Category: Tech

Websites are crucial to improving first impressions about your brand/cause/company as people are trying to find quick solutions for their issues online. If you are an online business or even an offline business looking to develop a website/app, you need to optimize it so that it appeals to your customers. 

User Experience is an important aspect of web/ app design as it determines whether your app or website will succeed or fail. It indicates and influences how the user interacts with your website/app and for how long. UX goes beyond creating attractive websites, instead, it strives to reduce website abandonment and ensures customer retention and satisfaction in the long run.

User Experience delivers what the customers really want. Adding complex features to your website might seem like the right decision but what customers look for is its simplicity and intuitiveness. Businesses need to shift from an organizational-centric model to a user-centric model when it comes to website design.

• Accessible: Customers are on your website because they are looking for answers and information. If the message/ information is not conveyed or is hidden on your website, customers will most likely abandon your website and look for other sources. It is important to write your content first and then design your website later. 

Your web design should highlight the critical information and hide unnecessary or additional details. Accessibility also entails creating content for all people, even users with physical disabilities such as visual impairments. Many companies neglect this type of audience as they believe that people with physical impairments are just a small fraction of the population. But it is important to note that if 1 in 4 people cannot access your website, you are still losing a significant customer base. By making your website accessible to all, you will also improve your brand image and reputation. 

• Usable: Usability means allowing users to use your products efficiently to solve their problems and achieve their objectives. Even if you add many features to your app/website, they will of no use if they cannot support the customers. Web designers should ensure that users can understand and use the features. All the options on the website need to be available to the customer. The best way to ensure that your app/website is usable is by carrying out usable tests. You can also develop an MVC with the basic features of the app/website to check how the users interact with it and use it before investing in a complete app/website.
• Credible: Credibility refers to the level of trust your customers have in your service. The more trust your brand has the more successful you will be in the market. Credibility can be achieved when you deliver what you promise through your app/website. Try displaying reviews, testimonials, or information about your past projects on your websites/apps. Developing credibility will also improve customer retention and engagement with your brand.
• Desirable: Desirable websites/ applications often have standout pricing, utility, design, and feature/s. You can attract users to your brand by designing your app in such a way that it sends out an impactful or emotional message. Various elements influence the desirability factor of a website such as aesthetics, branding, and identity. The desirability factor of your website can be assessed by noting how many customers are spreading the word about your website and sharing their good experiences with others. In other words, the desirability factor for your website or app will increase the chances of satisfied customers bragging about your website/app to others. Customer satisfaction makes your website more desirable to new users. 
• Valuable: When you launch your website/application it is important to make sure that it gives the best results and adds some value to your brand. The product should improve and benefit customers. If there are any issues with your website or services make it a point to fix them. The lack of value will damage your company’s reputation and may make you lose credibility. Learn and improve the User Experience from customer feedback and solve the queries presented by your customers through customer helplines or chatbots. Develop a system that boosts your reputation.
• Findable: Creating a usable and attractive website is not enough. A company must advertise its products and services to its target audiences. When people learn about your website, it increases the chances of them using it to find solutions. Convey what your website/app does differently through promotional activities to stand out from your competitors. 

On your website display all the main features and your contact information. Make your services easy-to-use for your target audiences. Try to reduce the efforts of the user, for instance, you can provide the option of Google or Facebook log-in without asking your customer to create a registered account on your app/website. The customer should be able to navigate through your site without any hassle.

• Simple: Many businesses get tempted and attempt to show all the features they have got to the users right off the bat. This strategy however does more harm than good. Complicated websites affect User Experience negatively and reduce conversion. It is important that you limit menu options and icons. Allow your customers to explore your website before dangling all your features in front of them

Providing your users with multiple options will make it difficult to choose or decide on one thing. Ensure that your website has a simple call to action button and make sure each page leads your customer to a contact form. Another benefit of going with a simple web/app design is that they load faster. Customers hate waiting and might simply leave your website if it takes a lot of time to load. A study has revealed that users do not wait for more than 4-5 seconds before they exist a website/app.

• Useful: In the fast-paced technological world, it is important that your website/app does not have any distractive or obstructive elements. Your app/website should provide a quick and effective answer to the customer’s issues. Your web design needs to be intuitive, relatable, and create an emotionally positive User Experience. For instance, Quora only displays the most helpful or voted answers on the top for each question page and collapses spam answers. This is useful for members as they can avoid irrelevant or spammy answers and get solutions faster.

