10 Essential Real Estate App Features that Enhance Your Business
“Creating a New Digital Experience to Improve Communication, Productivity, and Efficiency in the Real Estate Industry”
While the true buyer is always keen to buy and the seller enthusiastic to sell the process isn’t so simple, especially when it comes to real estate. For instance, factor in all those missed appointments, open houses, and listings that could have been marketed better along with the administrator’s difficulty in staying on top of what their agents are doing. What we have at the end of the day is a series of missed opportunities to close positive deals. However, it is tapping into these problem areas can generate actual results and this is where real estate app development can serve to streamline real estate search.
Instead of a problem, this can instead be seen as an opportunity to improve, as our client Brevity did. Sunflower Lab partnered with them to create a digital solution that would improve communication, productivity and efficiency.
Capturing & Connecting Real Estate Leads from Across All Sources in One Platform!
Real estate agents need to find, process and communicate information on the go which is why a mobile application version is easier operationally. Our experts at Sunflower Lab were able to provide a mobile solution packed with features to Brivity that included:
- Improved collaboration and connectivity within the team & with clients.
- Lead & transaction management.
- Enabled marketing of listings to social media platforms .
- Tracking social media ROI through dashboards so that your team knows where to pay attention.
Since real estate agents have a lot already on their plate, the focus of digital solutions should be to help streamline the business. With less on their hands, they will be better able to concentrate on bringing in business!
How Property Searches Sink & How Apps Help Them Sail
The first rule of selling is that the end client can find it upon searching for the same. Unfortunately, one of the biggest pain points when it comes to real estate is the limitation of search filters. You might have the perfect property that fits the client’s requirements to a T and the best estate agent on the job and yet – no leads simply because the client doesn’t know about the listing or agent.
For example: Think of a search that is flexible enough to allow users / prospective clients to find CRS agents by
- Location
- Specialty
- Designation
- Certification
- Languages Spoken & More
Real estate agents have a few common pain points when it comes to closing deals. Of course, situationally, there can be a few more depending upon the situation, but these and other pain points can easily be tackled through innovative digital solutions.
| Common Pain Points | Problem | Digital Solutions |
|---|---|---|
| Search Filters | Prospective clients find it difficult to find the listing that meets their preference as they are not able to filter out searches. Thus, this is where a lot of time and effort go to waste as the right property despite being out there would not be accessible. | Through digital platforms, search options can be refined on the basis of basics like location and price; to the more detailed like the number of bedrooms. This helps to save time for both agents as well as clients. |
| Accuracy of Information | With real estate, clients are very criteria specific and so listings that are not accurate or have not been updated would lead them to lose their trust with the relative while at the same time feel that time was wasted. | Digital solutions provide up-to-date information on amenities, square footage, and number of rooms. Clients can make a more informed decision based on this. |
| Appointment Issues | Many times, deals do not happen because the client misses the appointment, and the agent was too busy to send reminders for the same. Also, there might be appointments scheduled for the same time which would create conflicts. | Through the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and applications, the appointment process can be streamlined to schedule showings and consultations online. |
| Remote Access | Clients can at times find it difficult to personally visit a property. If they are able to remotely access the information required at such times, it makes it easier for them to make a final decision. Also, if the client is certain of the property, they might decide to be able to physically view the same at a later date. | With remote access, they can not only be provided with a virtual tour but also can be able to access documents and information pertaining to the listing and transactions details, making it easier for them to close the deal without being physically present. |
| Organizational Gaps | It is difficult for agents to communicate with clients and keep track of the listings viewed and those to send clients updates or notifications for. | Push notifications are a simpler way of information sharing. Buyers are alerted and thus made aware when properties that meet their requirements are added or available. |
Thus, digital solutions can help in providing accessibility and information for potential clients. Real estate agents can benefit from the improved organization, communication, and collaboration facilities that are made available. Read on for a gist of how real estate applications streamline property search and their ten must-have essential features!
How Real Estate Apps Streamline Property Search
Interestingly, prospective clients and real estate agents have similar goals when it comes to finding and closing the perfect deal faster, with more ease and efficiency. Using digital solutions, clients can find listings faster while agents can streamline the follow-up and collaboration process through the features and functionalities such applications provide.
Based on our work with clients, our experts at Sunflower Lab have complied a list of the 10 Essential Real Estate App Development features that can enhance your business by revving up speed, easing the process, and making it more efficient at the same time.
10 Essential Real Estate App Features that Enhance Business
Real estate app development has gained momentum over the years as buyers and agents have realized the ease and convenience of searching for or listing properties through them. The features and functionality of these applications help in speeding up the process and reducing the bounce rate. Since clients can make a more informed decision, they are better able to invest their time and the agent’s attention is properties that they are most likely to buy instead of a series of trials and errors. Listed below are the 10 essential features for real estate app development that are a win-win solution for buyers and agents (including sellers) alike.
