Mar
14
Identifying the Pain Point in your Startup
If you are a startup founder or being around the startup community, you must have heard of the term 'pain point'. But what exactly is a pain point and how do you go about identifying one? You've got an idea - either because you're trying to solve a problem for yourself or because you've heard other people and what they think they need or want fixed. When this happens, the important question to ask yourself is: "What is this pain point I am trying to solve?", and most importantly, "Is this really a pain point that I need solved right…
Jan
25
$10,000 QLD Small Business Digital Grants Program
Government grants are excellent funding opportunities for any business big or small. We are extremely fortunate here in Australia to have access to a number of government funding to assist businesses in numerous aspects. If your business is based in Queensland and require app development services, the good news is grants are now available to assist fund your project. The Queensland Small Business Digital Grants Program round 4 will soon be open to assist small businesses with the costs involved in purchasing digital technologies and software services for their Queensland business. How much funding could I get? Successful applicants will…
Jun
23
What are the costs of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Blockchain for Business Apps?
We are now at a technology tipping point where the application of blockchain technology is feasible for businesses and startups. The cost of implementing Blockchain applications has reduced through vendor support in the form of Blockchain as a Service (Baas) and open source libraries. However, care should be taken before diving into implementing a project using Blockchain, as a number of hidden costs and variables must be carefully examined. What is Blockchain? You can read the comprehensive definition of Blockchain on Wikipedia; however, Dr Mark Staples (Data61) eloquently distills the essence of a Blockchain to simply, "A distributed database and…
Jun
16
Distributed Ledger Technology (Blockchain) Symposium 2017
This week, I had the pleasure of attending the SDLT 2017 at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. It was an opportunity to 'nerd out' on one of the current most exciting areas of technology since the explosion of the Internet late in the '90s. The program covered technical, legal, regulatory and societal issues in Distributed Ledger Technologies (Blockchain). In this article, I have translated highlights of the Symposium from the computer science to business lingo. Dr Mark Staples of Data61 (CSIRO) opened the day with an interesting reflection on the history of software engineering; from its birth in the late 1960s to highlights on…
Apr
29
Intelligent Customer Service Chatbots – What do they do?
Many people confuse chatbots with the little windows that pop-up, like the one on this page. Contrary to popular belief, intelligent customer service chatbots that are based on artificial intelligence technology (AI) are capable of doing this and so much more. Instead of browsing a website, calling or emailing intelligent chatbots engage in conversations with your customers directly, mirroring the experience of a real person but in a more instant, accurate and reliable way. Benefits of integrating AI into Customer Service A conversational chatbot understands your customers, integrates with your existing database and handles your most common customer service requests. As explained in…
Apr
07
Myriad in Brisbane – Connecting the dot connectors
Last week I attended Myriad, a three day technology and innovation festival in Brisbane. According to their site, some of the highlights of this event were: * 50+ local and international speakers * Next generation technology & Interactive experiences * Workshops & Fireside chats * Global Investment and insights * Powerful and inspiring stories * Connections * Investor matchmaking * Sweet, sweet Queensland sunshine. It sounds great, right? However, personally the biggest highlight was the alluring atmosphere where community members, local & international speakers and investors gathered together to discuss inspiration, innovation and impact through a common theme: the use of…
Apr
03
DayNinja app recognised for innovation
The DayNinja app has been featured on More Gold Coast publication as one out of six most innovative apps designed and developed on the Gold Coast, Australia. The free-to-download app is based on the revolutionary Pomodoro Technique by Italian Francisco Cirillo, one of the all-time favourite methods to effectively manage time and increase productivity. Innovation results from the combination of mindfulness, gamification and To Do lists to help the user find flow, block interruptions and maintain focus during the working day. "The app allows you to name and prioritise tasks for the day, creates a calendar, and uses a timer to break up the…
Mar
17
The power of psychology in User Experience & app design
Have you ever wondered what makes good app design? Why some apps are more popular than others? What exactly makes an app so addictive that finds millions of people willing to interact time and time again? In this article from Smashing Magazine, Nadine Kintscher gives a powerful analysis of how User Experience (UX) and psychology go hand in hand when designing an app that solves the right problem in an efficient and enjoyable manner. When an app design is based on good UX customers/users will intuitively seek to return to the app over and over again because is self-explanatory, clear to navigate, fast to load and…
Feb
22
Technology trends: Mobile apps set to double by 2020
Market researcher App Annie has predicted the app economy with mobile apps could double to $101 billion by 2020, making quality app developers high sought after resources. Image credit: App Annie The story featured in VentureBeat, the leading source for news on technology innovation suggests, "the growth will be driven by increasing usage of apps and by greater smartphone adoption around the globe." Read the full article here. Header image credit: Mobile App Daily
Dec
02
Apps within apps – End of apps as we know them?
I wondered how long it would take for apps to start integrating with other apps. The first app I noticed this occurrence was Uber - integrating Password1 to retrieve a filed Uber password. Upon reflecting this really was nothing new in that Stripe and Braintree payments have been in apps for a long time via SDKs. With the arrival of the Apple Watch early 2015 users are likely to expect more than ever a consistent experience across all devices (smartphone, smartwatch, desktop and tablet). The components in the fabric of the OSs are already supporting this concept through notifications across…
