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Application Management: What’s in it for you and our approach to it

6th June 2022

by Mara Crisan Business Innovation and Tech

In the lifecycle process of a software application, there is a characteristic phase where the application undergoes maintenance, upgrades, and version updates. Ideally there is always a process for planning, creating, testing, and deploying.

What is application management?

Application management (AM) is a set of processes, covering how an application operates, and how it is affecting its maintenance, version control, and upgrades. In other words, application management services are like an enterprise-wide endeavor. They provide guidance designed to ensure applications are still running even at peak performance and as efficiently as possible.

The entire cycle goes from the end-user experience to integration with back-office management systems, such as database, ERP, and SaaS cloud functions such as CRM.

However, there are processes such as Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and Application Performance Management (APM). Withing these two processes, there are various stakeholders that are involved, who need to work in a collaborative manner.

To give more clearance, we are going to explain the meaning of both ALM and APM systems.

The term application performance management (APM) is already making sense from the very beginning, as it has all the necessary details within its name. Aim to deliver any sort of application-facing and performance-related toolset. Whether the tool monitors data centers, containers, cloud services, mobile devices, virtual ecosystems, or networks, application performance system is a hot topic, and every enterprise management vendor should consider it.

On the other hand, application lifecycle management (ALM) is nothing but an ecosystem that allows application managers to manage the application end to end. It is quite commonly known to comprise various stakeholders, as the ALM set of internal tools is managing the application covering every phase during its existence pre and post-launch.

Today we see more enterprises adopting agile methodology over the traditional waterfall model and moving from DevOps to more cloud-based native applications. In parallel, there is also a continuous evolution in application lifecycle management tools and processes. In an enterprise, if there are multiple applications, then the ALM processes and tools for each of them are in sync, they could transition from legacy methods to a more modern and flexible way of working.

The objective is to analyze if building a new application or buying a new one is going to help you succeed. Also, taking into consideration things like – if an application should undergo innovation or should it be replaced, or whether the applications should be on cloud or on-premises.

Key Stakeholders

We all know that specific group of people every organization has. For instance, if an organization needs to change the way it processes applications, the key stakeholders will be involved in early development meetings, explaining to the project leaders precisely what the new process should look like.

We’ve grouped some of the key stakeholders in application management.

Application Analyst

Owning the processes and the entire lifecycle management of the application falls under their responsibility. Usually, in this scenario, there would be a single analyst or a team of analysts for each of the applications.

Business unit owners

Also known as the ones who run the business, from their back seat. Seeing the application and its management from a perspective of bottom-line benefit, revenue impact, and productivity.

Developers

All the tech gurus are bestowed with the responsibility of designing, developing, and implementing the code. They are also responsible for how the integration of the application works, alongside maintenance and last, security.

Users

Using the application for their day-to-day activities. They provide constant feedback on how the application is performing, and more importantly how it’s impacting their productivity. One of the most important aspects of any application for a user is privacy policies and security.

The bottom line for an application management system is to come up with an effective code that will ensure the right performance so that any existing or potential client can attain its objective. These objectives are both technical and managerial by default, and in case of any technical disruptions, they must be detected quickly and resolved as so.

Why is it important to your business?

Application management is considered a key factor in any business’s ability to exceed its expectation and strive for innovation.

By ensuring that enterprises are aware of, and do acknowledge the need for modern applications, internal process solutions can be brought to market more efficiently, quickly, and at a lower total cost. When applications are efficiently managed, you will have time to refocus your IT resources on new business challenges and competitive social responsibility.

Additionally, a well-established application management process is more reliable and less prone to failure. Although, it can reduce the risk of downtime and improve overall business continuity.

By incorporating new features, together with all the feedback received from users, and by and challenging the team to overlook a better UI & UX experience, you are going to enhance the entire end-user experience, which will not only increase productivity but will also help accelerate the adoption of the new features.

The importance of application management to the bottom line is manifold. Efficient management strategies reduce the personal hours spent in meetings, yielding higher productivity.

Application Management & User Experience Management

Users are the most important stakeholders anyone builds the software products. Hence it only comes naturally that they should be counted in the application management processes, both in terms of lifecycle management and performance management.

From our perspective the key elements of a successful application are:

Reliability – the application is available when you need to access it. No downtime.
Quality – the application is fit for purpose and stays so after every update. There is a critical balance between the needs of the users and the view of the product manager which must be gently navigated. To achieve this, you need relevant user feedback.
Speed – there are many factors that can influence the speed of the entire user’s experience, some being outside of your control. We suggest testing the application under different conditions which can be found in real life (for example an unreliable internet connection or a less optimal screen).

We believe in the great power of user experience and are willing to get involved in mapping your user journey and making sure that future updates are based on legitimate feedback and do not impact the critical aspects of the user experience.

The 2022 adaptation of back-office management into customer experience

6th June 2022

by Mara Crisan Business Innovation and Tech

To function properly, companies need to have a back-office management system that supports their client-facing roles in the front office. The sooner you understand what a back office is, the more the company’s operations system will make sense. As said, within this article, we define what back-office management is, why it is important to have its specific role within your company, and how you can integrate back-office management with customer experience (CX).

Back-office operations must be qualified in supporting evolving product development to help meet a business’s growth aspiration.

What is back-office management?

Back-office management is defined as the administrator of a company’s human resources, technology, and services. Initially, the back-office management oversees the work performed by individuals in different departments and delivers upon the objectives and promises of the front-office team.

The cooperation and coordination between the front-office and back-office management represent two distinct, yet essential faces of the company. While back-office goes by the name of “engine room”, in direct contrast, front office, is known as the “face” of the company.

Implemented at distinct levels and coordinated across various departments, from administrative and operational to functional and support services, the back-office management system can determine the necessary strategies to keep your business up and running.

As we mentioned previously, both front- and back-office teams are experts in what they do in their day-to-day jobs, but they do not always have the same priorities nor have the same responsibilities. The front office focuses on driving new business and highlighting the success of your company. The back office is the glue holding everything together.

The back-office functions are the enables of the customer-facing work of the company.

Even though working in the back office may not be viewed as the most glamorous job, you need to know it plays a vital role in ensuring an end-to-end customer experience (CX).

Why are back-office roles important?

Let me ask you this. How could you run a business if you did not know the goals you are aiming for? What is the problem-solving equation you promised to address and resolve?

It is the same thing with back-office roles because they are the backbone of your company. When back-office operations run smoothly, it automatically sets your company up for success. In addition to this, it also covers two of the most essential and discussed topics of today’s business – productivity and costs. By boosting productivity and helping keep costs low, you have an assurance that all company resources and strategic planning are covered and maintained. Not to mention the entire data information is kept secure.

This is helpful to the overall business process, of course with an accent on operations, because you can see in real-time how their company is performing.

Finally, back-office roles are meant to see where improvements and adjustments can be made for your organization. Most importantly, be mindful of the allocation of company resources.

How can you integrate back-office with customer experience?

Primarily, you need to know that numerous digital companies refuse to be limited only to monitoring and managing back-office processes. To drive the desired CX improvements, you need to balance efficiency with customer-centricity.

Secondly, developing automated digital tools to align with business departments, lessen manual overhead, and deliver a smooth customer experience across multiple channels, will increase customer satisfaction.

In extension to all the above, optimizing automation, orchestration, and workflows allow businesses to take full control of the end-to-end operations. Collecting case studies and appropriate reporting, lower agent effort, and customer service response time, will lead to increased customer satisfaction.

From a management perspective, having the right tools in place provides greater visibility with real-time insight into operations and performance against service-level targets.

Choosing the right strategy underpinned by an integrated, customer-centric platform improves ROI and makes it easy to demonstrate the business value delivered.