1. Property Search
Clients often are unable to find the listing that best meets their criteria. With a robust property search feature, it is easier for users to search properties based on specific criteria like location, property type, price range, etc. Thus, the functionality of the feature is based on being in tune with user preferences as well as being able to list out the properties present on the listing based on the set preferences.
2. Property Listings
It goes without saying that a detailed and well-presented listing with high-quality photos, descriptions, and virtual tours would be more engaging. Most clients look for details and appreciate accurate but well-taken photographs so that they can have a visual of the prospective property. Through the addition of a virtual tour, it is easier for clients to make decisions regarding properties that they do not have time to personally come and view.
3. Map Integration
Most users prefer to have a visual representation of the property so that they can shorten their list of prospective properties to view or look into. By integration with a mapping software users get a visual representation of the prospective property as well as the surroundings. This helps in giving familiarity so that the prospect has a better idea as to the suitability of the neighborhood. Through integration with maps, the client can also view the amenities that are nearby as well as get directions.
4. Notifications
Notifications are important as they keep prospects updated as to new listings, changes in prices and features, or other updates. This allows the agent to subtly remain in touch with the client while also keeping the client up to date. With reminders and new offers coming in the client is more likely to be able to zero in on the property that meets their requirements. Also, with the constructive use of push notifications users are able to have a look at new properties that match their existing search preferences without having to actively keep searching to remain updated on new listings that become available.
5. User Profiles
User profiles are a feature that assists in creating a more personalized experience for the end user. Through profiles the search history of the user can be tracked, and their preferences and saved properties viewed. The application would allow users to create profiles and save their favorite properties so that they do not have to go through the same steps again. This not only saves time but is convenient for users. Furthermore, people tend to return to applications that provide them with value as well as time and effort. By providing a functional app there is greater client retention which is positive when it comes to pushing notifications and updates as to newer listings as there is already an established customer base.
6. Communication Tools
Communication between agents and clients is the glue that retains the client’s interest. With in-app communication, all the communication takes place in one place, and this makes it easier to keep track of what was discussed. Phone calls and emails are difficult to keep track of and so, intra-application communication would help in keeping all the details in one place. Due to communication issues, there are communication gaps between agents and clients which can be lessened through messaging and chat tools through an application.
7. Mortgage Calculator
Budget is another important factor apart from communication. Clients are comfortable with a property as per their specified price range and prefer added functionality such as a calculator that can help them estimate their monthly payments. When able to estimate their monthly payments, it is possible that clients will even go a bit out of their budget if they see a property they like and find they can manage the monthly payments for. Thus, by adding features and tools with functionality real estate app development can help not only clients but also the real estate agent in sealing deals.
8. Feedback & Reviews
Feedback and reviews are ideal in providing clients with an idea of how the properties impressed other people in the same shoes as well as providing feedback on the agent’s performance. Reviews and feedback are reassuring to the buyer as they do not consider it with the same suspicion as they would attribute to the sales pitch. Furthermore, by allowing users to leave reviews they feel valued and singled out by the business as well as get to appreciate the transparency involved.
9. Integration with MLS
Through integration with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), agents can access the latest property data and also market trends. This keeps them more informed and better prepared when presenting options to clients. Agents need to be aware of the best deals so that they can present the same and while research is integral, having a few easy pointers too helps along the way.
10. Data Analytics
Through the use of data analytics, it becomes easier for agents to make more business-intelligent decisions as they can keep a better track of property trends and other key metrics including user behavior. Data thus used serves the dual purpose of providing agents with an idea of their performance as well as areas they should focus on as well as those that are delivering results.
Benefits of Using a Real Estate App for Property Search
Real Estate app development is beneficial in improving a client’s property search experience. However, it is important that the team of developers is first clear on the objective for the application so that your business can make the most of the features and functionality provided. At Sunflower Lab, we believe in a product vs. project mindset and so we partner with our clients from ideation to deployment and beyond. Knowing the why’s, pain points, user personas, and journey are what help in creating an unbeatable application experience Our real estate clients have told us time and again that by opting for digital transformation they have
- Saves time and improved operational efficiency
- Seen an increase in the number of prospective buyers
- Been able to stay at par with the competition
- Enhanced their business through improving the user experience of clients
While features and functionality are important, the user experience and user interface too are equally of value. Users appreciate applications that involve a smaller learning curve and are more intuitive in design by merging functionality and features with excellent UI and UX, you have a real estate app that will assist both your clients and agents, and this will indirectly help in boosting sales.
Examples of Successful Real Estate Applications
A Mobile Solution That Enhances Productivity, Efficiency & Communication
An on-the-go digital solution that connects real estate offices, agents, and clients for better communication & collaboration. It also allows the marketing of properties through social media with a business intelligents dashboard that gives agents information on the ROI.
Improving Search Experience Through Voice Automated Search Functionality
The Residential Real Estate Council has over 33,000 members who can now be easily voice searched through voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home. By voice automation users can filter search as per location, language, sectors, and even designations.
