Tips to Provide the Best Website Experience

A successful sprint in agile development centers around the User Story. The User Story helps ensure that the product delivered accurately reflects the user requirements. They provide a clear and concise way for developers and customers to collaborate in a language that each understands. This helps the customer articulate their request, and provides the developer a clear roadmap to follow when developing the software or feature. Below are 5 tips for How to write User Stories for use in Agile Development:

1. Collaboration is Key - No one person develops the user story. It is a collaborative effort between the user, the product owner, and developers. The e entire team should work together to discuss and define the story to ensure that everyone understands the requirements. This collaborative approach fosters creativity and often results in better user stories
2. Short and Simple - Keep the story concise and to the point. Focus on what is essential to the story and leave out the rest. This helps ensure that they are easy to understand. In addition, it helps avoid confusion and ambiguity. Write the story in an active voice, and follow the following format. As <user> , I want <what?> so that <why?>.
3. Refine - The story often isn't complete or accurate after the first pass or even the second pass. It is important to iterate over the stories refining and improving them until they are clearly defined to all parties.
4. Verifiable - A good User Story is also one that has easily identifiable and realistic acceptance criteria that the team agrees upon. The acceptance criteria not only enhance the story but they ensure that the story results in a tangible, demonstrable release to the customer.
5. Customer is Priority - Make sure that your stories are not bogged down with technical tasks. The User Story is not about the developers plan of action to realize the story. They are for the customer, and should express real business value to that customer.

With the right approach, User Stories provide a working road map that promotes customer involvement in the software development process. Done properly, they help ensue successful delivery of the features requested. Please contact us to learn how are expertise in User Story development can help you achieve your software development goals.

In an online world rife with fake news, viral posts, and instantaneous reactions, reputation management is increasingly important. One bad Yelp review, embarrassing hashtag or unfortunate photo will find years of hard work undone in several days, if not hours. Although managing your reputation may be important for the overall health of your business, the major reason behind reputation management's importance lies in its ability to turn a negative experience into a positive one. Here's a tip and an example.

Be Proactive

No one sets out looking for a bad review. But, when an unhappy customer, a jealous competitor or a viral hashtag puts your business in the spotlight, it's important to issue a response. Whether it is to assuage the customer by offering free services and refunds, correcting an error or reinforcing your organization's principles, your response is important. Reputation management software systems monitor any online mention of your business, allowing you to respond appropriately and in a timely manner.

But, how should you respond?

Your response will be suited to the situation and to your brand. The major reason reputation management is important is the role it plays in showing potential customers what your business is all about. Here's an example:

Perhaps you heard the story about the dive bar in New York City that received a one-star Yelp review. The bar owners chided the reviewer, through a direct response, on her inability to choose a restaurant that met her preferences. She wanted a quiet spot for a beer with friends and decided to choose a dive bar. The owners pointed out that the review was unfair, not because of anything the bar did wrong, but because of the reviewer's unfounded expectations (read the full response here, it's worth it).

Take note of this response. Not everyone is going to like your brand or your business model. This is fine. You can't please everyone, nor should you aim to. But the Iron Horse in NYC spun this poor review into gold. By identifying their niche and staying true to their brand, they were able to garner international attention while reaching out to a larger audience of potential customers.

For more information on how you can achieve a positive business reputation, please contact us.

Mobile applications have become increasingly popular as a tool to engage consumers with various companies. Consumers download an average of 8 applications a day, be they gaming, photo editing, news, or social media apps. Companies and individuals that have an idea for a great application and see it through often find themselves building a multi-billion dollar empire!

Do you want to develop your own app? Have a great idea for a gaming app or want to make your own blog more accessible to the public? It's easier than ever before to create and implement an app for the public. There are a few simple steps to follow in order to bring your idea to life!

First, figure out what type of application you want to create. Take a look at the Android, Google, or Apple stores for ideas on different genres to choose from. The most popular choices tend to be games, photo editing, and social media, but you are free to create whatever app you want! Also, look at the audience you creating the app for. Is this app for your business, or is it something that is meant specifically to entertain? Is a little of both?

Second, begin drawing up different designs for how you want your application to look and be used. These can be simple stick figure drawings at first, but it is still wise to have more developed drawings as you go along. If you prefer, hire someone or find a friend who can help you develop clearer drawings to get your idea across. Clear and professional drawings make it easier to get funding or a professional company to develop and publish your application to all of the major stores. The ultimate point here is to flesh out your idea in a visual sense so that you and others have a clear idea of what you want out of your app.

Thirdly (this part is a little more complicated), develop the back end of your app. This part can be done yourself or through a trusted team of people dedicated to helping you with your application. The back end of your app is the part that makes everything function the way it's supposed to; if it is responsive, for example, then when a consumer scrolls down on their smart phone, it will do as expected. If a consumer goes and updates the application, then it should update as anticipated. (This is essentially why I suggest a team of individuals help with this part of the process, as this is fairly complicated for folks who don't know what they are getting into.)

Finally, find a team to help you get your application published and available through mainstream sources such as the Apple App Store or the Android Store. Do some research online to find great companies who will publish your application. Once your application is accessible to the public, you have succeeded in creating an application! Sound fun? Awesome! Now go out there and create!

Why is reputation management important? The fact is that people believe bad online reviews. Not only that, but disgruntled customers are more likely to leave negative reviews than happy customers are to leave positive reviews.

It's not just the reviews that matter: Websites that are set up solely to damage the reputation of another business aren't uncommon. Two types of people are likely to do this: Your competitors and people who feel they've been treated wrongly by your staff.

When it comes to online reviews on sites such as Google, Facebook, Yelp and other directories, it is important not to get into any arguments. Your staff will just come across as unfriendly and rude. The trick is to take the conversation offline. Here's a good example of what to reply to a negative review: "We're sorry you had such an experience. We've contacted you to remedy the situation."

The main way to counter a bad online reputation is to build up a positive reputation. With online reviews, it means encouraging happy customers to leave 5-star reviews.

But that's not enough. Bad reviews from bloggers and independent websites can rank in the search engines when someone searches for your company. The only way to counter this is through a reputation management strategy that includes building positive reviews online on independent websites.

Don't wait for the bad reviews to come before doing reputation management! If you're not establishing a positive presence online and on social media, your company and your CEO are both prime targets for a negative campaign. Contact us for help.