planning process, organizations are doing just enough planning to complete the next incremental release. Thus, one ends up with several incremental releases, and one just keeps repeating these incremental releases until the product is feature-complete.

Collaborative approach:

As discussed earlier, Digital Transformation looks different for every industry and every organization since each of these companies has unique operating procedures and standards and unique needs. Therefore, providing each company with customized Digital Transformation solutions involves a fair bit of innovation from digital advisors, as they must figure out how to tailor and personalize technological tools to satisfy unique customer problems.

Hence, the “collaborative approach”, advocated by the Design Thinking principle becomes essential. Collaboration is a philosophy of interaction-based, process-oriented problem-solving which emphasizes a collective work process for problem-solving, as opposed to cooperation, which emphasizes just interaction-based goal-oriented problem-solving. It should be understood that, in principle, cooperation is a subset activity of collaboration.

Understanding the innovations required in the Digital Transformation process of any company, the collaboration between technology providers, the client organization and the client’s end customer becomes very important. This is primarily because the notion of ‘lone innovator’ is a myth.

Innovation happens when people marshal their collective knowledge and insights to the process, working together as a creative group.

Secondly, most of the great solutions to vexing problems come from the edges of a domain. That is when knowledge domains conventionally thought of as ‘independent’ speak to each other, contributing their offerings to collectively solve some problem, the probability of innovation to occur increases significantly.

A classic example in respect to the principle that states, “Innovation happens at the intersection of disciplines” is that of Charles Darwin. Darwin was a geologist and collected a number of bird species from the Galápagos Islands. He kept poor notes of his collection and returned the birds and notes over to John Gould upon his return. Gould was an expert ornithologist and initially dismissed the birds as being normal. Gould later discovered that each species was in fact distinct. The example shows how Darwin, without the knowledge of ornithology, could contribute to the field without having the training or knowledge. Drawing analogies from this classic example, in order to get innovative solutions for Digital Transformation of companies, Design Thinking advocates that people from multiple disciplines should put their heads together and collaborate.

Based on work with over 300 clients, Robosoft specializes in deriving value from Design Thinking by being focused on analyzing the changing Digital Transformation needs of our clients and providing solutions for complex problems for small to large organizations. By using Design Thinking and Agile, companies can define and solve their Digital Transformation problems, by incorporating new functionalities using an iterative approach, which is transparent and minimizes risk. Whether the transformation is for business development, administration, operations, finance or marketing, whether you are trying to improve a process that simplifies the lives of employees or customers, or whether you are trying to make progress on a strategic initiative, Design Thinking is your answer to accelerate this business transfiguration. As the contexts change, organizations need to evolve faster than ever and keep redesigning themselves… everyday.

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Mobile Technologies

5 Key Takeaways from LendIt Fintech 2018

Apr 17,2018 / By / No Comments

Last week’s LendIt Fintech event was a great gathering of Banking, Fintech and Lending professionals from across the globe.

Industry experts covered everything from the future of the banking industry in a digital age, to blockchain and the application of AI and machine learning in the financial services domain.

Here is a roundup of some of my key takeaways from the event:

Banking in a post-digital age – being always present for the always-on customer

The banking and the financial services industry is going through a pivotal time. The most critical reason is the changing digital preferences of the always-on customer. Owing to the changing customer preferences and innovations happening in the industry, financial enterprises and banks are compelled to re-imagine the conventional way of connecting with their customers.

Digital is where today’s generation spend a vast majority of their day and the vast majority of their time. An average adult spends about 4 hours a day on the digital platform, checking their smartphone 150 times a day. And, smartphones are not the only connected devices customers are present on – there are wearables, smart speakers, smart cars, smart TVs and the list goes on. It is expected that by 2020 there will be 30 billion connected devices. It is no longer about being present on the digital medium; it is about building a personal relationship with the customers.

As Avid Modjtabai, of Wells Fargo, points out in her talk:

‘It is about developing a profound level of insight into every customer and connecting with them when and where they need us — with experiences that make a difference in their lives.’

Today’s customers share a great deal of information about themselves with enterprises, with the trust that these enterprises will manage and leverage this data to make their lives simpler. This gives enterprises the opportunity to go beyond the transactional relationship with their customers and make it personal.

Banks have to make sure that they are innovating at the same pace as their customers see in other walks of life.

Here are the few ways banks can achieve this:

 

Image source: Lendit.com

Smarter Data

Enterprises have access to over 375 petabytes of data on customers’ behaviour and preferences. To put that into context, one petabyte can store the DNA information of the entire US population and clone it two times over.

With bigdata, we can make this data work and work harder on behalf of the customers.