Streamlining Property Search through Real Estate Applications
Real estate app development has redefined the way people search and market properties due to the features and functionality provided. By making the property search and follow-up process smoother, it is easier for businesses to enhance their profits due to the added accessibility that clients now have. With innovative solutions and a business specific approach, real estate app development has proved to be a game changer not only in the listing and searching process but in the notification and communication process as well.
Sunflower Lab has assisted in the digital transformation of clients across industries. Our clients in real estate have benefited from the improved collaboration, communication, and search features such applications provide. If you want to know how digital solutions can help in improving your business’ profits simply talk to our team of experts. Simply, contact our team today!
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Digital Transformation Strategy for 2022: First Steps, Benefits, Technology
Digital Transformation Strategy for 2022
Having a digital transformation strategy in 2022 will be critical for you to stay ahead of your competition. Why? Because digital transformation is more than a fancy term, it’s the future of business. Developing a digital transformation strategy not only means introducing business process automation into your organization, but also getting buy-in from your employees. Digital transformation strategies give us an opportunity to reimagine the way we do our jobs and engage with customers; sticking with sticky notes and handwritten ledgers is not going to cut it anymore. Now that we’ve piqued your interest, let’s start unpacking why having a game plan for digital transformation is so important and how you can develop one of your own.
What is Digital Transformation?
In simple terms, digital transformation refers to integrating digital technologies in areas of businesses to improve the business outcomes. Digital transformation is a movement to modify existing business processes to meet the needs to today’s digital age. And while technology is a critical component of a digital transformation strategy, it is going to be people that drive the initiative. Digital transformation is directly influenced by the people adopting it, not the technology. A successful digital transformation strategy requires human employees to be willing to learn, change, and grow out of their comfort zone. The end objective of digital transformation is to improve the processes, culture, customer experience by delivering at a much faster pace and at a higher quality while simultaneously adding value to the roles of your employees.
Why Having a Digital Transformation Strategy is Important
Overhauling practices, technology, and even your workplace culture is a heavy lift, so why would you do it? Excellent question. Besides the fact that McKinsey estimates by 2023, most companies will need to build new digital processes to stay economically viable, there are several motivating factors behind the decision to formulate a digital transformation strategy:
• It helps businesses not only survive but thrive in the future’s digital environment
• It helps an organization keep up with emerging customer demands
• It allows companies to stay ahead of competition
• It improves customer experiences
• It improves employee experiences
• It helps increase productivity at a lower cost
First Step of Digital Transformation Strategy
For any enterprise, digital transformation starts from a simple automation. That is why robotic process automation is the obvious first step in developing a digital transformation strategy. RPA software bots are onboarded to “learn” and then take over the mundane and repetitive tasks carried out by humans. In turn, this frees up the humans to perform more high-value duties. The implementation of RPA not only improves the customer experience, but also helps to transform the business by streamlining and refining the business processes.
Businesses are able to realize the benefits very quickly. The return on Investment (ROI for RPA) are very fast as compared to the other technology programs. This simple automation acts as the cornerstone for a wider digital transformation strategy. The next steps are then to integrate with other digital technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and/or chatbots with the goal of adopting an end-to-end digital transformation strategy.
How to Continue your Digital Transformation Journey
Robotic process automation is the first step in achieving digital transformation because it is a simple automation that can be implemented easily and return positive results quickly. But the digital transformation journey doesn’t end there. In order to extend the horizons of the automation, more digital transformation technologies need to be incorporated. Intelligent process automation, or intelligent automation, or IA exists to accelerate the technology transformation journey. Intelligent automation is the combination of RPA with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), optical character recognition (OCR), cognitive technologies, computer vision, etc. With the help of intelligent automations and use of analytics, we can have solutions with automated decisions providing more flexibility to the end-to-end automation.
What Drives Digital Transformation?
Technology is the vehicle to get your digital transformation strategy from the starting line to the finish tape, but who is in the driver’s seat? Your customers and your employees, of course!
Customer: Keeping the customer at the center of your digital transformation strategy is your key to success. Improving relations with your customer is one of the main reasons why leaders decide to implement digital transformation. Therefore, continually auditing your digital transformation roadmap to ensure it is benefiting the customer is crucial.
Employee: Like we mentioned above, your employees are going to be the ones to get your digital transformation strategy off the ground. So, it’s important to provide incentives for them to oblige. Will business process automation take away boring, repetitive tasks they normal handle every day? Have you allotted room in your plan for employees to offer their suggestions for improvement? Keeping your employees involved and incentivized will make for a higher adoption rate for your digital transformation strategy.
Benefits of Digital Transformation
Now that you know what digital transformation is, why it’s important, and how you can start developing your strategy, let’s talk about how you stand to benefit:
Easier to access and share knowledge/information.
Digital transformation creates a system for gathering the right data and putting it in the right places for better organization and faster access.
Improved Efficiency
A good digital transformation strategy can improve communication, increase workflow, and seamlessly move the business forward: how efficient!
