English | EN DON’T MANAGERS DESERVE BEAUTIFUL APPS?
April 17, 2014
In our personal lives we are very much used to great performing and super looking apps. In our work we are often still working in screens that look like they were built from a technical perspective without the user in mind. It’s time to change this way of working and empower all users with tapworthy engaging apps.more–>
The first mobile revolution was focused on mobilizing the office workforce. A bit strange, in retrospect, to focus on a group that wasn’t so mobile after all. This is now known as the PDA era, and because of limited functionality and battery endurance, the delivered mobile value was quite low. The only benefit of having one was to brag about having one.
Focusing on the real mobile workforce, the field worker, in the second mobile revolution, was vastly more successful. Typically, this was a digital first approach where the external workforce was equipped with ruggedized devices that truly supported their process and replaced the paperwork. This delivered true mobile value but lagged on user experience. Devices were quite heavy, not user-friendly, and were pretty expensive in both buying the device and creating customized and integrated software for them. Neither were they built for touch applications.
With the third mobile revolution the focus was on the customers—or, actually, everybody. There was an app for everything, for everyone. Not all apps delivered great value, as there were a lot of nonsense apps in the beginning. It seemed every company needed an app without truly understanding why. Having one seemed more important than any other reason to engage this new and exciting channel.
On the horizon is already the fourth mobile revolution coming in with ‘Things’ and apps for devices. Apps for your car, for your lights, for your alarm, for your climate control.
Now, in the second phase of this third revolution, there is much more focus on delivering true mobile value and creating solutions that not only fit on the mobile screen but also fit the mobile’s here-and-now character. Apps nowadays are, therefore, much more focused on value than on just features. Now this second phase also reflects on the previous two revolutions. Apps for business, where business needs are met with easy taps.
That means apps for us, as a whole. We are not either/or. We are not just the job we have. We are not only a customer or an employee. We are humans that can have both roles. We are one person. We only have one life, which is too short to split in two halves. We are used to beautiful, engaging apps in our private lives, and we also would love to use these magnificent tools in our work. We want apps that match our work, our process, and our life. Apps with value, apps with great user experience that are fit for work. We want, and deserve, apps with impact! Impact for our whole lives, both private and professional.
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