Future of fitness solutions, using senseables, not wearables

On fastcompany I found an interesting article about wearables and what they termed senseables, where our environment will adapt to personalize what we do with sensors.  One example was that as you go into the gym, the sensors will know who YOU are, and when you step on the treadmill it will know what your goals are, and what you have done before, and set the appropriate levels, perhaps taking into account your emotions.  Then, once you get done working out, your phone gets a menu of meals that will help you achieve your goals, taking into account the number of calories you had burned.

So I was pondering this, and I realized that we have the technology to build this now, but there are problems that this article had not discussed, that would come up when designing this solution.

The most challenging problem is about the menu, for two reasons:

1. People do not make meals for themselves, but for a family, so the goals of each person and their exercise level should go into the menu.
2. Many people have different dietary restrictions, such as paleo, food allergies, celiac disease as some examples.

So having one website that can come up with the menu will be a problem, so people should be able to pick from different sites, based on goals and dietary constraints.  But, if one person is paleo, another has food allergies, and you want to minimize shopping near the family, where should the menu be created?

This leads to some issues with privacy, as, would it make sense to require a user to have accounts on each food site, and then send their goals and calories? 

I believe the answer to this is No.  The phone, or one single server that is used with the mobile application should hold this sensitive information.

This leads to where the data should reside.  Though we don't tend to do it, with Androids, with iOS there is more infrastructure to allow people to have their Mac hold information, and the mobile devices share with that computer, which would be a better place to have this information.

The gym should have information about each person, so the workout can be customized based on goals and what has been done that day, and since the various electrical cardio machines are tied into the network at the gym then the personalization can go down to some of the equipment based on who the person is. 

In order for this to work we need to work more on having a larger collection of mobile websites and webservices that can be used by different applications, but, the current model for paying for applications won't work with this model, as that is you buy one application that works with their website.

How to market professional on mobile devices, or, should photographers and lawyers have apps to set themselves apart

Marketing your company on the web is similar to how marketing has been done for a long time, where you create newspaper ads, so now we have websites for each company.  You go to Google, type in a profession, and it can show you a map of where those offices are in your area, so you can decide which one to go to.

That may not be ideal, then we get to mobile devices, and now Google knows where you are, and can show you where you are and how far away the offices are from you, and if we have some Yelp/Google integration you may see ratings by each office, to give an idea where you may want to go.

Now these offices want to develop mobile applications so people can find them quickly.  So, I decide I want to get Christmas pictures early, so my family goes to a photography studio as we have an appointment, but, 10 other families had the same idea, and we don't want to wait 2 hours to be seen.  So, time to find a photographer.  I open up my apps, and for some reason I had downloaded a photographers app, so I just bring it up, and we head over to get our picture.

OK, that is silly, why would I have downloaded an app for someone close to my location?  Do I really need to have these personalized apps on my phone?  What benefit is there generally?  How often do I get my picture taken?

The issue is more difficult for lawyers.  I expect I will need  photographer a great deal more than a lawyer, so why do lawyers think we will have their apps on our phones?

This is the disconnect between how marketing used to be, and the fact that we are now in a brave new world, and these marketers seem to be clueless about how to handle the change.  So, this article is to help these clueless types navigate uncharted waters.  :)

So, Coca-Cola decides to make reinforce their brand on a native app.  So, they create a game with the Coke bears, and these bears have to navigate tough challenges, perhaps scale cliffs, ski down steep cliffs, and fight opponents.  They get beaten up, tired, and, as they get to the end, having defeated the final challenge on that level, the player gets to the treasure.  Based on how fast they went, how well they did on their challenges, their points are added up, and the player is happy, as that was the goal. But, while the points are being tabulated and displayed, you see the bear open a soda, drink it, and he stands taller, as he has more energy, and his injuries are healed, and the player heads to the next level.

Now, this same player is out biking, running and he starts to run low on energy.  What drink will he ask for to get refreshed?  A Coke, obviously, as he has been conditioned to see that it rejuvenated the bear, so he expects to get the same experience.  He should be able to drink the soda, and then go out to play hard again.

The ad would be effective as it is conditioning impressionable minds to a Pavlovian response, and it costs a great deal less than running ads on the television, and in the process you charge a dollar per download, and make a profit off of the ad campaign.

So, we are back to lawyers and photographers.  Not everything is going to work as a game, but perhaps we can find another approach.  You start with basic questions, such as, what is the end goal for the photographer.  Why do they want an app, what are they looking for?

