For digital marketers, it’s a common problem of users not interacting with a brand like they are supposed to. The job of a UX designer is to bring about the best conditions under which the end audience is sufficiently encouraged to perform a desired action. The core to understanding this lies in the behavioral psychology that initiates the ‘call to action’.

What triggers a change in behavior?

If you are working on a website or an app that is supposed to encourage users to exercise more, you need to look for the core motivations. Psychology provides two ways to achieve this. Extrinsic motivation like money or some kind of reward can do the trick for some. For others, it’s about the enjoyment or a feeling of satisfaction (reaching a goal) and then sharing their accomplishments with their social connections.

The best example of an extrinsic motivation is the Pact App. Users of Pact exercise to earn money and reach health goals. This would work well with the audience group that isn’t self-motivated to exercise. In other words, these are the people who don’t enjoy exercising. On the other hand, websites like Freeletics try to promote exercising by rewarding points to its users. This would be just like a game that comes up with a level of greater difficulty and challenge every time.

So where does UX fit into all this?

It is only by a deeper understanding of the end user and the way they interact with products, can we expect to come up with an interface that delivers value. Personas, the journey of customer experience can become useful tools to capture insights and thus serve as important references in the design process.

What makes a UX design fit for your users?

Generally speaking, people who use apps and websites to do certain kind of activity, ranging from shopping to exercising, follow these cues.

Users don’t want to think or work more than they need to

They will try to do the least to get things done and it’s better to present all necessary information that will build trust and make them ‘take the action’. Marketers also need to focus on affordability presented on the screen. Also, defaults in forms allow people to do less manual work.

Customers/users have their limitations

Users will only embrace as much information they need before they start losing interest. For UX designers, it thus becomes important to provide all the necessary information in a format that is easy to scan and read better.

Mistakes are a part of the process

“Its human to err” and this statement can be very important for UX designers. Designers will need to anticipate what kind of mistakes users might commit and make it easy to rewrite/undo or go back.

Customers are social

Technology has been a great motivator to build relationships, share news, and even encourage buying behavior. UX design should include all this to maximize the effects.

The complicated human memory

We only remember things that we want to. Research also shows that the average human can remember only 3-4 items/tasks at a time. Further, human memory can be fragile and degrade quickly. Only a product and interface worth remembering is carried forward in the journey.

Design is the way we like to interact with the world. The easier it gets, the better can it express and communicate our needs.

Having a mobile app for your business is no more a choice but a requirement. Customers across industries and product lines expect brands to have a dedicated application that can be used to check products on the go and when required even place an order. Mobile devices have made life more convenient and it presents a great opportunity for brands to market their products and expose them to customers worldwide. The trend of mobile app development has been here for some years now. Most of the brands already have an app on either iOS or Android store but what will define competitive advantage now? Why are some apps getting more exposure and popularity than other in the same product genre? Answer lies in the quality and uniqueness of the app.

B2B branding goes up a notch with mobile apps

Going by the statistics, 11% of global employees are using tablets and applications to improve sales, productivity, customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive advantage. Today, mobile devices have effectively been able to replace desktops and laptops. Technology ensures that end users are provided with a more powerful hardware and software for better device experience. Automatically, a smart phone owner spends more time on his mobile than he did when he carried a desktop system. Brands can create applications that can take the advantage of continuously improving battery life, cloud based storage, powerful chipset, faster network, bigger and better screen and better data security architecture.

The return on investment with a high quality mobile application has always been able to outweigh the development costs several times over. Mobile apps also have the advantage of attaching little or no maintenance or upgrade costs. It would be apt to say that the whole world has gone mobile and if you don’t have an app to represent yourself in this platform, you might as well have lost the battle.

Benefits of mobile applications

ü  On the go marketing: Visitors and customers can access you business and browse your product line from any place.

ü  Social advantage: It goes without mentioning that social networks like Facebook and Twitter have proved to be an engagement to the extent of addiction in some cases. Users are spending a lot of time in social networks and this gives the opportunity to the marketer to exploit the platform.

ü  Data capture: In this age of information, brands cannot succeed without a strong database of customers, users and clients. Mobile applications can be used to collect information that wouldn’t have been normally possible with a web platform or application.

ü  Engages customers: Creating a highly interactive mobile application not just creates brand awareness but also helps win the loyalty of your users. If you have been able to inspire a customer to download your app, there is negligible chance that he/she would opt for other alternative brands.

