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| Photo by Don Ross III on Unsplash |
A short while ago Craig Rentzke from Helpshift pointed me to a particular
episode of
CXOTalk, featuring Kevin Henrikson of Microsoft and professor Anindya Ghose
from NYU. Henrikson is responsible for Microsoft’s Outlook for Mobile, a personal
information manager (PIM) app, whereas prof. Ghose comes more from a B2C angle,
with B2C being more concerned with convenience. This interesting episode deals
with the future of mobile computing and given that, apparently about how mobile
apps will (have to) look like and what it is that vendors should do and what
they should not do with the apps.
The Now
Naturally, the discussion immediately
zeroed in on two topics
·
the purpose of the app
·
and data
The purpose of the app mainly determines
two things, which are first the way that users are presented with information
and are engaging with the app and second the data that gets collected and used
in order to (positively) influence the user experience while considering their
privacy. The data that gets collected needs to be used to provide the users
with timely and relevant information, which does not only benefit the vendor
but also, and chiefly, the user.
That the data collection ‘behaviors’ of
especially B2C apps are not hitting that objective is probably the industry’s
worst kept secret. The apps collect more than necessary and use it for a very
wide range of purposes, mostly wider than the users are aware of. They
basically strip the user of their personal data.
This realization was also what led a friend
of mine and me found Epikonic, with the
clear intention of giving users a choice who they interact with instead of
‘being chosen’ by companies (sorry for this shameless plug, actually, well, not
so).
On the productivity app side the picture is
far better. Users need to be able to do their job efficiently and easily. In the
case of a PIM app this means that users are checking it frequently and need to
be able to find and do what they need with minimal time spent, including
getting support. Being a user of Outlook for Mobile I can say that the team of
Microsoft and Helpshift are succeeding here. The app collects telemetry data
and can suggest appropriate attachments and certainly provides very relevant
information to the service center in case of a call for support. The proof is
more than 100
million installations that are getting served only on Android.
However!
The Then
I do think that both discussion partners
did not look far enough into the future of what mobile apps will be. They
remained on grounds within the current paradigm, which is a mobile app that
serves a specific purpose and that resides on a mobile device- aka smartphone,
competing for real estate on the phone’s main screen.
Yes, that paradigm covers more use cases
than currently deployed, including food and drink ordering from the airline app
to the flight attendants without reaching out for the button on the ceiling or
using the built-in screens – if they are there at all.
And this describes only one possible user
initiated use case in one particular industry.
Still, this paradigm is challenged already
now.
·
It is hard to make users use an
app for a longer time, think of (re-) engagement campaigns
·
Mobile devices are powerful
enough to not require specific - very limited - app functionalities that serve
one purpose. Think of apps become multi-purpose again
·
The single 2D screen itself
becomes less important, think of smart watches, wearable sensors, AR, VR, and
holograms
·
Scalability becoming a main
theme. Think automation and bots
·
Interaction metaphors, other
than those limited to a 2d screen are emerging – think of voice, conversations,
eye tracking
·
Apps are becoming intelligent.
Think of artificial intelligence, in particular deep learning
·
And then there is the Internet
of Things.
There is a short-term future and a long-term
vision. Helpshift is perfectly positioned for the former. Knowing CEO Abinash Tripathy, he also has a
good idea for the long-term play.
The Next Level
Which goes beyond the smartphone. The app
will be mobile – more so than now.
The smartphone will no more be THE frontend
that it is now. It will stay the switchboard of our lives that it has become,
but it will move into the background, like the PC and laptop did. It will
become more of a personal server.
With lots of little personal devices that
serve specific purposes, and other personal servers, situationally connected to
it to support the user’s wishes in the here and now.
This will lead to more intelligence at all
levels, the personal device, the personal server, and the (interconnected) back
ends.
And all these little devices will have
different UI’s and interaction metaphors, like VR, AR using eytracking,
holograms that can be manipulated, etc. But most of all with speech becoming
more and more important.
I am looking forward to Helpshift participating
in shaping this future.
Be prepared.
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