Increased Transparency
Implementing automation can illuminate aspects of the company that weren’t getting the attention they deserve. It also improves transparency by documenting each step of a workflow step by step.
Cost Savings
Three words: return on investment. See ROI for RPA for more information.
Better Customer Experience
With work getting done faster and better than ever before, the customer service experience will be positively affected.
Better Employee Engagement and Culture
Digital transformation automation presents an opportunity for employees to unload their boring, rule-based tasks to explore work opportunities that make them feel more fulfilled.
Flexibility
Digital transformation, specifically intelligent automation, enables businesses to respond to the changing market with ease (see Improve Customer Satisfaction with RPA and Sentiment Analysis).
Starting Your Digital Transformation Strategy
Small, mid-sized, and large companies are ditching the old way of doing business and seizing the opportunity to begin developing their digital transformation strategy. Pursuing digital transformation in response to technology evolutions is the logical first step because it combines the best of technology with the best of mankind to create a synergistic workplace. Because it’s an evolution, a transformation doesn’t necessarily have a clear end point. So even after your strategy is developed and you are well on your way to a holistic, intelligently-automated organization, there will always be room for improvement.
With the right tech partner, you’ll be able to continuously evolve your digital transformation strategy to accommodate emerging technologies, new ideas, and even better outcomes. At Sunflower Lab, we can help you take the next step towards your automated future. Reach out to one of our RPA specialists today to know more about our Robotic Process Automation Services.
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What is Intelligent Automation?
Digital transformation refers to integrating digital technologies in areas of businesses to improve the process outcomes. Robotic process automation is the first step in achieving digital transformation because it is a simple automation that can be implemented easily and return positive results quickly. But the digital transformation journey doesn’t end there. In order to extend the horizons of the automation, intelligent process automation, or Intelligent automation, or IA exists to accelerate the digital transformation journey. Intelligent automation is the combination of RPA with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), optical character recognition (OCR), cognitive technologies, computer vision, etc. With the help of intelligent automations and use of analytics, we can have solutions with automated decisions providing more flexibility to the end-to-end automation.
The primary objective of intelligent automation is to improve the end customer experience, reduce manual interventions in the automation cycle, and make automated decisions. Intelligent automation is applicable to all phases of the automation lifecycle from process mining to development to delivery.
Difference between RPA and Intelligent Automation
The difference between RPA and intelligent automation is that while they are both tools for automation, RPA is just one piece of the intelligent process automation puzzle. Robotic process automation services use software robots to automate repetitive, mundane, and routine tasks, mimicking human actions to carry out error-free tasks at high volume and speed. These tasks can include queries, calculations and maintenance of records and transactions. Learn more about what is RPA. Intelligent process automation, on the other hand, combines RPA with more advanced technologies like machine learning, process mining, and natural language processing to create a holistic solution for digital transformation.
Benefits of Intelligent Process Automation
• With IA, we can have flexible, resilient, and modern automation solutions with no human intervention.
• IA provides the capability to automate a business process end-to-end to improve the customer experience and save more money.
• Input format of data is no longer a challenge. With IA, we can read semi-structured and unstructured data that increase the scope of the automation in the organization
• It decreases or eliminates the exceptions created by the automated processes as the robots learn and handle exception on their own
• Predictive analytics help organizations to plan resources and ensure optimal deliveries
• Provides the organization a competitive advancement
Prominent Technologies Supporting Intelligent Automation with RPA
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) – For analyzing and making decisions based on the data outcome of RPA
• Document Understanding – For processing semi-structured and unstructured data
• Computer Vision (CV) – To look through screens such as VDI / RDP and image-based automations.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) – Read, understand, and manipulate written and spoken language.
• Process Mining – Intelligent way to capture process details for the automation
Examples of Applying RPA and Intelligent Automation
Resume Matching
Human Resource Teams do an intensive job in shortlisting resumes and matching the correct candidate to the correct opportunity. With the help of AI, that process can be much faster and more streamlined.
Customer Sentiment Analysis
Customer service representatives work directly with customer feedback. For written feedback, AI-enabled robots help analyze the information for faster, more accurate service.
Language Translation
For industries that have customers across globe, language translation is critical for seamless communication. The robots can do the mundane work of loading the data and AI can provide the response in the respective language. This also opens channels to create multi-lingual chatbots and communicators.
Examples Across Industries
Some good Examples of RPA with AI across several industries are listed below:
Sourced from UiPath
Digital Transformation Could Be Yours
The future of business is automated. Get a jump on your competitors by adopting an end-to-end strategy for digital transformation: intelligent process automation. We hope you gleaned some insights into how RPA fits into intelligent automation, what other technologies are included, its benefits to your business, and a few examples that helped apply your new knowledge. Digital transformation could be yours with a little help from the right automation consultant.
Sunflower Lab has multiple locations to better serve our clients. Robotic process automation services Columbus, Ohio, robotic process automation services New Jersey, and robotic process automation services New York all designed specifically to accommodate the needs in each unique market. For more information and resources regarding robotic process automation services, please reach out to our RPA Experts.
