Technologies Digital Insights

Telehealth, simply put, is some type of delivery. It helps to provide health care services when patients and health professionals are separated by distance via remote technologies. Telehealth uses technologies for the exchange of information for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries for the patients. Live video conferencing, mobile health apps and remote patient monitoring (RPM) are examples of technologies used in telehealth.

It’s Healthtech time

Telehealth is improving the healthcare industry in many ways, the first of which is increasing its accessibility. Telehealth allows specialists to visit patients virtually from any place in the world by improving access as well as making a wider range of healthcare services available via telemedicine.

Today’s Telehealth environment consists of a global ecosystem of myriad digital solutions.  There are two alarming end-users trends that you should pay attention to when considering Telehealth design and solutions.

1. What doctors struggle the most with
2. What people looking for when they choose the healthcare providers

Providing virtualized healthcare to any place in the world is one of the best-known applications of telehealth. But the medical industry is using it in several other ways, including:

• Urgent help in distance. It can be a headache or sore throat. There are many medical complaints that aren’t life-threatening, but they need some professional attention. Virtual care services allow skilled health personnel to treat minor complaints, including providing appropriate prescriptions.
• Stay in contact. Qualified medical personnel can use messages, phone and video calls to follow up the patients after they are discharged from the hospital. This way, improves worker productivity from not having to take time off and travel to appointments and ensures each patient understands the importance and carries out recovery and treatment plans. Also, telehealth platforms can automate much of the communication process, including sending reminders to the patients.
• Updating online prescription. Telehealth provides the possibility to update online prescriptions even If you’ve been unable to get to your own doctor to refill a current prescription.
• Monitoring of patients with chronic conditions. For these patients, it is one of the best benefits of telehealth. Virtual care helps those who have mobility issues, mental illness, and other conditions that may prevent them from going to in person medical appointments.
• Facilitating care to rural areas. Telehealth is a great way to provide patients in places that are outside the current health delivery system with access to quality care. In the event of a medical emergency, telemedicine makes it possible to coordinate with specialists in other regions without wasting time to provide patients with effective treatment.
• Increased patient satisfaction. In addition to referrals, many patients assess and choose healthcare providers through online reviews. As such, you must have positive reviews that will attract new patients. Telemedicine helps improve patient satisfaction scores by providing convenience of care and reducing wait time. The providers have the opportunity to offer remote services to the patients and make it convenient for them to receive medical attention. Also, this process reduces in-hospital visits.
  

All right, let’s move on to the design

Telehealth platforms require a unique approach to service design. As you can imagine, it isn’t the same way, say, for a food delivery service.

Telehealth is not about technology, it’s about people

That’s a good reminder that you need to create space for telehealth that provides human connections and assistance. The healthcare industry is unique and complex, and it can be challenging to set up. Establishing fundamental principles to guide telehealth design will help us keep sight of the user experience and user journey throughout different healthcare systems.

In this article, we’ll highlight the important and unique challenges in the design faced by digital health companies and startups.

1. Research. To begin, you need a shared understanding of how you usually provide face to face care. You will need a solid understanding of the patient’s journey through your service.
2. Construction. Based on our research findings, you need to discuss them with your client. There is the moment when you draft innovative solutions and delve into user journeys. We identify the most promising ideas based on jointly developed options. Service design can be quite abstract. The main idea is to find key service touchpoints.
3. Strategize and develop Next, it is necessary to work with your clients to co-create a product roadmap and business strategy. Together with medical professionals, you develop an extensive plan of the envisioned telehealth design, listing interactions between users, new processes, and workflows. Also, don’t forget to define the physical and digital things that will be used. By the end of this step, you’ve created visual content and material to start the development process.
4. Taking it live. From our experience, we recommend turning digital and physical artifacts into minimum viable products (MVP).  MVP is essential to clinical trials. There is a product that has basic features and can be used to get feedback from the users.

After the main last modifications, it’s time for launch! At this stage, it’s important to provide testing to ensure that the envisioned workflow and interactions are happening as intended.

That’s it

To sum up, telemedicine is full of benefits for patients and healthcare providers. When people have had a taste of telehealth, they’re willing to continue using this convenient care option.

Telehealth’s future looks very bright, doesn’t it?

Also, it’s obvious to see continued strong growth and upgrade around devices, communication channels, telemedicine services, and telehealth platforms. Look for them to become increasingly user-friendly and convenient. As this happens, we can expect to see a resulting increase in users. After all, good design is the right way to improve engagement.

Designers will need to imagine themselves in both the patients’ and providers’ roles during the preparation for the start to create the design for telehealth. Every detail of a visit, from the method of scheduling appointments to the distribution of follow-up procedures, should be carefully planned to ensure the best outcomes and clear understanding.

We can expect to see digital pharmacies, virtual appointments, online triage tools, and remote monitoring gain in popularity. It may well become the new normal in healthcare.

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Developing a web or mobile app gives a business great opportunities and provides benefits in the form of additional dividends and audience loyalty. Having a clear understanding of the end goals, it is essential to define the main functionality of the future application to achieve the business goals and effectively perform setting tasks.

How to identify core functionalities for your web/mobile application?

Before developing an application, businesses must understand what features should be included in the finished product. The efficiency of the application itself and the speed of achieving the set KPIs depend on this. What may work for one company does not resonate with the business goals of other companies. In this list, we cover what you should consider when compiling a feature list:

1. Define your business goals 

What goals do you want to achieve with the app? Make a clear list of the problems your app will solve, what target audience will use it, and what preliminary results you expect.

2. Research the market and competitors

Analyze the market in your niche to understand what functionality your competitors already offer. Research and analyze their applications to understand what advantages they offer and disadvantages their products have. That will help you determine relevant features for your app to stand out in the market.

3. Make a preliminary list of features

Before development, list those features that will help you achieve your goals. Divide them into core and optional features. In the core features, list the ones without which your app won't be able to function efficiently and solve the users' problem. In the optional ones, list the ones which are not essential to the basic functionality but can add value and competitive advantage.

4. Prioritize features

Determine which features in the application are most important to achieve your initial goal. Prioritize and determine which features can be added later in later app versions. That will help you focus on developing the more essential components. 

5. Conduct user research

The research will help you understand the needs and preferences of your target audience. Conduct surveys, interviews, focus groups, or analysis of user behavior in your niche. Use this data to refine and tailor your feature list to your users' needs.

6. Create user scenarios

Develop different user scenarios to better understand how users will interact with your app and what features they need to achieve their goals. For example, define how users will sign in, log in, perform specific tasks, make purchases, or interact with other users.

Top-9 Core functionalities for every web/mobile application

Multi-Device Synchronization

It is a process in which different devices work together and exchange information so that the data and settings on all devices are the same or consistent.

When devices synchronize, they usually use the Internet to exchange data. For example, you might sync your smartphone with your laptop to update contacts, calendars, and photos on both devices. When you make changes on one device, those changes are automatically transferred to other devices so that all appliances have up-to-date information. 

This makes working on multiple devices as easy as possible, gives you a significant advantage in the app market, and guarantees more users.‍

A User-Friendly and Responsive Interface

In addition to a functional set, it is vital to think about a pleasant design and clear navigation for the user's enjoyable and convenient use of the application. In this way, interaction with the application is easy and effortless. 

The user-friendly interface has clear and easily accessible buttons and menus, well-organized information, and clear instructions. This allows you to perform the necessary tasks without unnecessary complications.

The responsive interface ensures that the system responds quickly to user actions. When you press a button or perform an action, the responsive interface responds instantly and without delay. Or when you scroll through a web page or type on the keyboard, the responsive interface displays changes instantly and smoothly, with no visible delays.

The success of an application is directly related to its loading speed and the attractiveness of the interface. This is what users look for when choosing a user-friendly app.

A Search Option

This feature allows you to find the information you want in the app or on a website. When you enter keywords or phrases related to what the user is looking for, the app scans its database or content to find relevant results.

The search option saves time and effort by helping to search for specific items or information the user is looking for instead of having to browse everything manually. This option is handy on significant marketplaces to search for a particular item.

