I am happiest when I am right next to you! That’s how I describe my relationship with my phone. It is a constant companion. Let me take you through my day to show you how the phone is an indispensable part of my life.
Morning:
Is it morning already?
I check My phone, and the clock shows 7 AM. Getting out of bed unwillingly, I tie my shoes and go for a jog while listening to some motivational songs on Spotify. Back from the jog, I change the audio output from AirPods to JBL speaker. While finishing my daily chores, I listen to soothing music. It’s Around 10 AM and time for the favorite tasks of the day watching the news on youtube, chatting with friends over Whatsapp, and checking out Twitter which has become my obsession. It’s around 11:30 now, time to attend the classes, goodbye phone, see you soon.
Noon:
It’s 3 PM, and after class, it’s time for some gaming on the phone. I love to play PUBG, and it has been my favorite game for five years now. After an hour of gaming, I turn to Gmail and check for important emails. After that, I go to Youtube again, watching the news from around the world on politics and economics.
Evening:
It’s evening, and I need to cook. After finding new recipes on Youtube, I start cooking. Around 7 PM I have my dinner while watching Roman Empire on Netflix.
Night:
It’s around 10 PM, and I am done for the day. I call up my mother in India and talk to her for a while before heading to sleep.
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Besides the top 7 apps I mentioned above, I use HBR mobile, Google Calendar, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Scotia bank, Google Maps, TripAdvisor, H&M, etc. I am also guilty of hoarding some of the apps that I have not used in a long while.
Speaking about the motives:
- I want to know motivates me to use Youtube, Twitter, and HBR.
- I want to Go motivates me to use Google Maps and TripAdvisor.
- I want to Connect motivates me to use Social apps like Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram.
- I want to Relax motivates me to use Netflix, Disney+, andPUBG.
- I want to shop motivates me to use H&M.
Apps have simplified using many services, from reading the news to connecting with people to watching fun videos, everything can be done in minutes using designated applications. Gone are the days of going to google to find websites for tasks. Now everything is sitting right in a 1X1 box on your mobile screen. If mobile is a revolution, then apps have been the corollary of it.
But not all apps are worthy. I love getting paid but hate the ADP app that shows my paystubs. It’s slow, complicated, and crashes every few minutes. Trying to operate it is like trying to rob the locker in the ‘oceans eleven’ movie.
You are in a race against time. Many a time, I want to know the paystub details, but I can not because the app is inoperational. It’s a painful experience because they don’t focus on user experience and release the updates without significant bug fixes.
As a marketer, the lessons I derive out of this exercise are:
1. Customer-centricity: Knowing your customers’ needs, pain points, use cases, and motivations.
2. Being Agile: Knowing the changes required and making them as quickly as possible.
3. Easify: Making it easy for customers to reach you and use your services.