Now, if the photographer wants to have his work admired, and is looking for work doing weddings and perhaps specializing in outdoor scenes, then why not put together an app that would allow several photographers to share some of their photography secrets, and let you use them.  So, for example, one may state that when it is really sunny outside, he takes the photograph and then uses a program to reduce the glare, so, now while you are on his tab, you have filters so you can do the same processing while you are taking a picture.  You look through the camera and the colors are less bright due to this.

Or, another one talks about the importance of removing haze from pictures, and he provides a filter that will automatically remove the haze before the photo is taken.

If you have enough participating photographers you may be able to have a database with these filters, and get filters for those in your area. So, when you travel, you may see new photographers, which could be interesting, as what works well when you are at home in Tampa FL, may not work as well in Denver CO.  New area, new experiences.

Along the way you have seen some examples of before and after photos from these people, and if you need a photographer, you may call them.  The reason for the app on your phone is to help you learn to take better photos, but the end result is that you are being exposed to photographers that you may never have heard of.

Mobiles app marketing requires creativity, ask yourself why someone will have this on their phone.  Is there some reason beyond vanity of the company?  What benefit is the user getting out of the application?

To explore this idea I wrote a photography app in Xamarin, so I could have an iOS and Android version, and the Android version is up on the Play store as a alpha version application.  All it does is explore if you have a list of photographers in sections, and then can see their pictures.  The idea is that you could have a website of photographers, where people can vote for which ones they like, and the top 20 will be packaged up in a new application, so you can download that and smaller versions of their pictures.  Or, you may download those that got the most votes and are closest to you.

But, what problem does this solve?  Is there some way to do this without having to create a website for the voting?  If these are nature pictures, would people like it if they are puzzles, or a game so the idea is to look at a 3D version of a scene and decide what is the best camera angle to take the picture, and then see what the photographer chose, and why, to help you take better pictures.

Some marketing campaigns can easily be turned into something fun, or something that has more uses than just marketing, and others require a great deal of creativity, and a better understanding of the goal of the client to decide why someone will want that app on their phone.

Mobile app thoughts on a pet company, such as PetSafe

There is a local company, PetSafe, http://www.petsafe.net/blog/, that has a dog park across from the office in town.  So I was thinking about how mobile applications or taking advantage of changes from mobile devices.

Web pages led to companies changing their business approach, and what worked before is not as effective now, so I will write several blog articles, I expect, to help different industries think about changes.

So PetSafe has a blog to help connect with their customers, but imagine if they had customers send in photos of their pets with some of the equipment from PetSafe, and if you strip out the geocoded information, write a dynamic wallpaper that gets images from near your location, so if you take your dog on a trip, you can see pictures of how people are using this equipment there.

On the website, or use the mobile application to allow people to vote on uploaded images and those that get the most votes are selected to be part of the next update.  Perhaps have 10-20 images, and the updating can be automated as people upload images and other people are voting on them.  Some people may want to download a zip file with the next image set, but since they are unzipped outside the application, people can copy those images and they may be found in other applications.  If losing control of the images is acceptable then it would be simpler to just download the new set.

Another application would be a dog park finder that works well, and again, let people take pictures of the dog park and strip the geolocation information, but store it in a database, so people can look for close dog parks, and see pictures of that park to decide if it is a good park for their beloved pet.  If there are enough pictures then perhaps show those that were taken in the approximate time of day and time of year, to give people more information, so that would mean that the application should be able to take the photos and upload them.

But, there are other applications that would perhaps help open up new opportunities for this company.  Next I will just describe three applications.

The first is to help people see how they can use the products sold to help pet owners improve their pet's lives.  So, allow people to take give an approximate sketch of their home, and what type of pets they have, and then they can start to place different products and see how it may work. So, put a doggie door going out back, for example, and then have the application simulate temperatures to see how it may affect their air conditioning.  This idea would require prototyping to see how to make it useful to people.  One idea would be to allow people in similar environments to share their photos and experience, with hopefully similar breeds.  But, you may also want to target potential pet owners.  Why not work with SPCA organizations in the local community so they can display pictures of some pets for adoption that may be well-suited for the prospective pet owner, based on type of home, number and age of children.

It is important not to share more than is necessary with the webserver that will determine which pets to show, so try to keep it at a minimum, and if possible, it may be better to just send course location and basic data is returned so the application can prune out based on information from the user, so the number of children and ages are never sent out from the phone.