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Vishay engaged with Sunflower Lab to design, develop, and deliver their workflow management application. The software is used to optimize tasks that were previously completed manually, such as: creation and approval of purchase orders (PO), inventory management, report creation pre- and post-testing of a component, as well as tracking the test time and test completion time of a component by their customers etc.
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Customer-Centric Results
By implementing these features, Vishay hopes to improve the accuracy of the reports while reducing the chances of human error. They also hope to improve overall efficiency by eliminating various manual processes. And, ultimately, exceed their customers’ expectations by delivering a quality product, every time.
“As more and more companies are modernizing their workflow and processes, they’re turning to software-based solutions. This was the case for Vishay. Out of the box wasn’t going to cut it. They needed something specifically designed and built to suit their needs. It’s impressive to see a giant in the industry continue to innovate the way Vishay has.” —Ronak Patel, CEO, The Sunflower Lab
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A Sharks Perspective - #124 – Building Innovative Digital Products to Solve Problems
Ronak Patel, CEO of Sunflower Lab began his career as a software engineer after graduating in 2001. He was passionate about technology and spent hours and hours learning the technology. He found that technology is only valuable if its solving the right problem.
In 2010, Ronak started Sunflower Lab and builds custom software solutions. Learn more about Ronak, creating digital products and how to be successful in the space during this episode.
Here below, a one-minute clip from the podcast:
Show Notes:
- 1:30 – Ronak Patel’s background and career to date
- 3:21 – What Ronak has learned as an entrepreneur
- 4:44 – Creating a global workforces
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How Digital Coupons are Transforming the Print Couponing Business [And How You Can Adapt]
I’m always skeptical when someone says “print is dead.” This was a saying something many pundits used after the iPhone and Kindle became mainstream.
For many digital natives, they often fantasize about digital taking over every aspect of print, but it really doesn’t seem to be the case.
In some cases, print never died. According to pewresearch, print books continue to be more popular than e-books or audiobooks.
But, for many print newspapers, many major newspapers are either shutting down, sales are declining or they are going digital only.
Digital Coupon Usage Is Growing
Let’s talk about a few stats that stand out.
- 31 billion eCoupons will be redeemed worldwide in 2019, up from 16B in 2014 and there will be 1.05 Billion mobile coupon users worldwide by 2019, up from 560M in 2014.
- More than 57.5% of US internet users have redeemed a digital coupon or code at least once in 2016 and is expected to reach 59% by 2016. [src]
Digital coupon adoption is definitely growing and if traditional print coupon companies don’t adapt, they may see themselves losing out to other competitors and lower sales.
So, what’s the best way to move forward with your digital coupon initiative?
Understand how your users are using your coupons — Digital solutions gives you better insights
It shouldn’t be a surprise that print coupons are hard to track usage. With digital solutions you can get real-time information on how your coupons are being used, which coupons are being used the most, and also details of when the coupons are being used.
These details allow you to make better decisions and give your sales and marketing teams more fire power when selling to other clients. Better data = better business decisions.
Getting “smart” with your couponing – Context is everything
Digital coupon redemption is predicted to jump 94% by 2022, according to a Juniper Research forecast. Within five years, 80% of coupons could be redeemed on a mobile device, and chatbot coupon volume will rise from 25 million to 1.1 billion
But, here’s the deal. Put yourselves in the shoes of your customers. How do they use coupons? When are they most likely looking for your customers coupons. If they aren’t home, how will they use the print coupons that are miles away from home.
Here are two non-print options you have:
Mobile Coupons —
By default, mobile is the best first place to start with mobile couponing. Town Money Saver (client), built a fantastic mobile solution for iOS and Android. Read more about the case study & press release here.
Chatbot coupons —
One area to consider are using chatbots to deliver personalized coupons. In a chatbot, customers can type what type of coupon they are looking for and you can give them a list of coupons.
For example, in a chatbot, you can ask for pizza coupons in Chicago.
The good news is that you have options on where you want the chatbot to live. It can live on your website, within your app, or on a messenger bot and even voice apps on Alexa and Google Assistant.
Which platforms you should use all depends on the type of customers you have and demographics. If you have a large social following on Facebook, then facebook makes sense.
If your demographics tend to have voice devices in their home, then Alexa or Google Assistant is the way to go.
Let’s use a facebook bot for this example. Here’s what it would look like in action.
CASE STUDY
We digitized a well known print couponing company and early results are positive. Here is an excerpt from our partnership press release.
The collaboration with Sunflower Lab has driven an incredible boost in coupon redemption for Town Money Saver. The coupons are now available any place and any time, whereas the only way to redeem them before was via its print publication and website.
The Town Money Saver app lets consumers subscribe to the businesses of their choice allowing them to receive an alert each time their favorite stores post new coupons. The app also alerts consumers when their saved coupons are about to expire, so they are reminded to take advantage of the deal. For example, if a consumer has been putting off an oil change for weeks and they’re reminded that they only have a few days to get a great price, it serves as an excellent call to action.