How can we help?

Recognizing the complexity of back-office operations, we have the expertise to help you create an original approach and add further enhancements to your operations, along with a strategy that would transform the end-to-end operating model.

We are going to start with a thorough understanding of your needs, improving operational costs management with the aim of leading to better-performing business. Not to be forgotten the level of empowered and engaged employees, as we have described the front-office team as the face of the company.

In one word – optimizing all the connected systems, from teams, workloads, and systems.

By identifying these opportunities, we will be able to drive peak performance throughout your customer’s lifecycle.

Proof of concept

Everyone says they are the best, but we going to do the opposite of that, by letting you decide what’s best for your business. You can find out in one of our case studies how we delivered digital customer support services to a worldwide organization for over 2 years.

App reputation management and why your business needs it

2nd May 2022

by Mara Crisan Business Innovation and Tech

Let’s all agree on this, once something goes online, it is usually there forever.

This makes it vital that you keep track of your online reputation and do what you can to minimize any harmful statements about you or your brand.

On the other hand, reputation, in the case of an app, can be defined as the process you need to go through as a brand when a user highlights positive reviews about specific characteristics or features, deemphasizing negative feelings about your solution on the internet.

You must place this matter on the tip of the iceberg because it’s not an actionable goal but more of a result of several actions related to it.

To sum up, reputation is defined as the voice of users.

What is app reputation management?

Several businesses use reputation management software to respond to negative reviews while encouraging positive ones. To give you a more in-depth definition, brand reputation management monitors how consumers perceive your business and take strategic action to improve your brand’s image.

Nowadays, app reputation management is centered around monitoring and protecting your brand’s online image in reviews, social media, forums, app stores and Google.

As we already know, most customers rely on online reviews by past customers when researching products or services online. This means if your business receives overwhelmingly positive reviews, acquiring new customers becomes an easy job.

According to our internal research, it seems like 71% of social media users recommend a product or a service if they have had a positive experience. Such recommendations are going to increase your sales pipeline.

By connecting the dots, you would be able to put words into action.

Without doing anything out of the ordinary.

As a business owner, to measure your brand’s share of voice, you need to listen first. You couldn’t have been called a brand in the first place if it weren’t for them.

The benefits of app reputation management software

App reputation management software is suitable for all companies. It’s also proven to be useful for small businesses that want to improve their services and increase sales. It’s an indispensable tool for attracting customers, keeping the existing ones engaged and, in the end, building your brand’s image.

Here are the benefits of using reputation management software for your business.

Finding out about customer complaints – It makes you aware of your customers’ problems and helps you find timely solutions.
Improving customer service – Lets you access all your client queries, complaints, reviews, and other issues in one place, enabling a faster response.
Building customer trust – The system helps you maintain a more trusted brand.
Word-of-mouth marketing – An app reputation management software helps you market your business via positive word-of-mouth reviews.
Enhancing transparency – The software can make this effortless if you struggle with ensuring transparency.
Identifying business opportunities – New opportunities can be identified for your business via online reviews.
Increasing online activity – Building consistency on social media can be a challenge to most businesses, but an app reputation management software can help you be more active online.
Building a strong customer base – The software can help you build a solid database of your customers.

Can tech be the overall solution?

Technology can help and support app reputation but cannot be an overarching solution.

Why? We have a few insights on this.

Personalized experience for the users

Personalization has played a key role in user experience for many years now.

If we think about how many products and services have grown to become on-demand, users have set their expectations along with it. This means you need to upgrade your methods to keep them happy and engaged in the long term.

A study by Forrester found that “77% of consumers have chosen, recommended or paid more for a brand that provides a personalized service or experience.”

Going back to 2020, according to Salesforce, 51% of consumers expect that companies will anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before they make contact.

Most commonly, users expect products and services to be tailored to them, and many users will now switch to another brand, because they know they can find that level of personalization they are looking for elsewhere.

“Personalization allows a product or a service to fit seamlessly into a user’s lifestyle or routine, making the entire back-end process feel so invisible.”

What’s the trick?

Always include personalization as one of your key pieces when building out the user experience.

Ability to generate proper reporting and actionable insights

Transform your data with actionable insights!

Learn how to effectively use data and analytics to inform your marketing strategy. It might be overwhelming, but just think about how lost we’ll be in this digital world without proper reporting and actionable next steps.

To build a brand and to become one is the most important thing for your success.

Compliance constraints

Certain regulations in effect or to come into effect (like Digital Services Act) require human intervention when acting on or replying to certain customer concerns.

It is also a good practice to have a system in place for reviewing tech-driven decisions, as even the best tools can mislabel certain posts, especially when it comes to sentiment analysis.

While this is not in effect yet, rules and regulations regarding AI systems’ biases are discussed worldwide, so the human element can be a solid complement to your tech stack.

How can we help?

We promise you this by fully embracing the meaning of “the guardians of your app”.

We’ll encourage more users or members from your online community to leave reviews (or ratings), efficiently influencing your rating (the rule of thumb is to be above 4.0, ideally 4.5).

Paying equal attention to your existing and potential customers, keeping an eye on how we can support, maintain and personalize their lifetime value.

What else?

Due to the SLA agreement, we cannot treat your customers or users with preferential support.

One of our beliefs is hidden between the words care and fulfillment, which gives us the responsibility and a different level of maturity to treat all with respect, no matter their corporate background or title.

Last but not least is the ability to feel the pulse of your customers, especially because ratings aren’t set in stone. As well as reading between the lines for those influencer types of reviews.

If we didn’t list all your concepts and thoughts on this matter, let’s talk.

You can also read our latest content moderation article and check the customer experience services that our team can offer to your business.

Content moderation – a deep dive

30th March 2022

by Mara Crisan Business

Imagine you have built a unique platform where users can engage with each other most effectively and safely, and as an effect, build a good reputation, retain customers, and grow through word of mouth – all to enhance the value of your product.

It’s time to sit back and enjoy, right?

Quite the opposite.

Wherever there is user-generated content, there is a need to moderate it.

We have all seen it or have been subject to it, either if other users have harassed us directly, offended us with a post or message, or removed our content without explanation.

Content moderation. You know you need it, but when user-generated content is your bread and butter, it might feel counterintuitive to spend time and money on restricting it.

What is content moderation?

Content moderation ensures user-generated content that must uphold the platform-specific rules, guidelines, and terms of service while establishing its suitability for publishing. In other words, when a user submits content to a website, that piece of content will go through a screening process to make sure you’re protecting your visitors from offensive or, more often seen – misleading information.

We refer here to all types of content, from images, videos, ads, social media pages, websites, online marketplaces, dating sites, and forums. The goal of content moderation is to maintain a brand reputation and credibility and raise your followers’ and customers’ trust.

As you can see, it comes like a recipe for the best practices, all to protect your customers’ user experience, so that’s why we are going to explore a little more about why it is crucial to have it.

Why is content moderation important?

1. Reducing the risk of receiving inappropriate user-generated content

We should consider the risk of receiving user-generated content submission that violates posting guidelines. Which, indeed, is unavoidable.

However, suppose a team of well-trained content moderators acts as guardians of your business. In that case, the existence of offensive and upsetting content caused by internet trolls and bullies will decrease.

Of course, this is the idealist case, as many small businesses do not have the luxury of having a team dedicated only to this matter at the beginning of their journey.

Their role is to implement every rule or set of guidelines to ensure users do not overstep their boundaries with the different types of content they post and share.

Acting like a bad cop – good cop.

Consequently, it results in a more positive environment where users can interact freely with each other without risking exposure to unacceptable online social behavior. Increasing the safety of your active and online community will eventually raise the business’ credibility.

