Private aviation understood from the beginning that it is not enough to incorporate digital transformation. It is also necessary to embrace it from within and take advantage of it by proposing innovative solutions. Certainly, like any industry, aeronautics comprises several processes that are already being accelerated through automation. That is, thanks to the capture, processing, analysis, and even monetization of data, in order to establish itself as a business.
Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain, and even cryptocurrencies are already present in this sector. You have probably already come across a tool based on one or more of these technologies. This is proving essential to maintain operability amidst the persistent Covid-19 issues. Therefore, part of the brief list of technology trends presented here is shared with commercial aviation, even with airport operations.
Cryptocurrency payments and instant quote systems in private aviation
Undoubtedly, we are talking about a solution that breaks paradigms in private aviation: reservations and payments through cryptocurrencies. Can you imagine paying for your private jet trip with Bitcoins or Ethereum? The U.S. company Monarch Air Group is one of the pioneers in integrating this possibility for users of its executive flights. According to executives, the demand for charter flights is expanding towards a millennial audience and people looking for safer and more reliable transportation options. So we are no longer talking only about large corporations and people with high purchasing power. So the diversification of payment options responds to the trust generated by electronic currencies. Specifically among a public that knows and manages technological advances such as blockchain.
As if that were not enough, Monarch itself made available to its passengers an online system for quoting charter flights. Through this tool, users can receive quotes in a faster and simpler way. All they have to do is choose their options based on the distance and type of aircraft required. This selection is passed on to the account executives, who will finalize the travel plan with the customers. And for all this, the user can use only his or her cell phone.
Contactless: maximum security for private and commercial aviation users
Indeed, biometric identification and self-service are already making airport check-in, baggage handling, and boarding easier. If you have recently traveled to Miami or Beijing, you may have noticed this. In the terminals of these cities, passengers already have access to an innovative airport experience. It allows them to use their face as a boarding pass and move seamlessly from cab to aircraft. The result is more efficient handling, with less queuing time, less crowding, and more social distancing. This represents a great advantage in terms of avoiding the risk of Covid-19 contagion. It eliminates the need to touch any device at the airport.
On the other hand, onboard, operators offer more and more services through Wi-Fi and 5G networks. This is to avoid contact with devices such as entertainment screens on airplanes.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for safer and more efficient air travel
Pattern detection and predictive data analysis by means of Machine Learning algorithms are involved in air navigation. Through these, it is possible to process data in real-time for the intelligent management of turbulence and changing weather patterns. This technology, combined with satellite observation data, allows the crew to make forecasts in flight. But it also enables private aviation to establish more flexible, efficient, and cost-effective flight plans.
IoT in private and commercial aviation
The Internet of Things has a relevant share in the aviation sector. Machine-to-machine and sensor-to-terminal communication is a key source of data for the industry. Among other applications, both commercial and private aviation are employing this resource in predictive maintenance of aircraft. Also, in the monitoring of mobile assets and personnel. Soon the integration of IoT capabilities with other technologies such as robotics and 3D printing will facilitate:
On the one hand, to contribute to the maintenance of aircraft in perfect operating conditions.
Optimize crew uptime.
Very soon, even produce savings in fuel consumption and lighten administrative and baggage handling.
Cloud computing and applications in private aviation
Private aviation operators and airlines manage large amounts of data in complex environments. In addition, staff in branch offices or on the move need 24/7 access to data. Only then will ground and air operations run smoothly. In this context, cloud computing is an ideal and vital tool for the airline industry. If you are an owner or manager of an executive airline, you may already know the advantages of this resource. However, it is worth remembering some of them:
Reduced operational and infrastructure costs. By using cloud services, your airline does not need to acquire and maintain expensive servers and hardware. Nor do you need physical space to host them. It only requires Internet connection and those devices necessary for data management.
Access from anywhere and with any terminal. In fact, your pilots and ground personnel can open applications and manage data using their mobile devices, wherever they are!
Scalability and pay-per-use. Typically, cloud providers offer plans according to your company’s development for access to data storage, platform, and infrastructure as services.
Continuity of productivity. In times of Covid and mobility restriction, part of the staff can telework from home.
