Category : Mobile Technologies

Mobile Technologies

5 must-read books on business thinking for CXOs

Sep 28,2018 / By / No Comments

In 2016, after nearly two decades in professional life, I enrolled in not just one, but six online courses offered by the reputed Interaction Design Foundation (IDF). My initial plan was to complete a course on ‘Services Design’ but I ended up completing these:

  • Emotional design – how to make products that people will love
  • User research –methods and best practices
  • Conducting usability testing
  • Information visualization – getting dashboards right
  • Mobile user experience design – designing UX for mobile apps
  • Design Thinking – the beginner’s guide

Completing these courses and learning something new was useful and a deeply enriching experience. The cherry on top was the email from Interaction Design Foundation about 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

After I completed these courses many have asked for book recommendations on the topic. But Design Thinking is one piece of the puzzle when it comes to solving complex business problems. Over the years, as a consultant, I have worked with several CXOs across diverse business categories and geographies. The business problems faced by each of those organizations were unique and covered a range of aspects: service delivery process, organization structure, brand positioning and many more. Aside from hands-on experience, I realized that the holistic thinking outlined in several books helped me immensely to grasp the problems at hand and offer solutions.

Among many such books, here are my 5 top picks, which would help CXOs take a 360-degree approach in solving business problems:

Book 1 – Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek

In a succinct TED Talk, Simon Sinek connected Martin Luther King Jr, Steve Jobs and demonstrated that they all think in the same way – they all started with ‘why’, the larger purpose. Nike says, ‘our purpose is to use the power of sport to move the world forward’. And they outline their mission as: “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world”.

Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek

Author – Simon Sinek

But the clincher is in defining who an athlete is: ‘if you have a body, you are an athlete’. Suddenly, Nike’s business is elevated from selling shoes & sportswear to a rallying clarion call. It is meaningful for their employees, partners and various stakeholders. You can see its manifestation in their hugely successful marketing and the famous ‘Just Do It’ tagline. I believe every organization can define such a lofty goal.

At Robosoft, our core purpose is to “simplify lives” through delightful digital experiences. We believe in simplifying every aspect of life; the way people buy, transact, pay, get entertained, bank, get insured, sell, invest, mange health, etc. We touch billions of lives through our advice, design and technology capabilities.

Such goals are best set in an inclusive manner so that employees buy into them and do not see it as a diktat from the top. Simon Sinek’s book explains the framework needed for businesses to move past knowing what they do to how they do it, and then to ask the more important question – WHY?

Book 2 – Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes by Kaplan and Norton

Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes by Kaplan and Norton

Author – Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton

Businesses are more complex than ever before. Competition comes in various shapes and from unexpected quarters. No one would have predicted taxi aggregators would change the face of urban transport across the globe. FinTech players continue to challenge traditional banks. Such complex challenges call for not just a clear strategy; but also require an implementation framework. Kaplan and Norton argue that the most critical aspect of strategy is to define how an organization is different from competition or what is the unique value proposition to customers. Organizations generally choose to differentiate themselves either on Total cost, Complete customer solution or Product innovation. E.g. Apples competes on innovation, Walmart competes on cost, and IBM competes on “one stop shop for IT”.

At Robosoft, we chose our value proposition to be “a full-service digital experiences agency” by offering digital advice, design thinking and emerging technologies implementation.

Once the customer value proposition (CVP) is chosen, implementing it in a way that ensures sustained value creation–depends on managing four key value-creating internal process perspective categories: operational efficiency, customer relationships, innovation management, and regulatory/social processes. The processes are then enabled by the learning and growth perspectives which consists of Human capital (skills, knowledge and competencies), Organization capital (culture, alignment, teamwork and leadership) and Information capital (IT applications, infrastructure and systems). This book taught me the benefit of defining the HOW?

Strategy Maps

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Book 3. The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge

How do companies become learning organizations by thinking systems and thinking holistically? Peter Senge, an American systems scientist and senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, offers 5 disciplines: A shared Vision, Mental Models, Team Learning, Personal Mastery and System Thinking.

The Fifth Discipline

Author – Peter M. Senge

As organizations grow in complexity and newer challenges emerge, our ability to identify the right problem to solve becomes extremely important. Systems Thinking is the 5th discipline that the book talks about; which enables us with the ability to think cause-and-effect. Once we know the core problem that we need to solve, our ability to identify, design and innovate the right solutions, products and services for the market becomes accurate.

This book enabled me to define WHAT products, WHAT solutions and WHAT services to offer to the market in a very holistic manner.

Book 4. Change by Design by Tim Brown

At the core of this legendary book is the belief that most innovations come from a process of rigorous examination and not from a flash of brilliance. Tim Brown is the CEO of IDEO and he defines design thinking thus: the collaborative process by which the designer’s sensibilities and methods are employed to match people’s needs with what is technically feasible and a viable business strategy. The chapter on ‘Putting people first’ was of particular interest to me where he outlines three mutually reinforcing elements of any successful design programme: insight, observation and empathy. Insight is about learning from the lives of others, observation is watching what people don’t do, listening to what they don’t say and empathy is about standing in the shoes of others.

Change by Design by Tim Brown

Author – Tim Brown

I firmly believe that design thinking is not the exclusive realm of designers – we all can learn from others’ lives, feel their pain points and think of solutions. At Robosoft we get to partner with a diverse set of companies, domains and end-consumers. What we solve for is vastly different for a bank as compared to say, a news organisation – Design Thinking helps us straddle such extremes.

Book 5. The Knowledge Creating Company by Nonaka and Takeuchi

Despite the devastation of the World War, Japan has emerged as a global economic power and a world leader in important industries like electronics and automobiles. In this book the authors contend that Japanese firms are innovative, create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies.

The Knowledge Creating Company by Nonaka and Takeuchi

Author – Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi 

Author – Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi 

The culture of un-learning, learning and then innovating are the key ingredients towards becoming a knowledge organization. They say, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Our ability to not depend on past success and create a new future depends heavily on our skill to un-learn; which then opens up for a possibility to learn and create new knowledge.

Summary:

While the above 5 books are on different subjects, they all are ‘connected’ in some fashion as they are all about making a difference to the customers. Peter Drucker famously said, “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer”. What binds them all together and important for holistic business thinking could be summed up thus:

  1. Identifying the larger purpose of the organization is key to success and thus “start with WHY” is the most important read for all CXOs.
  2. Strategy is about differentiation, customer value proposition and answer the HOW for organizations. The design of strategy, its execution and monitoring are key to building successful companies and delivering value to shareholders, vendors, customers and employees
  3. Identifying the right problem to solve is very important and thus the power of cause-and-effect is key. ‘Systems thinking’ thus becomes extremely important to solve complex problems and it also ensures that we are not solving the symptom but the actual cause. This helps us identify the right products/services for our customers and answer the question “WHAT”
  4. Once we know the product/solution, it is important to design it well by being empathetic to the user who faces the problem and thus design thinking plays a very important role in innovating new products, services and processes
  5. To do all the above, it is a MUST to build a learning culture that enables the organization to continuously un-learn, learn and innovate.

I look forward to your views on these books and your recommendations on other good reads on the subject of business thinking.

This article was first published on LinkedIn by Ravi Teja Bommireddipalli

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Mobile Technologies

How Retail Apps Are Using Augmented Reality to Provide a Better User Experience

Sep 18,2018 / By / No Comments

Imagine being able to experiment with different outfits that you want to buy from the comfort of your sofa, or being able to “try on” multiple shades of lipstick with a click of a button without the mess of color strips lining the back of your hand as you test them out in the store. Imagine being able to customize your food delivery so that your favourite items are available at the click of a button or two and having a feature that allows you to pre-order a day or two in advance.

You don’t have to imagine that with too much difficulty these features and functionalities have been available for a number of years by several large retailers, providing their customers the ability to tailor their purchasing power and subsequently giving retailers insights into their customers’ preferences and habits.

Research indicates that by 2020, augmented reality technology will claim a market share worth over $120 Billion. And while consumers have witnessed significant advancements that help them simplify their decision-making process, many retailers may have been slow to adopt this burgeoning industry tool while it was still in its early stages. The good news for consumers is that many are slowly joining the ranks of these larger companies that have been using the technology for years, with the hopes of making this technology ubiquitous in our shopping habits.

Let’s examine a number of key ways that augmented reality technology is helping retailers create a more delightful customer experience from beginning to end.

Virtual Reality vs Augmented Reality

Virtual Reality vs Augmented RealityImage source

Let’s begin with a quick definition review, and a differentiation in two closely related technologies. Virtual Reality (VR) portrays a world completely generated by computers and entirely immerses the user in this constructed world; Augmented Reality (AR), however, sits at the crossroads between the real world and the “enhanced” reality that is projected from digital devices in order to increase (augment) our senses and perceptions. Essentially, VR requires the user to enter an entirely fictional world, whereas AR is real life with “upgrades” or add-ons.

Because of its usefulness in a range of applications, AR has become widely used in the retail world. This technology, once innovative and new, is now offering a reliable and effective UX tool for retailers. Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, states this well:

“Like any other marketing effort, if [AR is] deployed thoughtfully and with planned momentum, it could give any brand a great lift in sales no matter what the competition is doing. If other brands aren’t already deploying consumer-friendly additions that help their customers shop better and easier, then they should take note at successes surrounding those who do and consider a change.”

The rise of the viral sensation Pokémon GO saw this on a global scale, with an almost manic adoption of augmented reality in the mainstream media. Users found themselves immersed in half-reality, half-fiction as they scoured their neighbourhoods and communities for signs of hidden Pokemon to catch and other players to connect with, often to the detriment of their own health and safety. Despite these negative effects, Pokémon GO showed people that AR is a formidable and easy-to-use tool to generate mass adoption if designed properly.