ü  Acts as guide: Customers are always searching for information, credibility and the reasons to trust a brand. Your application can be the exact tool to inspire these elements.

At the end of the day, mobile applications make life convenient both for your customers and your marketing team. It’s a win-win situation.

Future homes will probably be smart places that realize your expectations and work accordingly. From the light switching off the moment everyone steps out of the door to programming the air conditioner according to the usual time of your arrival, devices will begin to understand rather than require being operated manually. This would be a scenario where Internet of Things (IoT) could be leading us soon.

The concept of IoT was initiated in 1999 but today it is becoming the mainstay in our homes offices, vehicles, travel and healthcare. Calculating the current rate at which devices are getting connected via internet, ABI and Gartner predict that by the year 2020, the world will be connected with more than 30 million devices, working simultaneously to combine data and artificial intelligence to make out life more convenient and comfortable. The first clues towards this end are certainly portrayed by the increasing usage of smartphones and its implication in every activity we do.

The Internet of Things and us Humans

Though most believe otherwise, the implication of IoT would be more that being able to control or manage our devices. We can already connect our air conditioners back home from our smartphones, sitting at our office desk. There will come a time when office biometrics don’t just resister our attendance but also initiates email accounts, logs into ERP systems and other work apps automatically. Thus, the moment we take our seats at our desks, the work pages would already be open in the screen.

Back in November 2014, Gartner had estimated that by the end of 2015 our life will already be connected to 4.9 million different “things”. This is a 30% increase within a single year. The number of new devices supporting the concept of IoT will grow from $5 trillion to $7.1 trillion in value according to IDC (device analyst firm) between 2014 and 2020. Another sector that would be benefitted most would be the smart homes. To this end, we already have devices like HoloLens from Microsoft that would completely change the concept of living.

Concern about Data Security

However, along with the advantages comes a major concern from the consumer side. Since our completely lifestyle will take a digital turn, there could be greater risk of data privacy and security. We have already been through this problem when smart LED bulbs leaked out Wi-Fi passwords. If this remains unsolved, it could lead to disasters. In January 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US produced a report that addresses these privacy issues. At the core of the report is a belief that the IoT has integrated privacy and security at its outset, rather than focusing on it as an afterthought. Further, the report recommends minimization of data feed which would prevent keeping data beyond the exact needs, anonymous and encrypted databases and high end network security. ARM and Intel are already working on security measures to define new devices but there is plenty left to be done before we can leave our worries to the ‘machines’.

With the advent of smartphones, a transformation has been effected in every area of life. With a remarkable change in personal habits, preferences, and choices, many sectors have also seen major change in the light of the mobile boom. The healthcare industry is one such domain which is currently in the midst of a mobile transformation- one which is already apparent and showing signs of becoming a long-term feature.

With immense market penetration, smartphones and mobile apps are gradually making their presence felt in the healthcare sector. According to independent research, it has been found that eight out of ten doctors regularly use their smart devices while at work, and most of them use these devices for purposes that have a direct influence on patient care. As mobile technology has become better, more feature-rich and more portable, their popularity among medical personnel has also increased significantly. Currently, they present a cost-effective solution for those in the medical professional for most data access, communication and other important needs.

Important Uses in Healthcare

Mobile apps and technology now find prolific use in the field of healthcare. Both general use and dedicated, specialized applications created specifically for medical professionals have found substantial use in the field. Daily requirements like the maintenance and access of patient records, consulting and communication, patient management, training, medical education, time management, references and gathering valuable medical information are all being satisfied through the use of specific mobile apps and technology. Here are some compelling reasons behind this phenomenon –

• The Availability of Mainstream Apps – With thousands of mobile apps being developed and released on a daily basis, there is now at least one or more mobile apps for every conceivable requirement in the medical profession. Whether you need an app for calculating drug doses (Medscape mobile app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.medscape.android) or a comprehensive database to store medical records of patients (mMR mobile app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.klouddata.mmr.main&hl=en), there is an app for everything.

Essentially, these apps have transformed the medical profession and added value to smartphones as viable medical aid devices. They are actively helping doctors and physicians to manage, monitor and store health information and this utility has brought the use of apps to the mainstream.

