Month: August 2014

Mobile gesture product company needs your help!

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I enjoy working with start-ups. The innovation and energy is just amazing and I'm always learning new things. Every day has so many challenges that makes you push yourself mentally and expand your skill set boundaries. 

As my fitness class instructor says in class, "Push yourself." That's what it is like working in start-up.

I'm working with this very cool start-up, Roamtouch. They have 2 products right now:

  • RKT Launcher – on Android, launch any app from your locked phone with a gesture. 
  • getureKit – create mobile gestures consistent across all platforms (iOS, Android, mobile, etc.) using the cloud, simply by creating a gesture and inserting code into your app or Web site. 

They made a video that explains their product.

Like most start-ups – they need funding. They set a goal to get 30% of their total funding on DAY 1 of their presence on Indiegogo which starts on September 3. Learn more in the letter below.

If you think it is interesting and want to contribute – that's awesome! And please do!

If you are an investor – let me know and I'll introduce you to the owner.

Thanks!! Hope you can help move gesture design and development forward.

 

Letter explaining the offer: 

I am writing to share something that has me really excited, we are launching RKT Launcher and Gesturekit, a gesture driven lockscreen application developed at Roamtouch. Our RKT Launcher is a unique, never before seen gesture-driven lockscreen application for Android that enables users to define their own gesture commands to launch any application without the need to first unlock their phones.

But this Launcher is only an example demonstrating the potential of gestureKit, our company’s main product, a simple and sophisticated software development kit (SDK) to create gesture-driven applications across all platforms. Click here to watch our video!

We will be launching our Indiegogo campaign on 3 September 2014 at 4PM EST and we need to raise 30% of the funds from our friends, family and early supporters on day in order to secure the project. Contributors can pay using their credit card or paypal, by simply clicking the icon on the page (that we will be sending you).

I hope you can contribute and participate. 
 
Thanks! 

 

Mobile gesture product company needs your help!

6 Alternatives to mobile tutorial screens

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I went onto my Citibank app the other day to move some money around and pay some bills. (I know – I pick on Citibank a lot. I must love them, right?) Apparently they made some updates to their app, which I’m happy about; it shows that any fees I pay are being put to good use.

First, I had to agree to new terms and conditions. Fine – to be expected.

Then I was presented with a screen similar to what’s below, that didn’t have my totals on it and a bunch of messages noting functionality.

WHAT THE HECK!

Of course I didn’t read the screen (let’s face it – no one really reads anymore; people skim). I panicked because:

  • Some of my accounts were missing from the list – where did they go?
  • Why is the total low?!?! (Not on this screen – the initial screen I saw which I didn’t take a screenshot of) Where did that money come from?
  • What are these transactions? 

The main thought I had looking at this screen was: who’s account is this? Because it isn’t mine!

When I realized this was a fake page with messages on it, I felt stupid and wanted to get rid of it, but I couldn’t find the Close Tutorial button. It blended with the background and I thought it was part of the screen. Why wasn’t that button blue or something? Or why wasn’t there an “x” in the upper right to close this? Why didn’t this look like a layer? 

Talk about confusing!

After I figured out that this was a help screen, I did what I needed to do in the app and exited. Weird – I didn’t think these types of screens existed anymore in apps because they are misleading and difficult to use.

Later that day, I opened an upgraded Box app and got this:

Then after going thru each page of the tutorial, I go this:

Dropbox did something similar – confusing!

And just last night I got something similar on the iPad app with Huffington Post. Some screens appeared that had instructional text to introduce me to new features and functionality. It was yet another forced tour!

Unlike the site/app tours of the past – you can’t exit these and it’s unclear how to get them off your phone screen (no x’s in corners, no next buttons – you just keep tapping the screen, hoping this “feature” goes away).

What is up with this revised trend of multi-page tutorials/instructions and “forced tours” that you can’t exit?

Integrating new features/functions into an app is always difficult. Most users will stick to using what they know how to use rather than try something new. There are better ways to let users learn about new functionality rather than instructional screens (that no one really reads by the way).