Push notifications

Push notifications typically appear on the screen of any user's device in the form of small messages or icons, including text, images, or sounds. They are designed to get your attention and notify you of updates or social media activity.

They are convenient and essential because they help you stay informed and ensure you get all the important information. However, if the user receives too many notifications, they can become intrusive or distracting. Therefore, it is crucial to provide the ability to customize their settings, which the user will set independently according to their preferences.

Offline Capabilities

With offline access, users can browse the app's content even when the device is not connected to Wi-Fi or a mobile network. For example, you can view and edit documents, listen to music, or watch videos without the Internet.

It is often the case that you cannot connect to the Internet or have no network, for example, when traveling in regions with poor coverage or when saving data traffic. Therefore, this feature will be a great advantage for those users who want to use the application offline.

Analytics Tools

Analytics tools in a web or mobile app can track various user actions, such as app launches, page views, button clicks, interaction with interface elements, and other events.

Using this data, you can make informed decisions, make changes, optimize your app, and improve its functionality to meet user needs and increase the effectiveness of your app.

Security

Security refers to the measures and mechanisms built into the application to protect data and keep users safe. This process includes data encryption, protection against unauthorized access, and user information storage in secure locations.

This is a basic but important feature that will not only keep each user's data secure and protected but will also increase trust and loyalty to your app.

Online Payments

Online payments allow you to purchase in online stores, pay bills for services, send money to others, and much more. It is convenient because the user can make payments at any time and from any place with Internet access. To do this, it is necessary to connect an electronic payment system through which the payment will take place. 

Due to the growing number of online stores, stores, and food delivery companies - the need to implement this function is increasing.

Integrations

Integration refers to the creation of links and interactions between different software components. This allows them to exchange data, transfer information, and use each other's functionality. 

For example, suppose you have a hotel booking site. In that case, you can integrate it with maps and geolocation systems to offer users the nearest available hotels and show them on a map. Integrating various features and services into web and mobile apps makes the user experience easier and better. 

Integrations help create more useful and powerful apps, extend functionality, and enable easy data exchange with other systems or services.

Summary

Mobile and web apps allow users to access information, interact with others, shop, automate workflows, simplify daily activities, and more through a user-friendly interface and unique features. 

Which features you choose depends on your business, its needs, and the app's purpose. Everything is tailored individually. Combining all of the above features can be the perfect modern app to meet the needs of your customers. But if, for some reason, one of the items doesn't work for you, use something that will definitely increase the efficiency of your product.

The modern financial world dictates its own rules. By including the critical success factors in this area, one can distinguish effective management of relations with the client. Reliable CRM solutions guarantee this goal because they contribute to optimizing many processes, thereby increasing productivity and taking customer interaction to a new level. In this article, we would like to share with you the best CRM systems that have been created, taking into account the characteristics and needs of modern financial companies.

What Is CRM for Financial Services?

CRM for financial services is software designed to manage customer contacts and improve comprehensive business performance. The main goals of financial CRM software are to automate processes, provide detailed analysis of client data to understand customer requirements better, reduce financial costs, and increase the effectiveness of strategic planning. Thus, all of the above in the complex helps to boost profits and strengthen the company's and brand's positions in the market.

How to Choose a CRM for Financial Services

Let's not argue that choosing CRM software for banking industry is difficult. However, we are ready to help you with this task by providing detailed tips.

First, you should clearly define the specific goals and the needs you intend to achieve/satisfy using CRM in financial services. Do you need only a system to manage customer relationships, optimize marketing campaigns, or increase sales? Or do you want it all together? Once you decide on your own goals, you can automatically narrow down the range of potential options. 

Regarding security, you have to be sure that the CRM system fully complies with modern data protection standards and is designed considering all reliable encryption mechanisms. This not only reduces the risk of data duplication but also maximizes the efficiency of your work processes.

It is also worth checking the CRM provider's support and training. Reliable support and the opportunity to receive professional training guarantee rapid business growth without downtimes and human-made errors. That’s why you should research reviews about your chosen service provider to see how comprehensive their support is.

In the end, the cost of the CRM system should not be devalued. Conduct a comparative analysis of various CRM systems, taking into account both initial costs and, accordingly, future costs, including further maintenance and updating.

Therefore, the main recommendation is to choose a system that offers the best balance between its cost and the quality of possible results for your company in finance.

Top 5 CRM solutions for Financial Services Businesses

It's time to share the top-5 CRM solutions for financial services known for their versatility, reliability, and power to manage customer relationships. However, note that each CRM for fintech from our list has its own features, which you should pay attention to while choosing the best option for your business.

Salesforce CRM

Salesforce is one of the leading CRM solutions, and its development team is confident in bringing its expertise to the financial services industry. This system includes tools that have been designed to meet the needs of many private equity firms, as well as the needs of companies working in related fields (banking, mortgage insurance). Within its core is a vast database to better understand customers' needs, habits, and behavior patterns. Other distinctive feature of this software solution is the ability to create custom modules adapted to the individual tasks and goals of a specific business (however, it is important to understand that the cost of deploying and supporting such a customized system will increase significantly). Moreover, it is equipped with AI-based analytics, helping consultants obtain even more valuable customer insights in no time. Among its other benefits are the ability to consolidate disparate data and optimize lead management, as well as almost unlimited scalability and flexibility.

Its disadvantages include that its work fully depends on the stability of the Internet connection and that its price may be too high for growing businesses. In addition, this CRM has a lot of modules, and the initial setup of the system often requires the participation of a narrow-focused specialist.

Envestnet Tamarac CRM

This fintech CRM focuses on helping independent financial advisers provide more personalized investment expertise to individual clients. Envestnet Tamarac CRM offers intelligent real-time reporting to help track customer progress toward their financial goals. The presence of optimized business adaptation processes for new customers is worth noting, as it allows you to quickly and easily create new accounts through Salesforce. This system is built entirely on the Microsoft Dynamics platform with a familiar Microsoft Outlook interface. Also, in the mobile version, consultants can enter the system «as a client», which enables them to see the dashboard exactly as their client would see it.

The cons of this solution include poor collaboration functionality because, as we mentioned above, it was designed initially for individual consultants.

Wealthbox CRM

This platform is flexible enough to be suitable for a wide range of users – from financial consultants to custodians and large firms combining the functions of broker and dealer. CRM data management, multi-channel client communication, and integration with social networking platforms like Twitter. With it, you can customize «under yourself» business processes or rely on business process templates using conditional logic to automate routine tasks. Also, it provides the ability to use Kanban dashboards to track potential financial transactions and keep abreast of how to work with potential clients. Wealthbox CRM is popular because of its low entry threshold.

However, along with all these benefits, this solution has several drawbacks, too. For instance, some users are dissatisfied with the poor householding functionality. In addition, Wealthbox may not be suitable for people who need to sync with Outlook calendar.

Zoho CRM

Zoho financial CRM software helps collect and organize all customer data, including basic CRM-related information, financial documents, financial policy information, and insurance records. This fintech CRM software offers tools for working with so-called «assets under management» to track all your transactions with financial institutions and other companies (here, we mean AUM tools where AUM is Assets Under Management). With built-in support modules (case modules), you can match your customers' needs with more financial data to provide efficient support. It is worth mentioning «Zia» – the Zoho assistant based on artificial intelligence, which adds a thoughtful layer of forecasts and suggestions for customers and helps you know when and how best to contact them.

At the same time, some Zoho users complain about limited customization features, poor reporting capabilities, and inconvenient dashboards.

NexJ CRM

NexJ is an intelligent financial services CRM with highly specialized modules for financial and banking consultants (specifically, they can use the private equity management module). This CRM system focuses on the specifics of the regional market with experience in more than 60 countries, and all this is thanks to the active use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics. These technologies, properly implemented in this solution, allow consultants to concretize their financial recommendations. 

In general, NexJ looks and feels like a highly professional system, but some users note that they feel confused when they have to leave their requests on its pricing. 

Conclusion

The range of financial services available today requires the integration of automated software solutions that are practical, flexible, and more affordable than traditional consultants, whose services were only affordable for some.