If you want to learn more about how Town Money Saver uses a mobile app to distribute their coupons, check out our latest case study.
Invest in digital eCoupons now before it’s too late
The statistics don’t lie. eCoupon usage is growing at an alarming rate.
Our recommendation: Even if digital couponing isn’t your #1 revenue source, you must build the platforms to compliment your existing print couponing business.
If you need help building a digital couponing solution, please feel free to reach out to us directly and we’ll guide you through the entire process from start to finish.
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Designing Mission Critical Digital Experiences in Healthcare
A Healthcare Product Development Guide
When we started designing and developing a new digital experience, we knew we had a lot of challenges in front of us. Through the complexity of a healthcare environment, we were able to develop several new digital products (Mobile and Custom ERP) that simplified the way surgeries were scheduled within hospitals. We also streamlined customer billing, which was the biggest pain point for a lot of their customers.
As we, A Custom software development company build digital solutions for our clients in the healthcare sector, we thought of sharing our engineering and product design best practices.
There are four core differentiators when building digital experiences for healthcare:
1. Strong project management and controls (focus on details, control scope, know the rules).
2. Mission-critical engineering (engineering must be solid; failures can be catastrophic).
3. Human-centered design is even more important (product must be intuitive and convenient).
4. HIPAA regulations (secure products and adhere to regulations. Must know what you’re doing).
STRONG PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CONTROLS
In healthcare, you don’t get many opportunities to mess up. In some cases, you make one wrong decision and human lives can be at stake.
So, when we engage with healthcare projects, we keep our core project management principles close to us. These principles dictate the engineering, design, and QA processes we follow.
Here are five principles we believe need to be adhered to for any healthcare digital project:
1. First, a detailed project plan that includes a project summary and, most importantly, WHY we are doing this project?
2. A phased product road map with clear project milestones. What are we getting and when are we getting it? This schedule dictates to the business when they can be expecting to use the new technology.
3. A project control plan including a breakdown of activities, responsibilities, and their allocation; methods/ways to control such activities; budgeting/resource allocation plans along with their schedules, controls, and time of execution.
4. A project milestone review plan so completed activities can be reviewed to track the status of the project and make changes if, and wherever, necessary to complete the projects on time and within the allocated budget.
5. There also needs to be a product control plan along with an ops and maintenance plan. This allows major activities ranging from product configuration to identification, and from traceability to defining the deliverables to be controlled and executed on time with the least number of deviations in the plan.
MISSION CRITICAL ENGINEERING AND QA PRINCIPLES
In healthcare, oftentimes, QA can be equally—if not more—important to the development of the app.
We have three core critical engineering principles for healthcare projects:
1. Always start with clarity. Any assumption engineers make must be validated. It’s very important to have clarity when it comes to discovery and planning as well as designing the software. Documentation is important, but clean code that does exactly what you want it to do, and no more, is what’s needed.
2. High testability is another important principle. Any application you can test and verify easily will prove to be more trustworthy long-term.
3. Automate testing as much as possible (but, test every edge case with humans). We stress early on in our healthcare projects that we’re going to spend a lot of time doing QA, and this is not something for us to take lightly. We automate testing whenever possible to save everyone time and add confidence that what we built is strong.
HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN—BUILD FOR THE PEOPLE, SOLVE THE RIGHT PROBLEMS
A human-centered design approach is focused on solving the right problems for the right people. That’s it. We’re huge fans of human-centered design, and during healthcare projects it enables us to move quickly and helps us create a digital solution that solves business problems.
Here are three principles we rely on:
1. Have true empathy for the end-user. When we develop software used by practitioners in hospitals, we have to consider the context of how they’re using the system. Are they sitting down? Are they on the go? Is this done in a batch or one at a time when they have the opportunity?
Empathy and understanding how people use your product is always important, but in healthcare it’s 10x more important.
2. Focus on real, confirmed problems. It’s easy to think you know what the real problems are, but you can’t design for it until you live it. We have a strong process in which we cannot move ahead until we are 100% confident we’re designing for the problem.
The problem can change the application completely. A mobile app can turn into a chatbot or even something as simple as interactive text messages. Understand the core problem you are solving and don’t move on until you are confident it’s a real problem that you can begin solving for.
3. Understand the impact of what you’re building (by understanding the entire picture). We’ve seen simple feature requests get executed perfectly, but in the context of the entire system, it was definitely wrong and could have caused future disasters.
For example, when we designed the scheduling system we had to understand the process of how a surgery gets scheduled from start to finish. After diving in, we uncovered many dependencies that changed when and how a surgery gets scheduled.
In the end, there are humans using this product so our technology has to adapt to every core and edge use case or we risk deeming the software invalid. Expose your developers to the systems and not just the features they need to build.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, DON’T FORGET ABOUT HIPAA REGULATIONS
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets the standards for the protection of sensitive data/health information of the patients. Companies working in the healthcare sector are liable and accountable to take network, physical, and process security measures in order to protect their patients’ information from leaking out.
