For some, fitness is a way of life. For others, it’s a hobby. Despite different reasons for working out, everyone wants fitness to be accessible, convenient, and judgment-free. These are contributing factors for the decline in gym memberships and the increasing popularity of subscriber-based fitness streaming services. So what’s the deal? Are apps the friend of the fitness industry, or …
UX: Strategy Matters, Too
Many people mistakenly confuse user interface (UI) with user experience (UX). An attractive and functional UI is crucial, but there’s more to effective UX than design alone. Strategy plays an integral role, too. User experience must be a top consideration when developing any product or software. Instead of hiring UX designers to execute strategic decisions, it’s important to include them …
The Next Big Use for AI? Meet Your Virtual Assistant, Scheduler Extraordinaire.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can do so much already—power your company’s B2B sales process, transform your recruitment strategy, boost the potential for customer service, and more—but there’s one lingering question that has been on the mind of Principal Futurum Analyst, Shelly Kramer. “If AI is all about simplifying my life by eliminating mundane tasks, why can’t it schedule my meetings? My …
A New Look For One of the World’s Great Brands – CES 2017
Panasonic USA invited me to spend a little time with them at CES 2017. What I didn’t know was that they were going to re-introduce me to a company that has not only evolved, but been reborn in the age of Digital Transformation. Back in 2004 I sold a lot of Panasonic product, mostly projectors and flat panel televisions (Plasmas) …
Video and Interactive Technology: Changing the Way We Shop
Sometimes, marketers get things backwards—they focus on the product or service rather than the customer they want to buy it. However, when you keep customers in mind and focus on customer engagement, you can make some pretty impressive changes. Think about how the shopping experience has changed over a few short years. Video and interactive technology have played big roles …
Say Yes to Gamification
Gamification is proving to be an effective tactic to help motivate employees and increase engagement. A dedicated workforce can be your greatest asset and — whether it’s because of lower employee turnover or increased productivity. That’s why employers are often looking for innovative ways to improve their workplace culture, and some are even adding fun gaming elements to help stimulate …
Taking a Look at The Workplace of 2017 and Beyond
The beginning of a new year brings with it a flurry of optimism: Will this be the year our business gets its big break? Is this the year we find love, or finally achieve that long-term goal? As 2016 ends, I’d like to look back at the year in technology and offer predictions about what we might see in the …
To Market to Millennials, Financial Institutions Must Build a Better Customer Experience
Customer preferences, especially those of millennials, are a constantly moving target. Regardless of whether we’re talking about the retail sector or the financial services industry, consumers want to receive the right information on the right platform at the right time. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of technologies available to help marketers not only deliver personalized content to their customers, …
The Artificial Intelligence Market is Growing Rapidly. Read This to Get Up to Speed.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) market is on fire—the good-growth kind of fire, not the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 kind of fire. AI’s boom encompasses natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, voice recognition, and image processing. Enabled by mobile devices and cloud technology, some analysts predict the enterprise AI market alone will reach $31.5 billion by 2025. What companies are investing, …
Can Machine Learning Make HR Better?
Are you familiar with deep learning? Deep learning describes the ability for artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to learn from our behavior using brain-like structures called neural networks, and it’s changing the field of human resources in significant ways. AI programs can predict outcomes based on past experiences fed into the program. Because AI can recognize patterns and analyze data at …