According to PwC – 46% of the banking customers are digital-only. This is a huge opportunity for the industry to deliver a contextualized, hyper-personalized experience at the moment wherever they are.

In the future data and AI together can:

  • Enable customers to manage their money with just voice.
  • Give intuitive tips that would help customers plan their finances.
  • Help in underwriting and fraud management.
  • Look at the cash flow patterns of customers and give relevant in-the-moment insights.

Next-Gen ID management

Customers trust banks to secure their assets. Identity management is a core component to manage that trust. With customers linking their IDs and financial accounts to a lot more apps and devices, ID management has become more and more complicated and important.

There are about 60 records that are lost or stolen every second, and that adds up to a humongous 5 million records every day.

With a growing number of security and identity breaches, it has become essential for banks to verify every customer at each and every interaction. Today, financial institutions are moving away from knowledge-based authentication to more advanced processes like biometrics, geolocation tracking, device finding technologies, leveraging AI to look at patterns, etc. This combination of technology is making the process much simpler and secure for customers.

Frictionless payments

Technology has transformed the commerce and transactions landscape. Today consumers want their transactions to be integrated and seamless and expect the payments’ process to be done in the least possible steps.

Technology has reinvented commerce. For instance, in Sweden, cash accounts for only 2 percent of all the payments and half of Swedish bank branches are cashless today.

It is imperative for industries to develop simpler and fast-moving money movement capabilities and experiences. Banks have the capability of being pioneers in this area, and some are raising the bar higher, e.g. Zelle P2P payments from Wells Fargo, helps customers transfer money between participating bank accounts in real time.

Transcending channels

Today customers are always connected, and they expect that from enterprises they deal with as well. Customers want to talk to their banks in the moment of their need – this model is changing the way financial institutions have been thinking about channel and distribution.

Also, banks have to make sure that they are not just available when the customers need them; they also give the customers the choice of communicating with them in the way they wanted, e.g., Apple announced Apple business chat with Wells Fargo. It enables customers to chat with their banks through the same messaging app in which they are talking with their friends and family.

Fintech collaboration

Today technology is not just an enabler but is a differentiator for enterprises across industries. And, hence Fintech collaboration is becoming increasingly important for banks. In the coming years, most product innovations will come from fintechs and banks working together.

Finding the right ‘Product Market Fit’ in Fintech is important:

In this digital era, Fintech is more about the ‘Fin’ and less about the ‘Tech’. A lot of financial enterprises build products with ancient infrastructure with a thin layer of UI on it. It is important to find out the right Product Market Fit in Fintech. Instead of looking for a market first, enterprises should aim at finding out the problem that they are going to solve, build a great product around it and then focus on consumers where the product is a right fit.

Here are few tips from Andy Rachleff, co-founder and executive chairman of Wealthfront, to make sure that you find the right Product-Market-Fit:

Understand the What, Who and How before building a product

Three crucial pillars of building a great technology product are finding the answers to these three aspects:

  • What – what are you going to build?
  • Who – for whom is it relevant?
  • How – what is the business model?

Most enterprises do not realize that they shouldn’t iterate on the ‘What’ too much. It is essential for entrepreneurs to identify an inflection point in technology and build a great product around it and then identify the market that needs the product.

Be unconventional

Trying to do better what someone else does is a path to mediocrity. In a technology-led industry, it is important that enterprises innovate and create differentiation for themselves.

Customer delight is the greatest form of advertising

In the journey of product-market fit, paid advertising and customer acquisition can mislead enterprises into thinking that their products are doing well when in reality they aren’t. Further, advertising is a fixed cost, and for small and medium-sized enterprises it means investing in that fixed cost hoping that the market is big enough to take care of that fixed cost. Enterprises should aim at exponential and organic customer growth and invest in infrastructure and build a robust technology first. A great product will delight customers, and that will ensure word of mouth and organic growth of customers.

Not every product idea will work

It is important for enterprises to realize that not every product idea works, some of them are bound to fail. However, it is critical to identify the ones that work and doing all that you can to make those successful.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency – a vision for the future

In January 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence with the release of the first open source Bitcoin client and the issuance of the first Bitcoins, with Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then, the number of businesses accepting Bitcoin continues to increase, and along with it, the industry expectations on the currency continue to be bullish. In fact, even the Mt. Gox fraud of Bitcoins, led to just a drop of 15% in the value of the currency.

How Bitcoin will change the future of banking

The transactions that happen beyond the medium of the banks mostly remain unbanked. Bitcoins can help in bridging this gap and make the unbanked transactions a part of the real economy. Further, Bitcoins help the movement of the currencies easily from one country to another without the need to convert it. Also, it is easier to catch fraud if a transaction is happening via Bitcoins.