To sum things up, the above eight factors indicate how your website/app is performing in terms of user experience. To come up with better features, always think from the perspective of your end-user, study competitor websites, and keep your website as simple as possible.  Avoid prioritizing creativity over usability, even if your website looks good, it may confuse your end-users. Do not overuse visual elements and add a search bar and contact information without fail. Adding technical jargon, complicating website navigation, and not creating content beforehand can deteriorate User Experience. 

UX design can be tricky for amateur designers or beginners, however, it is crucial for your website and organization to succeed. You can always consider outsourcing your web/app development to a reputed software development company. Such companies will have the time, resources, and know-how.

AUTHOR BIO:

Sameer Mehta is a blogger and entrepreneur and writes on technology and lifestyle-related topics. He has more than 15 years of experience in technology, consulting, and marketing. He has written for Entrepreneur, West Agile Labs, Exegy Consulting, Jewellerista, etc.

In the past, service deliveries and quality of services were evaluated mostly based on direct human interaction. This fact is no longer valid because technology is actively changing how most services are delivered and designed. There are many different trends that can be mentioned in regards to the way in which technology is changing services so let us explore some of the trends. 

Moving To Self Service And Automation

Whenever looking at service delivery in the past, there were personnel that had to be met in order to start the customer journey. Nowadays, there are many more options available, mainly because of the evolution of automated solutions and self-service. 

A very good example of this is Shift. The logistics platform uses technology to pair people interested in deliveries with free spots available in fleets. This means that there is no longer a need to interact with a human and the entire service becomes automated. We can also mention retail stores and their self-service lanes, supermarkets, gas pumps, and airline check-ins as wonderful examples. 

In addition, when you call customer support, you are often met by automated operators. At the same time, many language software programs are responsible for the responses you receive via email to some queries. 

Automated services and self-service technologies are very beneficial for consumers. This is because the service that is received is more accurate while time is not wasted in queues. Simply put, inquiries are being processed much faster than ever, all while operational costs are decreased. Services can easily be offered at lower costs right now. 

More Services Available

The internet practically eliminated boundaries. Technology drastically expands the potential reach when it comes to servicing customers. Just some years ago, this was just a dream. 

Most of the services we consumed in the past were local. Nowadays, with a few clicks, transactions and services are becoming accessible across countries and even continents. 

Most of the services that can be delivered across large distances are digital. This is actually an opportunity for companies that can focus on this as opposed to having to rely on physical inventories that are very costly. We just need to think about services like Netflix and Amazon to realize how valuable this is. 

Consumer Data

When technology started to influence service delivery and availability, a large part of the criticism that appeared was that human touch was lost. This did not happen. We now have access to many different online tools that allow businesses to gather a lot of consumer data. In fact, it is much easier to get consumer data on the internet than in a face-to-face scenario, especially when referring to wishes and needs because the online world also offers anonymity. 

On the whole, the most important thing is that technology increases automation and reduces costs for businesses. At the same time, customer data can be gathered really fast so that it is analyzed with the purpose of meeting the needs of the customers. Companies have to stay ahead of the curve and adapt. 

Cybersecurity is one of the global threats fronting many businesses today. The reputational and financial cost of a breach of data can be disastrous for any organization, and that is why it’s essential to have the proper cybersecurity professionals and protocols in place. 

Despite the extensive efforts to defeat cybersecurity threats and significant improvements in IT security practices and technology, the number of cybersecurity concerns approaching businesses continues to propagate.

Though today’s cybersecurity threats are not the same threats as before, they will still change and evolve as time advances. Hence, it’s critical for businesses to stay updated regarding the risks of their IT foundation and data security. Here are some cybersecurity threats that everyone should watch out for.

Malware

Although Malware might not cause significant damage for some, it can be a total headache when you have to deal with this cybersecurity threat. Most of the time, malware can lay dormant in a system and can attack anytime. When it attacks, prepare to have  a rude awakening. 

Malware can enable hackers to steal  your private information such as bank account numbers, social security numbers, names, dates, passwords, and pictures of you. To avoid such a program from doing damage to your system, you need a proper firewall. 