2. Using content moderation to understand buying patterns

Businesses mostly rely on releasing high volumes of promotional campaigns. Content moderation is the key to better understanding their customers’ buying behaviour and opinions on a particular trend, content, or even a product.

Recognizing behavioural patterns when presented with any company-related content is highly instrumental in redirecting your strategies towards customer acquisition.

Knowing what type of content engages their interest assures you an active online community that might as well influence the decision-making process.

Also, coordinating online contests, crowdsourcing, and displaying customer stories will significantly impact your sales-driving efforts. It will be much easier if you’ve had an efficient moderation team.

To be more precise, we refer to a professional and reliable content moderator who will ensure that your business can scale. Alongside your internal and external marketing and sales efforts, keep possible threats of defaming negative user content under control.

3. Increasing conversion rates

Protecting users from malicious and harmful content, in the long term, will save not only your trusted customers but also your business reputation.

Here is an example of why using content moderation will increase traffic and conversion rates:

At first, a single positive review may seem like a fragment of good news for your business. Image someone posted a review on your business’s website or any review platform, such as Glassdoor. Positive reviews increase customers’ trust, but they can also work as a propelling factor for higher conversion rates.

Additionally, a well-moderated website acknowledges both positive and negative reviews, which would have a higher impact on your audience. It will show character, trust, and transparency among what everyone else does – propelling only the positive side.

Can tech be the overall solution?

Technology can help and support content moderation but cannot be an overarching solution.

There are at least five reasons to consider keeping humans in the loop to avoid the downsides of automated content moderation. Let’s dig into it:

Certain decisions are not clear-cut – determined users can employ different tactics to mislead the automated solution. Replacing certain letters in a word without losing the meaning, inserting “moderate” frames in an inoffensive-looking video, or sending users outside your platform via certain links.
Answering escalations and appeals from users – the affected user should have the possibility to appeal, and this should always be reviewed by a person (or more, depending on the case).
Interpreting reports and articulating insights – insights from moderation can be extracted via different data analysis and reporting, relying on people to solve them.
Training the automated content moderation tool – tools can become better via training or assisted learning, and this is an action requiring human presence.
Being able to comply with regulations related to automatic decision making – certain regulations (in effect or the making) require that people do content moderation; hence the need to employ a person who can augment your automated tools.

How we can help your business with content moderation

We understand the importance of content moderation and the need to have a dedicated team to coordinate and monitor this closely. To this belief, we can promise you full support in complementing automated content moderation. How does this work?

We would be there for you, from the dedicated platform, across multiple properties.

To be more precise, we are skilled in proactive moderation to identify users who violate terms of service and reactive moderation. Last but not least, using reporting and insights will help your business drive better decisions and continuously improve your product.

What’s next?

Several initiatives, same as in the case of GDPR, the European Union leads the regulatory landscape, and the Digital Services Act (DSA) will introduce new actions and concepts like risk-based actions and independent trusted flaggers.

All in one, we need to be prepared!

Better safe than sorry, right?

8 applications of blockchain technology for businesses in 2022

14th March 2022

by Dragos Cojocea Blockchain Business Innovation and Tech

Blockchain is one of the most exciting (and, arguably, least understood) technologies on the scene in 2022. But its buzz for blockchain more than makes up for the questions business owners have around it — and now, organizations everywhere want to stake their claim with their own innovative solution.

If you know you want to invest in blockchain development, but you don’t know how (or why!) to go about it, then this post is for you.

We’ll be covering eight applications of blockchain technology for business so that your organization can put it to work in a meaningful way.

8 inspiring applications of blockchain technology to consider in your business

1. Smart contracts

First on our list of blockchain development solutions is smart contracts. Smart contracts are essentially automated contracts written in code rather than on paper.

Say an enterprise agrees to buy a product from your business for $100,000. Rather than making this deal over the telephone, Zoom, or through a bunch of emails and signatures, you can create a simple smart contract instead. This contract is a bit of code in the blockchain that will automatically approve the purchase of the product when the enterprise sends over the money. It executes the contract for your business.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

Of course, this is just one use case for a smart contract. The same technology can be used to hire new employees, secure clients, merge and acquire, and a plethora of other activities. Because it’s automated, there’s less room for error and less oversight required.

By using smart contracts, businesses can benefit from increased transparency, faster negotiations, and automated transactions. There’s no need for external parties to execute or secure the contract since the contract itself handles this. This allows involved parties to be more confident in the success and management of the contract.

2. Decentralized apps

Next are decentralized products, namely apps. Sometimes called “dApps”, a decentralized app works just like a standard app you use every day on your phone or computer. However, unlike these other apps, there is no one managing your data, account, or orders on the other end.

Instead, the blockchain is handling all of this. It’s storing and updating user accounts and processing transactions (financial as well as general interactions) for the users.

Typically, you would need an intermediary to do all of this. That intermediary is usually the developer, who has to maintain a database after launching an app. Since decentralized blockchain solutions are self-sustaining, there’s no longer a need for the intermediary party. This keeps things simple, secure, and private for the individual.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

For smaller developers and businesses, or for those who have developed more apps than they can manage, a decentralized solution presents a long-term management option. You don’t need to be as involved in the day-to-day responsibilities of taking care of your app. At most, you just need a customer support team.

Additionally, privacy-centric companies (which is quickly becoming all companies in 2022) can advertise decentralized solutions as a privacy-first mechanism. It decreases the involvement the developer has in the users’ data and gives the user more control over their data and how it’s used.

3. Increased transparency and traceability

Increasing transparency and traceability is a more broad application of blockchain technology for business, but it’s still worth mentioning. As the amount of data companies are taking in, transforming, and outputting increases exponentially, these are two features that are becoming more and more important.

On the transparency front, blockchain development can be used to provide everyone with a clear view of how data is used within your company. They can either view just their data or everyone’s, depending on how transparent you want to be. They can see how this data is accessed, modified, and implemented throughout your systems.

Similarly, all of these features of blockchain can be used to improve traceability. You can cut down on fraud, track it down when it happens, and avoid lost or corrupt data.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

As mentioned before, privacy-first policies are becoming critical to your public perception. Individuals are becoming more educated and concerned with how their data is collected and used.

In a way, it’s fitting that this rise in awareness is coinciding with the rise in blockchain’s popularity. Blockchain is the perfect tool for removing the blackbox nature of your business’s data policies and practices, boosting consumer trust, and improving your internal data procedures.

4. Employee compensation

Employee compensation is a very pragmatic use case for blockchain technology. It leverages something blockchain is already good at (processing financial transactions) and applies it to a real-world need for businesses.

And of course, just because the blockchain is primarily used to process cryptocurrency transactions, that doesn’t mean you’ll need to start paying your employees in Bitcoin. With “smart” blockchains like Ethereum, you can create your own apps on the blockchain that process any kind of transactions you like.

This can provide you with a faster, more transparent, and more flexible way to pay your employees every period.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

While putting your employees on a blockchain payroll might seem redundant (“But… I already have a payroll system in place…?”) it offers a few unique benefits.

First, it allows you to pay employees in cryptocurrency if that’s something they’re interested in. It can also make it easier to pay customers in a fiat currency of their choosing (Stellar is particularly good at this).

And second, with contractors, freelancers, and remote workers becoming more commonplace, a blockchain payroll can standardize and secure the way these workers are paid. This gives everyone more confidence in your payroll system while keeping things simple, too.

5. Securing digital identities

For the most part, the way we keep up with our identification is pretty outdated. Whether we’re talking about hospital records, government IDs, or just the badge you wear to work, there’s a lot of room for improvement with our IDs.

