Artificial Intelligence Benefiting The Healthcare Industry 

Technology has widely proliferated across the industries and has touched almost every corner of our lives. Healthcare industry is one such segment that the technology is bringing in a disruption into. With a vast transformative capability, artificial intelligence(AI) and robotics are re-shaping the way this complex industry functions. It is slowly changing the healthcare delivery system in a much more streamlined, structured, and insightful manner.

AI and robotics have become an extended part of the human mind and body which performs tasks that humans do, more efficiently, quickly, and precisely. Whenever we think of AI and robotic in healthcare, we first envision a robotic surgery or automated check-ups, but in reality, the magnitude of this technology is a lot more than that. By simplifying the lives of doctors, patients, caregivers, and hospitals, AI and robotics are re-inventing the modern healthcare system by comprehending, learning, and solving problems like how doctors do. Having said that, today, AI-driven care does require some human intervention. It is predicted that shortly these programmed systems will make the right decision using their learning and understanding without any human interventions.

Here is a line-up of the major ways that robotics and AI are disrupting the healthcare industry as we discuss:

 

Accuracy

AI and robotic systems do not get tired, hassled, or lose attention. It perfectly bridges the gaps between human intelligence and machine performance. As these systems are tech-enabled and data-driven, they perform tasks with utmost precision, vigour, and intellect. As far as the software is rightly coded, human intervention can be limited.

Also, micro-robots are so conditioned that they perform their tasks very precisely. They are so designed that they travel to the destination point in the body and are used to deploy drugs locally or perform micro-surgeries like unclogging of blood vessels. A right code and it does it all.

 

Diagnostics and treatment plans 

The best use of AI and the robotic system is to detect patterns that examine various conditions and health risks by studying the health records and other available data. If the data provided is accurate, AI can be extremely helpful in rightly identifying the risks and hazards. These systems are designed to analyse, predict, and provide solutions. Today, they are mostly used for advanced endoscopy and visual diagnostics.

The system can read zillions of cases and reports, and find co-relations between the available variables. This helps in real-time analysis of complex life-taking issues and risks, especially in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

 

Virtual Assistance 

Caregivers are the backbone of the healthcare industry. Using AI applications, they can deliver care services by virtual nursing and assistance. It is a great tool when hospitals and clinics have limited healthcare workers or are understaffed. Also, this professionally assisted AI-driven monitoring system is a great option for the ones who chose to recover from home or who can not afford a bed in a hospital. This can also help during the pandemics and outbreaks when hospitals have limited beds and are not readily available.

 

Decision Making

Any healthcare provider aims to improve the health of their patients and so is the motto of AI-driven healthcare robots. Care is best provided by carefully aligning the data with mindful decisions. The analysed data and insights help caregivers predict and make the best clinical decisions and act faster. AI-enabled healthcare systems help read reports and health data very precisely and quickly and thereby providing the best possible solutions depending upon their learning capabilities. Today, many hospitals and institutes are implementing cognitive technologies to read a high volume of data, enable quick diagnosis, and make informed decisions.

 

Final words

It is fascinating to see how technology is changing the way a complex and critical industry like healthcare is functioning now. Though there is a lot more than robots and AI in the healthcare industry, it is of course a notable growth in the segment. In the times to come, the industry will for sure witness development of more efficient tools, enhancements, and augmentations. The continuous learning of AI-driven robotics will only help improve their capabilities and efficiency and enable a healthier world.

 

GoodWorkLabs is a global technology development company. We have built custom-made and agile healthcare applications that have helped the industry to achieve their business goals effectively. We are known to make the best use of global tech trends while developing applications that excel massively. Reach out to us at +91- 9863077000 or contact@goodworklabs.com for a free 1-hour consultation of how we can help you.

 

Factors to Consider while Selecting the Best Mobile Application Development Company

In the previous decade, the requirement for enterprise software development, particularly from mobile application development companies has expanded exponentially. To foster a seamless user experience, Fortune 500 companies, SMEs, start-ups, and budding entrepreneurs are investigating every possibility. Consistently many businesses are venturing into the development of mobile applications intending to engage users and generate more business. A compelling mobile application has a key part in a business’ success. Therefore, organisations and entrepreneurs must choose a custom-built mobile application to improve their operations and ROI.

Choosing the best mobile application company can be an extreme assignment for some business visionaries. The explanation is simple, today there are a large number of mobile application development agencies which makes it hard for them to make an informed decision. Truth be told, each entrepreneur ought to consider some key factors before on-boarding a tech partner to develop a mobile application. It requires a precise examination to get the desired assistance for your business. Also, mobile applications have become the endurance and sustenance unit for each online business. It is the coolest method to connect with your intended interest group and meet your objectives of significant growth, expansion, and increased ROI.

Let us look at the parameters you should consider while choosing a mobile app development company:

 

Understand your requirements:

Create a comprehensive list of features you need in your application and the assistance you require to develop your mobile application. You ought to have the option to characterize the specific things you are searching for in a mobile application. This would depend on your business domain and the sort of products or services you are attempting to offer. Regardless of whether you are looking to set-up a not-for-profit mobile application, you should have rightly characterized its usefulness. Also, not to forget, you must be unique.