Pokémon GO

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Augmented Reality is a More Powerful Tool

There’s a popular saying that, in essence, states that the most powerful tool is the one most often used by its owner. The same can be said for augmented reality. Once on the fringe, it has become commonplace in our devices and applications and a staple in how we interact daily, both with technology and with people. AR is a simpler technology to implement than VR technology, in as much as it can often be cumbersome and expensive to create a different reality for users using VR.

Consider the medical field: doctors, nurses, and medical practitioners would greatly benefit from immersion or support in a critical scenario that had real-life, real-time consequences, but that can also allow them to learn more effectively in a constructed or semi-constructed reality.

Augmented Reality is a More Powerful Tool

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AR can be especially useful in this arena by reducing errors, offering real-time assistance for difficult cases, and providing beneficial shortcuts for both patients and doctors. For example, nurses and other medical professionals report that 40 percent of the time they can’t find a patient’s vein on the first try, with those numbers being even higher when drawing blood from children or seniors. AccuVein, a product that accurately scans for and locates a patient’s veins, is helping to significantly reduce the “miss rate”, in some cases as close to zero misses.

In the world of retail and consumers, however, customers need to only understand and experiment with the products they’d like to buy in order to learn how those products will serve to enhance their daily lives. From this perspective, AR makes an effective and powerful tool.

Take QR codes, digitally rendered square blocks of even smaller blocks of black and white, which have been around since 1994. These codes contain useful data, such as a direct link to a company’s website, an online promotion, or an action to email someone, simply from scanning the QR image. We still use QR codes (in blockchain transactions) but have graduated far beyond these simple QR codes from a decade ago, and can now access tools that recognize data from a picture of a sign in a store or the facial recognition software that helps you pick the best shade of lipstick for your skin tone.

Enhancing the User Experience with AR

In effective marketing campaigns, retailers have to walk a fine line between showing customers their current reality (life without this product) while attempting to show how things will improve or redirect that reality once their products are in the hands of the customer all without making the customer feel belittled or attacked. This messaging is subtle, but so important for the relationship between retailer and consumer, as it implies that reality needs improvement and what better way to convey that than by actually enhancing reality in real time?

Retailers are incorporating AR technology into many aspects of the customer experience, both online and in person at the store. For retailers selling physical products and goods, AR tech offers customers an easy way to see products in “real life” without ever stepping foot in a store. Zara, McDonalds, and Sephora are well-known examples of companies that have integrated AR technology into their platform to reduce frustrations that consumers may feel when searching for just the right products, as well as providing comprehensive information about those products to build trust between consumers and retailers, which creates a longer-lasting relationship that benefits both parties.

Almost 75% of consumers think that retailers should be utilizing augmented reality technology in some way, and over half of customers feel that if companies are already using AR technology, they aren’t using that technology to its full potential to make the customer journey streamlined and customized. Although AR technology can drastically increase sales, if the technology isn’t designed properly for users, then sales will stagnate.

We examine several of these companies below that have implemented AR well, and how this technology has not only increased the enjoyment their customers feel when shopping for their products but also helped customers make better purchases that match their needs.

Companies Effectively Using AR Technology

From Cart to Consumer ─ Simplifying Decision Making for Customers

Sephora introduced AR into their platform in early 2017 by way of their Virtual Artist platform, which shows customers a realistic “mockup” of how certain skin care and makeup products would look with their face shape, skin colour, and other distinguishing features. With the addition of more efficient 3D facial recognition software, Sephora gave customers the power not simply to upload a self portrait, or “selfie”, to the app but now offered real-time rendering of their face using Sephora’s app, giving them a more realistic impression of the Sephora products they were hoping to purchase.

From Cart to Consumer ─ Simplifying Decision Making for Customers

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Try Before You Buy: Using AR to Create Your Dream Home

A recent survey showed that furniture is the most popular item that customers shop for using augmented reality technology. AR offers retailers the opportunity to create comprehensive and immersive product catalogues for customers; if they never look at it, it’s no inconvenience, but these product listings are available at a moment’s notice and greatly reduce the time spent researching the various options available to customers.

Retailers like Wayfair and IKEA have created apps that allow users to select products from the catalogue and use their smartphones or tablets to show in real time how those products would actually look in their homes and offices. This reduces the stress involved with picking something that doesn’t fit, and it reduces the time spent searching, buying, shipping, and building a product that eventually doesn’t work well for their space. Retailers know that this workflow significantly lightens the burden on the customer and allows them to research these options all before clicking “Buy now”. The team at IKEA is anticipating that this technology will show a triple increase in sales by 2020.

Mouthwatering Experiences Through AR and Dining

The app for Bareburger harnesses AR technology to allow customers to “see” the menu item in front of them on their device before they order, giving them a better, more mouth-watering ordering experience.

The Future of AR in Retail

While AR technology has been around for roughly three decades, advances in facial recognition, immersive technology and real-time feedback are just starting to come into maturation. Those developing and using this technology recognize that the future of AR lies in how the devices we currently use and how we use them will change, and inexpertly enhancing and crafting the user experiences with AR.

From a customer perspective, “AR allows for pre-purchase testing of products and makes the purchase process feels more hands-on.” In today’s market, however, users don’t have wide-reaching access to a completely seamless interaction with retailers, and there are still bugs that need to be worked out in existing software (lacking a natural field of view, comprehensive product info, 3D sensing, low resolution) before users can feel confident using AR from retailers on a large scale to be able to receive customized experiences.

This is where the key changes in the technology will greatly impact mass adoption of AR technology: the tailoring of “personalized, accessible and well-designed” products, services, and experiences. Shopping is an activity that each and every one of us performs, and when retailers recognize the value of investing in and properly designing AR for their customers, they’ll begin to see greater returns on customer loyalty, brand power, and increased sales.

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Mobile Technologies

Digital Transformation – how integrated enterprise solutions are fueling the process

Sep 6,2018 / By / No Comments

Started in 1934, LEGO was on a growth trajectory for over 50 years. In 1994, owing to the rising popularity of video games and internet the company suffered a major set back and a drop in their sales. In response, they tried diversifying their product portfolio and also collaborated with various production companies to form themed products. While this lead to a short-term rise in numbers the phase ended soon. That is when the organization started with a drastic revamp journey in 2004 with its new strategy called ‘shared vision’. One of the major pillars of this strategy was ‘leveraging digitization’.

The LEGO business strategy

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Since then, digitization has remained a critical aspect of LEGO’s business strategy. The company has weaved in digital technologies in multiple areas – at a product level, consumer level and at an enterprise level (as depicted in the figure below).

LEGO’s business strategy

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All these forces, working together helped LEGO overcome the negative growth in 2003 and mark about 30% growth in the next 10 years, a curve that is on an upward trajectory since.

While LEGO’s success story and digitization efforts sound inspiring and business leaders would love to replicate this success in their respective domains, it is easier said than done. Advancements in technology and digitization are not just changing the way enterprises operate but how various industries operate as a whole. Uber has changed the transportation business, Netflix has completely disrupted the OTT landscape, the automotive industry has recently witnessed the entries of technology companies such as Google, Apple and Microsoft, as vehicles are increasingly getting connected; there a lot of such examples.

As digitization is reshaping the competitive landscape of the companies, it is crucial to understand how short-term are existing business models, in the light of the fast pace of digital disruptions and how they can also leverage technology to address it.

But are enterprises ready for the rapid pace of this change? In this context, digital transformation for enterprises is a must but do organizations really know what does it mean and how to go about it?

As pointed out by this research, while 90% of business leaders deem digital transformation important bit of their business strategy. Almost a similar percentage aren’t sure how to create a plan that integrates the entire digital ecosystem for their organization seamlessly.

There are various challenges that enterprises today face while developing a digital transformation plan. One of the key challenges is disparate systems. The need of digitization though apparent, the need for an organizational level digitization integrating all the departments is still not established.

Also, the rate at which various departments are embracing digitization is also different. For instance, while customer-facing and IT departments are excelling in their efforts of digitization, HR and other departments are lagging behind. This is leading to a lack of strategic alignment between departments, and finally affecting an organization’s progress towards digital transformation.

As per a study, Only the minority (37%) of business leaders see delivering a seamless experience across digital channels as one of the top three priorities for digital transformation in their organization, but half (50%) see this as a top area for focus when aiming to improve the digital experience for customers.

This non-integrated approach towards digital transformation has also to do with the way digitization has evolved. A digitization pyramid has the below elements (as shown in the image below)

Digitization pyramid

In earlier days, there was a huge emphasis on the lowermost layer which is the Transaction Processing Applications such as SAP, Oracle, Core Banking Solutions, etc. And, as the name suggests that was largely capturing transactions. We went through talking about end-to-end processes, and integrations to avoid Silos.

In the next phase of this evolution we saw a lot of ERP solutions emerging to manage and to some extent centralize data. Today, another layer which is the knowledge-driven or intelligent layer is evolving on top of this, which is enabled with technologies like Analytics, AI, Machine Learning, advisory solutions etc. Further, customer acquisition strategies powered by the data gathered by these solutions are making enterprises understand and design solutions based on consumer insights. Now the same cycle is repeating at a higher level.  We are talking about end-to-end solutions, integrations, avoiding silos. But at a higher level of abstraction that focuses on Customer Acquisition strategies, Analytics, ML, AI and so on.

Slowly the Server side is becoming more powerful and prominent. And also the real estate, memory and storage on the Mobile device is increasing.  This revolution is what we need to capitalize on. Businesses are adopting enterprise solutions that are solely the Server side solution. At the other end, some talk about only the optimization in the mobile device. However, both these need to function and evolve together to bring about the largest benefit of the current cycle of the digital revolution.

What is an integrated enterprise solution all about?