When we develop software for healthcare we follow these basic tenants of HIPAA to be compliant:
1. Backups – The data, or electronic protected health information (ePHI), can be backed up whenever the need arises.
2. Encryption – All the ePHI data must be completely encrypted before it is transmitted further. Moreover, such data should be encrypted even when it is stored.
3. Authorization – All ePHI data should be accessed only by the authorized staff or appropriate authorities.
4. Integrity – No unsanctioned changes should be allowed in this stored data.
5. Disposal – If the ePHI data is not needed anymore, its disposal should be done safely and permanently in a manner where it is not accessible again by anyone.
6. Agreement – The ePHI data should either be hosted on the servers of a company with whom a Business Associate Agreement is signed or on secure in-house servers.
Protecting patients’ data is a big priority, so you need to run a tight project ship, with regular audits, to make sure you’re building the right solution.
BUILDING DIGITAL EXPERIENCES IN HEALTHCARE IS DEMANDING, BUT REWARDING
For the last 10 years, we’ve been helping companies solve business problems with technology. If it makes an impact, we want to be part of it. That’s a big reason why we have an altruistic perspective on healthcare projects. We know they’re demanding, but I have to say, we find them extremely rewarding.
To know more about our achievements in detail, please click here or contact us
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Why Is Predictive Analytics Important In Smart Manufacturing?
Predictive analytics, an integral part of the smart manufacturing process, helps manufacturers to reduce manufacturing downtime and maximize production capabilities by as much as 25 to 30%.
Smart manufacturing
It involves the use of IoT devices in the assembly line to instill manufacturing intelligence in the product’s life cycle and improve the efficiency and productivity of manufacturing operations.
Operational technology is blending with information technology to create new opportunities for digital manufacturers. Terabytes of data produced by connected products, people and things can be accessed to extract deep insights and optimize the business and manufacturing processes to make them better than before.
Moreover, the insights availed from such voluminous data can help manufacturers identify new revenue streams by developing high-value service offerings focused upon how products and customers can interact in the real world.
The transformation induced by smart manufacturing is rapidly changing the landscape for manufacturers, enabling them to differentiate their USPs, and achieve operational excellence that can disrupt manufacturing markets.
It helps to:
- Make floor operation more efficient
- Reduce downtime
- Lower production costs
- Increase production levels
- Make the working environment more safer
- Enhance visibility of manufacturing process
- Improve quality assurance levels
According to a research by BI Intelligence, the smart manufacturing market is expected to reach $267 billion by 2020.
Predictive analytics
The manufacturing industry forms the economic backbone of any country relying upon manufacturing activities for the future growth of the country.
Traditionally, process control managers manually supervise the production process and keep a lookout for any machine breakdown. The managers have to be constantly on the floor and continually seek inputs from workers to monitor the process. It is not possible to predict when a piece of assembly line machine will break down and halt the production process.
Industrial IoT based smart manufacturing uses data collected from sensors placed in the assembly line to provide insights how the production process is currently underway.
However, raw data is not meaningful. One can’t use it as it is to plan effective actions for the future. But, specific information extracted from data can be analyzed to generate meaningful results.
In predictive analytics, data extracted from existing data sets is used to determine usage patterns and forecast possible future outcomes.
However, predictive analytics can’t forecast outcomes in an exact manner. Rather, it uses “what-if” type of case scenarios and asses risks to predict up to what levels a certain activity or event might occur in the future based upon the data available.
So, the results of predictive analytics can change as and when the data changes, or when new data is added.
Why predictive analytics is important
For manufacturing engineers, it is important to keep the production process up and running at all times to ensure maximum production occurs.
Predictive analytics aids manufacturing companies in up keeping their assembly line machines by collecting raw data from the sensors and analysing it to detect machine failures in the past. The software recognizes breakdown patterns in the past and tries to anticipate when a breakdown is likely to occur again in the future.
Using this information manufacturer can do maintenance in advance to mitigate the risk, or prepare for the breakdown in advance.
By anticipating breakdowns before they occur, production companies can reduce significant losses and deal with production related problems in a much better way. Predictive analytics, therefore, helps in carrying out predictive maintenance.
The ability to predict machine failures and correct them before they occur is a major driving force behind Industrial IoT investments. The IoT and predictive analytics are driving widespread market adoption. Manufacturers using predictive analytics methods in their manufacturing processes report as much as 25 to 30% gains in production levels.
How does it help the manufacturer?
- Production managers can know in advance which parts are likely to fail or malfunction first. They can create effective contingency plans to deal with breakdowns before they occur.
- A probable list of parts that might require replacement over the next few months can be availed. This gives ample time to place the orders in advance so the parts can be made readily available when required.
- Managers can control inventories in a better way. They can stock correct quantities of the required parts and avoid overstocking of less used parts. This way the manufacturer can free some capital by stocking only those parts which need to be replaced often.
- It helps to keep the entire factory on track by ensuring that the manufacturing equipment is running efficiently.