Nuvolar’s applications fly high
For more than twelve years, Nuvolar has been developing critical applications for various business areas. In particular, for the aviation industry, with which we maintain an obvious emotional bond. Not by chance, the design and execution of apps for several airlines were part of our first challenges as a company. This allows us to combine the architecture of complex systems and the functionality of our solutions with our passion for aviation. The effectiveness of the systems we develop is appreciated by users all over the world.
Nuvolar solutions for aviation
Nuvolar’s IT solutions for private aviation are versatile. They make it possible to manage:
Operations. Specifically: boarding operations (user creation and crew and personnel boarding, aircraft creation and role assignment). Ground operations (weight and balance configuration, fuel optimization, services and permits reservation, ground control and weather forecast). Management of continuing airworthiness of executive aircraft, CAMO (maintenance events, validation of technical records, tracking of hours and cycles, among others).
Crew. Crew and personnel management. Including crew scheduling, management of FTLs, and pilot and crew qualifications.
At Nuvolar we believe working in a respectful and friendly environment is key for employees’ satisfaction and wellbeing. For this purpose, we organize many social events and activities. Some of the initiatives that we run are Carnival Contests, Christmas events, Friday Fun Day, etc. Among these initiatives, one of the most important ones is Lunch & Learn. In fact, this initiative has become one of the most important characteristics of Nuvolar Culture.
Some of you might be wondering:“what does this initiative consist of?” Well, the name is kind of self-explanatory. This event happens on Thursday at lunchtime and works like this: An employee gives a presentation to their colleagues while they are having lunch. The presentation is around 45 minutes long and there is always time for some questions. The topic of this presentation doesn’t need to be related to a work topic. It can be anything and it is at the presenter’s choice. They choose a topic they feel passionate about to share it with the Nuvofamily. To give an example of some of the topics, we have had Lunch & Learns about writing a novel, batch cooking, and the art of mixology among others. Additionally, as we are a very diverse company representing more than 20 nationalities, Lunch & Learns are also a great opportunity to give a virtual tour of all the amazing countries that the Nuvofamily represents.
The reason why we say that Lunch & Learn is one of the most important characteristics of the Nuvolar Culture is because Lunch & Learn personifies Nuvolar’s values. At Nuvolar, knowledge sharing and team bonding is something that we value a lot. As mentioned above, we put a lot of effort into maintaining our culture by carrying a lot of initiatives. This has definitely been challenging as we have needed to change from in-person to online activities. This being said, Lunch & Learn is a fun and interesting way to improve our communications skills as well as to share knowledge among peers. It is also a good way to get to know other people’s interests and find things in common between colleagues.
We have been running these Lunch & Learns for many years and people really enjoy it. Before the pandemic, this initiative was run in the office. We always try to turn the camera on so that the human component doesn’t disappear. The good thing about running them online is that we currently run them more often (three times per month). As many people have joined recently and others want to do more than one presentation, the Lunch & Learn calendar was starting to get busier and busier. This is also one of the reasons why we run these presentations more frequently.
To facilitate the preparation, the company gives 4h working time (an afternoon) to dedicate to the preparation of the presentation. Once the employee has done a Lunch & Learn, she/he is able to enjoy that Thursday afternoon off or the following Friday off. All Lunch & Learn are voted on the same day of the presentation. At the end of the year, the best-rated presenter wins the “Lunch & Learn of the Year” title and receives a prize. These factors are a way to encourage and motivate all employees to participate in this initiative without any pressure.
Nowadays, everything seems to indicate that symbiosis between strategy and technology will be consolidated sooner. In line with this statement, a recent survey by one of the most prestigious consulting firms reveals a striking trend: 40% of the CEOs surveyed believe that, from now on, it will be the CIO or chief technology officer who will drive business strategy. It is a fact that the closer the relationship between technology and business strategy, the greater the coherence and communication between the two must be.
A few years ago, expectations about the increasing migration of business processes and relationships towards digitization were of little concern to CEOs. However, many of them did not make sufficient provision — and along came the Covid 19 pandemic! Suddenly, mobility restrictions to curb contagions changed everything. Among other consequences, many companies start to implement telecommuting to remain operational. E-commerce reached unprecedented levels of transactions. And as if they weren’t already important enough, data on customer behavior and their expectations of brands became increasingly relevant.
How is your company coping with this change? Do you know which technological trends are determining the future of business? Pay attention to the following lines, and you will have some clues!
