So I work for a pretty large corporation that has mobile apps on all major smartphone platforms (iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone). They recently put all 20,000 employees through a "training" course about some enhancements to their mobile app to familiarize us with the new features and to help us deal with or refer the app to existing/potential customers. All of the new features went to iOS and some of them went to Android.
Halfway through the two hour training session they sent in an older woman (mid 60s) who has been working with our mobile development team to add features and respond to user feedback. She started with a monologue about how tablets are the future and pretty soon desktops and laptops will be obsolete. I interrupted her to point out that you'll still need a desktop/laptop to write the app for the tablet. She didn't like that at all. The other nerds in the room quickly agreed with me and I instantly became the "enemy" and the "leader of the coup". She continued to show off some of the new features and I asked if she was worried about the cross platform fragmentation they're causing by giving all of the "awesome" features to one platform and barely addressing updates on the others. You know, like when you switch from iOS to Android and download your favorite app on your new device only to find out how crippled it is. Poor user experience indeed. Instead of using the marketshare argument I was anticipating she basically said that customers would simply log on to our full website if there weren't enough features on their platform of choice. Again, poor user experience. Finally, she continued to name a feature that exists on all platforms supported and I pulled out my Lumia 900, launched the app and said "that's not right. I don't have that feature on my phone". That's when she asked "what phone do you have?" I answered, "a Nokia Lumia 900... you know, a Windows Phone". She replied "what's a Windows Phone?" and my reply was "how could you not know what it is when you work with the team of people that developed and maintain the app?" She walked over, took a look at the phone and with surprise in her voice said "wow, that's a gorgeous phone. Who makes it?"
She went on to say that our CEO and Bill Gates were buddy's and maybe he should talk to bill about getting a better app made for WP users. I reminded her that MS didn't make the app, our company did and it's our company's responsibility to support its app development. As if Bill Gates is going to take time out of his schedule full of saving humanity to code an app for a company that employs morons.
Really?!?!
I know the kings and queens of marketshare get the most and arguably the best apps but shouldn't you be aware of what else your organization supports when you're doing a presentation? Anyway, by the end of the presentation everyone looked at this lady as incompetent and unprepared. Some people even mentioned how awesome WP is and how they love the commercials. Maybe they were attempting to pander to me and maybe they were genuine.
Maybe I'm a ****** and maybe I expect all my coworkers to be professionals and knowledgeable about what it is they do for a living. Either way, I hope to be somewhere else in a year.
Halfway through the two hour training session they sent in an older woman (mid 60s) who has been working with our mobile development team to add features and respond to user feedback. She started with a monologue about how tablets are the future and pretty soon desktops and laptops will be obsolete. I interrupted her to point out that you'll still need a desktop/laptop to write the app for the tablet. She didn't like that at all. The other nerds in the room quickly agreed with me and I instantly became the "enemy" and the "leader of the coup". She continued to show off some of the new features and I asked if she was worried about the cross platform fragmentation they're causing by giving all of the "awesome" features to one platform and barely addressing updates on the others. You know, like when you switch from iOS to Android and download your favorite app on your new device only to find out how crippled it is. Poor user experience indeed. Instead of using the marketshare argument I was anticipating she basically said that customers would simply log on to our full website if there weren't enough features on their platform of choice. Again, poor user experience. Finally, she continued to name a feature that exists on all platforms supported and I pulled out my Lumia 900, launched the app and said "that's not right. I don't have that feature on my phone". That's when she asked "what phone do you have?" I answered, "a Nokia Lumia 900... you know, a Windows Phone". She replied "what's a Windows Phone?" and my reply was "how could you not know what it is when you work with the team of people that developed and maintain the app?" She walked over, took a look at the phone and with surprise in her voice said "wow, that's a gorgeous phone. Who makes it?"
She went on to say that our CEO and Bill Gates were buddy's and maybe he should talk to bill about getting a better app made for WP users. I reminded her that MS didn't make the app, our company did and it's our company's responsibility to support its app development. As if Bill Gates is going to take time out of his schedule full of saving humanity to code an app for a company that employs morons.
Really?!?!
I know the kings and queens of marketshare get the most and arguably the best apps but shouldn't you be aware of what else your organization supports when you're doing a presentation? Anyway, by the end of the presentation everyone looked at this lady as incompetent and unprepared. Some people even mentioned how awesome WP is and how they love the commercials. Maybe they were attempting to pander to me and maybe they were genuine.
Maybe I'm a ****** and maybe I expect all my coworkers to be professionals and knowledgeable about what it is they do for a living. Either way, I hope to be somewhere else in a year.
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