Open Tech Calendar

When creating mobile services, or the use of mobile as a channel to their customers for existing digital services, the main choices folks currently consider is between a mobile site or a native app or the various shades of grey in between.

Mobile devices were originally, and still are to a considerable degree, designed to support conversation and messaging; whether it be around voice, simple text messages, or richer media such as IM etc. This can often be a much more convenient and natural way to engage with a mobile user.

We will explore the opportunities this opens up, the challenges it presents, and why you should include messaging in your thinking when designing mobile services.

The use of messaging on mobile isn’t new - it is more that it has been forgotten about during the app revolution. Geoff Ballinger from deltaDNA spent many happy years rolling out SMS and MMS services in the 2000s and will remind us that these basic mechanisms still have a place in our toolbox alongside the newer and sexier alternatives.

Over the last few years there have been a huge expansion in richer messaging mechanisms on and around mobile. David Low and Richard Keen from Skyscanner will tell us about how they have successfully started to exploit these, initially through focussed partnerships with particular providers, and how they are now starting to draw these learnings into their core travel search products as their users adapt.

One key problem with chat as an interface is that it's unconstrained. It is easy to confuse a bot, and also easy for a bot to annoy a user. Daniel Winterstein from SoDash will consider understanding and sincerity vs automation, and look forward to the more sophisticated AIs and bots we may need. He'll also be demoing his new bot product: Orla, the social-media robot intern for SMEs.

As usual we will finish with an open discussion session followed by a networking reception with wine.