It is about creating a connected ecosystem where people, businesses and things, are all working together to make business transactions (financial or non-financial) happen.

Take for example – the data recorded by a blood pressure monitoring device remains native to the machine. What if this data can be transferred to a diagnostic centre or a hospital where a physician can access it in real-time and advice the patient on their health, and probably patients can also make payments for the consultation online. This completes a transaction in which a patient, a machine (thing), a platform (cloud computing), one or more applications, businesses and a set of doctors are involved. In this case, technology has enabled the interaction of various components inclusive of the enterprise and the end-user to make a business transaction happen.

There are various technologies that are helping enterprises in developing well-integrated enterprise solutions that act as key enablers for digital business transformation. (As shown in the image below)

Enterprise solutions

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1. API Management: APIs are one of the critical aspects of creating a connected enterprise solution. These are the set of functionalities that businesses would share with their partners, customers etc. In this context various API management tools become important. Businesses deploying enterprise solutions for digital transformation would have to look at adopting different aspects of API management. APIs can be used in exposing one or more business services to consumer applications and also help enterprises open data and services that help them integrate with their existing business partners. For example, a manufacturer or retail wholesaler may share its product catalogue and inventory data via API with resellers who want to integrate updated information about available products for sale on their own retail websites.

2. Cloud-Native Apps: When creating a connected enterprise solution there will be a need for more flexible platforms that can enable faster changes in business data and functionality, and cloud-native apps can help businesses achieve that. Cloud-native applications are purpose-built for the cloud model and is a way of approaching the development and deployment of applications in such a way that adapts or understands the various facets and nature of the cloud – resulting in creating processes and workflows that fully take advantage of the platform. In cloud-native apps, these requirements could be easily fulfilled utilizing containers and microservices. With microservices architecture, apps are being built as a distributed collection of services, which pairs up with the distributed nature of the cloud.

3. DevOps: Today, owing to the need of building enterprise solutions that are connected, it is important for businesses to adopt DevOps way of building and delivering software.

According to AWS –

‘’DevOps is the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increase an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity: evolving and improving products at a faster pace than organizations using traditional software development and infrastructure management processes. This speed enables organizations to better serve their customers and compete more effectively in the market.’’

This helps in creating an ecosystem where various development, operations and in some cases the quality assurance and security teams are merged together for faster delivery of solutions.

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4. Internet of Things (IoT): When creating connected enterprise solutions IoT becomes a critical aspect for CIOs and IT leaders. In this context, Machine to Machine platforms (M2M) become the most important part of IoT solutions. Both Machine to Machine and IoT are technologies enabling devices to communicate with each other, M2M refers to isolated instances of device-to-device communication, and IoT refers to a grander scale, synergizing vertical software stacks to automate and manage communications between multiple devices. Bringing these two together will play an important role in created connected enterprise solutions.

5. Analytics: With multiple sources of data from customers, partners, things, customer service representatives etc., it becomes of prime importance for business enterprises to use the data in reshaping their business solutions based on the insights derived from the data and reshaping existing solutions to meet the customer demand. To make the most out of this data Big data technologies and predictive/prescriptive analytics are going to play a decisive role in generating value out of data. Integrating these analytics capabilities with the enterprise solutions is becoming important.

6. Mobility: As smartphones become smarter and more integrated to our lives, business stakeholders internal (employees) and external (customers, vendors, etc.) would want to be connected to businesses through different channels, mobile being one of the most important of these. Enterprises would have to start offering and supporting their products and services across diverse mobile devices and subsequently start strategizing for relevant mobile technology adoption.

7. Web-Scale Technologies: Web-scale technologies refer to an architectural approach which helps in delivering capabilities of large cloud service providers within an enterprise IT setting. Web-scale IT methodology enables businesses in designing, deploying and managing infrastructure at any scale that can be packaged in a number of ways to suit diverse requirements and can scale to any size of business or enterprise. It is not a single technology implementation, but rather a set of capabilities of an overall IT system. Web-scale technologies are redefining the traditional approach towards web/mobile app development enabling digital business transformation.

8. Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS): While moving applications to the cloud in form of cloud-native apps enables enterprises to develop more agile, faster and flexible solutions, it is not feasible to move all apps into the cloud. Hence it has become essential to integrate cloud-native apps with on-premise apps, this is where iPaaS solutions have become important. These platforms help to integrate develop, execute and govern integration flows between disparate applications. An iPaaS can simplify an organization’s overall system. With the help of a virtual platform, iPaaS connects applications and resources to create a consistent structure. The iPaaS framework creates a seamless integration of resources across multiple clouds and between cloud and legacy applications.

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In conclusion:

Many organizations today are struggling with digital transformation and facing challenges in their pursuit of building an integrated enterprise solution that gives insight to the end-to-end process. However, with the availability of innovative technologies like SaaS-based digital experience monitoring and analytics, which provide deep, in-depth visibility, unique insights and actionable recommendations this situation is fast changing. In the future we will see an evolution of smarter, intelligent enterprise solutions, that will fuel the digital transformation revolution for enterprises helping them build an integrated ecosystem, benefitting the end user, optimizing workflows and also driving ROI for enterprises.

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Mobile Technologies

How Today’s Healthcare Apps are Making Life Better for Patients

Aug 27,2018 / By / No Comments

The Past: Healthcare Before Mobile Devices

In the last 100 years, we have watched as healthcare has advanced while people continue to struggle with their health. Obesity rates are rising, so much so that the United States has an obesity rate of almost 40 percent, over 60 per cent of Australia’s population is overweight or obese, and India is now home to the world’s largest obese population. Cancer rates are also on the rise, several of which have yet to find a root cause. With the advent of widespread technology use, however, we’ve seen exponential changes in the way we perceive and manager our health and wellness.

For much of the twentieth century, the major impact that technology had on healthcare was data management. Family doctors and other medical professionals once tediously maintain patient records but faced risks such as damage and theft. Now, nearly every aspect of a doctor-patient visit is recorded digitally.

An excellent example of this shift in technology behind data and the relationship that patients have with the healthcare industry is Epocrates, the medical application from AthenaHealth.

Epocrates is unique, in that it was one of the very first applications (apps) released when the App Store was first introduced to the world. This point-of-care medical app provides over a million healthcare professionals with support and a network of trusted consults and providers, identifying and safely reviewing multiple drugs and their characteristics to ensure that medications are distributed and used properly and effectively. In addition, the system is set up to automate many of the tasks once performed manually and to access all relevant data and research for the best possible medical advice.

Epocrates

Read the story of how we collaborated with Athenahealth in redesigning and improving the user engagement of the Epocrates app here.

The app iDoc was tested in 2012 – 2014 to determine if it could improve doctors’ efficiency and effectiveness at locating information within a database of textbooks, the study showed that efficiency in search results increased and subsequently reduced the number of unnecessary tests that doctors and nurses had to perform to find the root cause.

Ten years later, we’ve entered an era where healthcare has grown beyond the walls of hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices and is managed in the most ubiquitous place: cell phones.

The Present: The Healthcare of the Tech Age

The global market of applications has surpassed 1 million apps since the App Store first launched in 2008. Users can download free or minimally-priced apps that help them not only track their progress but also help them manage their habits, eat better, and connect with a community of other users for support and encouragement. Similarly, physicians and medical professionals have access to a number of applications that offer not only real-time patient monitoring for more up-to-date health data, such as the AirStrip ONE monitoring app, but that also provides comprehensive and ongoing education about critical insights and advances in their fields, such as Radiology 2.0.

Alongside the growing marketplace of healthcare apps (estimated growth to $111 Billion by 2025), we’ve also seen the rise of wearable technology devices both for patients and doctors: from trendy pedometers like FitBit and clothing that monitors basal temperature, heart rate and blood pressure to apps that manage patient information across regions and offer referral networks of medical professional, apps are often integrated with wearables and other mobile devices to provide a more seamless experience for users.

You can read more about such technologies in our ebook – Digital Transformation in healthcare – the evolving landscape

Benefits of Healthcare Apps

The primary benefit of healthcare apps is the education and peace of mind they provide for patients. Users can access a wealth of resources that help them understand any health conditions they may be experiencing. For example, Propeller Health helps patients not only monitor their asthma inhalers but also sends data about a patient’s use of their asthma attacks and inhaler use directly to their doctor, giving them more accurate, more up-to-date information about their day-to-day health concerns.

Propeller Health

Image source : Google Play

In study conducted in 2015, researchers wanted to learn whether apps were actually helping users lead healthier lives. The study showed that many health ”apps help people overcome barriers like a lack of understanding or organization,” which increases their chances of choosing better habits and leading healthier lives. Other key results of the study indicated that users not only had lower BMIs than non-app users, but that they also possessed a greater belief in themselves to actually achieve their health goals.

Other types of health apps offer supplementary health support and goal tracking. Sleep Cycle helps users track not only their sleep patterns, but also determines the best time to wake you up to prevent grogginess from waking up in the wrong sleep cycle. Happify uses scientific methods proven through psychology to increase your mood and overall satisfaction in life. Fooducate not only provides resources to make healthy meals, but it also connects users to a database that contains details about the nutritional content of the food you buy, just by scanning the product barcode with your app.

Apps that allow patients to connect directly with a doctor, such as HealthTap, provide a framework of trust and safety; doctors can request the information they’ll need to provide assistance, and patients can benefit from real-time answers and speedy lab test results in a confidential and secure environment.

HealthTap

Image source : Google Play

The Future of HealthTech and Healthcare Apps

Looking to the very-near future, we will begin to see Artificial Intelligence (AI) play a bigger role in routine medical care. AI can assist doctors in predicting diseases and helping to prevent them. Even something as simple and accurate record keeping or clinical services are repetitive tasks that can be better managed by AI, freeing up time that doctors need to work on more difficult medical cases and vital research.

