3 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Mobile Strategy

1) EMBRACE YOUR CORE MARKET, THEN ITERATE

When you are creating your app you need to think about the simplest set of features to meet the goal first. It’s typically called your MVP - your minimum viable product. You can have a big vision but if you don’t get the first step right you can’t take the next step. Focus on your first target user and a specific set of needs. Get it right. Then expand. If the experience seems to get heavy and confusing you probably need to stop pushing in new features. Take a breath. Decide whether you should add more or improve what you have. Also consider if you are trying to be all things for all people you may end up being too confusing for anyone.

User experience is a critical aspect of mHealth development that involves iteration, but it’s amazing how often this is overlooked or under emphasized. If you designed your app 2 years ago and it is still sitting out there it will look stale. UX and design approaches are rapidly evolving, so you have to evolve with the market. One great approach is to think about what apps are working well for your audience and be inspired by them. Likely these are not health apps but they are apps used by your target audience. Put those inspirations on your wall constantly and discuss them when you speak to your experience designers. You can always steal a little inspiration from everyone and then make it your own as you iterate your experience.

2) PLAN YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY EARLY

In healthcare, you have data and infrastructure requirements to consider that are unique to this industry. Data integration, management and protection are important factors for many mHealth apps. Are you creating or accessing Protected Health Information (PHI)? Do you need a HIPAA-Compliant data solution? Do you need to integrate with new data sources for each deployment, or merge data for analysis?

Many apps create their own custom data, but eventually want to merge this data with other sources over time. These considerations will define what infrastructure you need to support your business, then you can decide what to build vs. where you can leverage third party platforms. But the key is to have a data architecture conversation early, so the decisions you make now will give you what you need in the future.

3) ENGAGE. THEN RE-ENGAGE.

Notifications have become a communications layer that adds seamless value to a mobile experience. You want to think about segmentation early, and how you want to message those users after you got them to download your app. Most apps will not be used after one month. Bring them back with a smart campaign that hits them with an “oh yeah I should check that out again.” The more your data can be used to personalize the message the more impact you’ll have. Apple Watch is a great example of how extended notifications are evolving but for most people starting simple is the best approach.

Overall your mobile experience should be unique, and meet the goals you have set for your market. In mHealth the opportunity for impact is especially high, and if you get your experience and your infrastructure right, you can expand quickly.

–

Written by Raj Amin, CEO of OysterLabs

A storm of personal data is coming to healthcare, are you ready?

[Expanded from my Jan 14, 2014 post for ePharma Summit, where I spoke on Feb 12th, 2014.]

At CES 2014, 40 percent more floor space has been dedicated to digital health exhibitors this year than in 2013. This includes many sensor tech companies that are acquiring data that describes our digital selves. For example, LG Electronics is introducing a fitness band, Reebok is showcasing a skullcap with sensors, and startups like Lively and ZamZee are releasing solutions for the elderly and for children respectively. This quantified-self movement has been heavily funded but is really still in its infancy.

As the technology has moved toward commoditization, it will be increasingly included in devices that we already own. For example, both Apple and Samsung have included technology into their latest phones that includes advanced motion sensing technology, including a custom app by Samsung “S Health”. Apple even has a new patent on an integrated heart rate sensor (read more here). Apple’s M7 co-processor allows efficient motion detection and is now integrated with the FitBit mobile app removing the need for a special purpose device – a smart move. Why?

Because the future won’t necessarily be about winning on the device side, it will be about how you use the enormous amount of data that is being generated by people to describe themselves in new ways.

Individuals will want help managing the data, providing access to their data and using it for custom applications that align to their specific needs. This is where healthcare industry players should focus their energy. How are you planning to plug in to this ecosystem? What data will you help your customers acquire or will you ask them for access to their data as it is generated so that you can provide them a valuable service?

For pharma, I’m enthusiastic about both the creation of mobile services that utilize these new data acquisition technologies, and also about the use of this aggregate data to unlock new knowledge that aligns R&D and marketing goals. For care providers, new data sources give physicians a new view into cause and effect, and for insurers and employers there can be tremendous gains in enhancing wellness programs and aligning incentives to healthier behaviors.

On my end, I’m excited to be involved with two great businesses that are taking advantage of this opportunity today. Mana Health is a rapidly growing company that is taking as inputs these many new data points and making sense of it all to patients and care providers. OysterLabs is a mobile technology company whose AQUA platform is enabling marketers to use the data generated by mobile app users at the edge to improve audience engagement. In short, I for one am incredibly excited for this storm of data to be here and for all the opportunity it creates, and luckily I brought my umbrella.

Written by Raj Amin, CEO of OysterLabs

Keep up with Raj on his blog.