Tag: Mobile App

The Fourth IoT Product — A Venture to Consumer Market

ENTREPRENEURSHIP STORIES

Consumer IoT is not an easy game — that’s what we discover.

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Each IoT product development journey is an odyssey filled with insights, challenges, and evolution. Today, I share the narrative of our fourth IoT venture, Dscover, and how it became a transformative segment of our IoT suite.

The Genesis of Dscover

The seeds for Dscover were sown amid the successful launch of our first IoT product, Raqib, in 2018. At this crossroads, feedback was not just a guide but a compass that pointed us toward innovation.

While Raqib was making strides, and as we progressed with Favorsense and the Favoriot IoT platform, there was a budding notion that it was time to chart a new path.

That’s when Dscover started to take shape.

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Understanding the Underlying Need

With Raqib, we ventured into tracking solutions beyond the Bluetooth smartwatch and smartphone. Yet, it became clear that our users’ interests lay elsewhere.

They needed a different kind of tracking — one that provided safety and connectivity, especially while traveling. The market demanded a solution that prioritized security without compromising the freedom of the individual or group.

This was the crux that led to the ideation of Dscover.

Embracing Market Realities

Initially, our eyes were set on the bustling Travel and Tourism market. However, the onset of the pandemic in 2020 drastically altered the landscape and our strategies.

We had to pivot quickly, transforming Dscover into a tool for families and friends to stay connected despite global travel restrictions.

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The Decision for an App-Centric Approach

Selecting a mobile application as the vessel for Dscover was strategic.

It was a nod to cost-effectiveness, leveraging existing smartphone technology, and aligning with the ease of deployment through app stores.

The aim was to create an unobtrusive yet powerful tool that users could integrate into their daily lives.

Tackling Go-to-Market Hurdles

The B2C model presented unique challenges, particularly in understanding and targeting user demographics through social media.

One stumbling block we encountered was the app’s initial name, “D’scover.” It proved problematic for searchability, leading us to the pivotal decision to rename it “Dscover.” (Note: Later, we observed that the spelling “Dscover” and how we pronounce it as “Discover” became a big misunderstanding in searching in the App store)

The initial B2B strategy targeted travel agencies and governments, but we widened our scope as the pandemic reshaped the world.

We even considered using Dscover for monitoring quarantined patients, an idea that, despite its potential, did not gain official traction.

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Introspective Moments

This juncture compelled us to reflect — did we invest enough in marketing and sales for our existing products before venturing into another? It was a solemn reminder of the complexities inherent in product development within the IoT space.

Gleaning Lessons Along the Way

Adaptability Emerged as Key

The development of Dscover underscored the significance of market adaptability. The global changes of 2020 necessitated a shift from a travel-centric application to one that served families and friends, illustrating our ability to respond to macro-environmental shifts.

Valuing User Feedback

The feedback from our users was paramount. Their insights directly influenced the trajectory of Dscover, underscoring the need to align our product closely with the user’s desires and expectations.

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The Art of Naming

A name is more than a label; it’s the first touchpoint with the user. The transition to “Dscover” was a calculated move to facilitate ease of search and foster brand recall. It was a lesson in the subtleties of product naming and its impact on visibility and accessibility.

The Need for Continuous Evaluation

Before plunging into new product waters, a thorough assessment of our existing products’ presence in the market became an evident necessity. Such evaluations and robust marketing and sales strategies are the bedrock of successful product evolution.

Carrying Forward the Insights

These lessons from Dscover are part of our collective wisdom as we forge ahead. They act as a direction that guides our product development, ensuring that our creations resonate with the market’s pulse and enrich our users’ lives.

Reflecting on this journey, I am reminded that each step, whether forward or backward, is a learning opportunity.

Through these experiences, we chart a course for success, navigating the intricate waters of IoT development with a keener sense of direction and a more refined vision for the future.

The story of Dscover is more than a chapter in our history; it’s a catalyst that propels us towards innovative horizons, ever ready to adapt, grow, and excel.

Challenges Building a Citizen Engagement App for Smart Cities

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SERIES

Three (3) lessons learned building the second Favoriot’s product

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At Favoriot, we start to develop Favorsense – our latest solution designed to cater to the needs of smart cities. Our unwavering commitment to crafting solutions that resonate with urban living has culminated in the creation of Favorsense. This innovative product offers seamless integration into the fabric of urban life.

With Favorsense, we’re raising the bar for smart city living and are excited to continue pushing the envelope of IoT technology.

This platform isn’t just a progression from our first product, Raqib; it’s a leap toward realizing a connected urban future.

Favorsense, an integrated suite with a mobile app, a management platform, and a field response module, embodies our vision of streamlined city living. It’s a tool designed by citizens for citizens, ensuring their voices are heard and acted upon.

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Enhancing Urban Engagement Through Technology

Understanding the plights of urban living, we’ve designed Favorsense to make reporting civic issues as simple as taking a photo. Each report is timestamped and geolocated, ensuring transparency and authenticity.

The backend system of the Crowdsensing Management Platform acts as the operational core, sorting and escalating issues, while our Field-Force module mobilizes teams on the ground with efficiency.

This ecosystem enhances civic engagement, bridging the gap between the community and the city council and ensuring that every complaint is an opportunity for improvement.

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Navigating the Market with Insight and Agility

Favorsense’s global potential resonates with the need for responsive governance in over 10,000 cities worldwide. Our market strategy is as adaptive as our technology; we have learned to navigate the intricacies of public sector engagement through direct dialogue, strategic presence at industry conferences, and alliances like the one with the Malaysia Smart City Alliance.

Through this journey, we’ve learned the importance of truly understanding our audience, remaining agile in product development, and strategically flexible.

As we look forward, Favoriot remains committed to contributing to smart city development, ensuring that our solutions pave the way for cities that are not only connected but also conscious and community-centric.

For startups venturing into the realm of IoT and smart cities, let Favoriot’s journey illuminate the path. Understand your audience, iterate relentlessly and remain adaptable to steer through the complexities and towards your vision.

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Creating Favorsense has been an exhilarating yet challenging journey. We faced several hurdles in bringing our vision for more intelligent urban living to life.

Here are the three main challenges we encountered while building Favorsense:

  1. Technological Integration into Existing Systems: One of the primary obstacles we faced was integrating Favorsense with city councils’ current technological infrastructure. The platform had to be robust enough to handle the influx of data from the mobile application and ensure seamless communication with the existing systems for managing urban issues.
  2. User Adoption and Engagement: It’s one thing to develop an innovative product; it’s another to ensure it is adopted and utilized effectively by its intended users. We had to devise strategies that would encourage city residents to use Favorsense and ensure they found it to be a more effective solution than traditional complaint mechanisms.
  3. Navigating Public Sector Sales Cycles: Engaging with public sector entities presented a unique set of challenges, primarily due to the extended decision-making processes and procurement cycles. It required us to refine our go-to-market strategy continually and develop patience and understanding to align our product launch with the pace of government operations.

Overcoming these challenges has been a testament to Favoriot’s resilience and innovation.

We’ve learned to iterate our product based on real-world feedback, fine-tune our approach to engaging with government bodies, and ensure we deliver a user-friendly experience that makes civic participation accessible to all.

This path has shaped Favorsense into the platform it is today and has prepared us to pave the way forward for connected, responsive, and inclusive smart cities.

Stories about Favoriot’s journey:

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