Tomorrow’s organizations in the cloud
Before the pandemic, many companies were reluctant to migrate data and processes to cloud computing. Doubts about its security and even refusal to pay a subscription were excuses to discard this option. When Covid 19 arrived, there was no time for regret. Companies that did not move into the cloud obtained lower productivity from their workers. But they also lost profitability and competitiveness. They even had to invest time to adapt to the cloud model a posteriori.
As we said earlier, the priority of digitization became a fundamental factor. During the current situation, access to applications was and is in great demand. Therefore, the same goes for access to the cloud. At Nuvolar, we have been very clear about this. For this reason, we constantly strive to develop intuitive and usable environments that provide customers and company employees with an exceptional user experience. At the same time, we take care to thoroughly understand the needs of the companies that entrust us with their projects. One example is our solutions based on Salesforce CRM, focused on boosting productivity.
In short, migrating to the cloud through software and applications, infrastructure, and platform as a service PAAS will be indispensable for tomorrow’s organizations.
AI + IoT in tomorrow’s organizations
Today, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are already complementary technologies to each other. Practitioners call this merger in progress AIoT. Machine-to-machine and sensor-to-terminal communication generate vast amounts of data. Therefore, the need to process and analyze this volume of information in real-time is obvious. Accordingly, the incorporation of AI facilitates the rapid decanting of the relevant data, and insights are crucial for decision making.
Seen in this way, the IoT would be like a nervous system that captures stimuli (data) and sends them to the brain. In this case, the AI that processes them “understands” them and puts them into perspective to generate reactions (decisions). But there is more! Soon, AIoT will allow the system to make autonomous decisions on issues ranging from routine to safety. The monitoring and the updating information supplied to the sensors and the search for correspondences enable the system to react.
In this sense, by implementing AIoT, companies’ systems will analyze eventualities and detect irregularities immediately. Better still, they will be able to foresee and deal with cyber-attacks automatically. In this way, with better approaches and quick and accurate decisions. As a result, companies will experience faster growth because the cost of the processes will reduce their costs.
In essence, the total experience is a developing trend that results from the combination of all those generated by organizations. That is customer experience, user experience, employee experience, and multi-experience. This merge aims to transform the company’s results, to improve the overall experience, precisely where all the transversal elements are connected.
By establishing a strong link between all these experiences and not improving them separately, we gain a competitive advantage, which means that we create an experience that is difficult to replicate and, at the same time, a sustainable experience. Such an option makes it easier for companies to get more out of remote work, virtuality, mobility, and distributed customers.
A practical example
To explain it better, imagine you own a high-end electric car workshop. And you would like to offer a satisfying experience to your customers, adding more security on the occasion of the pandemic. Then, you can create a solution whereby users can make an appointment. Through this application, you will have the opportunity to send them a notification when they arrive at the workshop. It is feasible to explain the registration procedure and tell them when they can safely enter the establishment, keeping the social distance.
Similarly, mechanics could use digital devices and applications to diagnose cars, minimizing physical contact. If we consider that manufacturers such as Tesla already use IoT to monitor the maintenance needs of their vehicles, this possibility is not far off. Undoubtedly, for customers and operators, it would result in an initiative that would enrich their experience with the brand.
5G, a must-have for tomorrow’s organizations
Of course, the integration of cloud computing, AIoT, and total enterprise experience will require 5G. At this point, the fifth-generation connection will guarantee the performance of the technologies mentioned above and trends. Because of its minimum latency and a maximum speed of 20 Gbps, 5G offers massive network capacity. In the case of IoT and AI, this impacts the ability to capture and process data in real-time for decision-making. This connected technology is already expanding globally and will be vital for tomorrow’s organizations.
At Nuvolar, we help digitize the businesses of the future.
Throughout this brief list of trends and technologies that will determine the performance of the companies of the future, the fundamental role of applications is clear. At Nuvolar, we are aware of the advances focused on improving the experience of all the actors in the production process with the brands. For this reason, in every project we take on, we like to go one step beyond expectations.
For this, we have a multidisciplinary team of creative and updated professionals who can understand your business model to perfection. Our experts are able to create the technological solutions your company needs to be more efficient and profitable. We are specialists in web development, applying UX/UI design. Our service is integral and includes consulting and support, get to know us, and you will understand why we can be the best partner in the digitalization of your company!