• Improvement in Workflow – One of the reasons why doctors around the world are playing a willing part in the change is the ease with which mobile technology can be integrated into their workflow. Most medical personnel already own smart devices, and most medically oriented apps are flexible enough to correctly function on a variety of difference devices.

This enables medical professionals to bring their information and capabilities to the point of care, and use their mobile devices for better management of time and patients. Services like remote patient monitoring (https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/airstrip-patient-monitoring/id399665195?mt=8) and mobile-assisted ultrasound (http://www.mobisante.com/) are fast gathering popularity.

• Better Patient Engagement – Mobile technology has also transformed the relationship between doctors and patients. The technology can be successfully used to store information about individual patients’ physiological, environmental and lifestyle factors, and doctors can use this information to help them manage their own health with smooth exchange of information. With mobile technology, doctor-patient interactions are no longer limited to face-to-face sessions.

Do let us know your views on which other areas in healthcare have been impacted by this radical technology disruptor.

With the release of the much-awaited iOS8, Apple has thrown open the doors to third-party developers to create customized keyboards for Apple devices. This means a whole new array of keyboards that can now be integrated with iPhone, iPad and Apple devices. However this range of choices available to Apple users has confused users on which option will be a good choice of keyboard.

In order to alleviate this query, we will share our pick of some excellent choices and some not-so-good choices to help you make a knowledgeable decision on which keyboard should adorn your Apple device.

Some good ones –

3. Flesky – Its USP is the dependency on gestures rather than tapping when typing. The customized method of typing is most favored amongst physically impaired users. You can also locate and share GIFs and customize the keyboard with useful extensions. You can download this for $0.99.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fleksy-keyboard-happy-typing/id520337246?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

2. Swype – it provides an easy-to-learn keyboard for iOS. Its intuitive language models is one of the most accurate ones around for precision based typing. It also offers a reliable privacy policy as the data it collects for word recommendation improvement always stays on your Apple device. You can download this for $0.99.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swype-keyboard/id916365675?mt=8

1. SwiftKey Keyboard 1.0 – This is by far one of the best we have reviewed. With precise trace-typing and excellent predictive typing engine, it is a good choice for many new users and people who take time in typing. At the ‘free’ price tag, it is definitely worth a try.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swiftkey-keyboard/id911813648?mt=8

Some not so good ones –

3. Adaptxt Keyboard 1.0 – The keyboard has some good features like auto-learning frequently misspelt words. You can also create a single alphabet shortcut to type a stream of commonly recurring text such as your signature. One key disappointment was the lack of any form of visual feedback and the inability to input a period (.) on double tapping spacebar.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adaptxt-keyboard/id918640589?mt=8

2. TouchPal keyboard – Though it offers heaps of features, this factor turns out to be its undoing. Where one instance of tapping would achieve the desired result on other keyboards, this keyboard needed multiple tapping. The layout of the keys too looked mixed-up.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id909654683?mt=8

1. Minuum 1.0 – At number one of the list of bad keyboards is the Minuum 1.0 keyboard. The intuitive corrections that was supposed to be a helpful feature in fact came in the way of smooth typing. Also the download price of $3.99 seems exorbitant for a keyboard interface.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minuum-little-keyboard-for/id914968934?mt=8

Though it is clear that Apple itself had set its own keyboard right with multiple enhancement (you can now tap into word suggestions much like an Android keyboard), the third party enhancement still hold their own forte as compared to this update.

Hope this list will help you decide which third-party customized keyboard will help you in your typing tasks on your favorite iPhone or iPad. Do write in to us and let us know which option have you finally selected for your own Apple device.

Businesses looking to set up an online shopping portal are often put off by the intimidation of escalating costs at the development stage. While e-commerce portal brings in remarkable results thanks to shifting customer preference and the deep penetration of mobile, the prospect of high development costs is a key reason why most e-commerce sites do not get past the ideating stage. By investing in the best WordPress hosting, e-commerce businesses can optimize performance, reduce unexpected expenses, and improve operational efficiency—all of which contribute to cutting overall development costs.

If you want to know which are the pain points as regards costs during e-commerce development and ways to circumvent them, then read on…

1. Hosting – One of the critical elements of e-commerce portal is the space needed to store descriptions, databases, high res images, payment gateway integration, individual integrations and security programming. Many companies face disconnect between the products they have listed on the site versus how much space is required to store them. Most e-commerce stores start small, with a handful of product categories and few seller networks. This calls for smaller hosting space. However, hosting space should not remain constricted but rather be flexible as per the growth of the store. Such smart managing of hosting space will help save a ton on overall development costs.

