• Read more about User-Centric Design for Federal Websites

For Federal Offices of Communication, the act—and art—of balancing websites that both cater to the public and promote the organizational structure and mission of the organization is always top of mind. Accordingly, those partnering with Federal offices must prioritize meeting both needs when designing and building agency sites. On numerous projects, our team has successfully managed to increase usability and deliver user-centric designs while simultaneously building sites that allow our Federal clients to bolster their brand. A sample of results for some clients:

-a swift 4% increase in first-time visitor overall satisfaction
-76% of all mobile users strongly agreeing that the new site made content easier to find
-88% of frequently visiting teens being satisfied with the new site

Below are some of the tools we’ve implemented to achieve success:

Navigation and Information Architecture

Treejack is a great usability testing tool that development teams can wield to test the information architecture and navigation of the site prior to even beginning a design. It is best used to test the findability of topics in a website using different navigational hierarchies. For one of our projects, both internal and external stakeholders were given 46 tasks to perform using a variety of different navigation hierarchies to find the most optimal site organization for both constituent groups.

Usability Testing

For usability testing, our team leverages both Loop11 and Usertesting.com. Using a live, interactive environment, both of these tools allow development teams to gain deep understanding of user behavior by observing users as they complete a series of tasks and questions on the site and/or mobile app in question. Interactions are captured and then analyzed in comprehensive reports. As an added bonus, Usertesting.com provides video footage of the interaction for review:

http://bit.ly/1rRvEAm

In summary, Federal websites and applications are often designed with too much emphasis on organizational hierarchy and goals, and too little focus on meeting end-users’ needs and expectations. User-Centric Design (UCD) tools can help government agencies buck this trend, however, allowing them to create websites and applications that engage users and maximize their interaction. Ultimately, this results in a sure win-win: Federal agencies’ constituents can experience an efficient, satisfying, and user-friendly design, and—with constituents’ increased engagement—organizations can ensure that their missions and information are communicated effectively. Act balanced.

• Read more about Apple Watch: A Look Inside

At the time of this writing (pre-WWDC 2015), there are a number of limitations on what Apple Watch code can do. The primary limitation is that watch apps cannot exist by themselves. It is necessary for the watch app to be a part of a corresponding phone app. Apple has said they will not accept watch apps where the phone app does not do anything itself. Also, watch-only apps (such as watch faces) are not allowed for this same reason—although it’s rumored that this may change after WWDC 2015.

Another Apple Watch limitation is that Core Graphics animations are not supported, but animated GIFs are. Complex layouts (such as overlapping elements) are not allowed. However, elements can be positioned as if they overlap—provided only one element is visible at a time. Using actions such as taps and timers, the visibility of these "overlapping" elements can be changed. This can be implemented to provide a more dynamic interface. Another major limitation (also whispered to change after WWDC 2015) is that watch apps cannot access any of the hardware on the watch including the motion sensor and heart sensor.

Most watch app processing (controller logic) is done on the phone instead of the watch, and some delays are inherent in the Bluetooth communication that transpires between the watch and the phone as the view (on the watch) talks back to the controller (on the phone). This view/controller split is not obvious in the code, but the watch/phone split is obvious in the code, as the watch cannot access anything from the phone, even though the controller logic is running on the phone side—except via a specific watch-to-phone request.

One notable feature is the watch app’s ability to explicitly call the phone app with a dictionary and obtain a dictionary response. This functionality allows the developer to then set up a number of client-server style requests, where the watch is the client, and the phone is the server. For example, the watch can request information from—or record information to—the phone. The phone (which has storage and may have Internet connectivity) can then fulfill the request and provide data in response to the watch. This can drive the phone app's UI to provide near-real-time synchronization of the watch app display, as well as the phone app display.

Custom notifications (both local notifications and push notifications) are supported on the watch. These custom notifications can have a somewhat customized layout as well as having the ability to define a set of custom actions. After performing one of these actions, the watch app is started. Apple mentions not to use notifications as a way to just launch the watch app from the phone app. Apple maintains that the notifications should provide useful information.