Your firewall can be your first line of defense as it prevents malicious websites from automatically installing malware on your PC without you knowing. Firewalls such as Fortigate 80e are one of the best in the market. 

Criminal for Hire

Groups of criminals will continue their current development and be more increasingly sophisticated. The complex collaborations, hierarchies, and partnerships that imitate a substantial private sector will facilitate their entry into fresh markets, and the scale of their activities lies at a global level. 

Some organizations are having the ancestry of existing illegal structures, while some will emerge focused primarily on cyber-crime. Organizations will strive to keep the pace with this expanded sophistication, and the influence will cover worldwide, with “crypto ware,” becoming the top malware because of its impact and threat value. 

The developing cyber occurrence in the years to come will probably be more damaging and persistent than organizations have encountered previously, making the disruption of business and trust loss in existing security contracts.

Although hackers or groups of hackers might have similar activities with groups that do social engineering schemes, they differ in many ways. First off, hackers are highly skilled with what they do. It’s very hard to get loose from a hacker, especially if they have the right tools to attack you. Social engineering scammers on the hand, can be easy to spot and can totally be avoided.

Another thing that separates the experts from the amateurs is their security. A skilled group of hackers can quickly hide their location if needed. Amateurs, on the other hand, blatantly hide behind legit businesses and can easily be tracked with just a simple email or a phone call.

Ransomware

Ransomware attacks may happen anytime, and any businesses of all sizes can be a victim every day. Companies can easily avoid ransomware attacks if all of their systems are updated while having the trusted anti-virus software installed. 

Also, businesses will need to always make sure that they regularly back up their company’s data and be careful enough with the files they’re opening on their computers. More so, they have to make sure that they will engage in educational cyber security seminars regularly with their staff who have access to the company’s files.

Social Engineering

Social Engineering runs closely associated with some cyber attacks, involving a hacker searching for information from an inexperienced employee in many ways to start a targeted attack. 

For example, any hacker may call the target organization, asking the names of employees, their job titles, and many more. Then, they can make an email that seems more realistic and more possible to get a click or a download. Once again, educating employees is the most effective defense, so they are informed of this threat.

Social Engineering schemes are often done in plain sight of the authorities. There are cases where these illegal “call centers” act as a legit service provider to avoid getting sniffed by authorities. These call centers can have as few as five employees or more than a hundred operating at the same time. 

Distributed Denial of Service

The Distributed Denial of Service, or more popularly known as DDOS attack, is an assault on a site or server where hackers will overload the target website with malicious web traffic with the purpose of crashing it because of an overload of information. Lots of small business’ websites are victim to these attacks as they don’t have the necessary security in place. The firewall and even a VPN can help lessen this type of threat.

DDOS attacks are also common in competitive gaming. Most of the time, hackers work together with illegal bettors to crash a game and put their bets on the winning side. DDOS attacks can be used from almost everywhere in the world and can be hard to track.

Shady Cloud Storage Services

The services of cloud computing are genuinely improving the ways on how small institutions function and are growing as a primary option for small and medium-sized corporations. Cloud storage services make the lives of plenty of business owners easy as they have timely security updates and other defense measures. 

While the cloud storage may seem like an excellent idea, you might never know if your storage provider is as secure as the way you want it to be. Hence, ensure that you are working with reputable service providers to avoid as much as possible those cloud storage issues.

Takeaway

If people believe that their daily actions won’t draw interest from criminals online, think again. Most of the time, hackers often target unsuspecting victims online. When they’re done, you can be sure that hackers won’t leave a thing uncovered about you. 

Aside from hackers, you should also be aware of other threats online, such as those mentioned above. Arm yourself with knowledge, the right netiquette, and the most efficient tools so these threats won’t stand a chance against you.

We often hear a firewall for security protection. However, some of us have no idea what actually a firewall is, how it works, and why it is essential to personal computers. In fact, there is a huge percentage that you are currently using a firewall for your device. 

What Is A Firewall?

Firewalls are typically built-in security devices in modern operating systems. Users also opt for a third-party firewall app for security and personal purposes. A firewall was initially made as a protective device in case of internet threats, securing your private documents and other credentials. This device is present in the phone, tablet, laptop, TV, and other common technological devices. 