2. Strategic Planning before actual development – Both client and developers have been guilty of not putting in enough time and efforts at the planning stage simply to save some time. However the benefit of investing dedicated time into meticulous planning far outweighs the negatives.

As a good developer you would start off with a brief questionnaire to know more about the client and its target audience. Some of the key questions to be answered at the planning stage would include –

1.   Knowing about the customer (e.g.- whether B2B or B2C)?

2.   Knowing about the best way to attract them to the portal

3.   Pointers on heightened customer experience during online shopping

4.   Key add-ons/third party/individual integration to the site

5.   Handling scalability and growth in future

6.   Handling scope creeps or revisions to schedules and estimates

Answers to these will help to decide on an appropriate choice of platform and back-end before you commence with the actual coding. If this starting point seems overwhelming to you, it will be good to hire the e-services of a good consulting firm. The investment and time will definitely help in a streamlined e-commerce portal development process.

3. Choose the right platform- Each shopping platform has its pros and cons. You need to be aware of what suits your project needs best and then decide on an appropriate platform in order to keep development costs low. For instance, Magneto is a good choice if you need thousands of products to be put up on the shopping portal. However it tends to be very heavy. On the other hand, Shopify provides a hosted platform that guarantees 99% up-time, complete data security and competent tech support.

While Shopify may take a bit more time to customize the storefront, OpenCart provides a lot of flexibility in modifying the look and feel of your digital store. Also when we consider the compatibility and pricing of plug-ins, the open source OpenCart platform offers plug-ins that is around 30-40% cheaper than official Woocommerce plugins. On the flip side however, people have had problems with OpenCart tech support.

Considering above factors will certainly help you keep both costs and time of development in check.

A successful app development for iOS entails close collaboration between iOS developers and graphic designers. Any disconnect between the two delays the app development process, leading to an infuriated client. In order to ensure seamless workflow between developers and designers, we have listed below a few practical and easy to follow tips for designers that save time, reduce iterations, and speed up the iOS app development process significantly-

1. Honesty at the mock up stage – At the initial stage, use only those deigns in the mock up that delivers value to the full developed app. At the mock-up stage there are a lot of unknown variables that need to be accounted for

a. will the app being developed be the right fit for your designs?
b. will your design respect the dynamism or uncertainty of real life and adjust well to actual elements, layout, data, or content?

This tip will make certain that developers’ screen mock-up truly depicts how the app will look like at the stage- i.e. when not all information is at hand.

2. Close collaboration – Constant and open communication is a must between developers and designers. As a designer, you can sit with developers and see how your designs get programmed into living entities within the app. This helps maintain overall consistency of the color and theme of the app and prevents any disconnect with what the designer delivers versus what the developer expects.

3. Avoid redundancy – If possible and applicable, you can deliver a similar set of elements as a template that can be customized further by developer and then applied appropriately. For instance, if you are designing a button element, there need not be separate buttons for ‘ok’, ‘cancel’, ‘submit’, ‘search’ etc. Developers can easily add the label upon blank buttons wherever required.

4. Design prototypes – There are tools that help designers convey a dummy depiction of how different elements will be arranged and brought together. Developers will get a sense of the different action, navigation and animation put together by you and thus remove any confusion. You can try out tools such as Invision and Proto.io to create such productive design prototypes.

5. File delivery – Developers already have a lot going on to accomplish app development. Some useful piece of advice for designers to help reduce overheads on developers would be-

a. Sorted delivery – You can make folders per screen of the app and dump all images in it. You can also put in a screenshot of entire screen with placement of various elements to avoid confusion.

b.Consistency – You would need to ensure that all elements are consistent. For instance all images should be .PNG (and not a mix of .JPG and .PNG)

c. iOS oriented – Images need to be both high res (for retina display of recent iOS devices) and low res (for older iOS devices). Also follow the universal naming convention (for e.g. suffix high res images with “@2x”).

These steps will ensure that the deliverable can be easily used by developers further in the app development process. Got any other useful point to add to the above list? Write in to us and let us know.

The mobile team at GoodWorkLabs has built the most beautiful apps for the global market. Contact us to get complete portfolio.

Here’s a peek at ST Dupont iPad App. ST Dupont is world’s leading super-luxury retail brand.