Fortunately, blockchain development can help here, too. Businesses can store digital identities in the blockchain and access them from there across a variety of services and products. This is opposed to the more traditional solution of a database, which can become cluttered, slow, costly to maintain, and difficult to keep in sync.

Not to mention that, eventually, the blockchain can be used to make our digital identities universal. You’ll have just one account that connects your information to any platform, business, or service you sign up for.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

The largest benefit of applying blockchain to digital identities is convenience. It serves to make things as simple as possible, both for the user and for you, the business.

And in more security-driven applications like healthcare and finance (or anything where an account is used for more than accessing digital goods and services), the blockchain creates a more transparent, traceable, and secure solution.

6. More trustworthy voting processes

Thanks to the Greeks, we’ve all (mostly) agreed that voting is pretty great. The problem is, we haven’t really updated the way we vote since the time of the Greeks. Much of our voting is still conducted on pen and paper, and even when it is digitized, concerns of fraud and error are high.

This is as true of government voting as it is for voting within a business context, whether that be a board of directors coming to a conclusion or a workers-based decision.

Blockchain can help you modernize voting in a way that is fast, convenient, and most importantly, trustworthy. You can ensure that every vote is authentic, immutable, and incontrovertible.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

Ensuring that a voting process is legitimate is critical no matter the context. However, this can sometimes come into conflict with our more modern need to have voting also be convenient and easily accessible.

Blockchain can bridge this gap for your workplace. It can give a voice to various stakeholders throughout your company via a channel that they can trust and access at their convenience.

7. Transportation and logistics

The transportation and logistics sector is becoming increasingly automated and digitized. This has the benefit of making it more cost-effective, sustainable, efficient, and safe for workers.

It also comes with the drawback of data vulnerability. The more communication that occurs between vehicles and management systems, the more chance there is for vital data to be corrupted or stolen.

By implementing blockchain technology, businesses can mitigate these drawbacks. They can secure the data that’s being moved, prevent it from being altered without oversight, and generally create a safer digitization process for their transportation and logistics departments.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

The benefits of blockchain development within logistics go beyond keeping data safe. It can also be used to improve freight tracking, which grows increasingly important to consumers and businesses alike.

8. Give users control of their data

We’ve mentioned it a few times throughout this post in other points, though it’s potent enough to garner its own position on this list: blockchain development has the power to give individuals control over their data.

Currently, when you use an app or digital service, you take for granted that the business owns your data. Purchasing digital media, adding your sign-in information, and keeping a digital record of your usage — each of these things is left to the developer/business behind the software.

With blockchain, you can put data back in the hands of the user. Not only can they get a better view of what data is being stored on them and how it’s being used, but you can also give them options and features tied to manipulating that data. Since no one needs to manage a blockchain, you can introduce anonymity into your service more easily.

Why is this use of blockchain technology exciting for business?

The data of individuals is becoming a hot-button issue around the world. Users are more educated and aware of their digital footprints than ever before, and increasingly they’re asking for control over this data.

Blockchain development can put users back in control without minimizing or removing the abilities of the developer. It’s a win-win solution and one that could become a new default in the future.

How does the blockchain app development process work?

The blockchain development process is not too unlike that of traditional software development. It involves building the back-end, then the front-end, designing the UI, deploying it on various platforms, and finally testing it for quality assurance.

This can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months and, due to the complexity of blockchain technology, is best left to experienced developers. Of course, businesses don’t have to build a blockchain solution from scratch. They can lean on existing solutions like Ethereum and Stellar, which already have frameworks in place.

How much does it cost to build a blockchain app?

Generally, it will cost anywhere between $20,000 and $200,00 to develop an original blockchain system. This includes the cost of hiring developers or outsourcing to a development agency.

If businesses instead choose to create blockchain apps on existing systems, like Ethereum, then the cost can be much lower as this is far simpler to do.

Can you build your own blockchain?

Of course! Nothing is preventing any business from creating its own blockchain aside from expertise. Generally speaking, there’s no reason to create a blockchain if an ideal solution already exists. This is kind of like developing a programming language when all you need is an app.

That said, building your own blockchain can be valuable if there isn’t an ideal solution available. For instance, Ethereum, which is perhaps the most popular blockchain for app development, can be slow to run due to its popularity. Others have environmental concerns, are bloated, too broad or narrow in usage, or can be otherwise less than ideal. In these cases, it can make sense to create a new blockchain from scratch for your business.

Blockchain development isn't out of reach

Developing blockchain technology for business use cases isn’t a pipe dream anymore.

Businesses of all shapes, sizes, and sectors can start putting this technology to work today to achieve any of the applications in this article and beyond.

To discuss opportunities for blockchain development within your business and how you can get started, reach out and let our blockchain development engineers at RebelDot support you as close consultants in developing and launching your digital product idea.

Healthcare Software Types to keep an eye on this year

10th February 2022

by Dragos Cojocea Business Innovation and Tech

Previously, we have discussed the state of healthcare app development, presenting each of the stages of this process in depth. We’ve also summarized the different types of medical apps that healthcare institutions are using.

For this article, we thought we might list a couple of rather broad healthcare app categories that are being used by both medical institutions, as well as patients.

EHRs

Unless you work in healthcare, you probably don’t have any access to EHRs, or Electronic Health Records. These types of healthcare software are used by clinics and hospitals, to manage patient records. They work a little like a CRM, but instead of past employers and hobbies, they list procedures, treatments, and health conditions specific to each patient.

Medical Databases

Medical databases are sort of like EHRs, but instead of organizing records by patient, they categorize information by disease or condition. This allows doctors and specialists to look up case files for specific conditions, so that they can compare symptoms, treatments and more. This helps doctors to make better diagnoses and offer better and more effective treatment options.

Medical Research Software

Most ordinary people don’t read medical research papers – but doctors do. Medical research software organizes and publishes the latest peer reviewed medical research papers, so that doctors can stay on top of developments in the industry. This also alerts them to new treatment and medication options for their patients.

PubMed is a good example of a medical research service.

Medical Diagnosis Software

Medical diagnosis used to involve consulting big, heavy books, cross referencing symptoms, and a fair amount of trial and error. Thanks to technology, things are a lot faster and easier.

The solution comes in the form of medical diagnosis software, which allows doctors to answer questions about the patient, their symptoms, and their medical history, and uses advanced technology like AI to determine the most likely diagnosis. It doesn’t replace a doctor’s skill and training, but it makes their jobs a little easier!

Some examples of medical diagnosis software are OSP Labs and Human DX.

Medical Imaging Software

It’s hard to believe it’s only been about 130 years since x-rays were first invented! Since then, we’ve added many other kinds of medical imaging to the medical toolbox, including CAT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds.

Medical imaging software works with the equipment that does those scans, to give us pictures doctors can interpret to identify and diagnose problems. Some of these kinds of software can even be used with 3D printing technology to print medical devices and prosthetics that fit each patient perfectly.

Vepro and materialize are both medical imaging software packages.

Telemedicine Software

Telemedicine apps have been used for a while, usually for people who can’t leave their homes, or those who live in remote areas. However, when the pandemic hit the world in early 2020, many doctors in cities around the world pivoted most of their practices to telemedicine for safety reasons.

Telemedicine allows doctors to have their appointments with patients via phone or video chat. The doctor will discuss the patient’s symptoms and concerns, and only if they deem a physical examination necessary will a follow up, in person appointment be scheduled. This has made doctor’s visits more accessible for more people and is still a popular choice while the pandemic continues to ebb and flow around the world.

Doxy.Me and Maple are both examples of telemedicine software.

E-prescribing Software

E-prescribing software actually works hand in hand quite well with telemedicine software.

