“The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them,” Author and Aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Pokemon Go Lesson #1

Pokemon Go didn’t just invite users into a traditional mobile experience. They went a step further and leveraged a technological innovation that the world has been anticipating for decades: Augmented Reality technology that merges both the digital and physical world. That is an experience that many people around the world have desired for ages and are more than ready to respond to, today.

“We tend to look digital first, but great experiences can and should connect both physical and digital. Pokemon Go gives the user the illusion that they are on a virtual adventure to support their gym factions and catch ’em all. The reality is this example of an exergame is simply leveraging location, game mechanics, and an augmented reality mini-game to create a unique experience that people are compelled to share,” (SocialMediopolis, 2016).

Context creates clarity and AR applications consistently deliver in this arena, by adding engaging, contextual layers of information to the things we see and experience in reality. And the market for this resource is ripe. Pokemon Go is clear evidence of that. As a report from the multinational business publisher, Fortune explained, “Upcoming augmented reality devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens, which combines virtual objects with the real world through high-tech glasses, are forecast to become a $120 billion business by 2020. That’s four times more than the $30 billion business virtual reality will generate in the same five year span” (Fortune, 2015).

What Augmented Reality (AR) Tech Teaches Us:

• The most powerful and popular AR tech is carried around in your pocket — the mobile phone
• People are willing to get moving and interact in locales that support an engaging AR experience
• “The link between physical and virtual holds the chance of reclaiming social and physical aspects of space to create new and revolutionary forms of spatial experiences,” (Florian Fischer, Humboldt University in Berlin)

Pokemon Go Lesson #2

The second lesson we should all have learned from the enormous success of the new Pokemon Go application can be stated rather simply: Mobile matters, momentously. Just consider the number of digital tools and resources that are available to people across the globe, the heavy push into a more mobile-responsive web by the tech giants (e.g. Google, Apple, etc.), and the popularity of smartphones, combined. It’s not hard to see why many people around the world have turned to these on-the-go devices for everything from professional pursuits to play. So whether the goal is to connect better with an existing market or to reach out to new ones, establishing a mobile connection makes a world of a difference.

“Pokémon Go is an illustration of the power mobile. Nintendo has gone from being phenomenally late to mobile to nailing all that is good about it. They built a product that delivers a unique experience by tapping into the unique capabilities of mobile: Location, camera, hi-res graphics. The mobile app that sends players on an augmented reality adventure in real locations around their homes, offices and neighborhoods has been downloaded 15 million times since it was released last week. I’m as enthralled with the game as everyone else,” (Entrepreneur, 2016).

And in regards to building great mobile moments, the world demands tools that are user friendly now more than ever. After all it is ultimately the user experience that serves as the foundation for any successful products and services. Personas are great tools for building the understanding necessary to meet product expectations and to deliver the user experience your unique customers will expect. Pokemon Go accomplishes this by offering an experience that is fast, local, and instantly gratifying.

How to Create Mobile Moments that Matter:

• Use Personas to build up an understanding of your audience and their product expectations
  
• Work with developers to build tools that can live and breathe in mobile-responsive environments: Immediate, relevant, and friction-less
  
• Consider programming algorithms that enable you to personalize mobile content for users – you like this, so you might also like that – to increase relevancy and engagement

Pokemon Go Lesson #3

The third lesson to leverage from the success of the Pokemon Go team is that security and privacy are paramount in the digital world, as can be concluded from the number of queries search engines received about everything from “Pokemon Go Privacy Issues and Security Risks” to “How to Remove Malware or Adware from Pokemon Go”. This is because when the app was initially released it included a security oversight that gave the program full access to its users’ Google accounts, including the ability to view and edit any of the information therein. Needless to say, unwanted adware, malware, and privacy problems does not a good user experience nor happy client make and the Go team worked quickly to patch the problem.

“One additional point to consider is user privacy and data collection. With Pokemon Go being tied to a Google Single Sign-On with full account access, there were initial concerns about the level of data access that Pokemon Go could collect about the user. The key takeaway here is to be as transparent as possible when it comes to data collection and how a user’s data is intended to be used,” (SocialMediopolis, 2016).

It’s become very apparent that a key factor for the success of many organizations lies in their ability to connect with clients in digital arenas, which are increasingly mobile-driven. The addition of augmented reality applications (e.g. Pokemon Go, etc.) to these spaces will undoubtedly add further support to this already popular platform. And because the devices used to access this space are so personal it’s always important to keep cybersecurity, top of mind when working with them to better serve our customers. And don’t be afraid to learn from your own and others victories and mistakes, along the way.

What Cybersecurity Conscious Clients Now Expect from Tech:

• Monitor Apps with Access to Data
  • In addition to firewalls and building infrastructure around the data you want to protect, make sure any apps connected to that data are also secure
• Maintain Security Patches
  • To keep your network protected, make sure your software and hardware security is up to date with any new anti-malware signatures or patches
• Have a Data Breach Plan
  • Having a just-in-case response plan laid out ahead of time will allow you to close any vulnerabilities and limit the damage the breach can do
    • Source: http://www.observeit.com/blog/10-best-practices-cyber-security-2016

Happy Computing!

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