Developers, “click” with your customers’ offline life
Over the last decade, I have wobbled in the space between “tech nerd” and “non-adaptor”. Having moved to work for ABN AMRO Digital Banking in 2016, I have moved convincingly to the “tech nerd” space — installing new apps, buying gadgets and adapting to innovations. And whilst some of these apps and innovations have enriched my life, some have failed to make an impact. I am convinced that each item and app I tried and rejected was developed by people smarter than me — and yet somehow they failed to entice me to continue to use their product. So now, working on Open Banking and other innovations, I find myself wondering when innovation “clicks” for me.
Robbie & Richard — A tale of two “housemates”
Yesterday, I took a walk outside whilst Robbie, my robot vacuum cleaner, was touring my house cleaning it. Robbie was lovingly named by my mum, who stated “he looks like an insect. You should name him Robbie.” The name stuck. I am not the only one interacting with (and sometimes speaking to) Robbie. 5,5 years ago I adopted a stray cat, Richard. Robbie and Richard have not always been the best of friends — but when I came home yesterday, Richard was asleep on the couch whilst Robbie was doing his job. Progress! Or so I thought.
As soon as I walked in the door, Richard came running towards me and started begging for food in the kitchen. This is a regular occurrence and usually accompanied by displaying some nails and looking angry. As he was putting up the best of his show, he suddenly jumped backwards and started hissing. Poor old Richard was hit by Robbie. You see, Robbie has a feature where he will bump into objects and if they are in the way turn around and go a different way. No exceptions are made for cats.
Funny thing is, if Robbie judges obstacle to be low enough, he will back off a bit, and then run up to the object at a slightly higher speed to be able to get over it. This now forces me to put my coffee tables on the couch whenever I turn Robbie on to ensure he doesn’t get trapped in them — once in, there is not enough space for him to back off and escape. After having found him trapped multiple times, loudly beeping, I decided to create a safer environment for him next time. Putting safety first, I also remove any stray cat toys, Richard’s water bowl (which is light enough to be knocked around the room when Robbie tries his “bump and see if it moves” tactic), and close doors to the hallway because Robbie falls off stairs.
Innovation that “ticks”
You might be wondering why I describe these Robbie and Richard stories. For me, innovation “clicks” when it complements my “offline” life. I use Robbie because I am too lazy to vacuum but like my house being clean. My mum and I named him because it feels weird to have a robot insect clean your house and a little anthropomorphism helps. And if you were to examine his software and vacuuming patterns, or any other data that he could theoretically share to developers like you, it would probably show “no bugs, all great”.
But in the meantime he scares and hurts Richard, and I need to spend a few minutes creating a safe environment for him to go around in every time I want my house vacuumed. That impacts my experience of him — even though that will never show up in data. Neither will it show up in user data that friends of mine commented “they would never buy a Robbie because it would make them feel lazy to delegate such an easy task to a robot”.
This analogy works for most innovations that make it into my home. I didn’t buy an app controlled laundry machine, because I can only see the need for timing the end of a laundry cycle to when I am coming home. And the machine has that function without needing an app. I do use an app for personal financial management, because it saves me time in writing up budgets in excel sheets and gives me control over my money. I don’t have a robot lawn mower, simply because I do not have grass in my garden. I do order groceries and food using an app, because it makes my life a lot easier to organise. Robbie is somewhere in the middle of the “yes / no” list: I regularly get him to clean my house, but do grumble about the work it requires to make him effective.
Innovation and Open Banking
As a now “tech nerd”, I have also grown increasingly enthusiastic and probably even passionate about the “Era of Open Banking” that is upon us. A world in which individuals are put in control of their data and digital environment, unlocking use cases that I probably currently can’t even imagine, is in my mind the undisputed future. Money is important to people, as it allows them to unlock experiences in the “offline” world. Particularly given that strong link, I am sure that there are many of you smart enough to see the value in this future — and to try and unlock it.
This future will only bring real value to people around the world when we, as a digital community, collectively remember that the digital world interacts with real life experiences and should complement and improve those real life experiences. Many people do not fully know what technology can enable, and we need to take them with us on that journey — just “dropping” innovation onto the market means you are more likely to find it doesn’t “click” with your customers’ offline life. Robbie cleans well enough for me to put up with some hassle in my physical environment to benefit from technology, but I would love for him to be more adaptable to my furniture and not hurt my cat.
About the author:
Danique van Koppenhagen, Digital Expert Risk
As Digital Expert Risk, Danique provides overarching advice on risk management and regulatory items for the E-Commerce organization and Digital Banking. In this, she is specialized in the new General Data Protection Regulation and in the new Payment Services Directive.
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