Your secret weapon in the battle for better business

No matter the size of your organisation, achieving and maintaining a high level of operational efficiency is part of the success journey. Usually, striving for efficiency means that the organisation becomes more profitable.

The most successful organisations are always trying to improve the way they operate and finding new and innovative solutions that improve performance. They know the importance of making sure they stay ahead of the competition - at every step of the way.

Generally speaking, continuous process improvement (CPI) seeks to determine if an organisation’s business processes are meeting company goals. There are various tools that are used to achieve this fast - but getting the improvement part right is a little trickier. We’ll get into this in a minute, but first, let’s look at CPI’s application in software development.

CPI in software development - The Dark Horse

For developers, CPI is an ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes through continuous testing and optimisation. This means that attention is put on making sure a business’ products are up-to-date, bug-free and secure. This process is done on a continuous basis as part of a developer’s maintenance protocols.

Changes are implemented either incrementally or in one fell swoop (also known as breakthrough improvement). The advantage of making incremental changes is that improvements are made almost as soon as they have been discovered. 

Once these have been processed, the next step is to ensure that you constantly go back to reanalyse all processes throughout the lifecycle of the project and make additional changes. This is one of the pillars of an agile environment.

Getting it right

One of the most popular CPI models used is PDCA, which stands for Plan, Do, Check, and Act. By carefully going through these steps, the ongoing cycle of continuous improvement can be achieved as the model controls and regulates the processes. 

One can also start by using business process mapping to visualise all the business processes that require monitoring and assigning responsible individuals. Below is a breakdown of the PDCA model.

• Plan: The planning phase is the initial element in the model that sets out to identify objectives and challenges within the particular project. The problem identified would need to be solved in alignment with expected outcomes. A number of possible solutions are identified, with the most favourable solution touted first.
• Do: The selected solution or solutions are then implemented, initially starting off on a micro scale. Data is collected for analysis purposes to measure the progress of the implemented changes. The main purpose of the Do stage is to ensure that the proposed solution is fully tested before it can be rolled out fully to the entire system. 
• Check: The checking stage involves taking the data collected during the Do stage to compare if it matches expected outcomes. The purpose of this is to assess whether the solution was successful and if additional improvements are necessary. Any useful information that can be gathered is recorded and the Do and Check processes are repeated.
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• Act: This phase involves actual implementation after all the pros and cons of potential solutions are laid out, based on the information gathered in Do and Check stages. Any feedback received is also considered. If the solution is not as successful as initially expected, an alternative is then considered. 

Once a workable solution is implemented, it’s time to focus on the next identified urgent areas to improve and the same cycle repeats.

Why should you use CPI?

There are a host of benefits when it comes to using CPI for your brand. These ensure that the quality and integrity of the software is kept at a high level. Here are five key benefits:

• Quicker feedback: With continuous testing, the development team is able to receive feedback on any issues that require their attention within a short timeframe. By monitoring all stages, early feedback means fewer defects are found in deployed products.
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• Cost reduction: The cost of development can skyrocket unexpectedly if errors are not monitored and resolved timeously. As fewer defects are found within products, there will be a reduction in the back-and-forth between the client and their developers, leading to the costs of development being significantly reduced.
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• Improved quality: Using CPI is one way of ensuring that the quality of the product is improved. The quality assurance process via the back-and-forth of process improvement results in better products with fewer errors. Ultimately, user experience is more pleasant leading to greater customer satisfaction.
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• Faster deployment: One major benefit of CPI is that any updates or upgrades to products can be deployed quickly, while being able to respond to industry changes more efficiently. Automated testing helps to make sure testing is constant and meticulously done. 
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• Better compliance: With continuous testing comes increased employee engagement and collaboration. As the development team becomes aligned to the software improvement process and overall organisational goals, it creates a culture of success and improved morale leading to better compliance.

CPI is a critical element of any software developer team, creating high quality products that stand the test of time while optimising business processes and achieving its goals. Standardisation is thus necessary in terms of implementation best practices.

Each improvement process needs to be thorough to maximise output and returns on investment. At Digital Grind, it's a part of who we are, as CPI and maintenance are implemented in our development projects. 

We strive to ensure that your brand receives quality outputs that are adaptable and enhanced on an ongoing basis according to evolving needs. Start a development project with us. Our team is always ready to listen.

The web is a fast-paced and ever-changing medium. There are new trends popping up all the time, new browser releases to contend with, and new frontend frameworks to learn.

