Most of us carry what can be considered a supercomputer, at least if compared to computers of the past decades. The smartphone, the perennial device that many bring around, possesses more computing capabilities than the computer used to send a man to the moon. And with this power also comes the ability to do more with it.
People are now becoming more aware of their agency, using their smartphones to create content. Small businesses are leveraging technology to their benefit, being able to pull their services in front of more people. The impact of smart devices is undeniable, especially in the business industry. Let’s take a quick overview of how smartphones changed businesses, and how their impact will carry on to the future.
An App for Everything
There’s an app for everything” is a common quote that’s done both in jest and the acknowledgment that there is almost an app for every function you can think of. Productivity apps for every industry exist, and efficiency tools for every imaginable task are also available. For businesses, however, the ability to address very specific tasks opens an entirely different field.
Consider large businesses that have dedicated apps. Many tech giants rely on these apps to facilitate business with their clients; many software-as-a-service products come in the form of easily downloadable software. Truly, there is an app for everything, and businesses have leveraged this to provide their services in a much more convenient and accessible way.
Efficient Communication and Collaboration
Of course, business or corporate use laptops remain the most efficient way to accomplish work, but smartphones offer a convenient solution: real-time communication and collaboration. Smartphones, being that their origins derive from communication devices, are optimized for communication. Add the innovations that allow it to mirror the functions of a computer, smartphones enable business people everywhere to communicate and connect with their teammates regardless of their location and situation.
Another benefit that smartphones have provided is the near-instantaneous ability to pull up information and data from the internet or on their phone storage. Boardroom meetings and discussions might be places where you want fewer distractions, but smartphones offer a level of efficiency that’s unparalleled. And with how many businesses are adopting a work-from-home format, smartphones have become a viable alternative because of their videoconferencing capabilities.
Designing for Mobile UI/UX
In the first point, we talked about how businesses use apps to offer services to their clients. This means that the design language and user experience for their software are built with mobile accessibility in mind. Which is something that many designers have taken focus on over the years.
obile device user interface and user experience arebecoming the focal point of many businesses, as they understand that most of their clients would much rather prefer the convenience of a smartphone over a computer. The shift to a mobile UI/UX is reflecting in how many businesses put their resources in making their app optimized and intuitive to use, often eschewing desktop websites in favor of their mobile counterpart.
However, there is still value in desktop software design, as more people are now beginning to practice device integration and require the seamless transfer from their portable device to their computer.
Tracking Delivery and Logistics
The ability to track a moving object in real-time using a remote device might sound like something from science fiction- if it was the 70s. Nowadays tracking something through your smartphone is pedestrian and commonplace. But GPS tracking is something that people from years past would have been very confused and interested in: it’s essentially a live map that can track whatever it is that you need to. But businesses and individuals have adjusted to its existence and have optimized their uses for it.
Logistics and delivery services are ever more efficient and optimized thanks to this technology. Businesses can make better operational decisions by knowing where the supplies and materials are, and ETA for the items they order is considerably more accurate. Sending products to consumers and business collaborators is easy- and often, we fail to realize that this technology makes our world more methodical.
A Booming Digital World
But of course, all of these developments are but the genesis. We’re still relatively new to these changes, and we’re only seeing the integration and assimilation happen within the past few years. The digital economy has just settled, and while we’re all getting used to a more digital and virtual mode of living, technology will keep developing.
Despite the relative newness of things, businesses (and individuals!) today are already studying better and more efficient ways to utilize technology. How the world changes to these innovations remains to be seen, but it’s hopefully a positive one.