How the evolution of technology has helped connect the world
Connecting the world in a fast and effective way has been a key concern of visionary people for a long time. Remote and immediate communication between people took its first steps with the telegraph and telephone in the 19th century. However, it would be during the 20th century when the telecommunications phenomenon would advance with great speed. Leaving in its wake current inventions such as radio, television, mobile telephony… and the Internet.
Recently, the video calls we enjoy today were a figment of writers and screenwriters of science fiction movies and comics imagination. Nowadays social networks and streaming are part of an evolving reality. Join us on this brief historical tour of human communication!
The telegraph, faster than the mail to connect the world
In reality, the telegraph did not have a single inventor. In parallel, two groups of scientists worked on both sides of the Atlantic on similar developments during the 1830s. On the one hand, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England. Very soon, their first equipment began to be used in British railway signaling.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Samuel Morse was taking the first steps to create his version of the telegraph. Together with Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale, he produced a system that completed the electrical circuit each time the operator pressed the dial key. This produced an electrical signal that traveled along a wire to a receiving device at the other end.
A revolutionary code
Morse and Vail perfected a code to identify the letters of the alphabet and numbers. For this purpose, they assigned to each letter and number a set of dots and dashes (short and long marks with the key). This is what is now historically known as Morse Code.
On May 24, 1844, Morse sent the first official message using this telegraph system. He was in Washington D.C. and Vail, the receiver, in Baltimore, Maryland. Later, the invention would be enriched by the contributions of Ezra Cornell and Thomas Alva Edison.
By 1861, the Western Union Telegraphy Company, owned by Cornell, became the first nationwide telegraph company. Undoubtedly, the telegraph allowed faster transmission of messages over distance, surpassing the mail that traveled by railroad and horse-drawn stagecoaches. This changed the operability of sectors such as the military and journalism. It also influenced the economy, as it allowed the first long-distance money transfers. In short, it was a breakthrough in connecting the world.
The telephone, a technology that has been evolving for 170 years to connect the world
32 years after Morse’s first telegraph message, two inventors were vying for the creation of another revolutionary communication system. Within hours of each other, Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, in that order, patented their telephones. However, Bell ended up winning a legal dispute over the originality of the invention. For this reason, we believed for a long time that the Scottish scientist, who emigrated to the U.S., was its legitimate author.
But surprisingly the truth is that the first pair of telephones were created by the Italian inventor living in New York, Antonio Meucci in 1854. Unlike Bell, the Italian had no money to patent the prodigy.This is so true, that the U.S. Congress itself would end up recognizing Meucci’s merit in 2002.
Radio, another way to connect the world
Even in the full consolidation of the telegraph and telephone, several scientists wanted to go further. That is, to transmit messages between distant points without using wires. As early as 1865, the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell published his Theory of the Electromagnetic Field. In it he determined that electric and magnetic fields travel through space at a speed similar to that of light.
Based on this principle, the German scientist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz would discover, twenty years later, the way to produce and capture these electromagnetic waves. He also demonstrated with experiments the travel of these waves through the air, ratifying Maxwell’s theory. In his honor, the unit of frequency in telecommunications was named Hertz or hertz (Hz).
The beginnings of radio
All of the above discoveries prompted the first experiments in wireless telegraphy,which are the forerunner of the radio. An invention attributed to several creators. Starting with the Italian Guglielmo Marconi, who in 1895 developed a transmitter inspired by Hertz’s experiments, with which he managed to transmit signals to a receiver located two kilometers away. Even so, the prodigy did not attract the attention of the Italian government, so Marconi left for England. There he founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company.
In 1899, Marconi demonstrated his devices by achieving a 48 km transmission between Dover (UK) and Boulounge (France). Two years later, he was able to transmit a signal 3,400 km across the Atlantic Ocean. He would later establish the first commercial transatlantic wireless telegraph service between Ireland and Canada. The Italian scientist managed to enter the U.S. market, although he was not recognized there as the creator of the invention.
Is the invention Tesla’s?
On the other hand, many specialists claim that Nicola Tesla invented a wireless message transmission system in 1895. And therefore Marconi went ahead, patenting it and using it in his 1899 experiments. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually recognized Tesla as the rightful creator of the invention in 1943.
All these advances laid the foundations for today’s radio communication, which is vital in military, public and private security operations. But also for emergency services. As well as for various productive sectors such as aviation, mining and construction, among many others. Obviously, they also influenced broadcasting as a means of information and entertainment to connect the world.
