The Power of Digital Products
We usually get a lot of questions when we tell people we are a Digital Product Studio and Consultancy, as I’m sure you have some having just read that. It’s something that I actually struggled with at first as well. However, after a lot of refining and exploration of our business model and value proposition, we kept coming back to a core set of outcomes that we’re trying to accomplish with our clients and with our technologies and the only way that we felt we could easily communicate is through the definition of “Digital Product.”
“To us, a Digital Product is the use of digital platforms or technologies to solve core business challenges.”
We talk and hear a lot about Digital Transformation and how digital is completely disrupting and transforming industries. From Auto to Retail; from Pizza Delivery to Dating, digital has had it’s hands in all the change that we’re witnessing around us. We like to think of Digital Transformation not as one fell swoop but a series of Digital Product integrations that make businesses more efficient, more connected and more transparent while creating new business models and revenue streams.
The Digital Product is a means to an end, not the end itself. The end is something that truly drives business measures. Sure it’s fun to play in VR, Voice and the next shiny thing to see its capabilities, but the Digital Product we’re talking about is more functional technology with a specific business outcome.
To give a better understanding of how a Digital Product mindset can help drive business results, below are the outcomes we strive to achieve with the role of Digital Product.
Streamline Workflows: There are a tremendous amount of business and customer processes that are built of legacy systems and old ways of operations. And as new platforms come into the fold the processes can become a bit cumbersome and inefficient. Simply by mapping out the current state and the ideal state of these cumbersome workflows, you can start to begin see where digital products can make a difference, easing tensions in the process, removing bottlenecks, automating activities, etc.
Connect People & Content: The biggest downfall of digital as we know it, is that we don’t really connect with others as much as we should. Or when we do, it’s in a moment of despair instead of a moment of pleasure. All of us know that communication is key to any relationship and the appropriate integration of communication products can open collaboration and access to content.
Automate Tasks: Let’s be honest, there are a lot of tasks that people do that could be automated and done in a more efficient manner. It doesn’t mean that we want to do away with employees, but to find the appropriate role and mix of technology to employee and to transition the manpower towards more empathy-driven tasks, ones which shouldn’t and couldn’t be automated. However, automating tasks is crucial for a more efficient operational model and can be a driving force in your customer experience.
Increase Accessibility: The biggest shift in the Amazon world in which we live, is the accessibility of what we once thought were physical items. Finding a way to connect the physical elements of your company or organization to the digital realm opens new opportunities for your business.
New Business Model / Revenue Streams: The implementation of Digital Products have a way of shifting how you look at your business. What once was a large purchase may now become a subscription model. What once was part of a shopping list might now be an automated order based on usage. What once was a phone call to order a pizza may now just be opening an app. As we’ve seen, business models are now becoming synonymous with the brand experience and something that is becoming a powerful differentiator.
Increase Transparency: As I used to say to my clients, every action in both the physical and digital space has a ‘bit’ behind it. The collection and use of those bits creates an all knowing world where transparency is critical to success. Whether it be through your supply chain, your distribution network, your employee engagement or your consumer interaction, there is enough information to make a big difference in transparency.
Digital Products continue to play a big role in any industry or organization that is going through a transformation (and who isn’t going through one?). This digital transformation that we’re in may seem like a mountain to overcome, but it's only a series of the right, strategic implementation of digital products, not a massive overhaul in one fell swoop. How are you planning your transformation?