When it comes to the digital transformation of a business, the three hottest technology trends at the moment include mobile, personalised apps and technologies, and IoT (internet of things). And as the top engagement channels continue to be social media, web, and mobile apps, it’s become remarkably easy for businesses to fall for gimmicks and develop apps simply for the sake of ticking a box. It’s a sin many businesses are guilty of: they operate without a plan.
Enhancing the EX
So, how does one go about developing apps that enhance the EX (a self-coined term for employee experience), and not end up in the expensive tech scrapheap a few months down the line?
Ultimately, the purpose of every app should be to deliver something that not only fulfils a useful purpose, but also appeals to the senses and creates a desire for users to engage with it. That, in effect, is what makes a beautiful app.
A great app is never finished - it’s an on-going iteration.
Where there’s a pressing business issue to address, it often serves a company to forego the quest for perfection which can hamstring actual progress. The ability to introduce new digital innovations in an agile way is key: rather deploy an MVP (minimum viable product) quickly, and then experiment and improve as you go.
A business that understands the value of effective employee engagement, and approaches app development to deliver an outstanding EX, is already on the right path. The first step lies not necessarily in thinking about what app can be built, but rather in asking: do our employees want or need an app?
In this regard, Clayton Christensen (Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation) believes that understanding the job that needs to be done is central to deciding the tech solution required for an employee to progress a task effectively and efficiently.
The challenge is to deliver the employee’s desired experience
For an app to be effective and widely adopted, it needs to answer the requirements of its users on a functional, emotional and social level. It needs to deliver the desired experience. On-going consultation with employees should, therefore, be considered a non-negotiable activity. This intense level of listening and communication can be further iterated with machine learning data that highlights employee preferences and behaviours. In this way, processes that cause frustrations and anxieties for users can be removed.
An effective app does not survive in isolation: it should integrate with the job, and be delivered to employees in a process specific to their job spec. Design metrics that measure performance (around the desired progress that employees want to make) allow for any complexities to be continuously improved or removed. Communicating development milestones back to employees is also a must-do.
Creating beautiful apps that support a beautiful business is well within every organisation’s reach…provided it’s done as part of a clear plan, geared to deliver an EX second to none.