Here are 6 alternatives to forced tours/tutorial screens:

  • Allow users the ability to discover new features on their own without help – just make sure functionality is easy to find – they may figure out how something works on their own and not need help. Maybe give them a few months and see how they use the app? Users are typically more advanced than app teams think. This approach requires usability testing to be sure features are simple and straightforward – and usability testing should happen anyway during the development process.
  • Guidance through an app – rather than provide a direct paragraph of instructions, provide tips, tricks and recommendations along the way. Make sure the advice isn’t intrusive and easy to get rid of. If help is presented in a constructive, subtle way, it will be well-received. If it is presented so that a user can’t get rid of it – probably not. In-line tips are probably best.
  • Make sure new features/functions are leveraging a familiar user experience or metaphor – I don’t like to use the word “intuitive” – we only think functionality is intuitive because we are used to doing things a certain way that is based in our culture and understanding of the world. People in general prefer familiar interactions. These tend to perform better in usability research, amyway. Going too far out of the box won’t always win user’s hearts.
  • Videos – Videos are probably the best way to communicate ideas to users. And it’s especially helpful to use to describe new functionality. Rather than screens and documentation, provide a link to a video. Use text like, “Want a better way to do x?” or “Learn how to get more from this app.” A 2-3 minute video can influence anyone to change habits more than a screen that frustrates the user’s experience with an app.
  • Incorporate more voice commands – Rather than relying on tapping as the only interaction someone can have with an app, allow the user the ability to use voice commands. And then having a voice response from the app could make the experience more pleasant, more direct, and just more helpful.
  • Leverage other ways to communicate new features to users OUTSIDE the app – Send an email to your install base that links to a demo video for the new features. Or create a game out of the new features on a site so they are learning while playing. Introducing users to new features this way provides an educational component to your product and service – and is less intrusive than showing an instruction screen that few will read.

Help is becoming a thing of the past if we design for users first. Many of the computing constructs we are familiar with are very foreign to how we naturally think – but they great for how a computer works. We have grown accustomed to if/then and categorical thinking because we had to learn how to “talk” to the computer rather than the other way around.

Should a user need instruction to learn how to use an app? Shouldn’t the app’s design conform to how the user thinks? Keep that in mind when designing. 

Also keep in mind that no one reads anymore – well, ok, people do read, but they don’t like to read instructions.

Raise your hand if you ever read the instructions fully to put together a toy, an IKEA shelf, or electronic device?

(Yep – thought so 🙂 ).

We need to move away from the familiar construct of reading instructions and design apps to be more familiar to use right away. No training should be necessary.

And if training is required, maybe it is time to reconsider UX practices leveraged in the app to make it easier to use.

6 Alternatives to mobile tutorial screens

Removing the middleman to make health insurance more transparent & Agile

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Health insurance is health care financing. 

It's not health care. It pays for health care. If anything, an insurance company is nothing more than a financial corporation that cares about reducing its risk – it's own gambling risk. 

Every month you make a payment to an insurance company, betting that you will get sick and need that money to help pay for your medical costs. And every month, the insurance company accepts that payment, betting that you WILL NOT get sick and won't have to pay you.

Gamblers are all about probability and math. I remember my grandfather doing a bunch of calculations to determine if one dog was a better "bet" than the other based on track record. So for health insurance, actuaries use past data to determine the probability of this or that, or what is a risky "bet" for a health issue. Then the administrators take these facts and create rules around coverage, determining what will and will not be covered. And the rules change – depending on how the risks calculate each year (factored with costs and profit) to be more or less or just off the table. 

I haven't even reached claims processing yet, and already you can see why health insurance can be expensive. Just to create a plan, there is a large amount of staff and work involved. Now add the paperwork for claims – which is ridiculous (I've worked on systems to automate that process and there is a lot to it) – and a profit margin. Welcome to our current health insurance mess!

How does this relate to Agile? Or UX? or CX?

There is a company, Collective Health, and they are cutting out the middleman health insurance companies, and allowing companies to pick and choose what will be covered for employees. It's a self-funded plan – rather than an employer going off to an insurance company to have them manage it, the company could work with Collective Health to manage it online. So much simpler!

“While insurance is supposed to be a risk­-sharing business, health insurance has increasingly become a middleman business devised to generate profit for the health insurers above all else. As a result, there is a fundamental disconnect between the incentives of traditional health insurance companies and people’s and organizations’ health insurance needs,” says Diab. 

From Collective Health Wants To Replace The Health Insurance Industry With A Software Program, TechCrunch

This new approach will eliminate a lot of the rule books that guide insurance and make claims almost impossible to understand – especially when an insurance company changes its mind about how much risk it wants to assume to make a specific profit margin.

The current health insurance system is like a waterfall system, but the similarity isn't in the paperwork or requirements, although that is a factor. It's about the silos and lack of transparency. Health insurance companies just aren't transparent.

“Patients are often left to advocate for themselves and trying to get a clear answer from your health insurance company about what’s driving costs is impossible,” says Dr. Batniji.