When exchanging data takes place between a particular device to a router, a firewall monitors the entire online activity and checks whether or not it is safe. Take, for example, how a Palo Alto PA200 works. Its featured automated tools will do the examination, accepting or rejecting any suspicious applications or data. 

Why Should You Need It On Your Device?

Now that we have cleared the functions and definitions of a firewall let’s look at these major reasons you should employ its service on your device. We will also discover the top features you should look for when looking for a trusted firewall. 

Secures Online Gaming

In this digital age, online gaming is one of the most usual internet activities. However, it can also put your computer at risk. There are much malware that are initially created by prying eyes to target online gamers. Most of these malware exists in unsecured game servers. Using a firewall to defeat these potential threats is the smartest idea you should use. Firewalls will automatically block any attempted attacks before it harms your entire system. 

Secures Old Personal Computers

Despite being launched in 2001 and 2009, there are still people who regularly use Windows XP and 7. The worst thing is, most of these users don’t have firewalls installed. This can put their computers at risk at any moment. 

To avoid potential risks, users should use a third-party firewall to their old PCs to secure them, and once installed; they can upgrade the operating system to Windows 10 or Linux. This makes the device more secure. 

Filters Content

Firewalls can also filter content from the internet by blocking suspicious online destinations and even adult sites. In the United Kingdom and particular areas in the European Union, the blocking of dubious content might be administered by the Internet Service Provider (ISP). However, this service is an opt-out. You can tell the ISP if you wish to disable the block. 

Different Types And Characteristics Of A Good Firewall

Data breaches are one of the most significant issues today that usually resulted from an unprotected network. A good firewall should control all apps or sensitive details on a wireless network. This will limit traffic and prevent risks. 

There are vital factors you should always consider when purchasing a new firewall for your security protection. There are hundreds of firewalls available that are packed with various functions. It would be helpful if you look for the best one that will also suit your preferences. We have provided a list of multiple types of a firewall and its characteristics. 

Proxy Firewalls

Proxy Firewalls are also called as application-level gateways. One of its primary purposes is to filter the incoming traffic between the source and your network. The firewall inspects all incoming data packets and builds a connection to the traffic source, ensuring that they don’t contain any malware. 

Packet-Filtering Firewalls

Packet-Filtering Firewall makes a checkpoint at a router or traffic switch or router. It scrutinizes data, including IP address destination, packet type, or surface-level details. The firewall is also regarded as a convenient network security protection service because of its resource-intensive characteristics. 

Next-Generation Firewalls

This refers to the modern firewall. Next-Generation Firewalls features deep-packet inspection, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) handshake, and even surface-level packet. There are types of next-gen firewalls that feature Intrusion Prevention Systems, preventing any potential internet attacks. 

Cloud-Based Firewalls

The primary purpose of a Cloud-Based Firewalls network is to the database and other IT applications. This firewall is popularly known for having a top security and protection level that is administered by a qualified maintenance team. It has no unscheduled downtime because of its related features that let all the sites forward traffic. One of the best highlights of this firewall is its ability to protect remote offices and many websites. 

Circuit-Level Gateways

The primary objective of Circuit-Level Gateways is to approve or deny traffics when you are using limited resources of computing. It also verifies the Transmission Control Protocol handshake. TCPs are initially designed to confirm the source’s authority. 

Software Firewalls

Also known as a Host Firewall, and is highly regarded as a rising star in the cybersecurity industry. Software Firewalls feature standard and advanced security services. The firewall works for two purposes: for your network and computer security systems. 

Hardware Firewalls

Hardware firewalls represent an independent of particular hardware between your external and internal networks from the name itself. The firewall is also called an Appliance Firewall. The major difference between the software and hardware firewall is their resources. The tool will not consume Random Access Memory (RAM) and even your Central Processing Unit (CPU) in hardware. 

Takeaway

Think firewall as a guard in school and business buildings, controlling who will just enter the infrastructure. It also blocks all the outsiders as they might be a potential threat. The firewall’s most common function is to keep your entire computer system safe from any online attacks and data breaching. 

Firewalls are also useful for elections. Representatives will use and set a firewall to prevent any prying eyes during the computation. If you want to employ its service for your data or computer systems protection, consider the types mentioned above to pick a particular product that suits your needs. Adding an extra security step will go a long way. There are hundreds of products available. Select and purchase wisely.