In the past, if you needed a prescription, your doctor would write one out in a prescription pad and give you a copy that you would take to your pharmacy for filling.

With remote doctor’s appointment becoming the norm, that’s not as simple. Enter e-prescribing software, which allows doctors to complete prescriptions and send them to patients and pharmacies. It also serves as an easy way to view a patient’s medication history, and to renew or cancel recurring prescriptions.

ScriptSure and MediTab are both examples of e-prescription software.

Booking Software

Booking and managing appointments in doctors’ offices used to be a tricky proposition that usually required at least a few enormous diaries and a huge stock of pencils. Appointments needed to be written in, erased, manually moved and more.

Appointment booking software takes all the diaries and pencils out of the equation and replaces them with easy-to-use digital calendars.

Patients can book directly from doctor’s websites without needing to call and can often change and cancel appointments too. Vacant appointment slots are automatically available until they are booked, and everything goes onto a digital schedule.

There are even apps and push notifications that allow busy doctors to stay on top of their upcoming appointments.

Billing Software

Anyone who has never done any medical billing should count their lucky stars. It’s a long and tedious process, with codes for every kind of treatment, drug, consumable and more. Invoices can include dozens and dozens of items, and if there is health insurance involved, along with split billing that comes with it, it only gets more complicated.

Medical billing software is designed to solve the problem of complex billing. Doctors, dentists, and hospitals can create lists of all their billing codes, which can then quickly and easily be looked up an applied to invoices. Most billing software also include insurance information, so both the patient and the insurance company are billed accurately. This cuts the medical billing process down dramatically and saves money on administrative costs.

One example of medical billing software is Epic Care.

Medical Equipment Management Software

Using medical equipment is a complex process that requires many years of study. But the machines themselves are just as complex. They require frequent servicing and maintenance in order to work correctly, and because they are so important to patient health, it is critical that they do.

Planning the maintenance of medical equipment used to be a full-time job, but it has become simpler since medical equipment management software was created. Many machines that are used in hospitals will now tell technicians when they require repair or servicing. But there are also software programs but remind hospital administrators and others when servicing and routine maintenance is required. This helps to ensure that all the machines in the hospital or clinic you go to are in good working order. Most also include an inventory all equipment, consumables, and parts on hand. So, everyone knows when it’s time to reorder.

Sortly is one of the medical equipment management software programs out there.

Hospital Management Software

Managing a hospital is one of the most complex things you could do. There are a million things that need to be taken care of on a daily basis, and even with a full team, sometimes things still fall through the cracks,

However, in a hospital environment, mistakes could literally be a matter of life and death. Which is why hospital management software was invented. This does everything from manage individual beds and the patients in them, too inventory, accounting, and more. Imagine the most complex project management software you’ve ever seen. This is probably it.

One of the hospital management software tools out there is called Availity.

Habit Breaking Apps

If there’s one thing most people find difficult, it’s breaking bad habits. Fortunately, there’s an app for that. Habit breaking apps are designed to work like a sobriety coach in a 12-step program. They help people to track their progress, often include live chat features that people can use when they are tempted, and usually have some form of reward when a milestone is reached. These kinds of apps can make it easier for people to walk away from their bad habits, which of course is better for their health.

QuitNow is a habit breaking app that helps people to stop smoking.

Health Apps

Most people probably have at least one health app on their smartphone. Some use them to track their running or cycling. Others use health apps to count calories. While others might even use them to track the ovulation and fertility. There is an endless array of health apps out there for nearly every health concern and situation. There are even health apps that work with wearable technology to track things like insulin levels in type one diabetes.

Weight Watchers and Calm for meditation are all examples of popular health apps.

A Limitless Market

The truth is the most valuable thing any of us have is our health. The healthcare software types we have listed here barely scratched the surface of what is available and what is yet to come. Telemedicine will remain a huge part of the health care future, and they are sure to be many more e-health digital products on the market, both for consumers and for healthcare professionals.

It’s a very exciting time in the health care software marketplace, and we can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Are you looking for a reliable healthcare app development company to bring your idea to life through the latest tech and a user-centric design?

Don’t hesitate to reach out. 🚀

You might want to read our latest case studies where we present how we developed a telemedicine app, as well as a management software provider for healthcare facilities.

Rebel Tech Stories: Landing an internship at RebelDot.

25th January 2022

by Dragos Cojocea Business Innovation and Tech People

We are still looking for driven and talented students to apply for our 9 week .NET/React paid internship. That’s why we figured we’d talk to Victoria, one of our very last interns who we met this summer and who became, in the meantime, an integral part of our development teams, working on a global project, with some of the latest tech.

In this article Victoria is going to talk to us about her experience as an intern at RebelDot, discussing in detail the journey she went through to land a permanent role as part of our team and work with us on developing digital products, technology solutions to current, real problems.

How did you decide to apply for an internship?

I’ve started applying for internships ever since my second year because I wanted to already apply most, if not all the theoretical aspects which uni has taught me. I wanted to see how things are functioning, outside university, out there in the real life.

And so I started applying in my second year, without any success, only to carry on with my efforts in my 3rd year of studies.

I took on this quest and started looking for different opportunities and collectives until I found one that I genuinely liked. And who liked me too.

That’s how I got into RebelDot. 😊

Did you know from before the kind of company you wanted to work in?

To be honest, I was super confused, I didn’t really know what to expect.. I have never worked before, until this last summer and I didn’t know how life was going to be outside university, not just work-life..

I didn’t have any specific expectations or super vivid scenarios. I just knew I wanted to resonate with the vibe of the company and to simply get along with the people in there.

Do you remember what the internship application process was like at RebelDot?

The very first interview I’ve had was with Oana, one of our People and Culture specialists. I remember that it was a very casual conversation, the kind of talk that makes you feel you had known that person since way back.

I got to have a glimpse into how the culture was like at RebelDot, hear more about the project that we were going to work on and.. Make a new friend, actually.

After that I had the technical interview with Andrei one of RebelDot’s team leads, who made me feel super comfortable, even though it was a rather techy interview to which I didn’t know some of the answers..

He managed to not make me feel frustrated for not knowing, but instead directed the whole conversation in such way so that I could figure out the answers myself.

Which was quite motivating and comforting. Especially as a first impression.

What was your first impression of RebelDot?

My interview with Oana was the first interaction that I had with RebelDot, so to speak.

I guess I made a more objective opinion after the interview with Andrei. By then, I’ve had the chance to have talked to 2 people already who validated my impression – the fact that there is a chill vibe in this company, the kind of ambiance that makes me feel comfortable and relaxed.

I got the sense that people are motivated to build amazing technology, but more than that, to care for each other and build meaningful relationships. I liked it. I felt like I belong to this culture.

What made you choose RebelDot?

Leaving aside the reasons I’ve previously mentioned, another one would be the opportunity to work with React Native. That’s something that I wanted very much and that was not possible in other companies as an intern, for some reason.

Do you remember how you found out about the internship at RebelDot?

I have heard of RebelDot before through my colleagues who have already applied for some of the internship opportunities. Most of them told me that the technical test was fairly difficult and that they only got negative answers.

I guess this is something that intrigued me. I took it as a challenge, knowing that RebelDot, as open as it is, wasn’t really a place for everyone.

In terms of technical details, were there other reasons why you accepted the offer from RebelDot?

I knew we were going to work on a real project. We were told that there was a training that we had to go through, which got me super excited because, although I really wanted to work with React Native, until that moment I have never had the chance to.

Having studied mostly Java in university I figured maybe it was the time I’d learn something new, especially if I was offered a training opportunity. After I saw the RebelDot opening for the React Native Internship I told myself “that’s gotta be a sign”.

