mHealth, It's Time Has Come 06/23/2011
Mobile healthcare or mHealth was inspired by a genuine need complicated by a shortage of doctors and nurses. With much of the developing world combating diseases like malaria, HIV and Aids and the basic yet hard to solve problem of access to clean drinking water, developing and middle class nations face the classic catalyst for coming up with solutions, "the crisis". The crisis is now widespread. Factors like aging populations, collapsing economies, war, and climate change are compounding healthcare problems that until a couple of decades ago were largely seen as Third World issues. Well no longer. Poverty is rampant in Western cities. Chronic diseases like diabetes are effecting not just our grandparents but ourselves and more frighteningly our children. Heart disease, cancer, mental illness continue to plague aging populations around the world. The numbers of elderly people are now stressing the healthcare infrastructure that used to effectively meet the needs of our seniors. The silver lining? The timing and exponential rise of the knowledge economy which allows us to be more effective and efficient. Two overused buzz words but nevertheless critical factors when forced to do more with less. We need to enable doctors and nurses to diagnose patients faster without compromising the quality of the diagnosis. We need to educate people on preventative healthcare and quickly share public health information when emergencies arise. The best all-in-one tool is the mobile phone, the most functional and ubiquitous communication tool we have ever had since the invention pen and paper. At Esyngen Interactive our primary vertical industry is healthcare because that is where the greatest societal need is, developing and developed world alike. It is also where mobile technology can have the biggest impact. Through better knowledge sharing, faster and more accurate diagnostic tools, and by integrating with social media we can address many critical healthcare challenges head on. Esyngen is focused on building apps that leverage the capabilities of smartphones and the power of web services, cloud based computing and social media. Using cameras, GPS, wireless, Twitter, Facebook, SMS, email, web and mobile database access we custom design solutions that address very specific healthcare challenges. The smartphone has been compared to the Swiss Army knife. It is not one tool but a set of tools. No one tool will solve the myriad healthcare challenges we see before us but mHealth is the Swiss Army knife we have in our pocket. Time to use it. To find out how Esyngen can help design and develop a custom mHealth solution for your healthcare organization, drop us a note through our contact page and one of our solution specialists will quickly be in touch. Or drop me a line at my coordinates below. Graham Newbigging graham@esyngen.com (905) 582-6414 twitter.com/esyngen Add Comment Zen and the Art of App Development 06/08/2011
The notion that programming is an exact science, that in the near future robots will write flawless software autonomously is a commonly held misconception. I'm not saying that an artificial intelligence won't be able to best humans at the game of software development, someday. I believe they will, someday. I just wish to state that programming is not an exact science. It is an art form. And the robot that progresses beyond humans in this field will need to have a heart like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz in order to muster the requisite creative energy. As with more traditional art, interpretation is subjective. Good art, or as I define it here, art that transcends the ages, conforms to basic principles or rules that govern composition, colour palette, use of line and texture etc. And so it is with most good things in life, principles govern. Good posture is necessary for zen meditation, laws that when followed create the right environment are necessary for civilized society to flourish. There are core fundamentals necessary to create something that will transcend the ages. But these laws should be inherent, foundational elements like the concrete below a house or the roots below a tree. You don't see them but you know that without them the house would fall and the tree would wither and die. So it is with programming. Yes, there are 10+ ways to write an app but the only good versions will follow a set of common rules. What are these rules? you ask. It isn't secret or even complicated. Like most principles they are widely held norms that are basic in nature. 1) Keep it clean and simple. The most successful apps are basic, whether it's the mindless fun derived from hurling cartoon birds across a screen and nothing more or the simplicity of an app that just tells you the name of the song playing on the radio. 2) Solve a problem or meet a need. No one will use an app that doesn't do one of these two things. But be careful not to try and meet more than one need or solve more than one problem at a time. An app must be focussed. Do not try to make it something for everyone. Apps are singular in purpose. 3) Listen to users and change or fix what needs to be changed or fixed. The worst thing an app developer can do is invest time and resources in building something and then abandon the users once it's out there and the buzz has died down. The best apps have evolved over time. Their developers fixed and changed things based on user feedback. As the saying goes change is constant. An app will quickly stagnate and be forgotten and users will grow frustrated when old problems return or their needs go unmet. Keep at it and listen carefully to what users are saying. This calls for a thick skin sometimes as honesty can be brutal. So slip out of the ego. Great apps evolve when honest criticism is listened to. That's it. Simple huh? App development is art and Zen some. (Groan did I really write that?) Graham Newbigging graham@esyngen.com (905) 582-6414 twitter.com/esyngen |
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