The pandemic has changed every aspect of our lives quite considerably, and with new restrictions in place to keep our health and wellness intact, it’s imperative we continue to adhere to the social distancing rule, to wash our hands regularly and to limit contact with people who aren’t in our ‘bubble’. However, as pubs, bars, restaurants, and your favourite local shops re-open, sometimes it becomes very difficult to strictly follow these rules. If you’re treating yourself to a nice little Italian, the waiter has to deliver food on your table, and the 1m and 2m rule is obsolete. The cutlery laid out on the table must be clean for use, and you are placing your faith and trust in this particular establishment to have followed the rules given out by the government. While these situations may sound daunting and increase our racing thoughts of anxiety, the one positive to come out of the pandemic, is the introduction of new products and new technology that has been demanded of covid19. 

Delivery robots to deliver your Hawaiian pizza from Pizza express to limit physical touch and contact? Sure. You no longer have to travel 1 hour and 35 minutes to one of your biggest marketing clients, and therefore use Zoom for virtual meetings that go even better than the real thing and are better for the environment? Who would’ve thought – brilliant!

The question is, will non touch appliances be the new norm, as we try to navigate through this pandemic. We know where possible, we need to reduce physical contact with our friends, family, and objects too. With advanced technology in the market, it’s no surprise we have appliances that require no touch, from our cars locking system, to our kitchen refrigerator, bathroom taps, showers, and plenty more. While it may seem like we live in a technological advanced world that seems to be only digital, non-touch appliances work in favour of the covid19 pandemic, because we don’t need to use our touch to operate an item or object. 

The most important place in our homes, and in public, are washrooms. They are home to plenty of bacteria and fungi that can contribute to our overall health and wellness. The bathroom should be the most hygienic room in the home, and residential and commercial property owners have now decided to invest in hygienic, non-touch solutions to promote health and hygiene, while at the same time promoting green tech and sustainability. 

Sensor Taps

The elite of all the taps to ever exist. Many bathrooms and washrooms across the UK, have the ordinary, average taps where you twist them and water comes rushing out. Well, as we work towards climate change and global warming goals to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, this means one way to do this, in conjunction with other things, is to reduce our water usage. Manual taps mean we use more water than we actually need. Do you leave the tap running while you brush your teeth and walk around the bathroom? Do you switch the shower on 5 minutes before you get in it for it to ‘warm up’? We are all guilty of these things, but for modern bathrooms and washrooms now, automatic sensor taps are kings. Thy are activated by the user, and they are amazing for saving on water and energy.

Although those are the two main selling points: they save on water and energy – another is that they are more hygienic. How so? They reduce the spread of germs around the washroom, because you don’t need to touch them for water to be released whenever you wash your hands. Pretty neat, right?

Paper Towels

We won’t get into the paper towels vs hand dryers debate, we think this feud will go on for the rest of time, but anyway, the majority of public and workplace washrooms will use paper towels, or have a hand dryer (hopefully not an old, clunky one). If you are using a hand dryer that still has a button you need to push to activate it, you should really consider. Remember the purpose of sensor taps which was to not have to touch the taps in order for it to be activated? The same applies with however you dry your hands too. Non touch electric hand dryers are proving to be popular, but they deserve to be widely adopted across the globe because of their hygienic and UV-C technology. 

As we all start to head back to work, it’s our mission to minimise contact points and to only touch and use what is necessary. Washrooms are of course hotspots, because this is something we have to use, but there is plenty of solutions to tackle this issue, with the use non touch technology, such as sensor taps, non-touch dryers, paper towel dispensers and of course, regular sanitation and disinfectant cleaning.

Sensor Soap Dispenser

You don’t need to touch a soap bottle again! Soap dispensers that have a sensor, allow you to put your hand under the sensor, and dispenses the soap for you. It prevents bacteria from spreading all over your room, whether it’s the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom or anywhere. 

Hybrid cloud refers to a cloud-computing infrastructure that merges a public cloud environment with a private cloud system by facilitating seamless sharing of data and applications between them. This allows businesses to scale their on-site private cloud infrastructure to the public cloud to manage the additional data processing and computing demand at any point in time.