CRM for financial services, private capital management, debt resolution, and pension planning are sophisticated tools that go beyond conventional databases. They are designed to foster trust and build long-term relationships with your clients. As all financial services are future-oriented, financial CRM systems help you provide brighter and more profitable prospects for your customers, your company, and, of course, your personal and professional success as a consultant. Thus, the financial CRM system allows you to achieve the best financial results for your customers and provide them with the best service.

There are about 8.93 million mobile apps worldwide, with new ones popping up daily, but not each of them has a good mobile interface design. At the same time, those who have it, win the hearts of customers and earn millions of dollars. So, how can you achieve this goal? Let’s find it out right now.

What Is Mobile App Design?

Mobile app design is the visual identity of an app tailored to the user's behavior. It has two components: UI and UX. UI (user interface) is how the application looks, and what colors, fonts, icons, buttons, or other elements it contains. UX is how an app works, responds to user actions, and helps fulfill people’s needs.

Interface design for a mobile application calls for consideration of the specifics of mobile platforms, such as screen size, data input methods, battery level, and internet connection speed. You should bear in mind that design can have a big impact on the success and popularity of the product, its usability, and its attraction to users.

Key Principles of Mobile App Design

Creating the interface of mobile applications is a truly complex and multi-layered process. It can vary dramatically depending on what project the app is created for, who the target audience is, and what functionality its owner is looking for. However, there are a few fundamentals to keep in mind when designing.

Here are top basic mobile design principles:

1. Prioritize the user’s needs 
2. Focus on visual design
3. Make the app interface convenient
4. Make the content easy to read
5. Add some interaction
6. Optimize the interface for different mobile devices

User Interface (UI) Design Principles

Let’s define the most important user interface design principles.

Simplicity

An eye-catching and straightforward user interface is ideal. There shouldn't be too many interface elements that can confuse a user. Nobody wants to explore a new interface once an application is downloaded – instead, people just want to get what they need or have fun.  All they seek is simple products that “just work”, that’s why, you have to prioritize the main parts for design and remove the unnecessary ones.

There is a simple rule of thumb: one main action per screen. Each screen you design in your application should support a single, genuinely important action for the user. This makes it easier to learn and use. One hundred clear screens are better than a single cluttered one.

Consistency 

The interface has to be intuitive and easy to navigate. You can add a great feature or content, but if people can't find it, it doesn't matter. Mobile navigation should be consistent. To ensure navigation doesn’t require any explanation, you should use the right visual metaphors, and check that each navigation item leads to the appropriate place.

Feedback and Response Time

Feedback informs users whether they are doing the proper action or not. It can be audible (the ding of a new message notification), tactile (the vibrating signal for a new email or call while your phone is set to "silent"), or just visual. Feedback should be provided after each operation to show if it was successful. 

Feedback can be useful in responding to problems in four areas:

1. Locating: Where are you?
2. Current Situation: What's happening? Is it still going on?
3. Prospects: What comes next?
4. Effects: What did you get?

Quick, insightful, and observable feedback is essential to let people know their actions were noticed. The link between the activity and its effect should be clear so that users understand what happened, and what to expect next. Feedback is supposed to optimize and complement the user's experience rather than complicate it.

User Experience (UX) Design Principles

Now, we propose to list the key UX design principles.

Usability

Usability measures how easy and convenient it is for the user to interact with the interface of an application. It depends on the ease of navigation, structure, content quality, text layout, mobile app design, and a bunch of technical features. This aspect affects users' time on an app, conversion rates, and customer loyalty. 

Here are five components of usability:

1. Learnability: how easy is it for people to perform basic tasks the first time?
2. Productivity: how quickly can people complete tasks?
3. Memorability: when people come back to an application after a time out, how easily can they recover their skills?
4. Error recovery: how many errors do users make, how serious are they, and how easily can people fix them?
5. Enjoyment: How engaging is it to use the app? Does it help people accomplish their tasks? 

User-Centric Design

User-centered design is an approach that consistently identifies user needs and translates them into a product. The core value is to focus on what people are used to, on what is “easy” for them and meets their basic needs.

Figure out what users want from your mobile application. On a food delivery app, people want to see available propositions, and discounts, place an order, track a delivery, and that’s it. They don’t want to read the history of a local family restaurant and its owners - this information may be kept in subsections. 

Accessibility 

If you want people to use your app, make it easy to reach. First, make sure it’s available on all mobile platforms and devices. Secondly, remember about inclusivity while designing for mobile devices. Partially blind or colorblind people may also use your product. So, you should help them effortlessly use it by adding voice interaction, and alternative text for images and employing color-blind oriented templates. Additionally, let customers change the text size in the app to suit their visual requirements.

Best Practices in Mobile App Design

Creating an interface that is both attractive and user-friendly is a challenge and an art. To achieve a delicate balance between aesthetics and functionality, designers need to utilize best practices. 

User Interface and Navigation 

Navigation in a mobile application must be intuitive. Each button or link has to state its purpose clearly. All icons must be recognizable and standardized. 

Mobile UX design's best practice for icons is to tag them with text. Tagged icons ensure that the purpose is conveyed quickly and easily.  You can see this in the most popular apps like YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok. 

Content Organization and Data Entry

When directing user attention across the application interface, use visual hierarchy. Distinguish important elements from less significant ones by varying size and spacing. Features that stand out attract attention, and clustering related items makes them easier to understand. For better readability and differentiation between titles, subheadings, and body content, designers should use the proper font sizes and styles. 

As for good examples of great content organization, we’d like to pay attention to Airbnb, an illustration of minimalism and simplicity. People love it for its aesthetic graphic design, balanced font sizes and colors, and the absence of flashy elements or bright banners. Airbnb has also made booking real estate clear: users understand what they are paying for.

Input fields and forms are the basic parts of mobile apps and are also crucial in mobile design principles. Improving the total user experience requires making these elements efficient and usable. Make a user type as little as possible by utilizing default values and input masks. Give consumers immediate feedback on validation so they can fix mistakes quickly. To help users fill out forms correctly, provide them with informative error warnings and visual clues.

Usability and Accessibility 

If you choose the right color palette, you can greatly improve the user experience. Remember about color blindness and test how your app looks to users with different types of color perception. Use contrasting colors for text and background to make content easy to read for anyone and anywhere. Add some extra explanations if needed. 

For example, the choice of clothing color in an online store should have a text explanation to be understood by people with a violation of color perception. Also, consider how the interface will look on small screens.

Performance and Responsiveness 

Take into account a diverse range of screen sizes and resolutions. Your design should be adaptive to ensure perfect display on any device. To check adaptability, test your design on a tablet, smartphone, and computer: this way you can adjust the display of elements in the interface and understand what and where to improve. Make sure the elements are not overlapping and are scaled correctly.

Platform Conformance

Research iOS and Android operating system guidelines. A guideline is a set of rules that determine how mobile apps are designed within an operating system. The iOS and Android systems have recognizable elements that users expect to see, so the guidelines help to create optimal UX and UI. Also, it will speed up the development process and reduce bugs.

Tools for Designing for Mobile Devices

As for the most popular tools designers use to implement solutions for mobile devices, we can consider the next four.

Figma 

Figma is an application for all kinds of graphical works: from creating website layouts to developing mobile interfaces and prototyping. Its biggest advantage is an opportunity to work directly in a browser, allowing access to projects from any computer or platform. You don’t have to buy multiple licenses or install the software. Another plus of the application is the collaboration feature that allows simultaneous changes to the project design by several users without the need to upload files locally.

Adobe XD

XD is designed from scratch to meet the requirements of modern UX/UI design with many features not available in other graphic applications. It solves the main problem that competitors can't cope with: it provides interaction with non-static elements and allows you to implement thoughtful dynamics on the page. Adobe XD is ideal for vector UI design, wireframe modeling, implementing engagement with interactive elements, and prototyping.

Sketch

Sketch is a simple vector tool. Designers and front-end developers use it to create UX/UI components. Sketch is simple and easy to learn, has an intuitive interface, and offers cross-platform design tools. It has a preview feature to see how the project will look on different devices. It has many good plugins and resources, plus some useful functions for working in the cloud.