Do you remember your first week of internship at RebelDot?

Definitely. The first week was super fun and I was fortunate to already have some “friends” in the group that I was part of. Oana and Andrei.

Besides them I got to meet the entire team, 17 interns, divided into 3 teams.

The first day was when we all got to know each other. We were this weird mix of people from different backgrounds and universities.

It was amazing to see how involved the senior rebels were in this project and this new collective.

Considering that they were Senior Developers or Delivery Managers, the kind of people that you’d think are super busy, it was genuinely surprising to see how dedicated they were to make us feel welcomed and comfortable and excited for what was going to follow.

Right from the start, after me and my colleagues have been allocated to the project, we benefited from close support from Andrei (Team Lead), Oana (People and Culture specialist), Iulia (People and Culture Business Partner and Tom (Head of Product Design).

They talked us through the entire product development lifecycle, which helped us get a broad perspective on what we were going to work on, as well as create a sense of informality between each other which obviously made our communication super efficient, transparent and friendly.

I could say that we were privileged to have this opportunity, but is not really a privilege because this is the way every internship unfolds at RebelDot. Which is pretty cool.

How would you summarize a day as an intern at RebelDot?

Team-work.

The most important thing I learned as an intern was team-work. In university, most of what you do as a student is then passed through different tools such as anti-plagiarism, so that your work would never be similar to what your colleagues would do. While it does make sense to some extent, I found it rather absurd and upsetting.

On the flipside, throughout my internship I had my own tasks, but also the freedom to work on the very tasks together with my colleague/s so that we’d be more efficient, but also learn from each other.

We’d spend hours in huddles and slack calls, talking and doing what is also referred to as “peer programming”.

You know what.. I’ve seen that “this meeting could’ve been an email” meme so many times, but it was just interesting to see how, in our case, the interns, the moments which brought the most value professionally, but mainly personally, were those never-ending meetings.

I mean.. that’s what crystalized our team.. constant communication helped us develop chemistry, a collaboration that resulted in quality code and an environment where you just liked being a part of.

How did having a mentor help you as an intern?

First of all, Andrei shared with us his own experience and journey. He knew how things were supposed to play out. At the beginning of each sprint, he would give us the direction, that true north, the way in which we had to manage ourselves and each other, the way we had to provide feedback and the way we had to use GitHub in order to make our work easier and more efficient, developing an objective perspective on our output.

I very much enjoyed the fact that this learning process never stopped at the work per-se. Often, there were random moments throughout the day when, if Andrei would feel like he had something insightful to tell us, he would just say it on the spot. I sensed that he was driven by an honest wish to help us develop as engineers, but mostly as people.

What skills should a student have to apply for an internship opportunity?

Technically, I’d say a solid knowledge of basic programming concepts such databases, OOP and algorithmics.

Besides, I’d recommend students to try experimenting their hard skills on a personal project so that they’d learn the basic concepts I was mentioning before by actually practicing them.

And, obviously, a strong drive to learn and be open to new technologies.

In terms of soft skills and personal qualities, what really helped me was simply being open-minded and nice to the people around me.

What does being a rebel mean to you?

Not necessarily thinking outside the box, but just thinking differently about things. Having the courage to stand out by being yourself and by engaging with people.

Do you feel like RebelDot is a place where you can be the rebel you just described?

Yes, I think it is something that happens on a daily basis. I mean we were never constrained to do things in a particular rigid way. We are encouraged to figure things by ourselves, using our own reasoning so that, in case we mess things up, our mentors would help us get back on track by perfecting our reasoning and not by blindly following some else’s way of thinking.

Become a part of our team!

If this sounds like the kind of team you’d want to be a part of, go apply for our latest .NET/React Internship and give it shot at becoming our next rebel colleague.

Medical apps for doctors in 2022

30th December 2021

by Dragos Cojocea Business Innovation and Tech

Healthcare app development and high-speed internet connectivity have allowed doctors to access more information than ever before. Medical apps for doctors serve as tools that help organize patient information and assist in the examination process. Unlike health apps for patients, medical apps for doctors improve physician efficiency and productivity, reducing the cost of healthcare and increasing access to medical care for everyone.

What are the different types of apps in healthcare?

Medical apps for doctors include various digital healthcare apps that cater to multiple segments within the industry. These categories for medical apps for doctors include:

1. Clinical and diagnostic apps

Medical apps for doctors in clinical settings are used to record patient information, keep checklists of examinations and help with communication. Medical institutions often use this category of healthcare apps because doctors can update them quickly, allowing them to keep up with new research and developments within the healthcare industry.

2. Healthy living apps

Healthy living apps for doctors take care of the preventative healthcare side, thus allowing them to treat patients before they get sick. These easy-to-use medical apps help make healthy living a more accessible concept by providing people with relevant information and assistance in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

3. Remote monitoring apps

Medical apps for doctors in this category monitor patients outside regular visits. It’s common for people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes or heart problems, to have these types of medical apps to help them stay on top of their health at all times.

4. Productivity apps

Productivity apps for doctors are essentially tools that help save time and increase productivity at the same time. These medical apps are efficient in streamlining patient information, organizing appointments, and making it easier for people to consult with their physicians.

5. Telemedicine apps

Telemedicine apps provide clinical services to patients remotely, eliminating the need to visit a doctor physically. Patients with non-infectious diseases, acute pain issues, chronic condition management, simple medical tests, and screenings can use telemedicine apps for virtual visits.

Telemedicine apps allow people to communicate instantly with their doctors, thus saving time and increasing efficiency. These medical apps reduce the need for follow-up visits by enabling patients to consult their doctor about various conditions in real-time.

6. Telehealth apps

Telehealth apps differ from telemedicine ones because they provide both clinical and non-clinical services. Most health care providers, including physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners, use telehealth apps.

Telehealth apps provide many non-clinical services like clinical decision support, insurance verification, e-prescribing, medical data exchange services, patient appointment scheduling, and many others.

7. EHR platforms

Electronic health record platforms focus on the total health management of a patient. EHR apps include clinical decision support systems which help professionals make informed choices about treatments for their patients.

These apps also provide non-clinical services, including administrative functions like labor and patient scheduling, billing, coding, networking, chart management, and customer relations. EHR platforms give access to information to all the people related to patient care, including physicians, nurses, staff, and patients as well.

8. EMR platforms

EMR platforms provide all the clinical data of a patient to the physician. These mobile apps allow users to scan and take pictures of patients’ charts, check lab results, and make diagnoses.

The app gives doctors insights into patient compliance and treatment plans, as well as information about their laboratory tests and referrals. Tracking a patient’s medical history, reviewing test results, and prescribing medication become simple with these apps.

What are the benefits of developing medical apps for doctors?

Medical apps serve a variety of purposes for medical professionals. Here are some benefits that doctors can get from having these apps on their mobile devices:

Increased productivity

Medical apps for doctors increase physicians’ productivity by providing them with access to information while they are on the go or in a time crunch. In addition, these mobile apps free up time for doctors by providing details about patient treatment plans and lab results.

More accuracy

Medical apps for doctors improve treatment accuracy by providing access to patient information even in hard-to-reach locations. EMR platforms help physicians coordinate patient care with different specialists, reducing miscommunication and giving patients reliable diagnoses. Doctors and medical professionals can also reduce medical and prescription errors with these mobile apps.

Lower costs of care

Medical apps for doctors reduce the cost of care with their remote and telemedicine services. Telemedicine apps facilitate virtual visits, which reduces the time doctors spend traveling to hospitals or clinics. This results in a lower cost of care while increasing the availability of physicians.