The next idea is similar but allow the user to sketch out their yard, and help them to see how to make a child/pet fun place.  This will go beyond what PetSafe sells, but it opens up new opportunities to form partnerships with non-competing businesses, and can help bring out possibly new product opportunities that are missing.  So, for example, build a platform to hold swings and a slide, but what if there is a ramp so dogs can run up and down, chasing after children.  Then the dog may decide to go down the slide, or have a way to chase the child that does go down.

The last idea is to look at the wearable space.  If there is a device you can click to a collar that transmits a signal that is picked up by a mobile application then when your dog escapes you can more easily follow it.  This may require a new collar to help hold some of the circuitry.  The trick is how do you get it to turn on?  For example, if there is a device in the garage and it activates the collar as the dog goes by that may help.  Wearables have great opportunities but it requires a new way of thinking, so it may be better, initially, to form partnerships, and do a great deal of prototyping.

Smartphones and amusement parks

I was thinking about a question asked on a group on LinkedIn and I thought I would go into some detail here.

The question was about designing a new amusement park rides, or modifying current rides.  Well, for me, modifying would be boring, so that was quickly discarded, but new rides have some possibilities, especially if you start with the assumption that everyone has a smartphone, and that could be used in an amusement park.


For example, to help move up faster in line, perhaps have trivia questions about the park, or famous people in the town, and if you get it right, you and two friends can move up to the front, but, each time you get it right, the next question is harder.

Or, have a roller coaster that isn't too scary, but in the center there are remote controlled vehicles (helicopters or boats) that you use to accomplish some task. If you can do that task you win some prize, but use the smartphone to control the vehicle, perhaps having a picture of what is going on on the phone so you don't have to physically see the vehicle, remembering that everyone on the ride may be trying to accomplish the task.

Issues/Questions Before Designing A Mobile Application

Before any coding of a mobile application starts, there are issues that should be discussed to limit the chance of having to rewrite an application, or find that a decision may have legal ramifications.  For example, as the following article explains, many patient/doctor mobile applications may be violating HIPAA requirements: http://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/aba_health_esource_home/aba_health_law_esource_1110_barrett.html.

This process is an iterative process, so there should be multiple passes through the questions, as the answer to one will influence the answer to another, until answers to one area doesn't lead to confusion with another.

1. How should the application function if there is no Internet connection?  This may be tricky as, for example, if the application had medical information on it, for example, if an insurance company or doctor’s office provided the application, then it may be used deep in a hospital where there is no signal, and you should be in airplane mode anyway.  So there are many places where there is no connection, or it is spotty.
2. Should the information be stored on the device or on a server?  This is similar to (1), but if the information is to be stored on the device then there will be other questions.  And it may be that storing it on the server may be annoying to the user. For example, if you have an application for lawyers or hairstylists for billing, and you are required to use two-factor authentication, so there is a username/password/rsa token to get into the server, then each time a person changes clients or projects they may need to log into the server, which will be bothersome, so they will uninstall the application.  Now, if the information is stored on the device, then they just need to upload the information at the end of the day, and the device is basically a scratchpad that may have additional information that is only useful to the user.
3. If the information is stored on the device, even if just for a short time, how sensitive is it, and could any national regulations govern how to protect the data?
4. For example is two-factor authentication required? Is it possible for one factor to be the device, which would require that it be uniquely identified.  If sending a password, is the password actually needed, or is there better solutions?
5. If storing sensitive information then strong encryption should be used, so an Export Registration Number is probably needed, even if just using SSL to send data to the servers.
6. How will the application be distributed? Is it targeted to just a small group, such as employees of a company, or will it be open to anyone to download, but only those that can create an account will actually be able to use it?
7. How will the server and mobile device communicate?  For example, SOAP and REST are two common approaches.
8. A mobile application will put a higher load on a server, as people can use it when they are paused somewhere, as they are no longer limited to their location, so is the server-side prepared for the increased traffic?  One solution may be a mixture of relational databases (RDBMS) and NoSQL databases
9. If strong encryption is used, should it be available outside the US?
10. Due to the indemnification clauses in the developer contracts for iOS or Android, is your company a likely target for patent trolls to aim for you?

Organizations, social networks and quantum physics

Quantum physics came about not through a sense of logic, but because physicists were having results that they couldn't explain with Newtonian physics, but it was a struggle for them to try to understand what they were seeing.