- Managers can feel more confident that the machinery won’t fail without warning while in the middle of a production run.
- The manufacturer can convey this assurance to customers to let them know that the products they’ve ordered will reach them on time.
Conclusion
Predictive analytics offers several benefits to manufacturers striving to reduce downtime and boost production levels. But, it can be difficult to design and implement effective predictive analytics solutions in your smart manufacturing process.
Partnering with an experienced IoT transformation company can help you save time and development costs. Furthermore, you can avail expert, useful and infallible guide to design your IoT solutions.
3 Core Components Defining Digital Transformation Success
Three core digital transformation aspects that businesses should focus upon to make their transformation process successful.
Big data, IoT and Cloud are firmly established trends for transforming businesses digitally and should form the core components of your digital transformation strategy. To capitalize upon the benefits offered by these technologies, companies should first ensure that their infrastructure possesses enough capabilities to consume them in the best possible manner.
Customers value smooth and enjoyable user experience and IT departments should ensure they can scale up the performance levels of business processes, where required, to meet their expectations. The digital transformation has no fixed endpoints and can extend indefinitely since technologies always keep on updating themselves, and client too keep on demanding more and more in terms of business automation to retain their competitive edge.
Therefore, the role of next-generation business-centric digital processes should be to first analyze the buyer’s journey (awareness, consideration, and decision-making stages) and subsequently support the user’s journey (the interactive experiences designed to guide and convince customers to buy your product).
To be transformative, organisations should do three things:
- Embrace the cloud
- Commit to a well-designed cloud architecture
- Track and measure progress against business objectives
1. Transforming to cloud computing
The financial and business related advantages of transforming existing processes to cloud computing are widely accepted, and businesses can benefit hugely by doing so. However, most businesses are still unaware about the latest cloud-based innovative processes that can disrupt their business processes and enhance ROI levels. Change agents and IT consultants spanning various IT verticals are aware about this disparity and believe by bridging this knowledge gap, they can convince potential businesses to transform to the cloud.
According to the Riverbed Future of Networking Global Survey 2017, about 67% of decision makers feel their legacy infrastructure is holding them back from adopting the cloud.
Businesses transforming to cloud computing can benefit from agile work processes and make use of various types of microservices to speed up the development process. They can better their in-house and other processes that can streamline business operations and enhance their investment returns.
2. Designing a sound cloud architecture
When it comes to processing power and rendering feature functionality to end users, it is mainly the hardware aspects of your IT infrastructure that govern end user experience levels. The better the experience, the greater is the chance of converting prospects into sales. The cloud helps to eliminate the hardware barrier.
When you opt for cloud architecture, you can avail a host of microservices that can automate and streamline your business processes. You not only save upon development costs, in addition, you can also reduce your turnaround times while developing and maintaining your cloud based systems.
Unlike a “siloed” approach, with the cloud, you can have a server farm that you can reach out to and acquire services necessary to automate your unique processes. It’s much easier to manage your requirements because you can selectively add or decrease services as per your need. For example, you have the option to add more servers to your architecture as and when you need more processing power to handle peak time online visitors, and subsequently reduce the number of servers when the traffic thins out. Most importantly, cloud platforms such as AWS can do this automatically for you making it very easy for you to handle server-provisioning activities.
From the application development perspective, one of the major benefits is you can have quicker deployment of new applications. You’re not dependent upon an infrastructure support team to start a new stack of services for your development team. It’s much easier to scale existing systems and respond dynamically to changing market trends by updating your microservices systems.
The key takeaway is you need to design sound cloud architecture to reap cloud-computing benefits.
3. Measuring your digital transformation
Systems can be improved upon only when they’re monitored in terms of what results they deliver. It is important to keep track of digital processes, irrespective if they’re cloud based or monolithic, and constantly monitor the deliverables for their quality.
Goals can help to monitor your digital processes. Three important aspects should be ideally considered to measure your digital transformation success:
- Establish a clear set of business objectives
An objective to improve customer experience is not enough to guide a set of activities and invite stakeholder investments. You need to set up goals or objectives that eventually relate to investment returns and which can be quantified so they can be measured in terms of their growth.
- Track digital processes adoption
In any organization, there are buy-in and opt-outs of processes. Some people accept change management and adopt new processes easily and quickly, while some don’t. Since most digital processes focus upon stimulating ROI generation, it is important to have maximum opt-ins to get the most out of those processes.
Management needs to track how people adopt digital processes and how efficiently they’re using them.
- Monitoring ROI
The final goal of digital transformation is to disrupt business processes and churn out higher ROI. Therefore, proper metrics to measure ROI growth should be identified, set up and tracked on a continued basis to ensure business growth is occurring in the right direction, in the right manner and at the right time.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is beneficial, but since it is a process, it has to be done in the correct manner to reap the benefits of digitization. There are many aspects to digital transformation. If businesses can successfully address the three core digital transformation components mentioned above, they can benefit greatly from their digital transformation process.