From Collective Health Wants To Replace The Health Insurance Industry With A Software Program, TechCrunch

With that said, creating a Web site for companies to select and manage their own plans for employees is revolutionary. The company and employees will better understand what is covered and there is less rule changing to cover profits/reduce "risk."

And if there is a software product to manage it, the managing is based on rules that someone programmed. That means any question can be answered pretty easily. 

To boot, you can get answers to your questions easily and simply on your computer or device. How great is that?

Agile methodologies haven't only benefited software creation, but is starting to influence how people think about business in general – less paperwork, fewer silos, more streamlined direct communication, and greater transparency. It is shaking up a lot of middleman industries, influencing them to be more transparent and easier to understand, making them obsolete. Health insurance seems to be one of the next targets.

 

Removing the middleman to make health insurance more transparent & Agile

Oh dear – I forgot to write about my experience at Agile 2014!

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The Agile 2014 conference in Orlando was great! I learned a lot, got introduced to some new ideas, revisited some old ones, and learned how Agile is moving to the next level – mainly, how Agile methodologies are changing the way business happens. 

I also met a lot of cool people working on interesting projects! It was very inspiring!

I will be writing about my observations, insights and experiences soon! Last week I was in Palo Alto for HP work and learning more about the current reorg. I totally lost track of time! And then this week, I was so glad to be in my home in Dallas, I forgot about most everything else.

More coming! 

Oh dear – I forgot to write about my experience at Agile 2014!

How do your customers define value? Price isn’t always it….

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What is value?

A better question: How do your customers define value for themselves?

At the Agile 2014 conference this week, "value" was a buzzword – which is great. Customers should be the focus of what we work on.

  • First, because they give us money.
  • Second, because they can be our salespeople for us.
  • Third, they are good at figuring out what is useful – and give us feedback based on what they choose to use.

I notice companies spend a lot of time thinking that only low-cost gives value to customers. They talk about low-costs to the point where it makes a product a commodity, rather than focusing on how their features benefit users. The airline industry did this, making the flight experience a mode of transportation like a car or bus, rather than what it was in the early days – a stylish way to travel.

I flew on Spirit Airlines (a low-cost airline) on Sunday. The value they offer is in the cost and how basic you can travel.

I didn't realize how many aspects of a flight could be monetized:

  • carry-on bags
  • checked-in bags
  • telling Spirit about your bag count at booking vs check-in vs at the counter
  • printing tickets at a kiosk
  • just going to a counter at the airport

– and the list goes on.

They even do some things that are non-standard amongst airlines, such as defining overweight bags as being over 40 pounds rather than 50 pounds (of course, there is a fee for an overweight bag). Ironically, the fee in that case is less than other airlines. 

I was exhausted being nickeled and dimed by the time I got on the plane. Luckily, I didn't want a beverage (another $2 each) or a snack. Given the lines and the planning you need to do to save money, I found it to be more of a hassle than worth it for me. 

I read a blog about why Spirit fits the bill for some people. And it made sense – a group of 4 could fit in another vacation trip during the year by sharing luggage and having no carry-ons. It's awesome for families who are on a budget.

Those of us who do business travel by ourselves don't really benefit from Spirit's cost structure. You have to take at least one bag anyway, and after a long day in a meeting, the last thing you want to do is wait in a line to maybe save a couple of dollars that you can expense anyway.

So Spirit has it's place. And I realized during the experience that I was not in their customer set who valued what they were offering.

Virgin America's flights offer value in the experience you have during your trip. The flight attendants don't hassle you. The food is pretty good. There's a lot of space – even in coach. And you can upgrade easily. The value is comfort and ease. They don't charge a bunch – more than Spirit, but it is worth it. Then again, I value that that I'm not hassled and am willing to pay more money so I can be left alone to enjoy the flight. 

Other airlines offer great point programs for frequent flyers – as well as lots of locations for those frequent flyers to use their points. That's another customer value. I'm not traveling as much as I used to these days, so those benefits don't attract me and I don't see value in it.

And it's ok that I don't see value in it – others do! And those customers fly those airlines faithfully, while I choose to fly Virgin America faithfully. I share Virgin's values for their product – why I am a customer.

Companies need to think more about what they offer and how they are providing value to their customers. Customers who share that value will find them and use the product. Sure, low-cost can be a factor, especially for a commodity product, but it is not the only factor. You can help customers in other ways – not always the most obvious ways – but those other ways may be ways that make your customers your salespeople to get more customers.

You need to make it clear to customers what you are offering for value. Sometimes companies find that difficult – because it is – so they resort to cost. A shame! No one wins in a price war.

 

How do your customers define value? Price isn’t always it….