YourNews: Leeds Upping the Ante for Digital
As award-winning digital agency, Bolser brought together a team of mobile performance experts for Leeds Digital Festival 2017 the resounding message that came out was: “we need to up the ante for digital and in a thriving digital city such as Leeds we’re in a great position to do this”.
Speakers from EE, NHS Digital, Perform Group and Bolser were all singing from the same song sheet, as they informed audiences that the demand for mobile engagement and improved user experiences continue to increase apace and the importance of creative mobile engagement should not be underestimated.
Bolser MD, Ashley Bolser, who hosted the event said: “Companies having a greater understanding of creative optimisation on mobile devices is imperative in an increasing digital world as mobile has overtaken desktop for web traffic generation in many sectors. Even working with global clients, we see there is vast room for improvement in developing the very best mobile experiences, through consistently reinvesting into improving customer journeys. Brands together with partner agencies really must commit to upping the ante. There is nowhere better in the UK for the digital community to band together and share innovative ideas than Leeds, a city always on the cusp of change and progression. I am proud to have my business here, and am thankful the national/international digital community is taking notice of what we can do. I hope this will also help attract and retain more talent in the city, and stave off the lure of London.”
Stephen Corbett, Head of UI Design at NHS Digital, admitted they need to deliver more for customers who demand more digital control and spoke about how the NHS was lagging behind in terms of providing digital experiences, but went on to say that the Leeds based team recognised this and are committed to developing new communication options for patients. He spoke of how NHS Digital are driven to improve the industry as a whole with their take up of digital provision, and of his team’s passion for tapping into user R&D to drive forward change in a sector bound by red tape. He said: “We appreciate that digital development and encouraging patient mobile interactions brings with it lots of challenges for doctors and hospitals, but we also know that patients desire for mobile self-service is growing. Our digital experts are committed to upping the ante on what digital can bring to the NHS.”
Adam Fellowes, Senior UX Manager at EE, shared information on their on-going challenge of serving personalised data on mobile to their hugely varied customer base with extremely diverse needs. He acknowledged the need to deliver more for customers who demand more digital control and explained EE commits ongoing investment into increasing their activity here and constantly improving the user experience from user feedback.
He said: “EE has over 30 million customers. We are always learning from them. Delivering commercial benefits following the principles of MVP results in continued improvements and we are investing more than ever before in advancing this with our talented team in Leeds and our Leeds based partner Bolser who support us with the EE App. Enabling customers to self serve in a simple, clean way is so much more complicated than it seems and it takes significant amounts of user insights to deliver a seamless mobile experience but we are committed to building a better digital life. Leeds is a city full of talent – we can all help define great digital experiences, so let’s get on and do it.”
Rob Gill, UX Manager at Perform Group, was on hand to discuss their approach to improving Mobile Release Notes for better user engagement. He said: “By introducing very small visual design changes to plain text release notes, you can help inform and enlighten users on the benefits of updating your app. Clear communication with your users is key. Often people don’t read app notes. Especially when they expect the same monotonous copy. However, when you’ve taken a lot of time to improve your app, spending a little bit more time on your release notes just makes sense. In turns your customers experience with your app will be enhanced and loyalty will be increased. The challenge is getting non-technical teams, often under high pressure, to think about the end user. It’s difficult, as its not always the designers or developers responsibility to write release notes. However these teams have done the hands-on work. Therefore co-ordination of teams is key to enable us to up the ante of mobile experiences for our customers, even outside the boundaries of your own products.”
Bolser were last to take the stage when Lead Digital Designer Hanneka talked the 100 strong audience through projects the agency was working on for KFC and Microsoft, discussing how they had taken existing apps and online systems and turned them around to deliver much more engaging experiences through gamification, user profiling and improved mobile responsiveness.
Stuart Festival Director, Leeds Digital Festival concluded: “This has been a fantastic event that has seen these speakers provide so much honesty and insight into what needs to change around digital provision. With such talent here in Leeds we are on the cusp of a digital revolution right now, with global brands turning to digital experts in the city when advancing their mobile offerings. I’m so excited to be a part of this sector and I am really proud of what we are delivering as a city, securing Leeds’ place as the Digital Capital of the North”.
The Digital Festival hosted over 100 Events at over 50 Venues for over 10,000 Attendees from all over the country.