In short, apps make patient’s lives more fulfilling by providing a medium for them to connect with trusted experts and stay on track with goals that may have otherwise gone unrealized. These apps will continue to evolve as users provide feedback about what works best for their unique needs and by giving them a safe space to share their health and wellness journey.

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Mobile Technologies

Changing Perceptions — creating a unified healthcare system

Aug 21,2018 / By / No Comments

Health and technology are coming together like never before. The blending of these two distinct entities has lead to explorations that not only question the existing system but dare to rethink and replace trodden concepts and address untapped needs. From self-prognosis to smart diagnosis, from wearables, for technophobes to object sensors for elderly care, from real-time health monitoring to remote patient management, from smart pharmacies to timely medicine dispensers and from biostamps to injectables — processes, services and devices in the health spectrum are being vehemently explored.

All these amazing, ground-breaking innovations are questioning conventional approaches to healthcare at every stage. But this also prompts us to observe and reflect on these happenings around.

Are we looking at the essence of health and applying technology as a tool to simplify the journey, or are we looking at simplifying technology to address the healthcare sector?

The word ‘health’ is defined as a state of being, free from illness or injury. It invariably gets associated with the notion of something going wrong and rectifying a problem. It is also perceived as an individual-centered term, where the sense of self is strong and the feeling of looking inwards is overpowering.

However, the inclusion of ‘care’ almost instantly adds a positive feeling of concern. It makes the entire concept more humane and embracing. The focus beautifully shifts to the overall wellbeing of a person, rather than looking at health in isolation.

The attachment of this word has lead to exploring diverse facets of this proposition and a desire to seek a more holistic in nature approach. This is gradually making the perception of healthcare more universal in terms of access, economical without compromising the quality and understandable in terms of a science.

Technology is striving to play an important role in identifying various touch points, where it can interact with people in their healthcare journey. This is not restricted to pre, during and post health problems, but also explores the idea of empowering people to own their health, stay informed and focus on individual wellbeing.

Today, we are witnessing varied types of innovation being explored in order to achieve a democratic approach towards healthcare. These innovations primarily are categorised into 3 buckets.

  • Process Innovation
  • Technology Innovation
  • Business Innovation

Process innovation — the very method of buying and using healthcare is being redefined.

PillPack redefines the function of a pharmacy. The personalized service monitors and manages your medication directly with your doctors. It responds to your prescriptions, packages the medication by the dose and ships it directly to your door.

Process innovation

MediPay has identified the most latent pain point in healthcare servicing. A seamless, stress-free experience that gives you a clear picture of the medical insurance you are entitled to based on your profile, using it at the right time and place and even paying your doctor directly.

MediPay

A 3-step easy, transparent and fair payment plan for every medical need

Technology innovation — uses technology as a tool to develop and improve new products and treatments.

Cue Health is developing convenient technology to solve innate health problems. Their health monitoring system connects you to your health at a deeper level. You can use their portable device by adding your sample and simply loading it into the disposable cartridge. This gives them access to information, which otherwise would come after a long wait and unpredictable costs.

Cue Health

Cue’s portable device (L). Cue’s software delivers a personalized mobile health dashboard, which stores test results and connects directly with on-demand telemedicine and prescription services (R).

Business model innovation — creating new business models that are now matching the incumbents.

Apple ResearchKit is making catalogued research data available to research facilities and laboratories. The software framework for apps lets medical researchers gather robust and meaningful data. This has accelerated breakthroughs in specific diseases like autism and depression through rich medical insights and discoveries.

Apple ResearchKit

Apps created with the ResearchKit are already producing medical insights and discoveries at a pace and scale never seen before.

Bowhead is positioned as having fun with self-care. This approachable wellness tracker and personalized guidance tool prompts you to celebrate your health. You can earn tokens for tracking daily health behaviour, test your nutrients and hormones in realtime and get prescribed medication based on your body’s unique needs.

Bowhead

Bowhead Health is designed for individuals who want to take control of their health data and outcomes.

We see all these amazing interventions around us and are awed by the very possibilities of the same. 

Though, on the flip side, this also sheds light to the fact that these healthcare interactions are happening in isolation. They are solving one problem at a time across the journey, waiting for the rest to be solved by another. It is more of a ‘Eureka Moment’ of one than a syndicate driven transformation of a system.

Why can’t the healthcare system be more connected? Where each touch point in a person’s healthcare journey that is remotely associated with the concept of care, is inconspicuously connected to form a strong network of sorts. 

The answer to this predicament lies in creating a symbiotic relationship between primary healthcare needs, where there is an understanding and sharing of rich insights across care settings.

A systematic three-step process:

1. Patient information can be accessed and exchanged across care settings.

2. Collection of a wide range of vital health data that can help diagnose and treat patients in real-time from a preventive perspective.

3. Rely on this strong network to diagnose and treat more patients in ways that use time, money and human resources efficiently and effectively.

Healthcare data

Healthcare data that can be leveraged to create a robust system (Source — IBM Watson Health)

Can we create an ecosystem of sorts?

My lopsided diet can connect me for a free first-time consultation with a dietician — a vitamin deficiency identified in my body is verified by a local doctor — the required nutrition pills are on its way home.

A niggling pain in your back takes you to your family doctor — he is unable to give you a precise diagnosis — you are directed to the best available specialist (considering your urgency and insurance scheme) — you check the reviews and experiences shared by people — you visit the doctor and he prescribes 10 days of therapy sessions and weekly medication to strengthen your back — your appointment with your local physiotherapist is scheduled and your pharmacy sends you an intimation that the medicines are on its way — a yoga center in the vicinity offers you a free yoga session trial.

These are just two use cases, but the mental respite and positive affirmation people desire concerning their health needs to be felt and understood. Can every journey associated with health be reiterated with care? Care that is simple to understand and easy to execute.

A system where primary care, long-term care and post-op care are smoothly handed over from one to the other. Where support groups are introduced in the care process not as a last resort, but more as a first resort towards recovery.

Ecosystem

The connected Healthcare system

The possible solution

The possibility of this strong ecosystem lies in creating a Unique Identity System, something like an Aadhar for health. A system built on your biometric and demographic data, which is built on the premise of well being, care and trust. A platform binding key areas of effective healthcare, giving rise to the concept of a Unique Health ID.

Unique Identity System

A unified Health ID, which is unique to a person. This ID is an integral part of the health ecosystem — a rich health repository, where each vertical can cross-reference and talk to the other if allowed to. This also leads to the provision of a relevant, specialized and complete health solution.

The identification method can be anything from a smart card (corresponding to your blood group), biometrics (iris scan, fingerprints or face scan), or something as futuristic as an injectable or tattoo. The user is given a digital key, deciding who can see the data.

UHI

UHI can be an identification method : (l to r) Scannable tattoo, injectable, smart card, iris scan, fingerprints, face ID

The larger intent behind creating this system is to form this Circle of Care, where the quadrants of Diagnosis, Treatment, Wellbeing and Payments all group together to form the greater whole. Each is playing its own special role, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Circle of Care

The four pillars in this circle define the ideal approach to healthcare, where each pillar is essential to design a system of care. Diagnosis is linked to your medical centres, research and IOT devices. This corresponds to the nature of treatment and their offshoots, like medical facilities, pharmacies or support groups. Payments mainly consist of medical insurances and bills, which are seamlessly fitted in. This is invariably the area of contention in your journey and thus needs to be addressed tactfully. Wellbeing as a concept exists in isolation and is completely missing from the current system of care. Areas like health and nutrition, fitness, mental health organisations and advisories need to be brought in the forefront as the fourth pillar of strength.

This synergy will completely change the game. We will gradually set to build a structure, where the very concept of health goes beyond the defined line. It fundamentally changes the way we perceive and interact with the system. This unified and holistic approach will make people more positively proactive about health, rather than negatively reactive.

The feasibility and practicality of this mammoth transformation is a discussion by itself. But can we aim to gradually, but consciously shift our focus from just celebrating the current, revolutionary ideas by one to a collective, evolutionary approach towards a unified healthcare system?

Credits. 

IBM Watson Health, PillPack, MediPay, Cue Health, Apple ResearchKit, Bowhead, Unsplash

Additional Credits.

Design Labs – Dean Gonsalves, Hiral Shah, Noelle Mathew

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Mobile Technologies

App Development Trends in 2018: What’s the Next Big Thing?

Jul 30,2018 / By / No Comments

Guest post from Dave Bell, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gummicube.

The app ecosystem is always changing thanks to technology and consumer behavior that leads to new trends. Keeping up with the latest advances is important for app development as well as App Store Optimization (ASO) – developers should always be working toward improving their app. Let’s review some of the latest growing trends in app development that developers will want to capitalize on.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) has been a hot topic for app developers, especially with Pokémon Go demonstrating the technology could be the basis for a profitable app. Hardware and software advances mean AR is becoming more widely supported, and developers are actively seeking new ways to integrate it into their apps.

Apple announced the ARKit 2 at WWDC 2018. This enables new ways to implement AR in apps, as well as the USDZ file format designed specifically for augmented reality. This came shortly after Google revealed new AR capabilities at Google I/O where users can access and interact with apps through AR.

Augmented reality is also seeing more use in apps and mobile games. Shopping and fashion apps can allow users to virtually try on clothes with AR. The Jurassic World AR game, released near the new movie’s box office debut, places dinosaurs in the world around the user. As the technology becomes easier to develop and implement, we’re looking forward to further progress and innovative applications of AR.

Instant Apps

Another key trend, which Google has devoted time and effort toward, is Instant Apps. Developers can create smaller versions of their apps that users can try without needing to fully install. Initially, these were only available for a select few mobile apps and games, but are now available for all developers.