Using a hybrid cloud allows companies to make use of the flexibility and computing power of the public cloud environment for non-sensitive and routine tasks. At the same time, they can continue managing their business-critical applications and data on their private cloud infrastructure secured by a robust company firewall. From superior control and flexibility to better cost savings, there are a lot of advantages of choosing a hybrid cloud strategy. Below are 10 benefits that make the hybrid cloud a productive solution for businesses across all industries.

1. Business Continuity

Business continuity is one of the vital aspects of a company’s business operations. Having a reliable business continuity plan not just means backing up all the company-sensitive data on the cloud servers, but also adopting the right measures to ensure that the data management processes will not be affected in any way in case of an emergency. A hybrid cloud can help not just to keep the critical data safe, but will also allow you to run the operations as usual by using the public cloud resources in case a disaster hits your business operations.

So, how can businesses make the move to the hybrid cloud for business continuity?

Determining which applications will bring the most value in a move to the cloud should be the starting point. From there you move on to address the technology trade-offs, such as selecting the best approach to migrate the application and deal with important issues such as security, governance, and disaster recovery. In this way, you can modernize your application development processes and technology to make the most out of your newly deployed hybrid cloud.

This is where businesses have to pay a custom software development team providing cloud services for a while.

2. ecurity

Many businesses are still skeptical about implementing a 100% public cloud strategy and cite security concerns as the reason. A hybrid cloud environment can help to bridge the gap here by allowing you to keep the sensitive data on a dedicated private cloud infrastructure. However, major players in the enterprise cloud industry employ high-end security measures to protect their servers in top-tier facilities. So, you can also go the other way around and keep your sensitive data on the public cloud, while running routine business operations using the private cloud resources.

3. Network Performance

Latency and network issues are common cloud computing problems that often lead to slow and inadequately performing applications. This can have a severe effect on the user experience and harm the reputation of your business. In most cases, finding and fixing the network and latency problems can be quite difficult as well. Adopting a hybrid cloud strategy keeps you free from such issues by allowing you to enjoy enhanced network performance. As a hybrid cloud balances the load, distance-based latency can be reduced as well by delivering services from a location that is close to the end-user.

4. Scalability

Scaling on-premises cloud infrastructure can be very difficult for rapidly growing businesses. Aside from addressing the current situation, you will need to project your resource utilization for future endeavors and make the right investments to meet those demands as well. This can be very expensive, and sometimes, inefficient too. By choosing a hybrid cloud environment, you can scale the computing and data processing resources on your own terms to deal with your growing business needs. You can even implement automation rules within the cloud infrastructure to scale the resources up and down as required by your business.

5. Control

Another advantage of implementing a hybrid cloud strategy is that it gives you more control over all the aspects of the IT infrastructure. You do not need to entrust everything to a third-party cloud service vendor as it is with public cloud solutions; instead, you can customize the private end of your hybrid cloud model to meet your specific needs and modify the rules as required to fit your business demands. You can also have your internal IT staff continue managing the critical operations as well as routine maintenance and updating of the servers and other infrastructure.

6. Reduced Costs

A hybrid cloud strategy can be a cost-effective solution for businesses looking for robust security and scalability options to meet the rising operational demands. As migrating to the hybrid cloud option allows you to continue running the core operations and business-critical data on your private servers, it does not require investing any huge capital to expand the current IT infrastructure. Off-loading day-to-day business tasks and non-sensitive data and applications to the public cloud helps to keep the costs manageable, as you only need to pay for the cloud resources you use.

7. Increased Agility

You need to be able to respond quickly to the changes in demand to remain competitive in the market. A hybrid cloud model can help your business to boost the speed to market by optimizing IT performance and ensuring that you have the agility required to meet the changing industry demands. As you are not limited to your on-premise infrastructure, you can easily extend your workload on the cloud when there is a spike in demand. This helps you to quickly develop, test, and deploy new applications and services in the market.

8. Risk Management

A hybrid cloud gives you the best way to test your business capabilities around different kinds of workloads and plan your cloud strategy effectively. It is known that the cloud environment can be a bit complex to navigate at times, which is why you should plan your risk management policies well to make sure that things will always remain in the favor of your business. You can test non-sensitive workloads on the cloud environment before moving more critical applications. This way, you can understand how to make the most of deploying the hybrid cloud model.