 

Look for an Innovative Company

Choosing mobile application companies that develop inventive applications or create out-of-the-box software will be an extraordinary decision. By employing such an imaginative mobile application developer, it will be easier for you to create an application that is attention-grabbing, unique, effective, and efficient. At large, your application can increase the user traffic if you employ an innovative mobile app development company for your requirements. The explanation to this is, that they create mobile applications that can stand the test of times, as they are developed with high-customisation and user insights at their core.

 

Development Approach:

The approach that an app developer takes can have two direct effects on your project and business: time and budget. Each application requires a customised development model which can help it to be unique and extraordinary. During the development phase, if a mobile app development company takes a ‘one size fits all’ approach, it might end up being a failure. If this is not taken care of, the outcomes could be delayed in addition to other complications.

 

Check for the company’s experience:

Experience is another main consideration that helps entrepreneurs in shortlisting the best mobile application development company. The organization you choose must have experience in developing a similar application. More than the number of applications created by these developers, it is the quality of the developed application that matters more. Building a great mobile application isn’t a simple assignment. It requires core domain knowledge, exceptional aptitude, business understanding, and innovative mind of mobile application developers.

To develop a seamless, effective, and engaging mobile application, you must check the aforementioned crucial factors while on-boarding a mobile app development company. If you invest some time in this process and choose the right partner for the development of your application, then you are sure to receive most fruitful benefits in return.

 

GoodWorkLabs is a global mobile app development company. We build custom-made and agile mobile applications that help organisations achieve their business goals effectively. We are known to make the best use of global tech trends while developing mobile applications that excel massively. Reach out to us at +91- 9863077000 or contact@goodworklabs.com for a free 1-hour consultation of how we can help you.

How Fonts Can Influence UI/UX Design

There are quite a lot of thoughts and emotions that we possess as human beings which are an integral part of all our creative decisions. This is why having a close observation of our feelings can help us to understand some interesting choices which we tend to make in our creative work fields. Over the last few years has been the selection of fonts in UI/UX Design is becoming more critical With the creative world constantly changing and adapting to those changes, there has also been a regular flow in learning about the methods to understand and execute typography in different kinds of environments.

UI and UX are two terms that include a lot of things, which is easy to observe because their definitions tend to vary according to the people you talk to. In the simplest terms, UI embodies the whole layout of the website or app, while UX sums up the feelings and emotions of a user when interacting with the different components of the design.

The link between UI and UX is pretty direct, with the UI exerting a lot of influence on UX and the same holds vice- versa.
People also have become more aware of the design, typography, and ways of how the world around them looks. When you become involved with a digital marketing agency for your requirements, it becomes essential that you prepare at your end for discussing fonts at the time of creative processes.

Quite a large number of people are aware of color psychology, and how some particular shades influence the behavior and the thought process of people. What is not known to many is that fonts also have an enormous impact on our overall psychology.

Associating with different methods of typography can help initiate powerful emotions and ideas. In the context of companies, it translates to selecting the right kind of fonts for a logo design which can help you fill the void in your entire brand personality.

Fonts are pretty useful tools for brand recognition. From getting a logo designed that has a sober and severe typeface or taking up something more edgy and vibrant, it becomes easier to define a ‘formal’ brand.

Selecting the right kind of font can have a significant impact on the overall feel of your website or app. The correct font, letter, size, color and the lack of unwanted distractions make it easy for the user to read and go through the content available on your website or app.
If you can understand that every font has a unique set of characteristics, you can finalize the best collection of fonts which act as the best representative of your business.

The choice of font you wish to include will depend a lot upon the overall emotions that you want to convey to your target audience, and this involves getting a little into the psychology behind font selection.

 

THE TYPOGRAPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY

Humans have an automatic reaction to the style in which a particular kind of text gets written. For instance, if you want to convey that you have a business that is pretty well-established and imbibed in tradition, you are more likely to go for a font style which reflects the idea of heritage.

In another case, if you are looking to make people perceive your business as a welcoming and stable venture, you can go to a less formal kind of typeface.

Here are a few types of typography that are known around in the design industry-

 

THE SERIF FONT PSYCHOLOGY

This is the most generic kind of font option. Serif fonts help convey the feelings of heritage and class, making them a great opportunity when you want to create for a company that gives out a vibe of being well-established.

They have a very artistic nature, and this is why Serif fonts bring with them the emotions of respectability and trust, making them the perfect choice for brands who want to have identities that move around grandeur and authority.

The serif fonts are best informal situations, and work best with the companies who are looking to create solid brand awareness among the target market, and portray a genuine nature.

The fonts are suited for finance companies, editorials, academics, and broadsheets.

Times New Roman, Garamond, and Georgia are popular choices in serif fonts.

 

SLAB SERIF FONT PSYCHOLOGY

The Slab Serif typefaces are often regarded as a subset of serif fonts as they are pretty similar in their appearance but have pronounced slab sections present in them. These typefaces are more often than not associated with solidity, confidence and a bold feeling of attitude.
Slab Serif fonts are perfect for the companies that are looking to make a significant impact in the market with either a very unique product or idea. Technology and automobile companies make free use of these fonts as they want to fill in their customers with a feeling of trust and confidence and not compromise on the new creativity part of it.
Their favored options include Rockwell, Courier, and Museo fonts.

