News & Views

• iOS
• iPad
• iPhone

Will Apple Announce an AR Headset?

We have already established that augmented reality (AR) is more than a gimmick. Still, over the course of the last two years, the technology hasn’t yet made an impact on our daily lives. Even though it is clear that Apple and Google have still clearly been investing heavily in the space, we can’t deny the awkwardness of some of the interactions. In my experience using AR apps and games, I have been left frustrated by the limitations of the technology, as evidenced by the clunkiness of current interactions, as though your device must serve as a new age magnifying glass.

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• Design
• UX/UI

User Experience Is Now Table Stakes

Nowadays, intuitive, beautifully designed experiences are simply the cost of entry, and the trends that clients, and the tech industry at large, value and look to next are often in the rear view mirror by the following year, quarter, or even week. Designers must pick them fast and add them to our cache of talents. It’s not that these are going away, or have become less important.

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• Insights

Six Predictions for the Future of Voice Assistants & AI

We currently live in a world where voice assistants and AI have by-passed science fiction and have become a basic, even a necessary part of everyday life. According to eMarketer, it is estimated that one in six Americans own a smart speaker (think Google Home or Alexa) and that 2020 will see over 100 million smartphone users utilize vocal command technology. With AI and voice assistants permeating personal and professional spheres, such as commerce, healthcare, and banking, we can predict a few potential outcomes of these technologies that we will likely see in the next ten years.

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• Design
• Mobile Apps

A Billion-Dollar Market in 120x120 Pixels

Humans form first impressions within seven seconds of meeting each other, and the effects of an introductory handshake can last for one to six months. That’s pretty significant if you’re an entrepreneur networking, or a salesperson promoting your product or service. Within the app store, the importance of first impressions is just as clear. In this marketplace, which generates 70 percent of app downloads, an app’s icon is a digital handshake with a consumer and can make or break a consumer’s decision to download, create an account, or even just engage with a brand.

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• Insights

Principles of Growth: How Vokal Drives Strategic Partnerships

When we started in 2009, we were one of the few mobile development companies on the market. If you uttered the words, “we build mobile apps,” you had people knocking on your door, and that was the case for us.

10 years later, everything has changed.

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• Hack Days

Hacking Innovation: Vokal’s Learning and Growth Culture

In the age of disruption, innovation is the lifeblood of a tech company.

Vokal’s innovation approach is focused on understanding people, zeroing in on the behaviors, wants, and needs that are driving the consumer tensions which demand unconventional digital solutions.

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• Design
• Insights
• UX/UI

How to Demonstrate Authenticity Through Products and Experiences

Let’s talk about Disney.

Disney is by far the leader in intentionally creating authentic products and experiences for their customers.

In this context, I define authenticity as any person or brand that is intentional about building something that is unique to them.

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• Mobile Apps
• UX/UI

Video Killed The Radio Star, But Not The Mobile App

Video content is quickly becoming the predominant form of media consumption for this generation. More than 75% of video watched is on mobile phones, making them the largest conduit for video marketing. In fact, 28 percent of smartphone users consume video on their devices at least once per day. Combine this with the fact that, as of 2016, more people globally accessed the internet via mobile and tablet devices (51.3 percent) than desktop (48.7 percent), it quickly becomes clear that if brands are not optimizing their marketing strategy with mobile video in mind, they are losing out.

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• Design
• Insights
• UX/UI

Emotionally Charged: The Importance of Consumer Emotions in Brand Mobile Strategy

Bringing emotional experiences to mobile applications is the foundation of brand loyalty in the smartphone era. Given the average time spent on one’s phone in a day and the increasing number of connected devices any one consumer may possess, harnessing emotional data to create deeper connections between consumers and brands is more critical than ever.

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• Insights
• News

Amazon Created a Digital Hallmark Holiday with ‘Prime Day,’ and It’s Working (For Everyone)

Hallmark will never admit it, but let’s be real, they created Valentine’s Day so they could sell more cards. However, it wasn’t just Hallmark who benefited from Valentine’s Day. Flower shops, candy companies, and restaurants were all beneficiaries of this new “holiday.”

Amazon Prime Day is what I call a “digital hallmark holiday.”

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