The excitement of mobile learning has moved on – as another idea that grabbed just as much attention – especially as it has a direction relationship with improving work force performance. That idea is mobile performance support. Mobile learning and mobile support are related, but they are not identical. Learning invests in planned experiences that are designed to develop an employee’s theoretical ability to deal with a given situation – providing they can remember what they were taught at the right time! Performance support attends to outside influence and is what people turn to for help when stumped by a situation or are faced with a difficult decision. While the mind and heart are the domain of learning and instruction, performance support resides on mobile devices. Let’s look at a side-by-side comparison. Do we need to choose between instruction and support? The simple answer is no. A system that combines instruction and support is the most desirable of all – especially when so much is expected of us these days. For example, let’s look at two professional groups – doctors and pilots. Both rely on check-lists as a mechanism for mitigating errors and potentially life threatening catastrophe. Over the [...]
Archive for Business Apps
Company Apps: What’s the Point? pt1
Many businesses are now aware of Apps. They hear a lot about them, see various Apps on their own smartphones and tablets, they hear numerous commentators saying that all businesses should have an App to keep their audience engaged. They’re bombarded with messages along the lines of “it’s the latest thing” and “if you haven’t got one, you’ll get left behind”. And they might have a point. Google have just celebrated their 10 billionth Android App download while the number of downloads from Apple’s AppStore is expected to pass 20 billion within the next couple of months! Companies are often left bemused as others race to get their App out to the market but, in the same way many businesses ponder the benefits of blogging or twitter, but the answer that often gets left unanswered is “Why?” “Why do I need an App?” and “What will it actually do for my business?” The answer is simple – if you can’t think of a reason why, then don’t bother until you can. The whole point of a Business App is to help the user achieve something specific, and to do it QUICKLY using a tool, be it a smartphone or tablet, [...]
Got a business problem? Take a Tablet
We are producing data on a massive scale that is fast polluting our working environments and also encroaching into our personal lives. Many businesses are taking action now to reverse this trend, just as organisations took measures to reduce environmental pollution after the industrial revolution The ‘tablet’ be it the iPad or the Android tablet is already becoming a widely used device in the world of business. None more so than in the world of learning and performance support. As we suffer from information overload, people are now looking for simple ways of accessing concise and relevant information at the point or time of need. The tablet, with its 10 inch screen – which has great multi-media capacity – and easy access to Apps is at the forefront of this information revolution. Apps are already beginning to stem the flow of information overload – as they place information into accessible visible containers. According to the French information technology company Atos – middle managers spend 25% of their time searching for information. Apps, with their container structure, are enabling business users to strip away some of the information noise and allow them to refocus on the job in-hand. Aside from the [...]
In ‘App’ World, Small is Beautiful
Small is beautiful even in the world of apps – where less is definitely more. In a world where there are literally thousands of apps available to the visitor of the app stores – standing out from the crowd is becoming more and more difficult. It’s tough being a mobile app developer given the competitive nature of the business and the proliferation of apps that are emerging from darkened rooms. Already there are many very good apps languishing in the stores where few are finding them. Some of the latest renditions seem to be missing the point – as developers overload them with features that actually make them less appealing to the user. Surely one of the big reasons that apps have become so popular is their simplicity of having very focused objectives. Users have come to expect an app that is designed to perform a particular task, in a singularly competent and efficient manner. The developers of these apps have spent a lot of time defining what it means to deliver a good experience performing a specific task, and making that the primary focus of the development effort and the user experience. The very best apps stand out as [...]