InVision

InVision is a versatile design tool that focuses on maximizing UX for apps. It can be used to create automatically customized interactive prototypes for different devices. InVision Studio has tools for working with vector drawing, interactive design, and built-in animation. The application can be installed on macOS and Windows.

Mobile Application Design Process

UI UX mobile app design is a complex process that requires a thorough approach to ensure it is visually appealing and compatible with various devices and operating systems. You also need to make sure it’s handy for both experienced users and newcomers and meets modern trends in app design. So, what are the stages of mobile design?

1. Gathering data and design requirements. Research is a crucial part of the design effort, guiding the development of a product concept that accurately defines the market niche, functionality, monetization, and usage scenarios. 
2. Planning the architecture and navigation of the application. UX specialists create architecture based on application usage scenarios, ensuring navigation and consistency. This design stage is crucial for the end-user, as it directly affects the app's navigation and overall user experience.
3. Development of prototypes. Mockups are created for prototyping a mobile application, allowing for easy modification and identification of best solutions. This process involves discussing the architecture with the team and client, and later involving a team of developers to evaluate the technical design.
4. Testing the prototype. Interactive prototypes allow testing the app design to ensure it is suitable for the target audience, allowing for detailed feedback and understanding of user behavior patterns. This stage of development helps identify non-obvious patterns and improves the product's overall functionality.‍
5. Final refinements and development. Next, the agreed prototype is handed over to designers to make the product more attractive, refine the styling, and improve small user interactions, taking into account the final UI of a product. The final design is passed to developers who do the technical part.

Get Some Inspiration with Our Case Studies

Below, we invite you to check out some of our projects where we have successfully implemented all the ideas described above:

• Booking beauty appointment platform
• Takeout food delivery app
• Social network
• Advertising placement system
• Vehicle rental mobile app
• Smart city mobile app

Conclusion

Creating an aesthetically pleasing design is not enough. You also need to make it user-friendly and inclusive, bearing in mind mobile device demands.  Your target audience will be captivated and delighted by the appealing, highly engaging, and intuitive mobile applications if you carefully adhere to mobile app design principles and never stop learning from real-world examples of great mobile applications.

If your website has existed for a long time, this is a reason to think about redesigning it. The fact is that web development trends are constantly changing, and the things that attracted users around five years ago may seem high and dry today. 

In particular, several years ago, the independent web resource GoodFirms conducted a survey among designers to find the reasons why users leave their websites. It turns out that about 40% of respondents were sure that this was due to the outdated design. Do you need to look for more explanations as to why you need a redesign? If you don’t, this article is for you. 

What Is a Website Redesign?

Website redesign is a modernization that involves changes in the design, content, and functionality of a specific web resource. There may be not only a change in color scheme but also in the website’s structure, which also implies a certain optimization of the HTML code.

Redesign can be done every two years, or less often, every three or four years. However, when the appearance of your website remains the same for five years or more, your users are likely to begin to believe that your business is idle and, therefore, will likely choose a more successful competitor.

Why Is a Site Redesign Important?

Let's imagine that when you launched your website first, it generally satisfied its visitors. However, after a few years, its traffic began to gradually decline, although the quality of your service and/or goods did not decrease. Most likely, the problem is that your website’s design is outdated. Although this may seem to be the only reason why you need a redesign, there are several other reasons that also lead to it:

• You are going to migrate your website to a new engine;
• Despite regularly taking SEO measures, your website is not ranking well in search engines;
• You are planning to expand your audience reach and scale your business;
• Your company has rebranded, and now, this should apply to your website as well;
• You are entering a new market;
• Your product range or the concept of its promotion has completely changed.

Why You Need a Website Redesign Project Plan

In general, there are many goals that you can achieve through a redesign. The benefits of website redesign include improving the user experience, rebranding, increasing reputation, optimizing traffic indicators, conversions, etc., involving the website in marketing campaigns, and so on. 

At the same time, whatever goal you pursue, its achievement must be consistent, and each step must be justified from the point of view of business and available resources. Otherwise, you will act chaotically, and the result of these actions will most likely not live up to your desires. To prevent this from happening, you actually need a project plan for website redesign.

How to Redesign a Website: Applying Key Principles for Success

Now, it's time to find out what five sequential phases the correct redesign strategy includes. 

Setting Clear Objectives

Any well-thought-out project plan for website redesign implies matching goals and needs to redesign tasks to be completed.

Understanding the Need for Redesign

At the very beginning, you will need to correctly identify the reasons for the redesign. For example, this could be an outdated design, a not-mobile-friendly user experience, the functionality update and complicated website structure related to it, etc. You need to describe all these reasons as precisely as possible to make it easier for your team of designers (and possibly developers) to decide on the scope of work.

Defining Your Goals

Once the reasons are clear, you can define SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals. Special cases of such goals may be increasing traffic, achieving better conversion rates, improving user experience, etc.

Research and Preparation

At this stage, you will have to complete more complex tasks that will lay a solid foundation for your team's further work. They will also help you understand how competitive your website is at the moment and which aspects of it have the highest priority.  

Analyzing the Current Website

Your website is probably already connected to some analytics system where you can evaluate the dynamics of its traffic, conversion rates, abandoned carts, and so on. Thus, you have to collect this data, evaluate its changes for better or worse over the last year, and compare these changes with seasonal and local trends in your niche to get the most objective assessment of your website.

Competitor Analysis

You will also have to analyze the websites of your main competitors to understand in what they are good at and what needs optimization. Through this analysis, you will be able to prioritize the tasks that your technical team will have to deal with.

Target Audience Identification

Refine your audience data – this is especially important if you're looking to enter new markets or scale your online business. However, even if your goals are less ambitious, you'll still need to refresh information about your potential customers – their demographics, pain points, goals, needs, etc.

Content Audit

Finally, you should conduct a global content audit – for this, you'll probably need the help of SEO experts. Specifically, if your website's main problem is low search engine rankings, it's likely due to poor-quality content that will need to be optimized or replaced with a new one.

Planning and Strategy Development

Actually, you are left with the last steps before you hand over your website rebuild project to your technical team.

Site Structure and Navigation

Based on the key indicators of your website displayed in the analytics, you will be able to determine which of your website’s navigation elements and structure components need to be changed.

Visual Design Considerations

If your current website seems visually outdated, you will need to identify relevant examples from your competitors and indicate which graphical aspects of their websites you like the most.

Technical Requirements

If you find that your website's performance is suffering or, for example, the website itself is not fully displayed on some mobile devices, optimizing these aspects will require the participation of web developers.

SEO and Content Strategy

If the problem is the poor quality of the content (lack of necessary keywords in the texts, low-quality images, outdated data, etc.), you will need to involve SEO specialists in the project as well.

The Design and Development Process

Now, it’s the practical part of your website redesign roadmap, which requires the involvement of technical specialists and the designers themselves.

Wireframing and Prototyping

Now that the project is in the hands of the designers, they can start creating wireframes according to your requirements for the updated version of the website. As your requirements become more detailed, they will build prototypes based on these wireframes.

Design Mockups

An intermediate stage between the development of wireframes and prototypes can be the creation of mockups. Essentially, these are medium-fidelity sketches of your project that, like wireframes, schematically demonstrate the main components of the website but already have a pre-defined color palette and some graphic objects. Typically, this intermediate stage is necessary for websites with a complex and/or non-trivial structure.

Development and Coding

If your site requires migration to a new CMS or you have discovered problems in the previous stages that can only be solved through changes in its program code, you will have to involve developers to eliminate these bottlenecks.

Testing and Quality Assurance

And, of course, don’t forget to staff your project team with quality assurance specialists who will check if the updated version of your website works correctly before it goes public.

Launch and Post-Launch Strategy

Finally, you can begin preparing for the website relaunch.

Preparing for Launch

If your updated website looks the way you like and all the inconsistencies have been ironed out, it makes sense to check its effectiveness on the representatives of its target audience. This way, you may get additional insights about optimization that can still be implemented before your website’s launch.

Launching the Website

Now, developers can upload a new version of the website to the hosting. It may require you to choose a new hosting provider or a new tariff plan from the old one – this makes sense if you plan to expand the reach of your audience.