Television, the transmission of image and sound to connect the world
Television is also an invention with a long history. The first technologies aimed at transmitting images and reproducing them on a remote receiver emerged in the late 19th century.
John Logie Baird in the United Kingdom developed a television system that could transmit images over short distances, which he tested in 1926. A year later he was able to transmit them over a telephone line between London and Glasgow. And in 1928, he succeeded in transmitting television signals from London to New York.
The first transmissions
Using the system perfected by Baird, the BBC in London began its first official television transmissions on September 30, 1929. And on December 31, 1930, it would make the first simultaneous broadcast of image and sound. This was a milestone for the recently launched invention. Also in 1930, in the United States, the legendary CBS and NBC networks would do the same with the systems developed in the country.
This was followed by continuous improvements in the resolution of transmissions, color and many other advances in broadcasting and receivers. In this way, television became one of the most influential information and entertainment media in the following decades.
Unlimited innovation to connect the world
In the last 50 years, technological evolution has been unstoppable. Thanks to the development of microprocessors in the early 1970s, personal computers began to become popular. Computing was no longer the exclusive preserve of large companies, government agencies or scientific institutes. We could find them in homes and offices, making them more accessible to many more users. As if that were not enough, the next big thing would change the way the world was connected in the following decade; mobile telephony burst onto the scene commercially in the early 1980s and would evolve at breakneck speed as well.
Mobile telephony
To mention all the milestones in the evolution of this invention would take much more time. However, it is impossible to ignore the breakthrough that mobile telephony meant in its function to connect the world. As a precedent, there is the historic call of April 3, 1973, made by Martin Cooper, a Motorola executive, from a New York street. Using the DynaTAC 8000X, the first cell phone in history, he communicated with Joel Engel of Bell Laboratories, his competitor… Motorola beat the veteran Bell in this challenge.
But the device would not go on sale until 1983. To tell the truth, it was not at all practical in today’s perspective. It looked like a brick at 33 x 4.4 x 8.9 cm and weighed one kilogram. In the same year, Ameritech Mobile Communications, the first U.S. company to provide cell phone service to the public, began operations.
With the development of the GSM 2G standard in the early 1990s, mobile telephony would advance unstoppably in capacity and functionality.
WWW, the democratization of the Internet to connect the world
In the early 1990s, the launch of the World Wide Web project began to facilitate public access to the Internet. Previously, the use of the Internet as a form of communication between networked computers was reserved for military, educational and scientific institutions. The WWW was created in 1989 by British physicist Tim Berners-Lee at the European Particle Physics Laboratory, CERN.
In addition, Berners-Lee developed a first search engine in order to facilitate access to the WWW from personal computers. The latter program was replaced in 1993 by Mosaic, created at the University of Illinois. But the emergence of search engines contributed decisively to the popularization of the Internet.
Similarly, with the creation of web pages, many companies began to have a presence on the network. As a result, the Internet was becoming attractive as a marketing channel. E-mail also became a tool for communication between people and organizations.
Today, the conventional media are turning to the Internet in order to offer an added value to their users. Newspapers have web portals, TV stations and broadcasters share content on networks such as YouTube and podcast platforms. On the other hand, there are paid digital native media that offer a variety of content. Among them are streaming platforms such as Netflix.
Ecommerce changes the way we shop
As the design of web pages began to be enriched with multimedia content, the initiative to sell online emerged. Companies that practiced traditional sales through printed catalogs or telesales programs on television would find a strong competitor in ecommerce. In 1995, two iconic online commerce platforms appeared: eBay and Amazon. A couple of years later, the technology company Dell surpassed one million dollars in online sales. Online payment platforms such as PayPal would soon appear as an alternative to credit cards.
Social networks, another way to connect the world
At first, social networks served as a space for old friends to meet up. Nowadays, social networks are the space for interaction par excellence between acquaintances and strangers. Through them, we share content in various formats, we learn about details that go beyond the news on news portals. We even share professional interests, look for jobs… and even shop. By now, more than half of the world’s population is a user of social networks!