Increased efficiency

Medical apps for doctors increase the efficiency of medical professionals by providing them with access to patient information and treatment plans. EMR apps reduce miscommunication, streamline treatment protocols, and reduce mistakes in healthcare management.

Greater convenience

Mobile apps have made the lives of doctors much easier by providing them with access to information, resources, and documents from anywhere at any time. Physicians locate the information they need for their patients and take notes on these mobile platforms. Thanks to these apps, doctors can easily keep all patient data in one place.

Examples of medical apps for doctors in 2022

As the demand for medical information continues to increase, so does the need for mobile apps that help physicians provide quality care to their patients. Mobile devices are revolutionizing the healthcare industry by giving doctors access to crucial information about their patients. Here are five apps that should be on every medical professional’s radar in 2022:

Interocloud

Interocloud is an Electronic Health Record platform built to digitalize healthcare institutions. We built InteroCloud as a system to keep track of medical registries, appointments history, and all relevant patient’s history and information.

More specifically, as an intuitive Electronic Health Record (EHR) based on the Cloud, which can be accessed online without the need to install any directory. Being an easily customizable software, InteroCloud can fit various medical institutions such as optical medical clinics, private dentistry practices, medical aesthetics practices, private hospitals and many more.

Medscape

Medscape is an app for doctors who want to stay updated with the latest medical news on their mobile devices. With this application, physicians can access relevant medical newspapers and journals, clinical studies on drugs and supplements, and peer-reviewed research papers.

The app offers a variety of features, including drug interactions, disease management guides, education materials, lab test results, dosage calculator, and clinical decision support tools. You can download this app from the Apple’s app store or Google Play Store for free, but you’ve to register.

Epocrates

Epocrates is a reference tool for medical practitioners that allows you to connect with other doctors by using their unique text messaging service. Through athenaText, you can discuss test results, treatment plans, or referral services with other professionals.

Epocrates is available in the Apple’s app store and Google Play Store for free. To use it, register with a username and password. You can upgrade to Epocrates Plus for $174.99 per year to get access to the full range of features.

Doximity

Doximity is a social networking app for doctors that allows you to share and discuss information with other physicians. You can use this app to exchange HIPAA-compliant information and faxes with other practitioners. Along with this, you can connect with your peers, find jobs, compare salaries, and continue your education.

Doximity is available on the Apple’s app store and Google Play Store for free, so you can download it on your mobile phone and get access to the features straight away.

DynaMed

DynaMed provides users with the most comprehensive information on diseases, medications, prevention strategies, and diagnoses. You can search through its extensive library of medical articles to find the relevant information you need for your patients.

If you’re a physician, you can buy a subscription to DynaMed app for $399 per year, and if you’re a student, you can get it for $99 per annum.

Lexicomp

Lexicomp is another medical application for health care providers that allows you to access drug information and treatment protocols on the go. This app features information related to infectious diseases, toxicology, and oral diseases. Lexicomp provides real-time access to drug information, including dosing guidelines, clinical evidence, and product labeling.

This app is free to download from the Apple’s app store and Google Play Store. However, you need to subscribe to one of their plans to use the service.

The future of medical apps for doctors

The future of medicine is on the mobile platform, even though doctors are still adapting to this change. The coming years will see more physicians using digital healthcare apps for improved interactions with patients and other medical professionals.

As technology continues to improve rapidly, expect these apps to offer more features that make it easier for you to conduct your daily operations.

Well, if you are looking for a reliable telemedicine app development company to bring your idea to life through the latest tech and a user-centric design, then don’t hesitate to reach out.

You might want to read our latest case-studies where we present how we developed a telemedicine app, as well as a white-label platform used to digitalize healthcare institutions.

How to create an onboarding process for a healthcare app?

3rd September 2021

by Simona Gaitan Business Innovation and Tech

In this article, I am going to talk you through how I used a React hook, namely useReducer, to create a smooth onboarding process for a healthcare app that I and my team at RebelDot have developed recently.

Why is the onboarding process crucial in developing a healthcare app?
How did the decision tree idea emerge?
What is a decision tree and why developing one?
How to create a decision tree using React Native?
What is useReducer and how to use it?
A small way to digitalize healthcare.

Why is the onboarding process crucial in developing a healthcare app?

Working on this healthcare project, I stumbled upon a challenge, trying to implement a complex feature within a relatively brief period of time.

To give you some context, the idea for this feature arisen in the very last stages of the development process, which is why finding a fast, yet effective solution was crucial to the project.

This feature was a decision tree needed for the user onboarding process, an essential machine learning-like feature to any healthcare app or healthcare digital product developed nowadays.

It was imperative that the doctors knew relevant details about their patients so they can create an accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Thus, we had to create a dynamic onboarding process, intuitive and not repetitive, focusing only on a limited number of important questions, such as questions about any chronic diseases or allergies that the patient might suffer from, as well as details about its family medical history.

How did the decision tree idea emerge?

The first and perhaps most basic solution that we thought of was limiting the questionnaire to a simple form (.text input) where the questions are screened one after another and the user has to complete the answer to all those questions.

Now, in terms of implementing this type of approach, it is fair to say it would have been an easy process and most of all, a time-convenient one.

But.

Not so user-friendly and efficient.

Patients would have had to waste time answering an entire list of questions, even questions that might not be according to their circumstance while doctors would waste their time too, going through all those answers.

Instead, we decided to build something user-intuitive and easy to complete.

A decision tree.

What is a decision tree and why developing one?

This meant that the onboarding process and respectively the introductory questionnaire addressed to the users would now be based only on relevant questions, also having a series of predefined answers as well as the option to add custom ones.

If you have ever worked with SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics, you probably know what I am talking about – adding a questionnaire/survey logic so that subjects would skip unnecessary questions.

To give a more technical explanation, a decision tree is a decision support tool that uses a tree-like model of decisions and their possible consequences. It is one way to display an algorithm that only contains conditional control statements.

For example, should the user provide a positive answer to a yes/no question, the following question might be based on that particular answer. In the case where the answer was negative, then, according to the established flow, the questionnaire will move on to the next question, without addressing the one specifically designated for those who answered the following positive.

In simpler terms, though, think of it as a dynamic questionnaire that alters its questions in real-time depending on the answers you provide.

How to create a decision tree using React Native?

I started with a simple ‘useState‘, but seeing that I need to add a lot of data to that state (and starting to look like a list of objects), I realised that my simple state can’t handle that amount of changes, so I started looking for an alternative that would save the entire team time and allow us to launch the product on the initially established deadline.

This is how I began working with ‘useReducer’, an alternative solution to ‘useState’, a react hook which helps managing complex state.

I read about all the react hooks, but the truth is that there are a lot of them which are rarely used, like ‘useMemo‘, ‘useCallback‘, or our ‘useReducer. Working with Redux before helped me understand the way ‘useReducer’ works.

In the beginning, my ‘useReducer’ state was pretty simple, but developing the algorithm and discovering every corner case, I ended up with a complex and strong component that allows me to deliver the onboarding process.

So I had a complex state and useReducer which handles complex states. This was the perfect fit that helped me to deliver a feature that appeared so hard to implement.

What is useReducer and how to use it?

Let’s start with some general information about what is useReducer and why it can be used.

useReducer is an alternative useState, the big differences are that useState is used for managing simple states (like strings, booleans, etc.) while useReducer is perfect for complex ones (state objects with multiple sub-values).

For those of you who are familiar with reducers, can easily understand how React’s useReducer hook works.

This is how you can use it, we have the state and the dispatch method attached to that state (as I said above, if you worked with reducers, you should know what dispatch is)

const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(reducer, initialState);

reducer is a function responsible for handling all the actions that are dispatched, hence modifying the new state.

initialState is, well.. the initial value of the state.