It can be hard to keep up with all that's happening in our industry. When your job depends on your knowledge of what's new in web development — whether you're a developer or designer — it's especially important that you understand what's current so you don't miss anything that could impact your business or life.

The only constant is change

Web development is constantly evolving. As new technologies emerge and more and more devices are being used to access the web, web developers have to keep up with the latest trends in order to create websites that perform well and look great. Let’s take a look at what’s poignant at the moment:

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Accelerating menial tasks
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‍Sometimes the greatest innovations come in simple changes to existing mechanisms, where small changes mean big benefits. We know that consumers value speed, which is evidenced by drop-off rates on sites that take more than 3 seconds to load. As much as 40 percent of your audience will leave when your webpage doesn’t load instantly. This is just one example of many, where consumers expect instant feedback and gratification when interacting with your brand online. In light of this, the growing trend towards accelerating menial tasks is becoming a standard. This is true for both consumer-facing content as well as internal platforms and web developers will be expected to get the basics right before branching off into novelty. 
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Perfecting e-commerce user experience

‍Historically, developers were largely in control of creating a user experience by dictating formats for websites and online platforms. When marketers started to understand the importance of user experience design - new roles emerged in the strategy and creative sphere that blended design with creating a consumer journey. Now, developers and designers are part of increasingly hybrid disciplines, where both are required to work together to generate user interfaces. A prevalent trend is for front-end developers to automatically suggest interface mechanisms, while designers with basic development knowledge are more in demand than ever. Today, the prototyping process is a combined effort and will increasingly merge as design and development overlap in terms of meeting consumer expectations.  
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Everyday artificial intelligence

‍AI was once thought of as a concept only meant for sci-fi movies, but has evolved from just theory and cinematic special effects to everyday use. The use of machine learning and natural language processing techniques has improved drastically, faster than previously thought possible. It may seem that the sky's the limit at this point. Current trends indicate that chatbots will continue to feature as a marketing tool for many web developers. The chatbot market is growing at a rapid pace and is expected to reach $83 billion in 2021. Another current AI trend is its use in predictive analytics. Machine learning is being applied to better understand consumer behaviour so as to target them more efficiently. This leads to increased customer acquisition as learned patterns assist in the personalisation of targeted content. 
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One-pagers

‍These types of websites are a controversial topic in the marketing world, because while it means less code, easier experimentation and simplified analytics, it can also present a cost to SEO and content limitations by design. Plus, creating enticing and functional user interfaces can become more challenging. However, as a sufficient, resource-efficient tool for SMEs, these sites are on the rise and the art of perfecting a one-page site needs to be a tool in the arsenal of modern developers. One other advantage is that they lead to increased user engagement and ultimately higher conversions than multi-page sites through simplified navigation. In addition, they’re great for any web developer’s clients that may be starting out and don’t yet have a lot of content to offer but need a web presence. 
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Full-stack development with JavaScript

‍When it comes to web development, things are rapidly evolving and advancing and if not managed well, can lead to an overrun on development costs. For one, if you have to hire multiple developers well-versed in different programming languages and frameworks, and a new industry standard comes into play, it may be costly to get each of them up-to-speed. However, hiring or becoming a full-stack developer gives you an all-in-one development solution. JavaScript has grown in popularity over the years and is used by almost all websites. It is particularly useful when developing mobile apps and dynamic websites. Currently, it’s popular frameworks and libraries include Angular.js, Vue.js, React and Node.js. Indeed, JavaScript full-stack development will continue to be a major feature in web development in coming years.

Lastly, a current trend related to all the above in the web development world is the growing use of progressive web apps which may replace native mobile apps in the future. This is being driven by the growing use of mobile devices. Another is the increasing use of voice searches giving rise to digital assistants and the proliferation of IoT.

From what we’ve seen, web development will continue to incorporate newer technologies going into the future. The consensus so far is that, regardless of what development trend is adopted, speed and usability will be the key determining factors of any web design.

At Digital Grind, we stay ahead of the curve as our web development is next level. Be it websites, apps, business intelligence or newer technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality, we have the necessary tools to bring your ideas to life. Start a development project with us. Ready when you are!

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been synonymous with the worlds of gaming and entertainment over the past decade. And, while using AR has become much more mainstream, it started out as far back as 1968 as this obscure concept that people couldn’t quite get their heads around. Although, the term AR was only invented in 1990.

It is defined as “an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (like a smartphone camera)”. VR, while the more popular cousin of AR, is a more immersive technology, as it completely blocks out the physical world.