In relation to the aforementioned Augmented Reality, Google has begun integrating ARCore into Instant Apps. Users can open shopping apps they might not have installed after viewing items they want to purchase thanks to AR. Many developers are viewing Instant Apps as a new way to market, advertise or provide a “free trial” to encourage full installs. So far, developers have seen an increase of up to 27% in installs as a result.

In a time where instant access and gratification is in high demand, users and developers can both benefit by taking advantage of Instant Apps to get what they want quickly.

Internet of Things

If it seems like everything is connected these days, it’s because they are. The Internet of Things (IoT) is what we get when devices of all sorts are connected to the Internet, thus allowing access from an app or mobile device.

For instance, there are apps that allow users to turn on and off their home lights remotely, unlock and start their car, or see how much they’ve been using their treadmills. These are all devices connected to the IoT, with associated apps that can be utilized to gain users while providing them with ease and convenience.

Any device that can be connected to the Internet can benefit from IoT, whether it’s to gather and report data to the user or to allow remote access. As such, not only are app developers finding new ways to utilize IoT in their apps, but other industries are in need of apps to connect with their products. It’s a growing trend that has a big impact on practically every industry, and app developers are at the forefront of it.

Virtual Assistant Compatibility

While phones and other mobile devices have been improving their virtual assistants steadily over time, third-party developers have had few opportunities to truly utilize the built-in assistants on their own. However, as virtual assistants grow in their capabilities, app developers are finding new ways to work with them.

Most notably, Apple recently announced SiriKit, which allows developers and users to create custom shortcuts to app functions through the Siri virtual assistant. Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa already work with third-party applications, and more virtual assistants are seeing added functionality across apps.

Providing the ease of use and access that virtual assistants offer allows apps to provide better service to their users, ensuring loyalty and consistent use. Now with Siri added to the mix of assistants that can access and utilize third-party apps, developers are bound to start capitalizing on this growing trend.

What’s Next?

Innovation is key to thriving in the app industry, and today’s trends will help shape the future of the app ecosystem. What we’re seeing developers advance now may not last forever, but there will certainly be new trends in the next half of the year. Developers should never stop thinking ahead and make the most of the latest advancements to ensure that their app is at the ahead of the curve.

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Mobile Technologies

OTT vs. Television – tug of war or an era of collaboration?

Jul 24,2018 / By / No Comments

An entire neighbourhood gathering on a Sunday morning to watch Mahabharata, lazy afternoons with Shanti or insightful evenings with Amul Surabhi; television has a special place in the hearts of Indians.

In a digital world, where we have the flexibility of consuming content anywhere anytime, and across mediums – our relationship with television has changed. With the deluge of digital content, television as a device also serves as an extension of the digital medium via technologies like Google Chromecast and Amazon Stick.

So, does this mean that OTT or digital content viewership will supersede television content viewership and our good old friend will lose its sheen?

While this might be a possibility in the distant future, television medium isn’t going to fade away soon. Yes, the time spent and the way we consume television content is bound to see a shift, television will still be one of dominant medium for the coming few years.

Here’s why:

India has a huge viewer base when it comes to television:

While the growing content on the digital medium and the exceptional amount of time spent on internet might give an impression that the audience is moving away from TV content. That isn’t the case. According to a recent report, India has a massive TV audience base of 780 million. An interesting thing to note is, that despite the growing interest in the digital content, TV viewership has seen a rise of whopping 21% among the young audiences, with 224 minutes of daily time spent.

One of the reasons for this seemingly contradictory trend is audience expectations from both the mediums are different. When it comes to the digital medium most video content is seen on the smartphones. The drawback of this is the dwindling attention span of viewers, where users are constantly switching between apps. Further, most of the digital content is watched while the users are on a commute, and hence, shorter versions of episodes or web series work. However, when it comes to TV people expect longer versions of episodes. Another important aspect is television is a part of the daily family routine of Indians, a place that is difficult for any of the digital media platform to occupy at present.

According to Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC

The unique Indian habit of the entire family sitting together prevails.

Hence, given the current scenario, digital video growth is led by it becoming the second or third screen as 97% of India is still single TV homes.

Largest media spends are on television

When it comes to the digital medium, the time spent in India is lower than that of US and China. Further, according to BARC, youth viewership has grown on TV.

Given the increasing popularity of the digital medium it is surely gaining advertisers’ monies, however, television is still getting the major share. Hence pumping more monies in the television medium to produce content, which isn’t the case with the digital medium. Since traditional mediums like television and print still dominate overall ad spends in India and brand building is still largely happening through mature ad mediums such as television. Given the huge viewer base that TV enjoys, from an advertiser perspective, TV viewership is more valuable than a similar viewership on digital video.

Another reason why television gains advertisers interest is the fact that chances of viewers skipping a channel is lesser than skipping pre-roll or ads. So, brands will have to think about integrating their communications with the content instead of generating generic communications for all mediums.

As Ajay Chacko, Co-Founder and CEO, Arre, rightly puts it

“Advertisers, both traditional and new-age, are welcoming of content as a route to marketing. Brands are evaluating a balance between performance and impact when planning their media spends. There is cognisance of the fact that pre-rolls/ads can be skipped or blocked or muted when pushed down user’s timelines and feeds, but content is what consumers actively seek out and hence, more effective or impactful.”

Digitization yet to permeate the rural markets

When it comes to the overall split of the OTT viewership, the majority exists in urban India. Rural India is still predominantly a television market and a huge one at that.

OTT viewership

One of the reasons for this is the poor penetration of fixed broadband. According to a recent report, while Internet penetration in urban India reached at 64.84 per cent in December 2017 compared to 60.6 per cent in December 2016, the rural Internet penetration grew only a little — from 18 per cent in 2016 to 20.26 per cent in December 2017. However, with the introduction of low-cost network providers like Reliance Jio, this scenario is expected to change. The number of users of Jio is on the rise and video is an important driver for Reliance Jio’s high mobile data traffic. On the Jio network, subscribers watched an average of 13.4 hours of video each month in 2017. While low-cost network providers like Jio will further boost the consumption of digital content it is unlikely to have an effect on the television viewership, as yet.

Best of regional content is still on Television

One of the major reasons why Television is widely consumed is the huge library and options of regional content it provides. According to a recent BARC report –

The General Entertainment Channels (GEC) dominates the genre viewership pie with the highest share of eyeballs (51%), followed by Movies (25%). These are the two biggest genres on television.

Further, in the recent years, the share of GEC has declined by only a meagre 2%, which might be a function of increasing number of youth viewership.

Producing high quality original regional content is going to be an important aspect for OTT players to grow. In this case, Indian channels and media houses with their apps have an advantage because of the already available library of content. For instance, players such as Hotstar and Voot have higher access to Star India and Viacom 18 media libraries. According to a recent Deloitte report, currently, 40%  of the viewership of OTT platform comes from regional content.

So far, OTT players like Netflix and Amazon Prime have focussed on pushing global content to Indian subscribers, but they have realised how critical it is for them to offer regional and original content to viewers.

OTT players

Image source: Counterpointrsearch.com

Amazon Prime is likely to invest around $300 million in the Indian market for acquiring rights of Bollywood films and also producing original content, similarly, Netflix is producing more Hindi content like the recently launched series ‘Sacred Games’.

Regional content is going to be a major game-changer when it comes to changing the dynamics of the OTT market. However, it will not immediately impact the television market given the huge viewership, reach and the library of content available on the medium.

Paying for Television vs OTT

The Indian market is still fairly unaffected by the phenomenon of cord cutting. The major reason for this is, there is no economic reason to cut the cord as yet, since, TV delivers the highest value for money. Most OTT players work on the subscription model.

According to a research the majority of Indian audiences are still stuck to the free or ad-supported model as of now. Further, several options including web-series, stand-up comedies, etc. are already available on YouTube free of cost.

Most OTT players

Image source: Counterpointresearch.com

This implies that the OTT players will have to compete with the lower cost of Cable/Dish TV subscriptions and also provide compelling content for viewers to do so. This shift will also depend on the factors mentioned earlier in the article.

Future

In the near future, both TV and digital video will grow in parallel. Television viewership will see a steady increase, video OTT will grow as a second screen. Also, with the growth of viewership of the digital media, we will see advertisers spending more money on the medium, though, television will still get the major share of ad spend compared to the  OTT medium.

Ad-led online video platforms will also grow by manifolds in India (as wireless 4G ecosystem explodes) and subscription led online video platforms will grow as the fixed broadband infrastructure improves.

Further, with the cheap data network providers like Jio, we see a rise in the consumption of OTT content. However, it is unlikely to have a huge impact of the share that television medium enjoys.

We will also see OTT players pushing in more regional original content to suit the taste of the younger generation on the portals since the current viewer base is mostly the youth.

At present the OTT market is highly dispersed with pure OTT players (Netflix), channels and media houses (Viacom’s Voot, Hotstar), telcos (Jio TV, Airtel TV) etc. In the coming years, we will see an emergence of a more collaborative ecosystem.

India is a major market for the global OTT players and the boost in the infrastructure and digitisation is surely going to further shift the way media is consumed across mediums. It is a critical time for both TV and the OTT medium with a plethora of opportunities. Players across mediums will reap the benefits of this growth, and TV & the video OTT platforms will find a perfect platform to co-exist in India.

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Mobile Technologies

Design Tips for a Banking App That Ranks Highly in the App Store

Jul 9,2018 / By / No Comments

You sit in a café, enter a few names and numbers and click ”Send”, smiling when the confirmation page shows that you successfully paid your rent on time. Your company is expecting a large payment installment to come in from a client today and you need to confirm receipt of payment for the board meeting you have in 30 minutes. You check your phone on the way to the meeting and see that the funds have been transferred, but just past the payment deadline. You make a note in your calendar to follow up with the client about payment terms and fees, and head into your meeting with confidence knowing the numbers will be up to date.