 

SANS SERIF FONT PSYCHOLOGY

Simply put, the Sans Serif fonts are modern, clean and pretty engaging. These fonts are utilized by companies who believe in demonstrating a simple, straightforward, and no-nonsense attitude.
When things come down to logo design and typography, the sans serif options bring about a sense of sensibility and honesty. There is no decorative element that could distract the eye or divert the objective of delivering a message through fonts.
This simple yet practical nature of sans serif fonts attracts such brands to them who put clarity as to their priority when they get their company logo designed.
Some of the best sans serif font options are Century Gothic, Arial, and Helvetica.

 

SCRIPT FONT PSYCHOLOGY

The Script fonts are way fancier than their serif counterparts. The fonts promote ideas of elegance, femininity, and creativity, which is because of their handwritten nature. If you are someone who wished to make their company look more personal to get that customer loyalty, then the script typefaces can serve your purpose without a doubt.
The script fonts are the ones that are likely to encourage more creative and emotional ideas. However, script fonts demand a lot of caution. They may look artistic and fancy, but specific contexts also make deciphering them a challenging task.
Lobster and Lucida Script are two options that are great for use.

If you wish that your brand name has a separate and explicit entity apart from the logo, it is essential to understand that the way a word appears has the same amount of utility as the word itself. Your name plays a part in generating brand awareness, but if the shape and style of your font cannot boost a customer’s curiosity, then you may be losing the kind of brand recognition you are looking for.
Choose your font type wisely, and you will see a significant impact of your brand on customers, undoubtedly.

At one of our wings- GoodWorks Design Studio, we think light years ahead and transform your brand for the future with design and innovation. We don’t believe in perfect designs. We believe in evolving with design. For any design requirements for Web/Mobile Design OR UI/UX Design, reach out to us at contact@goodworklabs.com

This blog also got featured on NASSCOM Design4India’s blog section.

Striking Advantages and Disadvantages of Hamburger Menu with Examples

Hamburger Menu is an integral part of the entire UI/UX design process.

The hamburger menu is used as a navigation element on websites, apps, and programs.

The name ‘hamburger menu’ comes from its design: the design consists of a combination of three horizontal lines that denotes a hamburger. Likewise in real-world characteristics, the hamburger menu is known as a space-saving mechanism. However, the icon is not something that attracts a lot of controversies. For most of the designers, it works as a toolkit.

Now, let’s get into the hamburger menu and try to understand its functionality.

To start with, let’s discuss the subject itself:

 

WHAT IS A HAMBURGER MENU?

The hamburger can be referred to a menu or an icon, that is typically a type of button used in the website or application that opens as a form of side menu or navigation drawer. It is an integral part of the entire UI/UX design process.

The menu was primarily designed in 1981 by Norm Cox, an interaction designer for the Xerox Star personal workstation. The primary function of this menu is to make communication in terms of navigation to the users as easy as possible. As this button or icon provides a number of items.

Even though the hamburger menu is used for the purpose of making the navigation experience easy, the whole purpose of introducing the hamburger menu was quite different.

During an interview Cox said; he designed the menu as a container for holding the options for contextual menu choice. As a matter of fact, the menu is quite similar to the context menu that is quite common today while clicking on an object by the use of the right mouse button.

After the inception of the hamburger menu in Xerox Star, the icon stayed quite silent. But, the moment when the UX designers had to find out a way to accommodate a number of buttons onto a small phone screen, the call for the hamburger menu started to initiate all around the world. Ever since then, the hamburger menu has become an essential part of every website or application to drop in the navigation button.

Now after the transition period, most designers don’t prefer to use the icon. In fact, by stretching the subject, do people really like to go through the hamburger menu? On the contrary, even if they do prefer it, shouldn’t the items reflect in the Hamburger menu all the time as those are so important to the app?

At Worldwide Developers Conference talk, the concept of introducing navigation system into the UI/UX design came up as – they should tell users where they are and also direct users to where else they can possibly go. Certainly, the hamburger menu disappoints users with respect to both these areas. As the menu is not even located on the screen, it’s hard to notice. Moreover, this is just a button to show you the drop-down menu.

Considering all the above aspects, do we really need to get rid of these three lined icons? Or is it time that we stop differentiating and start to love the three lined hamburger menu?

To be precise, here are some basic pros and cons of the hamburger menu. to help you understand it better and make your move wisely.

3 ESSENTIAL BENEFITS OF HAMBURGER MENU IN DESIGN

Let’s talk about the most notable benefits of the hamburger menu:

 

#1 Recognizable

One of the notable things about the hamburger menu is that it’s universal. Which means you can find it everywhere, starting from applications to websites to video games. In short, a hamburger menu is present throughout the entire design process.

The hamburger menu is an icon that has spent a great deal of time in evolving itself as a button for the convenience of users, where they can access the navigation drawer. Hence, users can easily rely on the hamburger menu. Similar to the trash symbol that denotes the deletion of items, or even the home icon that directs users to the main menu.