Among the first platforms were Sixdegrees (1997), Friendster (2002), Myspace and the current professional network LinkedIn (2003). Shortly after, Facebook (2004), the current leader in number of users, YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006) and Whatsapp (2009) emerged. Although Whatsapp is still considered a messaging platform, it is one of the most versatile and widely used social interaction channels. The list continues with: Instagram and Pinterest (2010), Google+ (Google’s failed experiment, in 2011) and TikTok (2016). And these are just the most popular!
Mobile networks and devices
From the very basics, mobile networks evolved to connect the world from portable devices. The early 1G, based on a frequency modulated (FM) transmission system, was slow and unstable. On the other hand, the 2G successor was associated with the new GSM standard and SIM cards, where personal and device information was recorded. It was faster and allowed sending and receiving from SMS to sending emails.
Shortly thereafter, the advance and popularity of the Internet called for an upgrade to 2G. An “intermediate generation”, 2.5G, solved part of the problem in 2001. With it, the Internet reached cell phones with most of its possibilities. As a result, the speed improved. Almost immediately, the third generation of 3G and its intermediates arrived, making the unimaginable possible. In particular, it became possible to watch and record videos, hold video conferences and even take photos with good resolution. In the midst of their leadership, touchscreen smartphones emerged, bringing significant physical and functional changes. And we say leadership, because it is still in force, despite the emergence of 4G in 2009. With the fourth generation, connectivity and devices enabled file upload and download speeds of up to 150 Mbps — ten times faster than 3G!
5G is already a reality. At least in Spain, the first networks were established in 2019. Above and beyond the high speeds offered by this connectivity technology, there is the possibility of making greater use of advances such as the Internet of Things IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.
Mobile apps
The first mobile apps would come embedded in our devices during the 1990s. In themselves, they made up the functionalities of many phones: agenda, calendar, games, etc. In 2000, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology already allowed access to small versions of web pages. As well as sending and receiving emails and reading news.
But the big breakthrough for mobile applications came with the introduction of Apple’s first iPhone in 2007. With the capacity of this device it was possible to download the applications that the user required for work, entertainment or shopping. As a result, the Apple company opened its virtual app store, AppStore, the following year. In 2008, Google responded with the launch of its HTC Dream, or GMobile, with its Android operating system. And it would immediately open its app store, today known as PlayStore.
Connecting the world is part of our mission at Nuvolar.
Throughout this brief summary, you have seen how the technologies described above have impacted the way we connect the world. Reaching today’s communication systems with their enormous potential is the product of a relentless pursuit to achieve an increasingly effective interaction between people. This continuous change of standards makes users’ expectations and demands evolve as well.
This is the main reason why at at Nuvolar we insist on providing user experiences that exceed the expectations of those who browse the websites, environments and applications we design. For us, UX and UI are essential and we apply them thoroughly in every project we take on.
We love what we do and it shows in the results of our work! Would you like to know how we can improve your company’s online presence? Contact us!
How to create great digital experiences for users?
Creating remarkable digital experiences that engage and build customer loyalty should be one of the main concerns of companies. Beyond creating attractive marketing strategies -which are necessary- we must think hard about the customer. Today’s digital and demanding consumer seeks to establish a relationship with brands goes beyond the simple purchase of products. They have expectations of brands because they want to feel recognized and understood. When a brand does not achieve these objectives, the consumer abandons it and looks for another brand that provides what they are looking for.
This is the big mistake that many organizations continue to make; they focus only on their products and aggressive marketing strategies to capture consumers’ attention. They do not see the Internet and new digital tools to create customer and user experiences. They only use them to insist on old marketing strategies.
On the other hand, some brands that create the experiences that the customer wants. These firms show concern for knowing their consumers better and trying to meet their needs and expectations; user experience (UX) becomes a primary goal.
Disruption is about creating great digital experiences.
If you are reading this post, you want to know what elements you should consider creating great digital experiences in each of your brand’s channels. But first, you must understand that the “big secret” is not in the number of channels and technological tools you have. It’s how you make them available to the customer to satisfy their needs and meet their expectations. Think about these current examples:
Amazon is not ending the big retail chains. But poor service and customer experience from online retailers could.
Netflix didn’t wipe out Blockbuster. The video game and movie rental franchise failed to adapt to new demand models.
Apple Music did not dethrone the music industry. The major record companies did not bother to innovate in marketing.
With these examples, you can see that the real disruption is not only in the technology but in how you use it and what values you add to your channels to achieve a satisfactory user experience.