These situations are examples of effective user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design in mobile banking. Intuitive design understands, as well as anticipates, what users will need to easily control their money and information online.

But what happens when your financial app fails and customers find themselves stranded or stuck because of missing information? How can large and small institutions alike ensure that their customers remain happy and eager to remain loyal to their brand, products, and services? And how do they consistently gain those highly-coveted 5-star reviews online that new users are seeking when making their own purchasing decisions for their banking needs?

Discussions of the largely unbanked population across the globe aside, mobile banking has become ubiquitous in both personal and business financial markets. And while the financial industry could always be met with a groundbreaking, innovative shift in the near future, we find ourselves today focusing on the keys points that companies can use to better design their mobile banking apps. If you want to learn how to design and release a highly-rated banking application on the App Store, read on.

Determine Your Customer Base

Who are you trying to reach? This can be a fairly broad category, but it’s important to understand who will be using your products and services, and to design your app in order to accommodate their needs. Is your customer base largely under 40 with readily available access to internet? Are they a Baby Boomer or Senior with limited technology experience but possessing robust financial knowledge? While this question may seem obvious, too few companies take the time necessary to dig into their ideal AND actual customer personas. Research shows that Baby Boomers and seniors are becoming more active in the online space for banking activity, while nearly half of Millennials using mobile banking are dissatisfied with the existing online banking services. While 43% of Millennials don’t feel their bank connects with them via their preferred channels, data from the Millennial Disruption Index shows that over 70% of Millennials are more excited about using non-traditional banking/payment features through a company they already use for other business transactions rather than their bank, companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, PayPal or Square. Pay attention to these key metrics to see where your app can’t and exceed expectations.

Determine Your Customer Base

Image source: www.fico.com

Are you targeting the US or North American market? Here you will find an already established network/infrastructure of technology, along with consumers’ desires for more efficient banking services in addition to the traditional services being offered. For those in countries that contain a considerable number of unbanked citizens, your team may want to consider what sort of technological restrictions you may face before implementing in those areas.

“As mobile devices reduce the cost to serve a customer by 50%-70%, it becomes profitable to offer financial services to a vast low-income population segment. And that is just one large market segment you may want to disrupt.”

Partnerships that Make or Break Your Success

How often have you heard of horror stories where companies failed to conduct due diligence on their vendors and platform partners, only to find out that the project remaining uncompleted, or worse, their IP or customer data had been stolen?

While due diligence may shift from company to company, these are the top areas you should consider when conducting due diligence with your vendors:

List of references

  • This point is fairly industry standard when it comes to vetting a service provider. Be sure to watch for names of other reputable companies in their references list, companies that you recognize as industry leaders as well.

Financial solvency

  • Unfortunately, many companies that appear successful are at risk for insolvency due to lack of financial controls. If you are concerned that project work could be drastically impacted by a vendor going under, reach out to them to request their latest financial statements.

Verification of insurance & license documentation

  • Especially when working with sensitive, confidential client and financial information, it’s important to verify that all those touching this information. Ask for licenses that show the provider is up to date with their certifications, along with proof of insurance that covers both parties in the case of

Previous complaint history with BBB, FTC, etc.

  • You may need to dig online for this on your own, but it’s important to read what other service partners and customers have written about their experiences with this vendor. If you see a marked pattern of neglect or repetitive mistakes, it might be best to move on.

Legal & regulatory compliance

  • A key point of review for any company, but especially in financial services. If you encounter a vendor that is unaware of jurisdictional regulations and compliance procedures, this should be a red flag. Same goes for those vendors unwilling to comply with those legal requirements and compliance protocols. Don’t open your company and your clients up to unnecessary risk just to save time or cost.

Expected level of service, security controls, technology architecture, past experience

  • Look for and ask for your potential vendor’s processes and procedures concerning the security of data and their level of experience in working in their industry

Contract review; terms, renewal/notification requirements, required service levels, etc.

  • Have your team review vendor agreements so you know exactly where your exposure might be in regards to terms of renewal (is this optional or required from the vendor, and how would it cost if it were required?), and notification requirements should you need to terminate the agreement for any reason.

Company history bios of management & key personnel

  • This can be optional but also vital. If you know the people working for the vendor are reputable and have a history of building trust in the industry, you can mark that down as another checkpoint of reliability and security.

Never ever underestimate the value and investment of taking extra time and effort by truly vetting your project partners. You’ll thank yourself later.

Learn and Understand Your Customers’ Pain Points

Consider what the average consumer has shared with similar organizations in your target market, and really listen when they are frustrated with a specific product or service. Look for patterns and repetition in the complaints and concerns they express. What pain points do they have?

Many frustrations that customers experience can often be fixed or mitigated with little effort or cost to a company. As simple as it may seem beforehand, and as easy as it may be to fix it at any point in the future, companies should recognize that, if left unchecked and unmanaged, these issues can exponentially grow to the point of destruction of your brand’s trustworthiness.

Onboarding:

Customers don’t mind leaving as soon as they start something that is frustrating or has a difficult and convoluted sign-in process. Even if they’ve gone to the trouble of researching your banking app among many others. Remember, getting someone through the door is much harder than keeping them in; keep this in mind when setting up your application’s onboarding process.

Be honest about timelines for the sign-up process. Can customers expect to have their information live in 10 minutes, or 10 days? To the best of your team’s resources, be very upfront about these expected timelines to set reasonable expectations in the customer’s mind. Clear wording, simple instructions, easy-to-read screens can ensure the onboarding is a productive and pleasant introduction to your company rather than a frustrating obstacle.

Take the Paytm app, for example; the easy-to-read design and layout is an integral aspect of what makes this payment app so popular. Another excellent example is the clean, simple layout of Square; apps such as these feature large areas of white space to simplify the steps users need to follow in order to enter payment details and process their funds, reducing the confusion and risk of mistakes that can often accompany a screen with too many moving parts.

Paytm app

“The banks of the future should provide a full digital onboarding. It needs to be fast, intuitive and frictionless.” Make onboarding match the reality of our digital age.

Business versus Personal banking:

Inconsistencies between personal banking and business banking often make sense for both large financial institutions and new fintech companies; for security reasons, there will often be different access levels and authorization protocols. However, the end users don’t necessarily care about the particulars of these differences. They simply want control over their finances, and consistent functionality across the platform to be able to manage that control.

An excellent example of effective integrated mobile banking is YES Mobile 2.0. Their app features a seamless experience across devices and various platforms – smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, and desktops ─ with innovative features enabled to offer on-the-go ease for day-to-day transactions such as:

  • One-touch bill payment.
  • Speech-to-text for hands-free registration
  • On-the-go bill payments from Wearables
  • Transfer of funds to your social media contacts

YES Mobile 2.0

Especially when using the same bank or financial institution, users will argue that banking and finance functions shouldn’t change much in the day-to-day transactional needs. App developers should be sensitive to this and design an app with a consistent, delightful user experience in mind.

Payments:

One of the greatest aspects of mobile banking is the ability to make payments from wherever you are, whenever you need to. Many customers have often lengthy and sometimes frustrating experiences at the bank teller, with long and complex forms and processes have been the norm. Now users have the flexibility to manage both receiving and sending payments, saving them time and, not surprisingly, money. However, when that system breaks down, customers may find themselves shopping around for another option that provides better, faster, simpler service.

A prime example, MAXIT @ My Universe, was launched to save money for its customers every time they used their credit/debit cards for payments. The company began to notice that the majority of transactions went through cards, without fully harnessing the rewards and offers typically available through these cards. The MAXIT app, in turn, helps users track spending, discover offers and choose the best card for payments.

MAXIT App

The whole point of your banking app is to make your customers’ lives easier and to give them more control over their finances. When simple transactions and payments can’t be made, you’ve essentially rendered your app pointless.

Prioritize Security So Your Customers Don’t Have To

As with anything to do with finances, money, and customer data, security is at the forefront of the conversation, from a backend development perspective. But it shouldn’t be in your customer’s mind. Which means, they shouldn’t even consider that it’s not a priority. When designed well, world-class security surrounding their information should simply be assumed and the customer can go about their day with confidence, ease, and trust in your app.

Make things as simple as possible, as secure as possible. In the interest of security, many financial applications encounter problems with the convenience of access for customers. Consider: would you want to visit a restaurant that was only open for one hour a week? This is an area that is still going through changes in innovation, but if you can combine your institution’s need for security with your customer’s desire for convenience, your customer’s trust in your company will grow.

Less but Better: Mobile Apps and KISS method

Create an easy to use system, and stick to it. Complex systems can be made simple, don’t get caught in the trap that more is better.

Navigation:

Navigating your app should be even simpler than navigating the financial institution’s website in order for customers to access their information. For specific items or issues that cannot be resolved by looking through, they should easily be able to find the Contact page with clear instructions on how to reach someone from their financial institution.

Lack of usability is a common concern for users through their mobile banking application, which translates to an undesirable experience resulting in either lost business or angry customers calling or visiting the bank.

Even something as simple as ensuring button colours are consistent across pages can eliminate moments of confusion and frustration. Can customers easily find buttons for processing monthly bill payments? Are the fields for searching through past transactions clearly and obviously labelled? If changes have been made to the site or app, can users still access their information based on repetition, or will they be required to call technical support?

Customers will thank you for following the wisdom of the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid), and they’ll reward you for this in customer loyalty and more business through referrals and word of mouth praise.

Let Your Customer Support Be Your Cornerstone

So you have an app, that’s great. Welcome to 2018, everyone has an app. The challenge now will be to create a banking application that sits above the rest and that supports your customers’ needs properly. Have you created a process or a system that streamlines, simplifies, and saves time? Have you added subtle details and functionality that delights and surprises customers in ways that add value?