In fact, it doesn’t make any literal sense to remove or hate an element that primarily matches a user’s requirements. The icon holds its own status and almost all users know the usage of such an icon. Therefore replacing the same with the new symbol will bring back the struggle to learn again for the developers.

 

#2 Neat and Clean

Imagine a web page filled with tons of icons and navigation options – there’s nothing worse than that. Hence, for mobile applications and websites, the hamburger menu can bring a remarkable visual experience. Moreover, you don’t want your users to get confused while choosing items from the hamburger menu. As too many items make the selection process quite difficult for all of them. Thus, to add value to the visual experience of the interface, with the clean and precise look, then the hamburger menu is the ultimate option for you.

 

#3 Alternate Access

The hamburger menu acts as an ideal place to load all your navigation options, without distracting your users from your service goal. Like many applications, Uber also uses this icon for the same purpose. The service objective of this application is to let you order a car, hence, the main interface is completely dedicated towards this purpose.

The icon will grant you access to other fields such as trip history, payment options, receipts and so on. These are not as important as the primary goal, therefore, there’s no need to place them on the main interface. Thus, it makes the perfect option to design a clean and smart UI (user interface).

3 DISADVANTAGES OF HAMBURGER MENU

At this point, allow us to introduce the three basic disadvantages of these three lined icon and find out why it has its fair share of haters among designers:

 

#1 Devalued the Options

The most disappointing thing about the hamburger menu is that it decreases the value of the item you put on that menu. For instance, imagine the application or the website as a performing platform, and the hamburger menu is a sort of small and unimportant stage. Therefore, you don’t want to put valuable inputs on that stage. Instead, you prefer to put them on the bigger stage. In this case, it’s the home page or main interface.

Thus, whenever you’re putting any design or application on the hamburger menu, it simply means that those items are not as important as the primary menu or main interface. Hence, it makes them less likely to go on that section.

 

#2 Less Engagement Activity

Certainly, the hamburger menu attracts a lower click rate, which can be attributed to a number of reasons. As phones are getting bigger, it becomes quite difficult to access the top left or right corner of the website or app. And if the navigation option is not in the visual parameter, then users are less likely to engage with the website.

These are the primary facts, however, not the only facts. Due to these reasons, users lose interest in the content or website.

 

#3 Not Efficient Enough

A knowledgeable designer knows that compelling users to go through extra steps to accomplish the end goal is never going to work. And the hamburger menu does exactly the same thing.

For instance, suppose you’re looking for a registration process. In that case, you don’t want the main button up on the icon bar. Rather you want them to be present on the main screen that will make your process convenient. However, the hamburger menu makes the process quite complicated for the users in most of the instances.

Now let’s discuss 4 examples of the hamburger menu:

4 EXAMPLES OF USING HAMBURGER MENU

Here are the best 4 illustrations of the hamburger menu in action. Irrespective of the application, desktop website and mobile websites as well, you will find all of them included in these examples.

 

1. Frame.io

The main interface of the application is dedicated to one particular goal – to collecting leads. Also, do check out the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner of the application.

 

2. Google Drive

Google has designed its drive to provide users with what is important to them – documents. They also used the hamburger menu to accommodate the less important components of the drive, such as settings, helps, etc. The navigation button is set to the icon that helps users focus on the primary work in the first place.

 

3. Codrops

This is a design blog that offers tutorial and demos on different site designs, absolutely free. Note the hamburger menu on the top right corner of the site that turns into X.

 

4. Portuguese Chimneys

A beautifully implemented hamburger menu for a website that is totally dedicated to the nature and architecture of Portuguese Chimneys. At the top, left corner of the window will direct you to the other required tasks of their website.

These are some examples and real-life usages of the hamburger menu to make the hamburger menu interface clean and user-friendly. Now it’s your turn to make use of the hamburger menu as effectively as you can, and enhance the overall user experience through a great UI!

Our informative blog posted above also got featured on Nasscom Design website.

7 AI Tools for Designers | AI tools for UI UX design | GoodWorkLabs

Artificial Intelligence in UI UX Design

Do you have a fear that AI is going to replace your job as a UX designer?

 

Well, guess what! That is not going to happen anytime soon. So, breathe!

 

If you had that doubt previously or you are now in doubt, don’t be! Sure, AI is advancing at a rapid and an alarming pace that might make human designers restless but the touch that a designer can provide is not anywhere close to the design results of an AI.

 

Yes, AI holds a great significance. The advanced tools that are available to designers these days are by virtue of AI only. But are these tools promising enough to replace a human designer?

 

NO! These tools are meant to only enhance your capabilities as a designer instead of replacing your role entirely in designing. Let’s talk AI-powered web builder, The Grid, for instance.

 

The Grid is a promising venture with machine learning and executes all the tasks with algorithms that take colors, text, and shape into consideration. With a lot of investors counting on it, the expectations from this venture were quite high. But the truth is, the output that was received was not satisfactory at all.

 

The reason: It lacked a human touch. The concept behind AI in design is to create tools that enhance designers’ intelligence and capabilities rather than replacing them altogether.

 

The Future of Design with AI

AI technology takes a variety of inputs into account like shapes, colors, and text and produces a workable design. But the right blend is when a designer uses AI to come up with a design that creates a connection between brand and audience.