Post-Launch Activities

This stage will last exactly until the next redesign. In particular, you will have to monitor the analytics of your update to see whether the new key indicators meet your original business requirements. You will also need to constantly work on your website's SEO by regularly uploading new, relevant content.

Conclusion

We hope that in this article, we have helped you understand how to website revamp, and now, you can begin this procedure as consciously as possible. If you are looking for specialists ready to take on not only the planning task but also the implementation of your redesign project, feel free to contact us, and our team will bring your most ambitious goals to life within your budget and timeline.

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The year 2023 is when technology continues to overturn the existing order of things in the digital environment. Developers look for new ways to push development boundaries every year. From web development to machine learning, the languages we'll discuss today offer a wide range of possibilities and allow developers to turn their creative ideas into reality.

The most popular programming languages in 2023

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Languages, once considered groundbreaking, are becoming the standard, while new versions are constantly emerging to meet the needs of the most demanding projects of all sizes. The rapid development of the digital world in all areas of business and industries leads to a constant demand for powerful programming languages that can be used to create innovative products that simplify the work processes of any business. And also increasing the level of efficiency through the automation of work processes.

In this dynamic programming landscape, some languages are rapidly gaining popularity because of their strengths and ability to meet modern developers' needs. At the same time, some traditional languages remain relevant and continue to play an essential role in the programming world. It is important not to lose the balance between "classics" and new languages that complement the development process and make it more straightforward.

We analyze the top programming languages shaping the technology landscape of 2023 and enabling developers to build high-performance applications, create intelligent algorithms and machine learning, develop web applications, and process massive amounts of data.

Whether you're a seasoned programmer or just starting out in the development world, these popular languages offer you the opportunity to explore new horizons in technology. Let's take a look at what programming languages are worth learning and using in 2023 to stay at the forefront of innovation and successfully implement your projects.

• Python continues to hold its position as one of the most popular programming languages. With its simple syntax, Python is ideal for developing web applications, data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. With an extensive ecosystem of libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, TensorFlow, and PyTorch, it provides powerful tools to solve diverse problems.

• JavaScript remains an integral part of web development and continues to hold an important place in the programming world. Because of its versatility and widespread use in frontend and backend development, JavaScript is a significant component for creating interactive user interfaces and web applications. Frameworks and libraries such as React, Angular, and Vue.js make developing JavaScript web applications effortless.

• Java is one of the most popular programming languages, especially in enterprise environments. Because of its reliability, portability, and extensive support from the developer community, Java is used to develop scalable applications, web services, and mobile applications on the Android platform. Java also offers a rich selection of frameworks, such as Spring, that simplify application development and management.

• TypeScript, a programming language built on top of JavaScript, will continue to gain popularity in 2023. It adds static typing to JavaScript, which helps developers identify errors at compile time and create more robust code. TypeScript is widely used to develop large projects and applications. Its support in popular integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Visual Studio Code makes it an attractive choice for many developers.

• Go (or Golang) is a relatively new programming language gaining popularity in 2023. Developed at Google, Go provides simplicity and efficiency, enabling the creation of high-performance applications and services. Because of its competitive performance and ability to scale quickly, Go is often used to create web servers, micro-services architecture, and big data processing.
  

Summary

These five programming languages are leading the development world this year. They provide developers with powerful tools for creating various applications and solutions, including web apps, mobile apps, and large-scale digital projects. The choice of programming language depends on the specific needs of the project and the developer's preferences. Still, these five leaders provide a solid foundation for success in today's technology environment.

The technological landscape is constantly changing, and programming languages are also evolving. New languages emerge, and existing ones are updated and adapted to changing needs. Therefore, developers need to remain flexible, adapt to the rapidly changing technological environment, keep abreast of the latest trends, and learn new technologies and programming languages to successfully implement projects of any complexity.

If you are working on a digital solution, one of its integral stages will be UX/UI design. While trivial projects usually have “beaten” paths for creating navigation and visuals, any deviation from the standard can lead to dissatisfaction among end users and increase the entry threshold for them. In this regard, no matter how sophisticated the logic of your project is, it is important to understand the usability principles maintained by human psychology to ensure its excellent user experience.

Theories of Perception in UX/UI Design

Generally speaking, there are several popular theories of perception in UX/UI design:

• Gestalt psychology aimed at gaining an understanding of how people associate individual objects with things that are meaningful to them. The main gestalt principles include figure-ground (according to which some objects, depending on their visual appeal, are perceived as key navigation elements, while others serve as background), similarity (according to which elements with identical visual characteristics are perceived as interconnected), proximity (according to which closely placed objects are also perceived as related to each other), and closure (which states that incomplete objects, if sufficiently detailed, can be perceived by users as complete).
• Affordance theory, claiming that to ensure intuitiveness, users should receive some cues from the interface from the very beginning on how to deal with a particular element – one way to do this is to use skeuomorphism;
• Hick's Law, which states that the time it takes a particular user to make a decision is logarithmic to the number of available options (which means that to maximize intuitiveness, the user's choice should always be limited);
• Fitts' Law, stating that the time it takes a user to reach a desired part of the interface depends on its size and distance (which means that to ensure a great user experience, you need to place interactive elements closer to the user's starting point);
• Signal Detection Theory, claiming that users can subconsciously distinguish between meaningful cues (calls to action) and background noise, meaning that they should be visually separated.

Cognitive Load: Its Effects on UI Design

Now let's move from theory to practice and consider individual insights extracted from the above theories of psychology in UX. 

In particular, the first insight is the minimization of cognitive load, that is, the efforts of the human brain that must be applied to perform a specific target action. Thus, the importance of reducing the amount of information or tasks provided to the user becomes clear – otherwise, there is a high probability that the user will begin to act erroneously. 

In practice, such brevity can be achieved by correctly grouping interrelated elements and removing elements whose functionality duplicates each other.

Emotional Response & UX Design

Another valuable insight from UX design and psychology is to establish an emotional connection with the end user through your interface. This is a global task that begins with user behavior analysis and identifying their desires, pain points, and intentions and ends with transforming the obtained information into design elements that resonate with them. 

Ultimately, you will have to walk in the shoes of the average consumer of your software solution to ensure the proper level of empathy with your emotional design. In terms of practical implementation of the emotional response, such user empathy can be achieved through the integration of “user experience stories” that can be presented by a service provider to users as they get acquainted with the digital solution, as well as the use of the right color palette, forms, audio, pop-ups, and text.

The Role of Memory in User Interaction

Since, according to cognitive psychology in design, the average person can concentrate on one object for up to 20-30 minutes, it is important to take this aspect into account if your software solution involves long-term interaction with it. 

Specifically, you can reduce the load on your users' memory by implementing elements and scenarios that work and occur in a way that is familiar to them. Otherwise, if something does not function as expected, it can lead to users’ confusion and erroneous actions. 

Understanding User Behavior Through Heuristics

Heuristics are specific UI design principles that can predict user psychology. Here are some of them:

• Visibility of system status, which implies the importance of informing end users about what is happening with your software solution at the moment through progress bars, loading animations, or status messages;
• Match between the system and the real world, which emphasizes the importance of correspondence between the system's behavior and the knowledge and experience that users received before they became familiar with your software solution;
• User control and freedom, which implies the need to provide end users with the ability to freely navigate your software solution and manage negative scenarios;
• Consistency and standards, which determine the significance of logical connections between elements, terminology, and layouts;
• Error prevention, which consists of preventing erroneous actions by end users by providing them with unambiguous and understandable instructions;
• Recognition over recall, which states that to ensure better intuitiveness, users should “recognize” familiar patterns from the real world in elements and scenarios of your interface.

Thus, you have to perform a heuristic evaluation to check whether your solution is good in terms of usability. Also, note that in reality, there are many more psychology UI design heuristics, but the above list will be sufficient for a basic understanding of what is meant by the term excellent user experience.

The Impact of Attention on User Experience

Many designers, in order to encourage the user to perform a particular action, abuse pop-up notifications and other features to attract attention, thereby increasing the cognitive load, the inadmissibility of which we have already discussed earlier. 