Governments across the globe will recognize Bitcoins’ potential

There are a lot of regulatory issues around Bitcoin as of now. However, in the coming few years governments will make it easier for the people to deal with Bitcoins since governments compete for money, entrepreneurs and people, e.g. South Korea made Bitcoins illegal and then they realized that 40 percent of their population already has a Bitcoin wallet, so they had to ease out their regulations. Since the regulatory requirements are not so stringent in the developing economies, they are a potential market for Bitcoins.

Bitcoins will be the new normal

While established financial and payment enterprises aren’t supporting Bitcoins since they already have an established system, companies like Coinbase will become the banks of the future.

Applying AI and Machine Learning to Financial Services Using the Google Cloud

In 2010, Deepmind a start-up created a neural network that learns how to play video games in a fashion similar to that of humans and Neural Turing machine.

Google foresaw how neural networking and AI would change the future of technology forever and acquired the company in 2014.  They started experimenting with this technology and reinvented how Google works internally.  Initially, Deep Learning was used in image recognition through Google photos. In 2015, the technology advanced to not just recognize the targeted image but also the environment (or pixels) around it and further change it.

Deep Learning

Applying AI and Machine Learning

Image Recognition

Image Recognition

Image source: Lendit.com

In the coming years, the technology was used for reading and writing through an auto response to Gmail and voice recognition.Today Google is using AI and Machine Learning to identify user behavior patterns and give output accordingly on Google’s ad network.

User Behaviour Patterns

Image source: Lendit.com

How AI and Machine Learning can change the financial services landscape

Machine Learning can ingest a humungous amount of customer data, structure it, process it and convert it into tensors. These tensors can be then used to train a machine learning system and deliver customized results.

How AI and Machine Learning can change the financial services landscape

Image source: Lendit.com

Financial services can use these techniques of Machine learning and AI to

  • Analyze their customer lifetime value (CLV) better.
  • Define where enterprises can target campaigns to engage most with their customer set.
  • Prioritize customer interaction based on the CLV.
  • Build more efficient processes by using the technology see and fill forms; and also work on quality assurance processes.
  • Read documents and analyze compliance with documents.
  • Listen and speak to customers and shorten the time from enquiry to resolution.

The emergence of the Internet of Value

The Fintech space is evolving very fast. With technologies like blockchain coming up, the fundamental shift that is expected to happen in the coming few years is the emergence of Internet of Value.

This means that financial assets and money will start moving as efficiently as data has been moving in the last 25 years.

The biggest change that blockchain will bring is the complete inter-operability between all the money, systems and the ledgers of the world.

Correspondent banking will dissolve

Today, if someone wants to transfer money across the globe, they have limitations of taxes and time. This issue becomes more prominent when the transaction amount is smaller. Technologies like blockchain will bridge this gap.

Interoperability of data will fasten the pace of globalization

There are three main keys to achieving true Globalization

  • Interoperability of data
  • Interoperability of good
  • Interoperability of money

While we have been able to achieve the first two, we are still lagging behind when it comes to interoperability of money. Blockchain will help in achieving this. The interoperability of money will also be followed by the emergence of IoP or Inter ledger protocol, which is IP or standardization process for ledgers.

Convergence of technologies will make Fintech simpler

The number of smartphone users has been rising and will continue to grow in the coming years. According to the World Bank, in the coming few years every adult in the world will have a digital bank account on their smartphone.

Today, there is the technology and the device, however finding out a link that will wire all of this together is missing. In the coming years, the Fintech industry will figure that out through the interoperability of monies.

Regulators are supporting systems that make sense

Governments across the globe are working towards inclusion of the people and developing economies which are not connected to the world economy today. Digital currencies and enabling regulations by these governments will help in achieving that. Most payments will be machine to machine once the interoperability and developing world problem is solved.

Data security and privacy will be of utmost importance

As the demand for digital assets grows, governments will also make sure that data privacy issues are addressed. New and stringent laws will be introduced. California consumer privacy act is coming out this year and EU GDPR privacy laws etc. are some steps in this direction. We are in the best of Fintech regulatory environment right now.

Currencies will have more use cases and will be more liquid

ICOs are problematic because currencies need to be as liquid as possible and have as many use cases as possible.That will drive value and utility. The early beta of this is cross-border payments but this is just the beginning, and we will see more such use cases of currencies coming up.

Conclusion

The banking and the financial services is at a turning point right now. This year’s LendIt conference gave us a detailed view of the future the industry is moving towards. With changing customer behaviour, technology advances and innovations there lies exciting times for the industry ahead.

You can find more about the event here.

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