Looking forward: Enterprise gadget trends
Here is a look at some of the key trends we can expect in enterprise gadgets in the relatively near future.
Inter-gadget communication
Google recently announced an “inter-gadget” communication framework that has received very little attention, but is something that has enormous potential and I believe will be a major force in the future.
The PubSub framework allows ‘publisher’ gadgets on iGoogle to communicate changes to ’subscriber’ gadgets that have declared interest in those changes. This is currently available only on iGoogle and publisher/subscriber gadgets must be on the same page.
The big deal is that you can now build gadgets that communicate back and forth with one another. So information (and functionality) is no longer constrained to fit inside a single gadget. Instead, you can now split up various pieces of information amongst multiple gadgets and allow them to communicate with each other to paint a bigger picture. This also adds to the personalization options available to users - if the user only cares about one particular segment, they can simply remove or minimize any gadgets containing extraneous information that they don’t care about.
This is opens up a whole new realm of possibilities never available before, especially in the realm of inter-company mashups.
One open question: will Google make PubSub part of the OpenSocial API?
Adding ambience
One of the most compelling attractions of gadgets is that you can have many different applications on a single page. The disadvantage is noticing when one of these applications has something new and important to say. Also, by having your gadget on a users home page, you have access to their constant partial attention. So the idea is to make your gadgets as ambient, or “glanceable“, as possible. Ambient communication doesn’t interrupt you, and you don’t have to go look for it. It’s just there, and you can pay as much or as little attention to it as you want. If the implementation is intelligent, it can provide clues that can help you determine what is important and what is not. Here are some simple examples of how ambience can be used in context:
(Source: www.ambientdevices.com)
Leveraging internal data
One advantage enterprise gadgets have over generic gadgets is that you already know a lot about a user from your internal database. For example, you know what kind of equipment a user is interested in by what they have purchased in the past. This can be used to tailor what information the user sees in their particular gadget. You can also use trend analysis to help anticipate services that a user may need in the future, and build this into the content funneled to the user through a gadget.
Leveraging virtual currency
(Also see Seven steps to graphing your Facebook strategy by Dave McClure)
Getting gadgets on users pages and keeping them there is obviously a critical component of an enterprise gadget strategy. Used effectively, virtual currency can greatly enhance your ability to incent users to keep your gadgets around, engage them, and foster valuable types of social interaction. Blending award programs, rebates, special offers, etc. into a comprehensive virtual currency strategy powered by gadgets can be a useful way to keep the user constantly engaged.
Blurring the line between functionality and marketing
Google recently announced a Gadget Ads program that provides tools for advertisers to run gadget ads in Google’s AdSense network. Marketers can use space within these display ads on Google’s network to show videos, offer chats with celebrities, play host to games or other activities. If consumers like the ad, they can acquire the gadget.
So consumer brands like Sierra Mist and Honda Civic will create gadgets as a way of providing content or tools to potential customers. Google is hoping marketers will pay to place these gadgets throughout its AdSense network. Advertisers will bid for keywords to place their widget ads in Google’s network in the same way they do other Google ads.
As Google puts it:
“Use gadget ads to drive significant traffic to your iGoogle gadgets to maintain an ongoing conversation with your target audience.”
Here is an example of an ad for Honda:
Common gadget platform
Google’s announcement of OpenSocial means that gadgets developed using OpenSocial API’s will work with no additional programming effort in any OpenSocial enabled container. That means that a gadget developed for Orkut or iGoogle will also work in Ning and MySpace.
Mobile gadgets
It is relatively safe to assume that Google’s announcement of Android, a complete, open, and free mobile platform, when coupled with OpenSocial, will mean that gadgets built using the OpenSocial API will work on Android-powered mobile devices with little development additional effort.
Gadget give-aways
When you purchase a car, the dealer may give you logo-ed mug or key ring - something that reinforces your loyalty to the brand. Gadgets are the perfect virtual giveaway, and much more effective. As part of a business transaction, companies will provide gadgets as a way to reinforce the brand and keep the customer close. So in this example, the dealer could send the user a branded traffic monitor gadget. In fact, Acura already does this. The Acura RDX Traffic Widget shows traffic incidents, road construction, and traffic speed in your area. It can be minimized to a small traffic info ticker and also tells you how to get real-time traffic information in your new Acura RDX.
Multi-company gadgets
Enterprise gadgets are usually exactly that – gadgets that are related to that particular enterprise. But there is a very interesting opportunity to build enterprise gadgets around multiple enterprises by focusing on a common user need. Here is a hypothetical example built around rebate tracking:
End user development
Gadgets are the perfect way to leverage the growing ability of non-technical users to build their own software solutions. End users are not interested (and don’t have the skills) to build complete applications. Gadgets provide them with the ability to create mini-apps that are easily deployed anywhere without the usual complexities associated with application development and deployment. Watch for gadgets to become the primary delivery mechanism for end-user development.
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