Instead, you can use such approaches as the correct building of a visual hierarchy, optimization of the color palette, breaking down complex processes into several simple ones, etc. And, of course, do not forget to appeal to the memory of users, which already contains some experience of interaction with other digital solutions and can automate some processes of dealing with them due to the familiarity of the mental models implemented.

User Motivation & Reward Systems in UX/UI Design

Finally, from the point of view of UX psychology, many UX/UI designs benefit from gamification, which motivates users to move toward the target action. In general, gamification is aimed at boosting user engagement and creating an exciting user experience that they don’t want to interrupt. Its main elements are rewards and recognition.

At the same time, it is crucial to note that some reward systems are too confusing for the average user and, thus, create unnecessary cognitive load instead of motivation. Moreover, gamification is not considered a universal approach that could be used in any project. Therefore, you have to always start with the appropriateness and the affordance of implementing this concept clearly and simply for the consumer.

Conclusion

We hope that with the help of this article, you were able to understand the importance of UX design psychology and how it is implemented in UI/UX principles like heuristics, emotional response, lowering cognitive load, user motivation, and others. If you are interested in creating a digital solution that fully meets all these psychological principles, feel free to contact us.

Firstly, an interesting fact: there are almost 700 programming languages, but we bet that most developers know and use nearly 15% of the list.

Different programming languages are suited for various projects (mobile and web applications, game development, distributed systems, etc.). Also, it is important to identify the most appropriate language specifically for your project.

In this article, we will look at each of the most popular programming languages according to PYPL and TIOBE rankings in detail — helping beginning developers and entrepreneurs select the right language for starting their digital projects.

Programming Languages Ranking

We tried to find out the most popular programming languages in the year 2024, using official information from PYPL, TIOBE, and GitHub rankings.

• PYPL – The more a language tutorial is searched, the more popular the language is assumed to be. The raw data comes from Google Trends.
• TIOBE – The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers worldwide, courses, and third-party vendors. Popular search engines are also used to calculate the ratings.
• GitHub – The ratings are created using a yearly review of programming languages’ popularity.

PYPL Ranking 2024

The PYPL (PopularitY of Programming Language) Index is created by analyzing how often language tutorials are searched on Google.

The more a language tutorial is searched, the more popular the language is assumed to be. The raw data comes from Google Trends.

The PYPL index can help you decide which language to study, or which one to use in a new software project.

According to PYPL, 5 most popular programming languages are:

The TIOBE Ranking 2024

The TIOBE (The Importance of Being Earnest) index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages. The index is updated once a month. The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers worldwide, courses, and third-party vendors. Popular search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, and Baidu are used to calculate the ratings.

It is important to note that the TIOBE index is not about the best programming language or the language in which most lines of code have been written.

According to TIOBE, 5 most popular programming languages are:

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The GitHub Ranking 2024

GitHub is one of the biggest code repositories that boasts a massive developer community spanning across the globe. The repository is also growing at a blazing speed. Nearly 70% of global Fortune 50 companies have lately made contributions to GitHub’s open-source codes.

GitHub also shares a yearly review of programming languages’ popularity. Here are the dynamics of changing the popularity of different languages according to the latest GitHub report:

Top 5 Most Popular Programming Languages in 2024

Understanding programming is crucial for advancing technology across sectors like IT, data analytics, and engineering. As technology evolves, certain programming languages emerge as essential due to their functionality, ease of use, and adaptability.

So, which programming languages will continue to be in demand in 2024 and beyond? We turn to the PYPL index for insights, which ranks languages by learning interest. Here's a quick look at the top 5 according to PYPL, focusing on why they stand out.

1. Python

PYPL rating — 28.59%

• Pros. Python is regarded as the easiest programming language to learn, because of its simple syntax, a large library of standards and toolkits, and integration with other popular programming languages such as C and C++. It is a popular programming language, especially among startups, and therefore Python skills are in high demand.

• Cons. Python’s cons include slower speed than compiled languages, limited concurrency with the GIL, high memory use, and complex debugging due to dynamic typing. It’s also less suited for mobile, embedded, and real-time applications, where efficiency and low latency are critical.

• Common Use Cases. Python excels in AI, data science, and financial sectors, with frameworks like TensorFlow making it a top choice for machine learning. It's behind major platforms like Instagram and Pinterest and powers apps such as Dropbox and Spotify, showcasing its wide applicability from cutting-edge tech to core web services.

2. Java

PYPL rating — 15.79%

• Pros. Java is a classic choice of many backend developers throughout the world and the only official language for Android app development. Java is designed to be a loosely coupled programming language, meaning that an application written in Java can run on any platform that supports Java. As a result, Java is described as the “write once, run anywhere” programming language.

• Cons. Java's downsides include less efficiency in cloud versus server settings and slower performance compared to languages such as C++. It also uses more memory, which can be a drawback in limited-resource situations. Moreover, Java's detailed syntax can result in longer codes, potentially extending development timelines.

• Common Use Cases. Java is widely used for creating business and Android apps, and it supports major websites like LinkedIn, Amazon, and Twitter. It's also used in server applications, handling big data with Hadoop, and web development using JSP and servlets, highlighting its wide-ranging use in software projects

3. Javascript

PYPL rating — 8.7%

• Pros. JavaScript is essential in front-end development for building interactive websites. With Node.js, Javascript can be used to power server-side content, supporting game and communication applications app development in the browser. Javascript has a lot of frameworks that allow stress-free integration with third-party apps. 

• Cons. Internet browsers can disable JavaScript code from running, as JavaScript is used to code pop-up ads that in some cases can contain malicious content. Additionally, its dynamic typing system can complicate debugging and maintenance.

• Common Use Cases. JavaScript is used extensively in website and mobile application development. Node.js allows for the development of browser-based applications, which do not require users to download an application. Popular apps built with JavaScript frameworks include Slack, Netflix, GitHub, Facebook, Skype, Uber, LinkedIn, Tidal, and more.

4. C#

PYPL rating — 6.77%

• Pros. C#, developed by Microsoft, is widely used in developing Windows applications, web services, and mobile apps. C# is also known for its strong type system, making code more robust and error-free. Thanks to its object-oriented nature, it's highly preferred for enterprise-level applications. Regular updates from Microsoft ensure it remains relevant and efficient for modern software development.

• Cons. While C# is incredibly powerful for Windows platform development, it's less versatile for programming applications on other operating systems, although .NET Core has made significant strides in cross-platform development. Some critics argue that C# can be less efficient for certain types of low-level programming compared to languages like C or C++.

• Common Use Cases. C# is key for creating desktop, web (via ASP.NET), and mobile applications (using Xamarin), especially for Microsoft products. Popular apps like Visual Studio IDE, games such as "Pokémon Go" and "Monument Valley" developed with Unity, and parts of Microsoft Office showcase C#'s versatility in software development.

5. C\C++

PYPL rating — 6.76%

• Pros. As one of the first programming languages ever developed, C has served as the foundation for writing more modern languages such as Python, Ruby, and PHP. It is also an easy language to debug, test, and maintain. C++ is an extension of C that works well for programming the systems that run applications, as opposed to the applications themselves. C++ also works well for multi-device and multi-platform systems. Over time, programmers have written a large set of libraries and compilers for C++.

• Cons. C/C++ has complex syntax and many features that can make it complicated for new programmers. C++ also does not support run-time checking, which is a method of detecting errors or defects while the software is running. C is not suitable for more modern use cases, such as websites or mobile applications.

• Common Use Cases. C++ has many uses and is the language behind everything from computer games to mathematical simulations. C is often used to program hardware, such as embedded devices in automobiles and medical devices used in healthcare. C/C++ is a basic programming language used for creating most existing operating systems, web browsers, and basic Microsoft products.

How to Choose a Programming Language for a Project?

Choosing the right programming language depends on what you need to achieve with your project. Don't just go by how popular a language is. It's better to ask for advice from developers who have worked on similar projects. They can help you pick a language that fits your project's needs, including how it works, its safety, and how it can grow. 

Thinking about which language to use? Feel free to contact us today to make a smart choice for your project's future.

