Surface Ripples

Are We Going "App-Happy"?

I read once “somewhere” that apparently 80% of a business’ users will look to access its services or products on their mobile (read smartphone) device.  Small wonder then that the development of apps has grown exponentially over the past years.

There are apps, however, and there are apps.

Rather like those department stores that promise to sell us (almost) anything and everything apps are now doing the same job.  As I go through life, I find more organisations, businesses and such like who “have an app for that”.  Sooner or later, I suspect that even our tiny little six-person business will be forced to pay someone to develop an app for us (we don’t have the expertise to do it ourselves).

What I've found in a number of cases though is that when interacting with an app, firstly I risk tapping in the wrong place with my (some might call them large) fingers.  Many apps also seem to require at least two levels of security.  These are usually a username and/or password and/or One Time Password (OTP) sent to the user.  Often the OTP is sent to their mobile phone number.  That’s great if that user doesn’t travel outside their country or keeps their SIM in their mobile device even when travelling (incurring the sometimes outrageous data costs that this entails).  Luckily, smartphone manufacturers have found a partial way around this through using facial recognition (although there are still some suppliers with whom I deal who insist on sending an OTP to my phone).

My real question is: how many apps can we truly deal with?  In the end, I suspect that people will stop dealing with certain suppliers if they don’t buy their products regularly or if they’re just fed up with so many apps on their phones.

My personal experience is that, as I’ve aged, I prefer (and indeed need to!) access apps or services from a larger screen, such as a tablet or desktop computer.  For young people with good eyesight and slim, nimble fingers, the mobile phone is great. For others it may be a curse.

Worse still are organisations who insist on transacting only through their app (they don’t even have a website).  Again, if they’re interacting with the younger generation this shouldn’t be a problem but I wonder whether they’ll start to lose business as customers advance in years. No doubt there'll be others to take their place.

In the end, I suspect the decision will boil down to “Do I really value this product, service or supplier and, if so, is it worth continuing using their particular app?”

Only time will tell.  Meanwhile, if we as businesses want to develop our own app, how are we going to make sure that it will be as “user-friendly” as possible?

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website  provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  

Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 10:44