One key takeaway is to make your customer service accessible to your customers. Should they encounter a problem or roadblock, be sure that help is easily found, or that an actual person is readily available to help them and get them on their way. If you make your company’s support team a scavenger hunt to find on your site or app, you leave customers with the impression that you don’t care, or that you don’t want to help. Be friendly, be accessible, be knowledgeable.

All in all, good design in mobile banking brings together security, convenience, and accessibility in one place. Be sure to do your research. Ask your customers what they need and want, and really listen to their frustration. Above all, keep things simple, less but better. And then watch those 5-star ratings roll in.

UX/UI design plays a key role when it comes to creating engaging and delightful products for consumers and we at Robosoft strive to create such digital solutions across industries. We are thrilled to be named as one of the Top User Experience Design Agencies of 2020 by Upvotes.co a leading listing platform for full-service agencies, web design companies, digital marketing firms & top technology companies. You can see more of our work here.

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Mobile Technologies

From digital banking to citizen services, UAE is leading the way in digital technology

Jul 3,2018 / By / No Comments

In the past, UAE would have evoked imagery of an economy driven largely by oil and tourism (thanks to Dubai). Petroleum and natural gas continue to play a central role in the economy, especially in Abu Dhabi. The diversification of the economy began 20 years ago, with setting up of several hubs like Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City. While technology was at the centre of these initiatives too, a key pivot happened in a few years ago, led by visionary leadership, to direct the end benefit to the common citizen.

The commendable aspect of these initiatives is that they are meant to make the everyday life of the common citizen easier, better. In 2013, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, said, “We want to relocate citizen service centers into every citizen device, enabling them to obtain their desired service through their mobile phones anywhere at any time. A successful government reaches out to the citizens rather than waits for them to come to it.” So adoption of technology and a customer-centric approach have been the hallmark of digital initiatives in the UAE.

Technology for business and the common citizen

According to a McKinsey report in 2016, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain are among the top countries in the world, with more than 100 percent smartphone penetration and more than 70 percent social media adoption—even higher than the United States. But true technology adoption is beyond numbers pertaining to smartphone penetration – it is about making lives of people and businesses easy. For example, ENOC developed an RFID-enabled fuelling system that allows cashless and card-less automated payments. In 2016, Bank Audi Lebanon launched Novot, a robot powered by Artificial Intelligence which helped a branch welcome and guide customers, as well as promote the Bank’s products and services. A leading medical &health sciences university wanted to automate their university operational workflows and centralized database to generate required reports and get information with ease. Robosoft crafted a solution which automated functions such as application registration, fee collection, time-table management, online exams, faculty-student communication and more through web app. Recently, the UAE Federal Public Prosecution launched an app through which public can report acts that are punishable by law.

The UAE is also considered to be a leader when it comes to digital banking in the Middle East. According to a report, Emirates NBD (ENBD), one of the leading banks in the region has committed Dh1 billion for digital transformation. The aim of banks like Mashreq and Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) is also to make service delivery channels more useful and customer friendly. In fact, UAE is also home to digital only banks like Liv.Me which boldly proclaim ‘No Call Center’ as their USP.

The region is also home for several global airlines – an industry where digital ‘design’ plays a key role in defining customer experiences.

The future is even brighter

The digital ambitions of the region can be gauged by the goal set in 2013: make available all government services accessible through mobile devices within two years. The official portal of the UAE Government lists several eServices of the government – Hotel, Apartment Engineering Drawings, Remote Interpretation Service, Renewal of Business Services and View Insured Employee Details…to name a few.

The vision for Dubai, while being futuristic places the interests of the common citizen at the centre. The Smart Dubai 2021 vision: to be the happiest city on earth.

“We are making Dubai the happiest city on earth by embracing technology innovation making Dubai a more seamless, safe, efficient and personalised city experience for all residents and visitors.”

Smart buildings, smart roads, smart energy, smart justice…and more are part of this ambitious program. The region is rapidly adapting new technologies to make an impact on the day to day lives of citizens.

In October 2017, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum announced the appointment of the country’s first minister of state for Artificial Intelligence.  There is even an ‘UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’, outlining the country’s aims to enhance performance and productivity by investing in AI. Saudi Arabia has announced the $500bn,  Neom, dubbed ‘the world’s most ambitious project’ – a smart city where citizens will travel in driverless vehicles, have free Internet and live in zero-carbon homes.

According to Necip Ozyucel, cloud and enterprise business solutions lead at Microsoft Gulf, 60 percent of enterprises are planning to adopt AI and AI-embedded use cases including predictive analytics, robotics and machine automation… particularly in growth industries such as retail, finance and manufacturing.  There is a growth in AI adoption not only in private sectors but also in the government services. The customer service chatbot of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Rammas, is a good example. The healthcare industry too offers great potential to embrace AI to enhance its services. Dr Bassam Mahboub of the Dubai Health Authority, believes that ‘the roadmap of future healthcare is a system that is a mix of mobile applications, chatbots, and smart computer analytics that will provide patients with their diagnosis’. The government has even established a ‘Drones for Good’ initiative which is ‘dedicated to transforming the innovative technologies behind civilian drones into practical, realisable solutions for improving people’s lives today.’

A recent report also revealed that UAE citizens express a strong interest in biometric technologies that make their lives easier. They believe that new forms of authentication, such as fingerprint, facial, and voice recognition, can make unlocking accounts and payments much easier and more convenient than traditional passwords or PINs. We at Robosoft have experienced the benefits of convenience coupled with security in a sensitive category like personal finance thanks to our work for online trading companies mobile payments & e-commerce platforms and banks.

In essence, digital technologies will continue to be interwoven into the everyday lives of all citizens and businesses in the UAE. In this context, design thinking will play a crucial role in planning the customer experience by empathising with their pain points. The future bodes well for the citizens of the region as technology is not used as an end in itself but as a means to end – a delightful customer experience.

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Mobile Technologies

Voice assistants in retail – what consumers want

Jun 28,2018 / By / No Comments

From the advent of the mobile to smartphones and talking on the phone to talking ‘to’ it, we have come a long way.

‘Hey Siri’, ‘Ok Google’, ‘Alexa’ are now a part of our day to day lives. Voice assistants have changed our relationship with smartphones from being a communication device to being enablers of simplifying some of our daily tasks.

Voice searches and voice assistants have piqued users’ interest over the years. According to Gartner, about 30% of all searches will be done without a screen by 2020 and as per Comscore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches.

Voice searches and voice assistants

Image source: https://voicebot.ai

How consumers are using voice assistants

According to a study, 35.8% of millennials use voice-enabled digital assistants at least once a month. While we have seen consumers using voice assistants and slowly becoming comfortable with the technology, is it something that retailers should concentrate on right away?

To answer that question let’s see how consumers are using voice assistants:

Voice Shopping Skews Younger

Here is how consumers are using voice speakers:

A recent report by Comscore suggests-

  • 60% use them to ask general questions
  • 57% use them to get weather report and stream music
  • 16% use it to find local businesses
  • 11% use it for ordering products &
  • 8% use it for ordering foods and services

The above statistics point out that a very small percentage of consumers are using their voice devices for shopping. Further, a majority of Americans (70%) have not yet used voice search or voice assistants to shop, and well over half don’t trust the current providers to get it right.

Here is how consumers are using voice speakers

Even when shoppers are using voice assistants the highest percentage of people use it for researching or managing their shopping lists than actually making a final purchase.

When shoppers are using voice assistants

Image source: https://voicebot.ai

Currently, among the users who use voice search to shop, Google Assistant leads Amazon Alexa (14% vs. 9%). However, these consumers also feel that these players haven’t got voice-assisted shopping right. A study suggests that almost 63% of consumers feel that none of the current leaders (Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft) will pull ahead and “get it right,” any time soon.

There is obviously a gap that the consumer is facing when it comes to using voice assistants while shopping. As per a recent study, these are the three major reasons why consumers are reluctant to use voice-assisted shopping.

  • The technology is new
  • Lack of personalization
  • Not a simplified experience

Let’s dig deeper into each of these.

The reasons behind the low adoption of voice assistants for shopping

The technology is relatively new

Smartphone is an integral part of the consumer’s life today. While consumers are searching on smartphones they are not shopping on the device. Almost a third of shoppers (29 percent) browse on their smartphones daily, but only 27 percent of those shoppers go on to make a purchase on their devices at the same frequency.

The issue is, it’s more of a habit or muscle-memory in play here. While shopping, people tend to browse items, read reviews, compare costs etc. before making a purchase, these are things that cannot be done on voice-based assistants. It’s a habit that is very difficult to change. Of course, it’s possible to add shopping items to your list via voice but it works for items that you commonly use and ones that don’t need research or reviews from other users.

‘’Meeker’s 2015 report bets on ‘Buy buttons’ on social media to drive e-commerce but that has not happened yet. The incumbent e-commerce players are still the king and will remain so in the near future. I think voice assisted shopping might face a bit of resistance from IoT powered shopping such as the Amazon DASH buttons. For repeated purchase of consumables, one-press buttons are much faster and efficient than voice-based shopping. Even though the speech recognition has improved up to human-level accuracy I think people still have to build a habit of using speech to perform tasks on their phones.’’

-Pradeep Kumar, Vice President, Technology Innovations, Robosoft

The overall adoption of voice technology when it comes to retail is still picking up. One of the biggest reasons for this is the lack of interaction with the actual product on a digital platform vs in-store.

In case of voice assistants, the added disadvantage is the lack of screen as well. When it comes to consumables or CPG products like grocery items, it is relatively easier for buyers to shop for them. However, buying higher value products or apparels without a screen is not comfortable for users.

As per Tiffany Tan Kohler, Director, brand engagement, The Clorox Co.