If you regularly think about how to optimize your business operations by speeding them up, increasing their accuracy, reducing related expenses, and eliminating risks associated with the human factor, perhaps the introduction of artificial intelligence will be the best option. 

Specifically, according to the CompTIA IT Industry Outlook 2024 report, today, about 22% of companies are actively seeking to integrate AI into most of their technological solutions and processes, and 45% of companies are considering its implementation. If you are still in the second category, it's time to figure out which programming language will be able to form the basis of your new highly intelligent software tools.

What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

The term "Artificial intelligence" describes software algorithms and systems that are aimed at solving problems typical to the human mind – such as learning, as well as pattern generation and recognition. Such algorithms are based on colossal amounts of disparate data collected from various sources. Thus, these algorithms form self-learning software solutions capable of analyzing this data and extracting valuable insights from it.

Programming Languages ​​Most Often Used for AI in 2024

It is worth noting that AI-powered solutions may not be based on any software language – this can be explained by the high resource consumption of the AI algorithms that form them, as well as the lack of high-level functions. At the same time, there are seven languages that are most often used in AI programming.

Python

This programming language appeared long before the popularization of AI development. However, thanks to its low entry threshold and extensive compatibility, its community quickly grew, and today, Python is considered one of the three most relevant languages worldwide.

As for the tools for artificial intelligence programming, there are a lot of Python-compatible frameworks, libraries, and APIs, aimed at simplifying and speeding up this process. Among them are TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, SciPy, NumPy, and many others. Using them, developers can create high-performance, reliable, and scalable solutions that can solve even the most complex research problems.

R

R, being a statistical programming language, is great for data analysis and visualization. Even though developing artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions is not the primary use case for R, it is still adept at handling very large numbers. So, where popular Python may fall short, particularly in Data Science and Data Analysis solutions, R may be a better alternative.

Additional benefits of this developer tool include support for functional programming, vector computing, and OOP, as well as a number of packages specifically created for AI and ML development (for example, gmodels, RODBC, and OneR).

Java

This portable and scalable programming language is actively used in the development of highly intelligent corporate applications, especially for mobile platforms. In addition to compatibility with popular tools for ML and AI programming, such as the Deep Java Library for deep learning, OpenNLP for natural language processing, and Neuroph for building neural networks, Java is easy to write and debug program code.

It is worth noting that this language is object-oriented and scalable. It also simplifies data visualization and supports Swing and SWT (Standard Widget Toolkit), which allow developers to create attractive and complex graphics and interfaces.

C++

C++ is considered an extremely powerful language for AI programming and can greatly benefit developers when creating games and embedded systems. Like Python, C++ is a mature language, which does not detract from its advantages, such as flexibility and high performance. C++ has several libraries for machine learning and neural networks that help complex algorithms run faster (including MapReduce, mlpack, and MongoDB). In general, many software engineers prefer this language for building projects that require high speed, as it interacts with training modules in a production environment.

Actually, that’s why this low-level language used for AI is primarily a tool for creating complex banking software, cloud systems, and intelligent speech recognition solutions.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a scripting language used to add interactivity to web pages. Even though it is not as popular as the AI programming languages ​​described above, it can be extremely helpful in implementing solutions for Data Science, one of the most promising areas for using JS.

In addition, JavaScript is the most popular programming language in the world, so you won’t have any problems finding the right AI development tools and frameworks that are compatible with it. The popularity of this coding language for AI can be explained by several factors: reliability, stability, abundance of high-level functions, libraries, and tools, as well as fairly low requirements for other technical skills of developers (it is likely that you will not have any difficulty finding dozens of AI tools that support JS, which will cover the whole scope of work related to your AI project) .

Scala

This machine learning language is concise and expressive, and is often used in big data solutions. Scala is a multi-paradigm language specifically designed to express common programming concepts in a simple, convenient, and type-safe manner.

Scala is commonly used in the development of machine learning algorithms and pattern detection in large data sets, and all this – thanks to the built-in Smile data processing library, extensive compatibility with AI frameworks and libraries (in particular, BigDL, Breeze, DeepLearning.scala, and so on), as well as its object-oriented and scalable nature.

Julia

Julia is the best programming language for AI powered scientific solutions and technical projects that require statistical data processing. This is a relatively new language with dynamic typing, parallel programming, and JIT compilation that has proven itself well due to its high speed (Julia-based projects are rarely inferior in performance to their C++-based counterparts), flexibility, and a mature ecosystem.

Many of the tools built into this language use polymorphic dispatch, which makes switching between them much faster than in other languages. It is also worth noting that Julia projects can be integrated with TensorFlow.jl, MLBase.jl, and MXNet.jl.

The Programming Languages That Are Not Recommended for AI

Along with the extensive list of languages for AI development, there are also those that are better used for solving other problems. These are usually niche and low-level languages, such as PHP and Ruby (scripting languages that do not have the needed flexibility and speed to simplify the development process), C (a low-level language that lacks almost all the functions needed in AI development), and Fortran (despite its use for mostly scientific purposes, it has poor functionality).

Ultimately, a seasoned software engineer will be able to cope with any AI development task using any language; another thing is that, given the expected scope of work, the languages that we described in the previous paragraph are much better suited for these tasks.

If you are looking for an experienced team that will launch the digital transformation of your business processes through custom-made AI and ML solutions, feel free to contact us.

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The mobile apps market is rapidly growing. According to Grand View Research, the global mobile app market was evaluated at approximately USD 253 billion in 2023 and is going to grow with a 14.3% CAGR by 2030. That’s why the need for qualified mobile development specialists is so relevant today. 

At the same time, one of the key features of a competent specialist is knowledge of the software development life cycle (SDLC) and which of the existing models is best to use in a specific project. The following article will overview the most popular SDLC models and explain where to apply them for the best results. 

What is the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?

The software development lifecycle is a methodology that guides the development team during the app creation process. Each of the development life cycle phases has its aims, timeframes, and challenges. Yet, a systemized approach toward software development ensures that the final product is of the highest quality. 

In comparison, there are other approaches to software development. For example, development teams can choose from the following options: 

• Application lifecycle management. It has a broader scope outside of the actual development process. It can include several SLDC development life cycle stages inside. 
• Software testing lifecycle. This method emphasizes debugging and elimination of possible errors in the product. 
• Product development lifecycle. This strategy includes market and product promotion after its development is complete. 

What Is the Purpose of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?

The SDLC’s clear division into development cycle stages ensures that software is developed in a controlled environment. The systematic approach helps to avoid such challenges as: 

• Budget breaches.
• Project overruns and crunches 
• Failure to meet the requirements 
• Expired deadlines

Creative freedom is important during the software development process. Yet, the SDLC approach ensures that all the creativity and revolutionary solutions are channeled constructively. 

While following the life cycle of software development, each team member knows what task they should do and its deadline. 

What are the 7 Phases of SDLC? 

There are seven common SDLC phases: 

1. Requirements analysis 
2. Planning
3. Design 
4. Development
5. Testing
6. Deployment
7. Maintenance

Let’s consider them in more detail.

Requirements Analysis 

It is the initial stage at which the developer's team evaluates the required features for the app. It defines how long the app will be in development, the budget’s size, and the deadlines. 

This step answers such questions as: 

• What is the objective of the app? 
• Is it an upgrade or a brand-new software? 
• What are the expected results? 

Planning 

The project can be planned after its goals and desired results are established. Planning in SDLC defines the technological stack and project roles. The project roadmap is also developed during the planning phase of SDLC. 

Design 

The software blueprint is created during the design stage. Ideas turn into features, architecture, and UI/UX design. Designing also includes consideration of the software's platforms and security as a part of SDLC processes. 

Design can undergo several iterations before reaching its final look. During this phase, teams usually create a software prototype to see how all the features work together. This phase concludes with design document specification — a text description of the app’s functionality to share with stakeholders and within the team. 

Development 

Development is the long-lasting of the SDLC steps. During this stage, the team implements planned features and functionality into actual software. Tools for progress tracking and version control, such as Git, are common in the software development stage.

Testing 

Testing comes after the implementation phase in SDLC. It is a rigorous process during which all software elements are evaluated. Testing can include: 

• Performance testing
• Security testing
• Integration testing
• Alpha and beta testing, and so on 

The result of the testing and debugging software development cycle phases should be a product meets its specifications and is ready for the commercial environment. 

