Author Archives: Vivian Chan
Communications is such an intrinsic function of what we do everyday in both our work and our personal lives that we often take it for granted. Underlying the conversations and campaigns we have and work on every day is tremendous potential in impact: the impact we have on others, conflicts, our lives, and ultimately, to results. To achieve impact, however, there are a number of simple principles to bear in mind that can make all the difference when communicating to an audience – regardless of the size.
1) Assume You Will Be Misunderstood
All too often, when we think of communicating to other people, we think of communications as being exactly that: communicating to rather than with other people. Our goal of communication is to get our message out. In interpersonal interactions, we are focused on telling the other person what we want to say. On a grander scale, as in marketing, the objective is to reach as many people as possible with our message. In both cases (and everything in between), it’s easy to get caught up in what we want to say, and we easily forget to consider a crucial point: the receiver, and the real goal of mutual understanding.
Miscommunication happens when an assumption is made that the person or audience we’re talking to is coming from the same perspective and understanding as we are. Usually, it’s an unconscious assumption, but it can also cause a great deal of misunderstanding and conflict. Consider that the opposite is true. Chances are, the people you’re talking to are coming from completely different places than you. They may be from another generation, culture, background, upbringing, value-system or even just mental state. Instead, what you can assume is that misunderstanding is the norm. To bridge that gap, it’s helpful to consider those differences as you communicate.
Obviously, this is less of an issue with simple messages but it really makes a difference in more complex issues — especially those that are sensitive and potentially controversial. Consider what those areas of misunderstanding may be, and let that guide your communication. For example, if it is technical knowledge your audience doesn’t have, explain it in simpler terms. If there are cultural differences, do a little research on what the differences are or explain the context of your perspective in more detail and ask questions to validate if they understand the same thing. Whatever the case, proactively anticipating misunderstanding and either simplifying or elaborating can make a big difference.
Vivian Chan | Critical Mass Toronto
On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, the tech world was abuzz. Apple had just announced their latest shiny new toy: the iPad.
For the weeks and months following, the announcement has been met with mixed reviews. In one camp, people have labeled it as just an oversized iPhone that was not quite phone, not quite computer. In another, it has been heralded as something that can be expected to revolutionize the gadget industry and way we interact with technology in ways we’ve seen Apple products do in the past. Within Critical Mass, we also had many discussions about the potential impact of Apple’s new iPad. Regardless of our discussions and each person’s opinion about the iPad, one thing was sure: There was a lot of excitement – especially at the prospect of designing some of the first iPad apps for our clients.
Rather than talk about the impact of the iPad on our industry and market (if you want a great read on the subject, see Neil Clemmon’s post here on Experience Matters), this post discusses some of the things we’ve learned about iPad app design and development through our own experience with some of our savvy clients. Through the course of our work with iPad apps, six main guiding principles have surfaced:
#1 – Realize that an iPad app does not equate to a scaled-up iPhone app.
This first principle is essential to embrace. From a logistical design and development perspective, the iPad app specs are obviously very different from an iPhone, and the effort required means the iPad design and development is essentially starting from scratch. It’s best to start with that assumption, rather than the assumption that the existing infrastructure of an iPhone app can be leveraged to shorten the iPad app production cycle. More importantly, an iPad should not be the equivalent to a scaled-up iPhone app from a philosophical perspective. Why? Read on.
#2 – Think customer usage.
The context of how, where, and when a customer will use an iPad, compared with how they would use an iPhone, a desktop or a laptop is essential to consider when designing an iPad app. This is one of the core reasons why iPad apps are not scaled-up iPhone apps. While a person may be highly mobile with their phone, using it everywhere and in spurts, they will likely be less mobile with their iPad. Similarly, they would be more mobile, casual, and spontaneous in their use of an iPad than with a desktop or laptop. So the apps designed for an iPad are ones that should suit that usage – casual, sit-down, spontaneous, but with more time for exploration and engagement than with an iPhone app. The other use case scenario that will be very powerful for iPad apps is in the realm of sales. Sales training, content, education, and product exploration. I’ll leave that with you to chew on.
#3 – Create utility.
The same principle in the creation of an iPhone app relates to the iPad app: utility. More specifically, customer utility. How will the app add value for a customer? Will it be functional, inspirational, educational, entertaining? Whatever the motivation, it needs to fill a niche in the lives of target customers to engage and encourage repeat use. We accomplish this by building an app that brings utility and value to a customer so they want to use it when they need and when they want. The key is providing an app that fills a need or generates a want.
Read more about the importance of Features, Interface and Flexibility to iPad app development.