 

It is a continued partnership of machine and man that will find its way in the future in which the human designers will  borrow intelligence through tools for dealing with higher-level tasks.  Only the touch of a human designer can bring out sympathy and relatability in the target audience.

 

For instance, AI can be used to do the legwork such as looking and rating templates against a set criteria while designers spend more time on how to create a customized design for the client.

But how to lay the foundation of this enduring partnership?

 

There are several best AI tools available that will ease your routine design works.

 

Let’s look at some to get a better understanding of how AI can prove as an aid to human designers:

 

1) Let’s Enhance

It is a great web tool for designers and is of great help as it enhances a small image without losing quality. This tool uses AI and machine learning to learn the typical features of physical objects.

 

Once these features are taken into account, this tool can add extra details on its own. Let’s enhance has three main functions namely a JPEG noise remover, Magic filter, and Boring filter.

 

2) JPEG noise remover:

JPEG noise remover automatically applies a noise reduction system if it detects .jpg or .jpeg extension in an image based on neural networks.

 

3) Magic Filter:

Magic filter ‘hallucinates’ additional details and adds them to the picture to improve the image quality significantly. This filter is great for photos and complex pictures.

 

4) Boring filter

This filter works best for art, logos, illustrations etc. This filter keeps the details, colors, and edges sharp while enlarging the image up to 4 times of its original size. This means you can upscale and clean your designs at once.

 

5) Select Subject

Select subject is a freshman’s tool in Adobe Photoshop which uses Adobe Sensei, an Adobe’s machine learning technology, for memorizing shapes and allowing users to select in a single click. There was a time when Photoshop just recognized an image with pixels without recognizing shapes and objects in the image.

With Select subject and Adobe Sensei in the picture, these issues stay in past. Now the users can select prominent subjects in images without the necessity to drag around the cursor.

 

6) Prisma

Prisma is a photo-editing application that uses AI and neural networks to transform pictures quickly into “paintings” with artistic effects.

This means that the input image looks like they were actually painted by the artists.

 

7) Deepart

Deepart is a web tool that is similar to Prisma and leans heavily on the artistic side.

It is an advanced version of Prisma as this tool allows you to turn your image into artwork and also to upload your own style image for further customizing. This web tool uses a neural algorithm of artistic style which was developed to allow the user to separate style elements from a piece of art.

 

Conclusion on AI Tools for Designers:

It is just like magic what AI does to the world of design which is why the fear of unemployment prevails in the world of designers.

It is a significant and valid concern among the designers these days. The best answer to all your worries is ‘design’ is a field that would be flavorless without human intervention. The best way to place AI in your lives is to set an enduring partnership where the best of AI is used to yield great designs by human designers.

Superheroes & Gamification – Unleashing The Power Of Storytelling 

Games are fun. They keep users engaged, excited, and thrilled. The best games are built around themes, characters, and stories. A perfect mix of these three ingredients makes a path for a great level of gamification. Our MD, Vishwas Mudagal believes that the best way to do so is by having a superhero captured in a theme with a great storyline. He also believes that India is a land of superheroes and epic stories, therefore there are a lot of opportunities for brands to create their own ambassadors and gamify their content.

In an insightful talk at Ad Tech event, he shared his thoughts about the connection between superheroes, Indian mythology, and brand building. He iterated how these superheroes can be great ambassadors for the brands to hack the consumer’s mind.

Watch him talk here:

 

Vanaroid concept art - Last Avatar - GoodWorkLabs

 

How Does a Superhero Help You Gamify Your Content? 

 

Superheros Come With Epic Meanings 

Epic meaning simply means creating something that has purpose and motive. Meaning to say, a superhero always has a purpose, after all, with great power comes great responsibility. For instance – he could be someone who is fighting evil or restoring nature or persuading people to do good. This ‘epic meaning’ could be a problem that your brand solves. The answers to – what is the point of your business and why should people buy your product – will help you know the epic meaning for your superhero. Once people understand the wider importance of your product (purpose, goals, and missions) you can build game mechanics and storyline into this context. If you strike this well, people will know your superhero for his epic meaning, which is indeed your USP.

 

There Is a Powerful Narrative? 

All superhero stories have a powerful narrative. Building a strong narrative will help you strengthen the superhero character and keep your audiences engaged. After all, we all love good stories. That is what keeps people hooked and gripped to your content, product, and brand. However, when you choose a storyline make sure it is mindful, meaningful, and connects to your brand. Always remember to tell a story that has epic meaning for your audience.

 

Superheros Set Clear Pathways 

Remember that superheroes have the power to influence people, and therefore you need to have an in-depth approach to gamifying your content. You have set forth a problem, and you have a solution to it, but how does one reach that solution? When should someone choose that solution? Why should someone choose that solution? Answers to these questions will help you build a pathway that has an appealing narrative and strong storyline. Make use of your superhero to help people bring on the right path by showing the right narrative.

 

They Keep Things Social 

Humans are social creatures and so are the superheroes. All superheroes have an aim to benefit the society and world at large. Hence do not keep them away from real-world problems. Include them in fighting the real issues, this will help you create purpose-driven content for your business. Add elements that help people understand how does the superhero uses the product to help communities or societies grow at large. Doing this will add a human interest angle to your storyline and help people connect with your brand at a much deeper level.