Essential elements to deliver great digital experiences
In short, a digital experience is an interaction between a user and an organization through an online medium. For this reason, the elements to take into account to create great digital experiences include aspects such as user experience (UX) and customer experience (CE). Two different concepts but related to each other.
First, UX focuses on the interaction of people with specific digital products or services. Those are websites, apps, or a particular program. The main concern of UX design is usability and the overall look and feel of the channels. At the same time, CX encompasses the customer’s perception of various aspects of their relationship with brands. Among them, we can find marketing, attention, quality of products and services, or the sales process. Of course, it also includes interaction with digital channels. So the UX is part of the CX.
Having said this, let’s review the essential aspects you should consider to deliver great digital experiences to your customers:
Know your customers and their journey
To provide unique and rewarding experiences to your customers, you need to know them well. You also need to understand their journey from the moment they recognize a need until they buy your product.
Initially, the generic description of the target audience, typical of traditional marketing, does not offer a complete view of your consumer. In this case, it is convenient to precisely define your ideal buyer persona. This outline of the customer profile goes beyond socioeconomic data, gender, and age. So it delves into people’s thoughts and actions about their needs/concerns and how they solve them. All this, in line with their status, academic level, work sector, and position in the company, among other variables. For these reasons, you may likely have one or more buyer personas.
At the same time, you must understand the buyer journey of your buyer persona from the moment he/she recognizes a specific need or desire until he/she buys a product. This “journey” includes researching products or options, choosing a supplier, and making a purchase. To this, we must add your brand’s strategy to build customer loyalty. Either through email marketing, personalized offers, good after-sales support, etc. The quality of this interaction and customer/brand experience would motivate the customer to become a brand evangelist.
Loading speed and usability to ensure great digital experiences
Likewise, page load speed and usability — essential elements in UX — also determine the success of the digital experience. Often, when profiling your buyer persona and determining their buyer journey, you will see that they are digital customers. This implies that they research their needs on the Internet and make online purchases using mobile devices or computers. And unless they need to have contact with a physical channel (store, office), their journey could be entirely digital.
In this context, you should be aware of the loading speed of your website, e-commerce portal, or apps. According to many studies, if a page takes three seconds to open, the probability of abandonment increases by 32%. But if it takes up to five seconds, this probability increases by 90%. At this point, we must emphasize the importance of optimizing your website or applications for mobile devices (mobile-first). Since the vast majority of users make purchases and online queries through these tools.
At the same time, the usability of the web or app is a crucial element to avoid obstacles in the customer’s journey. By usability, we mean the ease with which a website, app, or IT solution can be understood and used by the user. From there, it should be easy to learn how to use it and take full advantage of its functionalities. In other words, the usability of your website or app depends on how intuitive and easy to use it is for the user.
More about web usability
As web developers, this concept is fundamental and is a big part of our raison d’être at Nuvolar. The different developments and projects that we create are designed under very strict usability criteria. When we design these channels, we think about our clients and -particularly- about our clients’ users, who will finally interact with the solution. Accordingly, we carry out a rigorous analysis of these products and incorporate constant improvements. The idea is that the user can easily find the information or products he/she is looking for, buy, do all the procedures required, or be served on the platform without difficulties or cracks in the process!
Provide an omnichannel experience
As we said before, our current customers are primarily digital. For this reason, it is not surprising that, instead of consulting the Google search engine, they may use a social network. We insist that if you know your buyer persona and their purchase paths well, you know the social networks they frequent. Through them, they learn about products, promotions, and other brand communications. Do you want to provide great digital experiences to your customers? Allow them to interact with your brand on their favorite channels. If necessary, make the buying process easier for them to use through these platforms and extend the support service.
Above all, listen and consider the opinions, suggestions, and expectations that users express on social networks. Remember that the best way to monitor interactions is through a CRM (customer relationship management) solution.
Convenient payment platforms
In reality, the customer journey does not end with the sale. However, it is a crucial moment in the process and the digital experience. The customer may be very enthusiastic about your products and their prices. However, when the payment methods they use are not available, they give up their intention to buy. This can’t happen! By knowing your customer well, you will know which payment methods he usually uses. Therefore, you must offer him all the options that suit him, such as credit card, payment gateways, etc.
Nuvolar helps you build great digital experiences.