One developer test limitation relates to custom watch notifications (for local notifications).  Since watch notifications are only displayed if the phone is asleep, there is no direct way to test custom watch notifications.  Because of this, XCode does provide a mechanism to test push notifications in the simulator (using a JSON file), but there is no similar mechanism to test local notifications. Still, one can certainly test local notifications with the physical device.

• Read more about Federal Mobile Computing Summit 2014: Government in the Future

We were particularly proud to see one of our favorite clients, Peter Dewar, Chief Technology Officer at the District of Columbia Retirement Board (DCRB), participate in a thought-provoking panel on Wearables and the Internet of Things. The session's description as a “visionary panel” proved to be true, as all of the participants outlined the groundbreaking mobile capabilities they foresaw as feasible within the next five years.

Mr. Dewar described his vision for implementing Google Glass in the office, at conferences—even for pension fund participants, staff, and Board members. Taking the idea of “smart rooms” even further, he also described a futuristic conference room, which would be able to set up a meeting’s required media (think dial-ins, projectors, etc.) upon the meeting organizer’s entrance or (biometric) authentication.

We from Mobomo were on the edge of our seats thinking about the possibilities, and excited about building them—especially for our government clients. Congrats to Peter Dewar for a great panel session, and thanks to Tom Suder for hosting yet another fantastic summit. We’re looking forward to next year’s—and to the future of mobile (in the government!).

• Read more about Avoiding another HealthCare.gov

Speaking at a congressional hearing today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called out private sector contractors for the many technology failings of the insurance marketplace.

"Unfortunately, a subset of those contracts for HealthCare.gov have not met expectations. Among other issues, the initial wave of interest stressed the account service, resulting in many consumers experiencing difficulty signing up, while those who were able to sign up sometimes had problems logging in."

As more of our government functions are moved online in the coming years, it's important to ask ourselves whether existing government service providers have the necessary skills and expertise to successfully build these complex and interconnected systems. While some providers are well-equipped to handle certain types of projects, the numerous shortcomings of the HealthCare.gov rollout suggest a host of issues, including a lack of experience in building consumer-facing applications and in scaling these applications to serve millions of concurrent users.

Intridea doesn't generally pursue government contracts. Being headquartered in DC, it would seem like a natural fit for us, and though we've considered that direction many times, the overhead involved in the procurement process is just too burdensome.

We're a company of designers and engineers who are passionate about making inspired products for our clients; we're not bureaucrats. We focus on clients that push limits: from startups who think differently about the world, to enterprises who are heavyweights in their industries. Our project cycles are short, our team is agile, and our approach is remarkably different from what's expected of government service providers.

While we don't pursue government contracts, we have exactly the right experience that's necessary to solve the hardest problems in technology these days. Through years of experience building consumer-facing startups and sophisticated enterprise integrations, we've learned how to turn the seemingly complicated into beautifully simple solutions. And we've learned how to do this at a massive scale and for a fraction of the cost that the government pays.

We've built platforms like Scalr.com which are meant to scale large infrastructures and applications to meet the demand millions of concurrent users. Our leadership includes individuals like Ezra Zygmuntowicz who built Engine Yard, a PaaS (Platform as a Service), to host and deliver applications to millions of users. These are not skills that government service providers have readily available.

Government apps are changing from backend systems used only by a fixed number of government agencies to web-based systems that hundreds of millions of citizens need to access and interact with. The developers on the forefront of building these solutions in the consumer world are not rushing to work on government projects. So what is the solution?

Some have suggested overhauling the current procurement system so other firms with the necessary skills are able to compete. Replacing this system with one that delivers value and efficiency should absolutely be the long-term solution. It's not a stretch, however, to say it's incredibly unlikely to happen any time soon given the current political climate and what would surely be an insurmountable lobbying effort on behalf of incumbent government service providers who find the current system quite lucrative.