In our case, the initial state is a list of questions with important sub-values such as question category, question text, answers (a list of objects), a prop which says if the questions accept multiple answers (boolean), a prop which says if the questions will be asked (a boolean) and other.

Answer objects contain the answer text, the effect that that answer will have and the list of question indexes that will be affected by that answer.

In reducer I have defined the next actions: adding an answer, removing an answer, affecting a question and refreshing all the answers.

So how this work? When a user selects a predefined answer, the ADD_ANSWER action is dispatched (the answer will be saved) and the APPLY_EFFECT is dispatched to every question from the list of questions that is affected by that answer.

The last action will set if the questions will be displayed to the user or not.

A small way to digitalize healthcare.

Relying on this solution, this sort of machine-learning-like algorithm, allowed automatization of processes, eliminating the manual tasks and smoothening extraction of data directly from electronic records.

Besides, it created the possibility for doctors to predict trends in the patient conditions and their behaviors by discovering connections and relations from seemingly unrelated information, patterns that could then be used by to determine diagnoses, prognoses and treatments for patients in healthcare organizations.

On a more personal note, although I was a little scared when this task was assigned to me, I am now grateful for this, as the overall experience taught me that sometimes the solution is hidden in plain sight and that time pressure will have you uncover those solutions when you expect it the least.

Well, if you are looking for a reliable healthcare app development company to bring your idea to life through the latest tech and a user-centric design, then don’t hesitate to reach out. 🚀

You might want to read our latest case studies where we present how we developed a telemedicine app, as well as a management software provider for healthcare facilities.

Oana Mihail Senior Product Designer RebelDot

What is a discovery workshop and how to facilitate it

9th August 2021

by Oana Mihail Business Innovation and Tech

What is a discovery workshop?

Whether you are building a product and you are a startup founder, a big company owner or you’re approaching a project as an agency, you might hear “We gotta do a discovery workshop” from the product designer.

Discovery workshops are in my opinion the stepping stones that lead to a better understanding of the product, and they focus on collaboration between teams to help collect information required to begin a project. When you find yourself passionate about a specific idea, it’s easy to get lost in the details – discovery workshops shift the focus to looking at the project in its entirety and ensure all questions about business objectives, user experience, creative and technicalities are covered.

With this article, I hope to shed some light on this topic and explain the process I go through with our clients.

Why is a discovery workshop important for your project?

No matter how great the idea is, a product can lose its value if not enough thought is given to it in the initial phase of development. You must answer in advance all the necessary questions that may arise from both parties during the app development lifecycle. Doing that in the beginning phase of a discovery workshop provides clarity and saves a lot of time to both parties.
Through a workshop, complex projects can be easily simplified resulting in a structured roadmap and clear requirements that align with your goals.
It helps the product team to arrive at a common ground even though they may have varying opinions. It also ensures that the project is completed in the given deadline or in some cases even earlier, as the core functionalities are always prioritized.
Helps identify potential challenges that may arise later and unravel discrepancies, by highlighting project areas that lack clarity.

Why you need a discovery workshop before working on your product?

In general, a discovery workshop usually lasts from 2 to 4 days depending on the scope of the project. Doing so, by the end of it you should have a structured roadmap to accomplish set milestones and goals.

It typically occurs at the beginning of a project or at the beginning of significant key substages of a project when there is a need to:

Understand existing research and gather existing knowledge
Understand stakeholder expectations
Build a common understanding of the overall project direction, key milestones, and vision for the entire team
Minimize the risk of building the wrong thing
Understand who the customers are and how the product will improve their lives
Define what sets the product apart in the market
Define what success looks like

But there are also situations in which conditions within the team make additional workshops necessary.

For example unaligned stakeholders. They can pull the team’s focus in different directions and away from the original purpose or problem being solved. During workshops, all stakeholders need to be active, vocal, and open-minded in order to make good forward progress. If a participant can’t or won’t make a decision about something, that can derail the entire process. Make sure key stakeholders are ready and willing to contribute.
It doesn’t really matter if the project is big or small, a discovery workshop is the most logical first step.

Small business owners tend to cut out discovery time and skip the workshop, but I observed that even with standard or minimum functionality, with a discovery workshop, you can unravel new frontiers and efficiently build a product.

For large and complex products, a discovery workshop is a necessity. It helps in defining and assessing the scope of work for every phase and streamlining the entire project at once. Through a discovery workshop, we dive deep, turn challenges into opportunities and explore new avenues to tackle a problem. It is an essential aspect of an agile development process.

Sometimes when a client considers a project to be complex and outlines a big scope of work, a discovery workshop helps us identify which functionalities represent the core of the product for the initial phase. This reduces the scope and cuts costs for the client. In other cases, we unravel too many complexities as opposed to what was predicted which gradually increases the scope of the project.

What can be the output of a discovery workshop?

Focus on objectives and not only on deliverables.

A discovery workshop plays an important role in transforming an idea into a usable product. All the planning, scoping, and streamlining are done in the very beginning to witness tangible results.

Some of the desired and expected outputs from a discovery workshop are:

Aligned product vision and purpose inside the whole team
Setting clear, realistic goals for the product
Define the target audience, user personas, flows, and scenarios,
Sketch the User Journey mapping
Aligned vision over the project roadmap and priorities

Who can participate?

What I think it’s the best thing to do is to include representatives from every specialty like Founders, UX/ product designers, developers, and QA teams; In this way, everyone has a chance to weigh in from different perspectives and everyone feels more engaged with the business and product as a result.

Planning the Discovery Workshop.

1. Define a goal and output for the workshop.

Be clear about what you want to achieve, and what the tangible artifacts produced during the session will be.

2. Decide on workshop participants.

The power of design workshops comes from a varied perspective, so like I said, make sure you invite a wide range of roles.

3. Gather needed materials

The environment can be informal and creative if you are holding the workshop in the office (face-to-face) and plan on using tools such as markers and blank paper for sketching, post-its, and water and/or snacks for longer sessions. When we work remotely with our clients we rely on Miro.

4. Plan your agenda

If you are the facilitator of the workshop make sure to have an agenda in place. Plan for a structured sequence of rapid timed sketching cycles, presentation, critique, and choose a prioritization method such as dot voting.

Here is an example of how my agenda looks like:

It not only aligns the project team, stakeholders and clients but also provides the opportunity to mutually explore the scope of an idea and steer the project in the right direction.

Introductions (Workshop intro, attendee intro) – 15 min
Design process overview (Walkthrough the design process steps, milestone and desirable outcome for each) – 15 min
Stakeholder interview (About the Client, Business Goals & Objectives)- 45 min
Assumption mapping (Mapping how desirable, viable and feasible is the product)- 45 min
Coffee break- 15 min
Who are our users – 45 min
What are your users goals (Get everyone to know the users better) – 30 min
Personas – 45 min
Lunch – 60 min
Brain dump exercise (Great way to generate a lot of ideas)- 60 min
Voting – 15 min
Discuss the results – 15 min
Coffee break – 15 min
User journey mapping (Will help generate feature ideas)- 90 min
Coffee break- 15 min
Present journey – 30 min
Final review – 60 min
Coffee break- 15 min
Feature prioritization – 90 min
Coffee break – 15 min
Define MVP – 90 min

Even if a discovery workshop may seem like an added expense on the project’s budget, it is completely worth it. Having a discovery workshop at the beginning of the product will minimize the risk of building the wrong thing, will help everyone involved to understand who the users are and how the product will improve their lives and it will lead to defining clear, realistic goals for the product. Once you got through this stage, you can then move on to building an MVP and test the assumptions and insights gathered in this initial stage of the process.