Building great digital experiences is part of our work at Nuvolar. Web development is in the DNA of our professionals. That’s why we think about our clients and our clients’ users. Consequently, we intensively apply UX and UI design to our projects.
At Nuvolar, we are experts in customizing one of the best CRMs on the market for your company. Of course, we are talking about Salesforce; we have been working with this platform for twelve years, and we are certified, partners. In this way, you will be able to apply the improvements in products and services that the customer expects, customize offers, and much more. Contact us, and we will provide you with personalized service to your needs with the best-specialized advice.
You may think that an onboarding process is about signing paperwork, receiving company merchandising, setting up your accounts, and a few other little things. At Nuvolar, we look at it through a very different lens.
We believe that the process of onboarding is one of the most important periods in the life cycle of an employee, so it is just as important for us as a company. Changing companies — leaving a job, moving out of your comfort zone, and facing a new challenge — can be very exciting, but also scary, and you might wonder whether it is the right move. This decision is definitely not always an easy one to make.
Because of all this, we take the onboarding process very seriously. For us, it starts way before a new colleague’s first day.
From the moment a candidate makes the decision to join the company, we are in constant contact. We stay available to answer any questions or doubts, going into any little details that might be important to them. To us, explaining what the first days and weeks will look like is only the bare minimum.
Providing a clear agenda, prepared by the new colleague’s team, is a must, as is stating clear expectations on what meetings can be expected and what they will look like (how long they will be, what topics will be discussed, who will be in charge of inviting the new colleague…). Additionally, we assign an Angel, an unofficial mentor who meets the new colleague during their first day and helps them with little things during the onboarding process.
Finally, the most expected day comes the first day of work. To make sure that everyone knows in advance about their new colleague and can learn a bit about them, we send out a personal introduction with some interesting facts. On their first day, apart from all the welcome meetings, many people send a welcome message on Slack, creating a warm welcome that makes it clear to the new colleagues that they are a part of the family from the very start.
The first day is packed with informal meetings with the different teams across the company and a meeting with the Angel, who gives the newcomer some much-needed guidance on their first day, including first-hand tips and information about daily life at Nuvolar. There is also time to do some of the necessary paperwork and start browsing through the tools that we use on a day-to-day basis; meanwhile, we are always available to answer any questions and clarify any doubts that the new colleague might have at any moment.
We always say “ask as many questions as you need, even if there are hundreds and hundreds of them” — and we mean it. All of us were in your position at one point and we know how it feels, so we strive to make the onboarding process as smooth and pleasant as possible so you can enjoy the journey with us from day one.
The first day, full of emotions, introductions, stories, and information, ends with a closure meeting where we recap, touch base on how the new colleague feels, see if we can help in any way, and answer any pending questions.
On the second day, the focus is on learning what the different teams do; the projects and activities that they carry out within the company. It is our way to provide the new team member with a nice overview of the business we are running. As an individual, you may be working on a particular project, but what we find crucial is that you understand what other teams are doing and what the overall scope of the company’s business is. Why? Because even if different teams are working on different projects, we are always pulling the same rope together as one big team, a family. Besides, knowing about other teams opens doors for your personal growth and development.
From that moment onwards, the new colleague is fully involved in all team meetings, daily stand-ups, retros, etc., and has periodic one-to-one sessions with their lead.
During the next few days, someone from the HR team periodically messages the new starter to make sure that everything is going smoothly and to help with anything that might be needed. As onboarding is really important to us and improving its quality is an ongoing process, we are always looking for feedback. For this reason, we have set up a 2-week survey that we ask all new colleagues to fill out. It contains questions not only on the onboarding process itself but also on the recruitment process, as we try to evaluate the new colleague’s experience from the very beginning.
To finalize the process, we run meetings on the 30 and 90-day marks, where we ask a set of questions focusing on team spirit, new hire experience, expectations vs. reality, company culture, and other topics, to get the point of view of a new colleague.
On top of the above process, we hold what we call “mini donut sessions”, where we spend some time chit-chatting with different colleagues across the company with the purpose of getting to know each other. We also organize social activities such as games or chitchat after work, Friday fun day, etc., which are run online at the moment.
Overall, the onboarding process is something that we are continuously reviewing and reworking in an effort to make it as efficient and enjoyable as possible for our new colleagues. Based on past feedback, it seems we are doing a pretty good job: “One of the best onboardings I have been through.”