What may be a more realistic short-term solution is for existing government service providers to partner with and hire firms like Intridea. Bringing in experts with proven consumer and enterprise experience allows providers to tackle the hardest technology issues and acquire the necessary expertise to deliver quality solutions. While firms like ours don't generally pursue government contracts, we do get hired by forward-thinking government service providers to help. We fill the gaps in their experience and do so with incredible effectiveness.

There seems to be plenty of blame to go around for the failure of the HealthCare.gov rollout. Lost time, money, and political capital are all things that could be more effectively managed by bringing in smaller, more-agile firms better equipped to handle these solutions. HealthCare.gov is hardly the first delivery failure and until the system changes to deal with the root cause of these failures, government service providers would do themselves and our government a service by looking to more-agile and innovative firms to fill the gaps in their own skillsets.

• Read more about Mobomo Talks Next Gen Federal Sites in April’s Tech Bisnow Newsletter

• Read more about Mobomo's Pocket Biz iPhone App Featured at Disruptathon

Mobomo CEO Barg Upender demonstrated the mobile app developer's Pocket Biz iPhone software, "a dead simple CRM" tool for SMBs, at a "Disruptathon" (disrupt-a-thon) in Mclean, VA, on Thursday. The Disruptathon serves to showcase disruptive new technology.

The Pocket Biz app gives SMB (Small-to-Medium Business) sales people in the field the mobile tools to manage their sales pipleline while on the go, and includes tasklists with items that can be assigned to contacts, deal lists to track progress, contacts assigned list, and notes. SMB owners can use Pocket Biz to organize their deal flow, and it's easy to pick up and learn:

• Buy it under 10 seconds from the iPhone App Store.
• Buy for under 10 dollars, compared to hundreds or thousands of initial investment for other CRM solutions.
• Learn it under 10 sec. It's deceptively simple to use.
• Add contacts under 10 sec.
• Add deals under 10 sec.

The Disruptathon was moderated by Dave Wolf of Cynergy Systems, who thinks that mobile Windows 7 is going to be a compelling platform for business. The target market of the companies that presented is mobile business and pro-sumers. Presentations at the Disruptathon gave a peek at what's coming up for the mobile platform in this target market. Besides Barg Upender of Mobomo (whose presentation deck is shown below), presenters included:

• Sam Aparicio, founder/ CEO of Ringio.
• Matt Howard, co-founder/ COO of ZoomSafer.
• Manoj Ramani, founder/ CEO of DubMeNow.
• Alan Snyder, CEO of Boxtone.
• Hassan Wahla, VP of TeleNav.
• Sze Wong, founder/ CEO of Zerion Software.

The key takeaways from the Disruptathon is that consumer/ game apps tend to dominate the mobile market and the business apps market still needs to grow. The presenters showed that there are interesting business apps in development, and give more proof that the mobile platform will become the dominant new channel for distributing apps.

If you're interested in a mobile app for your business, please contact us.

• Read more about Is It Time to Add “Apps” to Marketing’s Venerable “4 Ps”?

It’s been more than four decades since Michigan State University Professor E. Jerome McCarthy theorized that marketing contained four basic elements: product, price, place (distribution) and promotion, also known as the “Four Ps of Marketing.”

Amazingly, despite the unprecedented upheaval and transformation in marketing strategies, techniques, channels and tactics during the last forty years—not to mention marketers’ penchant for postulating all manner of new philosophies, methodologies, rules and acronyms--the Four Ps of Marketing have remained unchanged.

But perhaps now there is good reason to revisit and refresh marketing’s Four Ps: the emergence of “applications” or “apps” as a new means for organizations to acquire, retain or otherwise engage customers and prospects.

What are “Apps”?

An app is a small, self-contained computer program that provides value or engagement to a mass or targeted audience in a community, marketplace or platform. Think of Scrabulous for Facebook; WeatherBug for the iPhone; NBC’s Saturday Night Live widgets; or the Wall Street Journal’s reader for the Blackberry. Apps are commonly grouped via their method of distribution and/or platform:

* Mobile apps: Designed to leverage the unique characteristics of mobile audiences and smartphones, such as the need for location-based information or lightweight, portable versions of larger, more complex services such as Salesforce.com

* Community- or platform-based apps: Those that are developed exclusively for and can only be used on a particular site such as Facebook; and

* Widgets: Portable apps that can reside on multiple third party sites and blogs.