For example, in an experiment where there are two slats and one photon (particle for light) goes through.  If both slats are open it will appear to be a wave, as it goes through both, but if only one slat is open it appears to be a particle.  If they have both slats open until just before the photon gets there, and they close one, it seems to know that and becomes a particle.

There is also the idea of what happens when two particles interact, and there is an idea what will happen, but based on the amount of energy present a different particle will come out, and a probability can be used to get an idea which one it may be.

This didn't make sense, but physicists have had decades to struggle with this, and to come to understanding about the fact that how we observe or measure will affect the results.

In organizations there is an idea that there is a rigid hierarchy, and the roles are well-defined, but, if we take some lessons from quantum physics then if we look at relationships between people, we can see that a person can have different roles based on the situation.  So, a person may be the leader of a project if she is the best person for that task, and later her role may change.  

But, just as observations and measurements affects the reality of quantum particles, how we see or what we measure in an organization can change how people act, or how we see that person.  So, if someone is seen as being someone that is a high-flyer any ideas they have may be seen in a better light, and someone that may actually be more competent may have ideas that are excellent, but because of the fact that he has long hair, he is seen differently and so the ideas are not taken seriously.

So, in an organization where people can change roles based on the situation it is important to be certain to not control from the top, but to have more of a participative form of management, where people are free to discuss their ideas.  A good chart on dialogue vs debate is: http://ncdd.org/rc/item/5394.

We come down to social networks now, which is really about trying to help people relate to each other, and much as an organization may want to look at relationships between people as more important, and allow the energy of dialogue to help with creative solutions, social networks seem to follow in the idea that there is a rigid sense of how to relate, where everyone in that social network should relate just to others in that network.  So, we have multiple networks, and there are concepts, such as OpenSocial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSocial) that try to help bridge this, but, basically there is a great deal of lost opportunity where social networking groups don't try to find some way to allow these people to interact.

So, just as organizations may need to move to a more participative, social networks should look at trying to help people to find new ways to interact with each other, and stop looking at just trying to keep people just within that particular website.

Developing an overall vision before requirements or use cases

The big-picture, or vision of where a program is going is vital if the desire is to build something that is going to have much complexity.

By working on a vision it helps to direct a company to see if they may want to adapt due to a developing vision.

So, for example, I am working on a learning management system framework that I have been mulling over for several years.  One requirement is that it should be accessible over a webpage, and be highly interactive, and accessible from native applications on mobile phones.

Now, these may be common requirements, but this is a basic sketch, and if you stop here and implement it later it will be realized that there is an architectural problem due to a lack of vision.

I am also working on an issues program that would be helpful with agile development, and fit well with the notion of Kanban, so developers can select features to implement based on time allotted and interests.  This will have the same basic requirements as the LMS.

So, I could write each of these, make them available, and they would be competing with many other programs.

But, what if I want to add a feature to the LMS where the program could suggest training or certifications that may be beneficial to the learner.  Now, out of the universe of available courses, how could this program know what to suggest.

A simple solution is to be able to tell it where you want to go to, and advisors or managers could also put in guidance as to where they may be going.  

So, if you are working in Human Resources, it may be that you want to go into recruiting, but management may see that you should be on the management track, so, it may be that both are entered as goals, and the system may show only the path the learner selected, but it would also look at the goal put in by management.

This would be helpful if there was defined milestones to go from one position to another, so it may be necessary to give some functionality where this could be designed.

Now, this extends the LMS, but there is also the issues program, and this could be useful for management to  allow self-organization.

A staffing company decides to provide software development services to, using their connections to independent developers, for the mobile market.

If the companies can describe the project, and put a dollar amount, then developers and designers could look at the wishlists, then pick which one they want to work on, and it could be that people could put their name on the task as being interested, and teams can come together to do this project.  So, it may be that two programmers, a UI expert and a technical writer may form a team, and they will create their own private issues setup where they can list the features so the team members can pick which parts they want to work on.

Now, where would this team come together to collaborate?  Why not use the LMS?

It has discussion boards and whiteboards, as well as a place to store documents, so, this virtual team could inhabit a virtual classroom to do their designs and show mockups.

There are many features available that can be explored, and the strengths of using mobile apps hasn't even been explored, but, by working on a vision it could be seen that this simple LMS may grow to not only be just a part, but a business may either evolve from this development, or, if a company is able to adapt they may spread themselves into new areas.

So, before starting on any project, ask what the vision is first, and see where this program may want to go.