The rapid pace of smartphone adoption is revolutionising the way in which businesses operate. From a technology perspective this has resulted in something of a frenzy, with most enterprise organisations in a permanent state of catch-up. New platforms have been tackled with an approach somewhat akin to a game of Whac-A-Mole, where every feature of every system is delivered on every new platform as and when it pops up; all but ignoring the significant challenge the proliferation of platforms (and devices!) poses for IT departments.
To make matters worse, customers increasingly expect an omni-channel system, where they can use all channels available to them – desktop, smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, .., – as part of a seamless experience. The current gap between these expectations and business capabilities presents a competitive opportunity for companies that can halt the technology chase and take a more strategic approach, placing an emphasis on user experience.
Colin Eberhardt and I have written a white paper outlining our thoughts and recommendations on how to achieve this both in terms of design and technology, tailored towards a business area we think it is particular pertinent: Capital Markets. The overarching theme of our argument is that technology should play a supporting role to users’ tasks and contexts. Technology is at its very best not when it wows, or amazes, but when it becomes so natural that it disappears: it just works.
If you are interested in reading more, it can be freely downloaded in PDF format.
I'm a technologist who delights in pushing at the boundaries of what is possible. As Chief Growth Officer at Scott Logic, I worry about where we and the world we operate in are heading longer term. I'm often heard talking about social value and environmental impact, or getting nerdy about data visualisation.
I am CTO at Scott Logic and am a prolific technical author, blogger and speaker on a range of technologies.
My blog includes posts on a wide range of topics, including Generative AI, WebAssembly, HTML5 / JavaScript and data visualisation. You'll also find a whole host of posts about previous technology interests including iOS, Swift, WPF and Silverlight.
I lead various open source initiatives within FINOS, which is encouraging open source collaboration in the financial sector. I'm also very active on GitHub, contributing to a number of different projects.