IT-Now: Tech Answers in the Palm of Your Hand
Technology has quickly become a main part of our every day lives and when something goes wrong with that piece of tech it can really affect our day. Usually when there is a problem with something we try to fix it ourselves or Google a solution. While Google does provide some very important information it is often confusing to go through or you tend to look in the wrong place. This is especially true with companies that will now sponsor some type of solution when you can easily figure it out yourself. Updating a computer’s drivers is an excellent example of this as you can do it yourself but usually a company wants you to download their software so they can perform the simple task for a fee. Sometimes you want to go to a site that people contribute to, also known as a crowd developed site but those can be bogged down with misinformation. But what if there was a simple, easy to read guide that provided step by step instructions on these kinds of problems? That’s where IT-Now comes in.
About the Main Site
IT-Now is a site that anyone can access but only those that have approved technological qualifications can contribute to. Then, depending on the user feedback about their solution, the poster can even make some money off of it as well. The application is broken down into two main areas, the users and the posters. It can also be used on mobile devices for quick access but also some slightly limited functionality which will be explained later. The main purpose of IT-Now is to provide easy to read technological instructions without the interference of companies or having to read through dozens of comments on forum pages to find your correct solution.
From a user’s standpoint, IT-Now would look like another search engine with the main search bar in the middle for users to enter their question. If they wanted, they could also search solutions by their posted date, OS, popularity, and other search features. Once they entered or searched their question, they would be presented with an answer for their question, or if it was too broad, multiple answers. Of course there are always more than one answer to a given question so a user can find one based on if the answer was verified, which will be explained later, by the number of upvotes, comments, or other criteria. Any answers can have text posts, videos, or pictures in order to try to explain what a user would need to do in order to fix the problem. This could be similar to some online training courses like what LinkedIn has.
From the submitter’s end, they would have quite a few things at their disposal. They can mark reference material like manuals or linking to some other sites. They would be given a rating system so they can see how their posts are doing and what people think of their answers, if they are good or bad. The better and more popular their post is, the more revenue could be available to them. As mentioned, only professionals with training are allowed to make posts. This can be displayed in some other ways however. Based on work experience or certifications people can be given different titles like beginner, intermediate, or expert. This is to weed out anyone trying to put out false information in order to just farm for money or for companies trying to slip their things in.
IT-Now App
There is also the IT-Now app. This app would allow users to connect their accounts from their computers to their phone so that they can take answers or instructions on the go. This would not, however, allow people to create posts but they could take pictures and upload them for ease of use. The main purpose of the app is when a user may need to turn off their computer or device and would need instructions after that or if they are working on something like a router which is too far from a computer and can disconnect the internet connection. This app, like the site itself, would also be free for users to download but may implement some sort of premium option later.
Making Money
So how would the site itself make money? IT-Now can make profits from a few different sources. Mainly it could come from advertisements in the form of banner ads or others. This, however, would not be posted on the answers themselves since that would defeat the site’s purpose. Revenue can also be obtained from charging some users a premium price to allow them to suggest edits to posts, make more comments, or similar ideas. There is also the premium option of allowing users to submit their own specific questions. Finally, there is the data the site itself would generate. You can figure that knowing where a company application’s problems lie that they would want to know that themselves and are willing to pay for that. This gives multiple streams for IT-Now to make money while also paying out to its providers.
IT-Now is trying to bridge the gap between users with questions and those that have the answers. Other applications available now more function like forum groups where questions and answers are very unstructured. There are also cases where someone will simply say “Ah, I found the issue. Never mind” which can be incredibly frustrating. It might be possible in the future for this site to expand into other similar markets too, like basic how to’s or solving problems. It should be stated that the scope of this project is to simply answer questions and provide instructions for when something breaks or does not work. It is not designed to train anyone on a product or application. I do hope this application can help those in the future and can grow into something useful.