Even though we’ve seen the potential of AR to make our lives easier (in tech-focused sci-fi shows like Netlix’s Black Mirror), in the real world, a lot of the big global brands have been rapidly adopting VR in their business models. For the tech-savvy entrepreneur, this is a very exciting opportunity that’s worth investing in and following through with.

AR in the real world

The two most common kinds of AR involve location-based realities and recognition features. You can easily access these from smartphones that have GPS, cameras and several other built-in sensors. 

An example of both location and recognition-based AR is the popular gaming app Pokémon GO. Since its hyped release in mid-2016, to masses of eager fans, it has continued to grow in user, from 84 million active users in the US (its main market) at launch to over 311 million in 2020, with billions of dollars spent by users on the app.

One of the contributing factors is the rapid worldwide adoption of smartphones over the past decade with over 3.8 billion users estimated in 2021—an all-time high. This number’s expected to keep growing over the next few years.

For entrepreneurs, this is the best time to harness the power of smartphones, by exploring ways to incorporate AR into their brand strategies. Think about how you’d like to see your brand from a user’s perspective, through their phone camera.

Global impact

AR can be applied to almost every sector, healthcare, automotive, industrial and entertainment. It has had a positive impact in multiple sectors, with usage continuing to grow each year in several major economies. The gaming sector continues to have the largest AR adoption share.

The economic impact of AR is undeniable, with its usage estimated to contribute over $450 billion to global GDP by 2030. When you combine this with VR, in what is known as mixed reality, the expected impact is even higher at over $1.5 trillion by 2030. 

The US holds the lion’s share of AR adoption and spending, with AR and VR expected to boost its GDP to the tune of $537 billion by 2030. Jobs will also be impacted, with an expected boost to over 2.3 million jobs by 2030.

Regions, such as the UAE, have seen rapid adoption of AR and VR, where its GDP is expected to be boosted by $4.1 billion by 2030 while enhancing almost 43,000 jobs. There’s no denying that shifting realities will play a major role in the future of our industry.

The world is changing, so take note

Technology keeps getting better each year, with devices becoming smaller, cheaper, faster and more powerful. At the same time, content is more engaging, with ultra-fast internet speeds making sharing easier.

In addition, consumer behaviour is changing, with one global study suggesting that 76% of consumers would rather spend their money on experiences than on material things. There are two major trends happening right now:

• Experiences are better. Consumers want to say they did something rather than bought something. They should be able to remember your brand and the connections they made with other people through the experiences you helped create.
  
  
• Mental health awareness is growing. Around the globe, brands and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to create AR experiences that lift the moods of their consumers, to help them deal with everyday stresses, depression and anxiety.

Consumers are also becoming more socially and environmentally aware.

Benefits of AR

Technology should always be expected to solve challenges rather than be a distraction from reality. Generally, using AR should transform the organisation by cutting costs and increasing efficiency,, making life easier. Let’s take a look at some examples of where AR can be applied in the real world to solve real problems.

• Retail convenience: For salespeople, instead of moving around with printed brochures and catalogues, they can show potential customers a 3D version of their products using AR. This is especially good for products that are hard to move around.

With AR being a mainly informative technology, customers may also benefit through seeing prices and other details of products displayed on their screen, when they walk into a store with their smart device.

• Customised user experience: With the growing emphasis on memories over things, providing personalised experiences becomes more important. People are using AR to watch ads in real-time, or watch shows of their favourite musician, right from their kitchen.
  
  
• Training: This can be expensive, particularly where there’s a lot of equipment involved. AR helps by cutting down the need to travel or move around medical equipment, for example. Difficult medical procedures can be practiced by trainee physicians simultaneously, with limited restrictions.

Future of AR

While AR has been incorporated in the vehicle sector (through heads-up displays in some premium cars), this trend is expected to continue in the near future with adoption becoming more mainstream. New and improved smart glasses, such as rumoured Apple AR Glasses, are expected to enter the market at more affordable prices and stand a good chance of capturing the commercial market if this comes to pass.

Smartphones are expected to continue to lead the adoption of AR as they are found in almost every pocket. Holographic AR is expected to increase, particularly in areas like education. This is useful during a global pandemic, for example, with students viewing their instructor through a compatible device. 

As we can see, the opportunities for entrepreneurs are endless through AR. If you can find a mode of application that fits your business model - the sky's the limit.

Get in touch

Want to know more about how Digital Grind can help you up your AR game and create something your consumers will love? Contact us.