Using the mentioned ingredients in the superhero storyline to gamify your branded content will help you target your audiences deeply and successfully persuade them. A holistic inclusion of these will help you transform your content into a meaningful engagement tool from being a mere add-on. Remember to keep all the essential parts in the place to have a powerful engagement engine that speeds your brand’s success in no time!

 

Should you be looking forward to gamifying your business, then reach out to us at +91- 9863077000 or contact@goodworklabs.com and our gaming studio will help you conceptualize, build a narrative, construct character, and develop an engaging product/content.

 

7 micro-interactions for UX Design

What are micro-interactions?

Remember the last time when you shut down an app and a sad smiley popped up?

Did you like the brief interaction that conveyed a message?

 

These interactions that you encounter in your everyday life are known as micro-interactions. Micro-interactions are those small bits that have only a single function to do – convey a definitive message to the user. The instances of quoting micro-interactions are numerous and they are so trivial that you use them in your daily life and barely notice.

For example, you hit like on a photo, that is a micro-interaction. You set an alarm that is another micro-interaction. These features or the moments that are based on simple tasks are the micro-interactions. The usability that micro-interactions cater to have made them so popular and widely used that now you can find them in any device.

It is prevalent like wildfire everywhere. Also, micro-interaction is used to turn a feature on or off. The valor of micro-interaction is widespread and it is quite essential for UX/UI designers to capture these details properly.

 

Top 7 micro-interactions for your design project

You may think that the use of micro-interactions is not going to make any impact but the truth is, they make a huge impact on your app or your project. They function like the mitochondria of your project. They are tiny but they are the powerhouses of your design.

 

1. Swipe left or right:

The world has become fast-paced and everyone is now looking for shortcuts to save time. We are way past those times where we have to click either the back / next button to view content.

Swipe is a great and smooth interaction to help users navigate easily. The Swipe micro-interaction is also useful to reduce the tapping on the screen. It is a great gesture to open something or see something on the smartphone. This doesn’t need any specific knowledge to use. It is intuitive and perfectly guides the user. This feature can actually make your project stand out. Although it is a small detail, it is quite powerful to drag users to your work.

How to incorporate it? You can use the swipe action to either swipe left or right. Also, you can use that small feature to archive a message or delete it. You can also use the swipe action for clearing the notifications.

 

2. Pull Screen to Refresh

This is the most used micro-interaction by many people out there. Whenever they use any social media app and they wish to see the new feeds as they go. The basic instinct is to pull the screen down. You might have missed observing this, but this a major micro-interaction that has changed users lives. We have gotten so used to this action that for each and every app or website that loads slow or needs refreshment, we perform this gesture subconsciously.

 

3. Data Input

Data input is helping users with suggestions to ease out the process of filling up forms online.

For example, whenever a user is required to sign up on a new website to use its resources, an interactive session is there to help the user complete the whole sign up procedure in one go.

This is a very useful micro-interaction, given the time consumed and character specification required to create a suitable password these days.

 

4. Call to Action:

Call to actions makes it a hundred times easier to interact with a user. This micro-interaction can help the user to interact with the website or the app. Call-to-actions also help in generating prospective clientele to a major extent.

Most websites today use call to action buttons to persuade users to drop in an inquiry and generate user engagement.

 

5. Animations and Animated buttons:

Imagine a world without animation, boring isn’t it? It is unanimously agreed that animation makes lives much better!

Animation makes everything interesting, and though it isn’t noticed much, it does improve the overall appearance of the website or the app. However, animation can act as a double-edged sword. It can either engage the users or distract them which is why it is recommended to be vigilant about its use.

 

6. System status

If you want to convey a little failure message to the user or some other user prompt, then you can use system status micro-interaction. With this it is easier to communicate the status to the user and will understand the underlying issue in one go.

 

7. Live tutorials:

Bingo! there comes your new app user. How would you make him learn the basics of your app and its usage? Maybe a quick tutorial?

Rather than going for a static tutorial go for a live tutorial that familiarizes the user in a step-by-step manner. Make the best use of micro-interaction by creating great live tutorials that engage users and help them learn about the app quickly.

 

Conclusion

Thus the main purpose of these micro-interactions is to make the user experience better with every single chance. Although they may be small, they breathe interesting elements into your design.

These micro-interactions make you attend to every tiny detail and thus, create some stunning websites and apps. Apps like SnapChat use micro-interactions to show that users are present in the same chat window. And when you type something, then your Bitmoji appears to be in a little thought cloud or bubble.

Micro-interactions make your brand more interesting. Also, they provide useful visual feedback like the current system status. Micro-interactions help in warning users about the incorrect input. They can completely transform your product and help you score your targeted user engagement.

Stay tuned to the GoodWorks Design Blog, for more intriguing updates on how to use micro-interactions.

Important Features For E-commerce Platform Development

Today, the e-commerce business is growing exponentially than ever before. Followed by the current pandemic, consumers have whole-heartedly welcomed this digital buying trend. While there are hundreds of e-commerce platforms, only a few survive and continue to make great profits year-on-year. E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, bigbakset, Swiggy, Zomato, etc have seen tremendous growth in the last few months.