Deployment 

Usually, the apps undergo testing and development in a secluded, special environment. Deployment implies transferring the software to the commercial space. The deployment phase includes final testing of the working product and gathering feedback from a limited audience. 

The product is ready for full-fledged commercial use when the software development stages are over. 

Maintenance 

Maintenance is the final stage of the SDLC cycle. It includes software updates, security, and performance optimization. An upgrade or upscale of the software may be required in the future. In this case, the SDLC begins from the first stage, and the major update undergoes all the steps mentioned. 

Most Common SDLC Models 

The SDLC standards are common across the industry and development teams. However, there are different SDLC models. Each model serves its own purpose and offers a different order in which the different phases are performed.

SDLC Agile Model 

The Agile SDLC model is the hallmark of modern industry. This model implies dividing the bigger tasks into smaller chunks and working on their implementation. The Agile method emphasizes communication between cross-functional teams and stakeholders. 

Agile also implies frequent feedback gathering and analysis. Rigorous quality control is also an integral part of the Agile model. 

SDLC Big Bang Model

The Big Bang model is an almost informal approach to the SDLC cycle. It ignores any planning or assessment and jumps straight into the coding. Such an approach is more risky than others. However, the model works best if delivery time is critical. 

The Big Bang model can work for you if you wish to experiment or test waters in new markets. 

SDLC DevOps Model

DevOps is a combination of development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams to streamline the delivery of software products. The combined practices require service providers of highly skilled specialists. The main DevOps principles are continuous integration and delivery at the enterprise software development level. These methods help automate the process and streamline management tasks. 

The DevOps model can strain the budget. However, the result is worth the cost. The DevOps SDLC cycle ensures that the product is in a deployable state and can be swiftly modified. 

SDLC Iterative Model

An Iterative model is another representative SDLC cycle. Unlike the Agile model, iterative SDLC does not require continuous customer involvement. Besides, the iterative model has a more defined structure. 

The Iterative model implies iterating the software and making changes between the cycles. Such an approach works well for expanded teams and allows the desired results to be achieved without failing deadlines or breaching the budget. 

SDLC Lean Model

The Lean model is one of the oldest SDLC cycles that has persisted until today. It aims to achieve maximum efficiency in resource management. Unlike Agile, it focuses on the highest possible quality instead of close and consistent communication with the client. 

It also takes a broader than Iterative model approach and improves the overall development process rather than the product itself. Lean is more philosophy than a precise model. As an SDLC model, Lean will ensure the quality of the product and client satisfaction before everything else. 

SDLC Spiral Model

The Spiral model is a combination of Iterative and Waterfall models (this one will be discussed below), taking the best features from both approaches. The model consists of spirals, and each spiral has the following steps: 

• Planning 
• Risk analysis 
• Development 
• Testing

Such an approach allows risk mitigation at the early stage of the project. While being time-consuming, the Spiral model can be a fail-proof net for your project. 

SDLC Waterfall Model

If you are looking for something straightforward and easy to manage – the Waterfall model is your choice. It takes the SDLC structure at face value and follows each step consecutively. The Waterfall model has its risks. It is rigid, and if changes or feedback appear in later stages, it will be hard to implement them. At the same time, the Waterfall model struggles with scalability. 

On the other hand, it can spare the headache of complex management and task delegation. 

Conclusion 

Software development is a complex process that requires structure and precision. The Software Development Lifecycle provides such a structure. In seven steps, a software development team can clearly see goals and meet the client’s requirements. 

Various SDLC models fit different needs and project scopes, and we know how to work with all of them. If you need specialists for custom software solutions, we are ready to answer your call and create a high-quality product. Contact us to discuss your project in detail.

In the design and operation of digital products, it is essential to detect errors and ensure that these products fully comply with specifications (both generally accepted and defined by their owners). For example, in the field of healthcare, using such solutions directly impacts the health and life of patients and the level of efficiency of medical services. So, let’s delve into this topic. 

Objective of Quality Assurance in Healthcare App Development

So, let’s find out why QA is important. In general, it is one of the integral parts of software development, especially in the medical field. After all, in the field of medical services, the fate of the patient's life and health is decided every day. Digital solution that looks and operates as intended (of course, thanks to the quality assurance benefits) provides the ability to prevent all potential errors as efficiently as possible and ensures that applications meet modern medical standards. 

Regarding the importance of quality assurance in healthcare applications, the following points can be distinguished:

• Safety of patients: At the heart of QA in healthcare software development is patient safety. The timely testing of healthcare applications that could impact a patient's health is a critical aspect. This includes verifying medicine dosage, ensuring the accuracy of diagnostic algorithms, and the functionality of the patient monitoring system. Any malfunction, even for a brief period, can lead to serious errors, underscoring the importance of reliability assurance.
• Data privacy: The guarantee of absolute protection of patients' personal data from unauthorized access. Due to their specificity, medical applications regularly process a huge amount of information, so the introduction of modern encryption methods is critical.
• Compliance with regulatory requirements: A number of modern healthtech standards like HIPAA and GDPR are created for a reason. Therefore, absolutely all software should be developed to meet these requirements. Civilized countries actively implement official app development rules. If these laws are ignored, it is undoubtedly a direct path to legal accountability, with all the attendant consequences. The implementation of reliable digital solutions reduces the chances of getting a fine or a lawsuit until the loss of a license.
• Optimization of regular processes: The higher the efficiency of the application, the better the performance and accuracy of work within the medical professional team. In this way, medical staff can access the necessary information, thus minimizing the time spent on data processing. This guarantees both speed and high accuracy of decision-making regarding the further treatment of patients.

Risks Associated with Poor Software Quality in Healthcare

No one will argue that some medical institutions ignore the risks of using legacy software that doesn’t meet the modern healthtech regulations. However, this is a very serious and critical topic that can significantly impact patients' safety and lives and the effectiveness of daily processes.

Numerous errors, incorrect diagnoses, and, as a result, incorrectly prescribed treatment all directly threaten the patient's life and health. Also, do not exclude the occurrence of legal and reputational problems (fines or a prominent indicator of loss of confidence on the part of the public, both patients and employees of a particular medical institution). Unreliable digital solutions automatically complicates the interaction between employees. It leads to a decrease in the productivity of daily medical practice because it complicates the possibility of uninterrupted access to all necessary data and the exchange of information between departments and specialists.

Types of Testing in Healthcare Applications Development

There are different types of healthcare application testing, but the most common and popular among them are the following types:

• Performance testing: It includes analyzing the application's speed of action and navigation, taking into account different levels of load.‍
• Regression testing: It defines how much each of the module functions meets the requirements.‍
• Security testing: It implies checking the protection of each patient's data from illegal access by unauthorized users.‍
• Usability testing: This example of quality assurance in healthcare is designed to evaluate how user-friendly the application is, ensuring it is convenient for both healthcare industry employees and patients of all ages.

Healthcare app testing features are primarily critical, including the need for strict compliance with regulatory requirements and safety regulations.

The Future of Quality Assurance in Healthcare

Now, knowing the answer to the question: “What is quality assurance in healthcare?”, let’s talk about its future. Specifically, today, we can define three the most sustainable trends:

• Implementation of AI and ML-based solutions aimed at automating the testing process, independently identifying bugs, and preventing them in advance;
• Combination of DevOps and Agile, which ensures closer interaction between development and testing teams, ultimately reducing the number of bugs and speeding up their fixing;
• Using cloud-based testing platforms that provide scalability of QA healthcare scenarios without compromising the budget.

However, in the coming years we can expect something more revolutionary than the actualization of the above-mentioned directions since the healthtech sector is actively invested in by both governments and private institutions.

Conclusion

Now, you know the answer to the question: “What is quality assurance?” and can understand the role of QA in software testing – generally speaking, it is crucial regarding ensuring patient safety and the performance of the healthcare delivery process. Minimizing risks during the medical quality assurance process and creating reliable medical applications are possible only through the use of modern technologies and compliance with all official standards provided by a qualified service provider.