The App Explosion

The proliferation in the use of apps by large and small businesses, as well as non-profit and government organizations is well-documented. Apps have been developed by brands of all stripes as standalone marketing tools or to target fast-growing, communities such as Facebook (350,000 apps used by more than 70% of Facebook’s 250 million users) or the iPhone (65,000 apps available; 1 billion downloads in first 9 months).

And due to their ability to achieve low-cost global or geographically-targeted distribution; their relatively inexpensive development; and rapid time to market—as well as their virtually unlimited potential for creating unique and valuable user experiences—apps have only begin to reach their potential as a new category of marketing tool.

Let’s examine the explosion of one type of app: mobile. The transformation of the mobile web landscape is reminiscent of the original trajectory of the World Wide Web. Very quickly, the consensus shifted from “Why does my company need a Web site?” to “Why don’t we have a Web site yet?” That shift was caused by the reduced cost of developing sites, their practical and proven use in engaging customers, the increase in available bandwidth; and technological advances that helped organizations deliver more useful and relevant user experiences.

The same phenomenon is occurring today with mobile apps: A recent New York Times article reports that nearly half (48 percent) of phone users shop for apps more than once a week and about the same number (49 percent) report using apps on their phone for more than 30 minutes a day; the cost of developing mobile apps has dropped dramatically; and technological improvements are enabling more speed and a better user experience.

How do “apps” relate to Marketing’s Four Ps?

Apps can deliver some portion of the product experience; promote the brand; place themselves wherever customers are; and/or be priced to stimulate trial or engagement. But while “apps” combine elements of each of the Four Ps, they’re neither fish nor fowl--they don’t neatly fit into any one category.

In other words, apps are not products, promotions, channels or pricing strategies. But an app can have some or all of these elements. Apps are…well, they’re apps. Simply put, apps have become a box you check in your marketing plan, right next to the other Four Ps. It’s hard to imagine a new brand launch, Hollywood film, ad campaign or even a fundraising push occurring without the question being asked, “Should we develop a mobile or Facebook app for this?”

Let us know what you think: Do apps deserve their own slot in the marketing mix pantheon, right alongside the traditional Four Ps? Please join the discussion by adding your comments below.

This article was co-written with our friend Bob London, president of London, Ink, a marketing and communications consulting firm headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

• Read more about The Importance of External Downtime Resources

Back in the days when Twitter was going down early and often, the biggest complaint by users often wasn't that Twitter was down but rather that they didn't know what was happening or when it would be fixed. Thus the Twitter Status Blog was born, an externally hosted Tumblr that would be updated when they were having issues. GitHub did similarly after a recent bout of outages.

Why are such resources so important? Because ultimately it's not the fact that a service you want to use is unavailable that's a problem so much as the feeling of helplessness of something you want/need to use being unavailable with no hint as to why or when it will be back.

Case in point: today is Black Friday and Live.com is offering a 12 hour 40% cash back promotion with HP. I've been trying to get through for the past six hours with no success (the entire Live.com cashback section has been down for most of that time). This would be fine if I had any idea what the problem was, how I could ensure that I can get the cashback even with the site being down, or even a "sorry, you're out of luck." A call to Microsoft support simply directed me to an e-mail support form with no promise of resolution before the deal expires. Instead I'm a slave to my refresh button trying to get the deal during brief bouts of uptime.

So if you have a product that people depend on, make sure you have some ways to let people know what's happening without depending on your app itself. Present.ly, for instance, employs both a Twitter account that we monitor to quickly respond to any questions about service interruptions and a support site that is externally hosted and will continue to work even if Present.ly is down. It is only in the case of three independent services going down simultaneously that we will be out of luck.

Ultimately all that matters is that your customers are happy. You can keep them happy even in times of outage by making sure that they know that you're working on it, you know about it and you care about it.