There is a no secrete recipe to their success. They do things that everybody else does, but they do so differently. Their mobile applications cover all the touch-points by having a clear focus on the fundamentals like UI UX design, easy-to-navigate, security, speed, etc. It is on these fundamentals that they built their e-commerce mobile application and website.

While there may be many trends like animation, 360-degree view, dynamic product search, etc in the e-commerce website and app design, they, however, do not guarantee the conversion rates. To have the best result and deliver great user experiences, the e-commerce website and application must stay relevant and competitive by having the fundamental features plugged in.

Factors-In-Building-E-commerce-Websites

 

Here are some of the must-have features that can help you scale your e-commerce business:

 

User-Friendly Website or App

The most important characteristic of any website or app is the ease of use, and the same applies to the e-commerce businesses as well. The objective of an e-commerce website or app is to help users find what they want faster without having to go through a complex process or clutter. So, the basic is to have a clean visual design by clearly stacking products in a category for easy navigation. Remember that online buyers have very less attention span, so if the e-commerce website or app is too cluttered, the user will never make a purchase as you have left them confused and frustrated.

Always remember this one line: Simplicity should be a goal in good design and you do not have to sacrifice elegance to achieve it.

 

Integration of Multiple Payment Gateways

You are catering to people from diverse backgrounds and demographics, therefore the best option is to have multiple payment gateways. From debit card to net-banking to payment wallets to credit cards to UPI, you should have them all. You may lose a set of users if you chose to limit your payment options. You definitely do not want that. Do you?

 

The Shopping Cart

Very important for any online shop or store. How do you expect your users to shop without a cart and keep a track of what they are buying? The cart helps them to place all the selected products from the store, review, and check-out. Having a flexible shopping cart that helps both guest and registered users to proceed with the checkout is one of the best options.

 

Inventory Management 

Having your inventory management system linked to your e-commerce website or app will help your business function effortlessly. Having an end-to-end integration of your inventory management system will simplify various activities and assist you to ensure that all the orders are successfully acknowledged and completed. This integration will also help you track all cancellations, refunds, status updates, exchange, etc.

 

Security

Shopping online and online transactions go hand-in-hand. Majority of the people today chose to make digital payments, therefore it is extremely important to provide a secure and private payment gateway. You should make sure that the data of your customer is protected as you are liable for it. It is suggested to have the SSL certification in place. You can include additional security by having a two-factor authentication through text or email. Note that the privacy policy link should be carried in the footer section of your e-commerce website.

 

While there are many e-commerce players selling a different range of products, it is how they have incorporated the e-commerce features in their website or app sets them apart. While the aforementioned list of key features will definitely help you in setting up your e-commerce platform, there are many more such features that can help you scale. Contact us with your e-commerce requirements, and we shall help you build an interactive e-commerce platform with relevant features.

 

Connect with us for E-commerce Platform Development at +91- 9863077000 or contact@goodworklabs.com.

 

Importance of Conversational UI

Conversational UI – The Future

The mobile era has taken sharp turns in recent times. Remember the times, when you had to click on a certain icon or link in order to perform any task on mobile or computer device? Today, we have upgraded to voice UI or conversational UI where you can just speak your requirements and get things done.

You might be stuck at some point in past when Siri couldn’t catch your instructions right or when Alexa was offering limited functionalities. Wave goodbye to those time as now the Conversational UI has changed the game and has introduced some cool features that you will want to get addicted to.

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What is Conversational UI?

Conversational UI is a chatbot experience which processes your commands in a natural and most obvious way.  Commands are processed and responses are designed in a way that the user feels as if he is speaking or texting with another human being.

This approach to incorporating technology in our lives is more natural and innate. The most popular examples of Conversational UI in actual speech form is Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. For texting, you can consider Facebook messenger as well.

Why is conversational UI a good idea?

What would you appreciate more? Technology aligning to your ways to communicate or the reverse? The majority of the votes fell in favor of the first option.

Technology is here to ease our lives and hence should adapt to our ways of communication. Communicating with a device should be as easy as communicating with another human being. With this ideology in mind, conversational UI is a right move in the current times. Before we conclude on the importance of conversational UI, let’s browse through some existing conversational UI in the market and why there is a need for more such software.

Facebook Messenger

Not long back, Facebook integrated a chatbot API into the Messenger app which allowed users to interact with businesses through conversational UI.

You might not interact directly with the employees located at the business but you will get the feeling that you are interacting with real humans on the other side.

These days you can easily interact with Tommy Hilfiger, Fynd’s Fify, Spring, Uniqlo, Burberry, 1800-flowers, and even eBay. All these commerce chatbots might not allow browsing and shopping, but can supply you with the relevant information such as tracking an order, FAQs etc.

For tracking your order, all you have to do is ask ‘where is my order’ and you will receive an update. Swift and fascinating! Isn’t it?

Slack

Slack is well known for its chatbots which are more popularly known as Slackbots.