‘’People use voice commerce, specifically, for consumables and reordering products they are familiar with. The beauty of voice is that it enables frictionless shopping, so it’s particularly ideal for buying consumables that shoppers think about during their day.’’

Of course, this challenge opens up possibilities for brands to experiment with technologies like Virtual Reality. Technology giants like Amazon are already thinking ahead and tackling this problem, last year, Amazon launched its Echo Show that provides users with a screen to better see purchases and other images.

‘’I think voice assisted flows will find more use in much simpler tasks where there are not a lot of options to choose from. It’s better suited for flows that are complex to be performed via click or taps but can be done easily via voice command. This can still be applicable to shopping for products that don’t have a lot of configurations.’’

-Pradeep Kumar, Vice President, Technology Innovations, Robosoft

Missing the connect

Most of the voice assistants need to be given exact and specific instructions. However, while shopping consumers are not always clear about the brand they want to buy, in some cases even the product category they want to buy.

According to a study, most website/mobile app visitors actually spend time researching about a product category than buying, further proves that purchase is typically a secondary consideration. In fact, even when it comes to shoppers who say purchase is their primary reason for visiting websites/mobiles apps, just 38 percent first look for the products they came for.

This means most online shoppers are usually looking for recommendations. The voice assistants available in the market today aren’t able to connect with the consumers. A recent study, suggests, 72% of respondents feel that the voice assistants are not cognitive enough to recommend gift ideas. However, as technology advances retailers will be able to personalize customer experiences.

Google Duplex is an example of one such advancement in this area and is a big step towards humanizing the voice assistants. The recent launch of Continued Conversation, a feature that allows for more natural conversation between users and Google Home voice assistants is another critical step towards making conversations with a voice assistant sound more natural.

As per Google

We’ve heard from a lot of people that adding “Hey Google” before each follow-up question for the Assistant doesn’t feel as natural as they’d like. We announced Continued Conversation at I/O as an optional setting which lets you have a natural back-and-forth conversation with the Assistant without repeating “Hey Google” for each follow-up request.

Chatting up your Google Assistant just got easier

Image source : blog.google

The factors responsible for personalizing these experiences for customers are two-fold:

  • First, AI and NLP (Natural Language Processing) will need to advance to a point where consumers feel that they are interacting with a human voice at the other end.
  • Second, retailers will have to devise a strategy to ensure the device has the latest customer interactions so it can make targeted, on point recommendations that align with the shopper’s current sentiment and previous behavior.

Not a simplified shopping experience

With the advancements in the technology and digital payments, the entire purchase-cycle for online purchases is integrated. However, the ease of payments hasn’t been sorted out when it comes to voice-assisted shopping. As per a recent survey, almost 19% of respondents felt that voice commerce required too much guidance.

When it comes to voice-commerce it is important that users get the convenience of making the purchase in minimal voice-commands and zero screen interaction. Much like in the case of mobile apps it is important that the entire purchase cycle from researching to payments is completed in a limited number of fingertips.

As per Bill Carmody Founder and CEO, Trepoint

‘’If voice commerce is not easy to navigate when making a purchase, users will unplug and move to another channel. Regardless of the channel consumers engage on, they want it to be convenient and that’s a major benefit of an in-home assistant.’’

One important thing that brands need to know if they want to be part of the voice assisted shopping is that their names should be easily recognizable by the NLP engines. Products that have common names might be easily recognizable but products that have a tough name or can be pronounced in different ways will have trouble getting it right. Identifying the brand name via voice recognition is the first challenge that brands will have to face and solve.

Why should brands consider devising a strategy for voice-assisted shopping?

While the technology itself seems to be in a nascent stage, it will advance with innovations and improvements in the area of AI, NLP, AR/VR etc. For brands, to stay ahead of the curve, it makes sense to start exploring the possibilities now, when the technology is still picking up and the adoption is easier.

Further, today’s digitally-savvy consumers seek technology-rich experiences, provided they are done right. According to a recent report by Capgemini–

40 percent of consumers say that three years from now, they will be more likely to use a voice assistant rather than engage with a retailer’s mobile app or website. That’s up from 24 percent who use or would use the technology today.  The study also found consumers expect to be using voice assistants over a number of other retail tasks within three years, including visiting a shop, dealing with customer support/call centres and using a salesperson.

However, while consumers are open to trying a new technology, they are equally fast to abandon an experience that doesn’t add value to their digital experience and isn’t intuitive enough. Hence, it is important for brands to have a clear strategy on why they should have a voice-search strategy and how is it going to make consumer’s life easier.

As Joey Moore, director product manager, Episerver, rightly puts it:

“Today’s shoppers are interested in technology-rich experiences, but only if it’s done right. Rather than introducing novel technology for the sake of doing so, brands should implement tools like smart mirrors in-store and facial recognition sign-in online to make shopping easier, fast, more convenient and engaging.”

What consumers expect from voice assistants

Convenience is one of the major reasons why consumers adopt any new technology. So, is the case with voice assistants too. As validated by a recent report, 52 percent of consumers say convenience and 48 percent consumers say the ability to do things hands-free, are the two biggest reasons for preferring voice assistants over mobile apps/websites. Further, being able to automate routine shopping tasks and a higher level of personalization was tied for third, at 41 percent.

When it comes to shopping consumers would want a voice assistant to make their lives easier at various touch points.

What consumers expect from voice assistants

So what should brands be doing now to get ready for the voice shelf?

It is clear that consumers are expecting retailers to offer a voice-based solution to make their lives easier. Further, in the coming years, voice is going to be a strategic selling channel for retailers. As found in this survey, voice technology has a huge satisfaction rate across several age groups. 65% of users said they can’t go back to a life without a smart speaker and they end up using the technology multiple times a day.

It’s projected to be a $3.5 billion dollar industry by 2021. Given these facts, it is evident that voice-technology is going to take off in the coming years, it is important for brands to plan for voice-technology in their strategy.

How retailers can make the most out of the voice-search

According to ComScore, 50 percent of all searches are going to be by voice by 2020. To adapt to this changing behaviour of users, Google has subtly been evolving its response to this, providing “Answer boxes” for a couple of years to an increasingly wide range of queries. Powered by the Knowledge Graph, which stores structured and unstructured information to help Google improve its search queries, these boxes fuel the answers provided by Google Home. As users get more accustomed to voice search, it will also impact how consumers shop.

It’s clear that voice-activated shopping is only set to get bigger, but many companies are unsure about where to even start with their voice strategy. Some of the basic strategies that brands should be keeping in mind while adopting voice strategy are – eCommerce optimization,  a good search ranking, accurate and complete product content, as well as highly-rated and well-priced products, is the foundation to a successful voice strategy.

Understand your consumers

As mentioned earlier one of the reasons why consumers opt for voice search is convenience and simplifying their day-to-day tasks. Hence, it becomes critical for brands to understand consumer behavior while they shop. Brands will have to anticipate what users need and in doing so, user-centric voice strategy will play a critical role.

It might include providing solutions based on previous user-interactions with the brand, social listening and intuitive user behaviour on a brand’s website or app. As smart-speakers gain ground, a user-centric strategy will help brands get a competitive advantage.

Another important aspect of devising a user-centric strategy would be understanding the user-intent behind any query. This will require brands to develop content as well as expand your paid search keyword lists to include longer tail keyword phrases to reach users at each stage of intent based on the types of questions they are asking.

Understand your consumers

Image source: Campaignlive.co.uk

Understand user’s language

As mentioned earlier in the article, most users are reluctant to use voice search because they do not connect with the voice assistants. One of the reasons behind this is the tone and the words they use while using a voice query vs a search query. Voice searches are longer than keyword searches for a simple reason that compared to typing, we can speak more words at any point in time. Further, when it comes to voice search the queries are more natural than the ones entered in the search bar.

Understand user’s language

Image source: Campaignlive.co.uk

Hence brands will have to be cognizant of the fact that instead of saying what consumers type, they are going to speak in a manner they verbally communicate.

For instance, instead of saying Thai restaurants, Chicago, they’re going to say, “Where are the closest Thai restaurants?”

Natural language queries make up 70 percent of queries received by Google Assistant, and voice searches are 30 times more likely to be action-based. Further, People can speak 150 words per minute compared to typing only 40, and speaking is a much more natural way for us to interact with our surroundings.

Advances in AI, deep learning and NLP will further bridge the gap between voice assistant understanding and connecting with their human friends better. AI also offers an unprecedented access to user habits and preferences—so bands have a huge potential to use it. Brands will need to leverage AI to customize the conversation in the users’ conversational style. Tone and wording are crucial in that endeavour.

Hear more than what users say

While voice recognition technology is still improving, one of the key differentiators in this aspect will be understanding not what users say but what they mean. For instance, if a user asks Alexa to “search women’s Adidas Ultra BOOST shoes,” is she looking for user reviews or is she ready to purchase? And in decoding this user-intent AI will play a critical role by augmenting basic search parameters.

AI can help brands read contextual clues to refine their customer persona model by what stage of the buying journey someone is in. Armed with this information, brands will be better positioned to fine tune their voice in accordance with intent.

In conclusion

While voice search is becoming popular amongst users, it will take time voice commerce to pick up pace. However, it will help retailers and the e-commerce industry to prepare for this change right now, when users are still becoming accustomed to the technology and the entry barriers are low.

However, the incidents of recent security and privacy breaches have made consumers sceptical and more concerned about the security and privacy issues related to any piece of technology. The recent breach of privacy by Alexa’s Echo makes it even more important for brands to ensure robust security measures are taken.

Coupled with advances in technologies like  AI, VR, deep learning, NLP, etc. voice assistant technology is set to slowly become an integral part of consumers’ life. For brands, it is critical to start preparing for this shift now and be future ready

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