The app is integrated with its own bot with which you can interact. You can integrate several apps with Slack such as Hangouts, Google calendar, Maker, Intro, Giphy, or Chatbot. You can get the necessary information while talking to the Slackbot.

Slack has changed the way the how companies and teams functioned in past. Just by asking slack you can receive information from a multitude of sources in a just a matter of minutes.

Digit, a chatbot based savings app

Other than Slack and Facebook messenger, Digit is a chatbot based savings app. You can pay a bill, withdraw money, save money, check account balances, make recurring transfers and so on.

There are two ways to interact with the bot, first is the main screen of the app. The second way is by texting to its number. You can also opt for a few other account functionalities and setting up custom interactions outside the chatbot.

Why Conversational UI is relevant now

When conventionally automated interfaces didn’t cater to the basic requirement of communicating naturally and with Siri catching the instructions wrong almost all the times, we need this!We need conversational UI to collaborate our needs and push us towards the future. We have outlined a few case-critical reasons to consider:

 

1) The user adoption of texting is huge:

By far messaging has become the top digital activity on the planet. If you are in the customer service business, scaling up by hiring humans may not a smart option. Instead, invest in conversational UI to survive in the long term.

 

2) The Conversational UI is finally functioning seamlessly

As days pass by, technology is advancing  and there is a major transition in using Conversational UI. Today, technology is adapting to the innate way humans communicate. A significant wave of improvement can be seen in interacting with voice UIs (Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant).

Also, the texting interface has been enriched greatly. Now you can add pictures, links, share locations and shop together! This is definitely the extension of our brain, Don’t you think?

 

3) Ecosystems and infrastructure already in place for Conversational UI

At the end of 2017, there were 33 million voice-first devices in US households alone. Needless to say, we are ready for this transition on the infrastructural level.

Previously nascent technologies are holding a strong foot now. The technologies that were used for automated interactions have reached a point where they can add real value.

The days of Siri mishearing your instructions have come to an end. Also, the advancement in the underlying technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning (ML), is highly appreciable.

 

Conclusion

When it comes to user interfaces, Conversational UI is not something most people think it is. Conversational UI is about using technology in a way that simplifies the way we communicate with machines. It is not easy to replicate the human interactions but with the available infrastructure, advancement in the underlying technologies, and widespread adoption of conversational interfaces, we are about to enter the world of conversational UI which is carved differently than you would have experienced in the past.

Mobile App Development Vs Website Development

Mobile App Development Vs Website Development

The digitization of the world has made a great impact on the lives of people. People are increasingly getting digitally savvy and using the internet for most of their needs like consuming news, ordering food, shopping, making friends, etc. During the current pandemic, e-commerce has seen a great surge than ever before and this is changing the online buying behavior. This key segment has increased the demand for services of the web and mobile application development. So, let us look at the differences between mobile app development vs website development.

Today the majority of the world population is consuming content and engaging with brands using their smartphones, thanks to their affordability and usability. Therefore, a mobile application followed by a mobile-friendly website is the best approach to keep the audiences engaged. Optimizing your app and website to be mobile friendly makes the platform more sophisticated and convenient for people to search, navigate, and buy your products or services.

Having said that, it is not only the mobile application development that should be significant for your business, rather the focus should be on both – the mobile app and website. Having both – a great mobile application and an engaging website will provide you with an edge over your competitors. But, whenever a business tries to create an online or digital presence, there is one standard question – ‘Do they need a website or an application?’. If you have the same daunting question, then this blog post will help you make an informed decision.

mobile-app-dev-vs-we-dev

When do you need a website?

Businesses with a nationwide and global presence primarily need a website focusing on the brand information, service and product offering, location, a map, and success stories. It is advised to have a bespoke website to keep your audiences engaged.

When developing your presence online through the website, you should keep the below in mind:

  • Have quality and relevant content
  • Compatible with various devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops, etc
  • Showcase your products and services effectively
  • Include responsive web-design
  • Easy navigation
  • Fast loading

When do you need a mobile application?

A business with a doorstep service business or a business that wants to have regular and meaningful interactions with customers should focus to build an innovative mobile application. Mobile applications provide a wider range of plug-ins and features depending upon your objectives and key business goal. For instance: If you aim to keep audiences engaged and informed, then you may want to integrate your application with a chatbot to assist your customers at real-time.

When developing a mobile application, you should consider the below:

  • The mobile application should support all devices – adapt to a large range of screen sizes and pixels
  • Host it on cloud
  • Remind your customers whenever there is s a new update in the app
  • Follow best practices of the platforms – android, iOS, and windows

Mobile applications are SaaS-based products that can be downloaded and installed on a smartphone or a tablet. Whereas the website is rendered within a browser, and one needs to switch to a browser and look for the website. Comparatively, mobile applications are time-saving and can also be accessed even offline.

However, mobile applications should be considered only when your business has a strong reason to connect with the audience. Remember that mobile applications can be installed if your audiences do not find value in it.

Lastly, while mobile applications are more interactive, personalized, and effective; and websites are simple and less expensive, they should only be chosen keeping the business objectives in mind. If you are looking forward to launching or enhance your business in the online world, then reach out to us with your requirements at +91- 9863077000 or contact@goodworklabs.com.

Ready to start building your next technology project?