We are in a hurry to share important news!

For the third year in a row, based on the results of popular and expert votes, Fusion Tech wins the TechBehemoths Awards of the famous rating platform of the same name in three categories: &quot;Top Web Developers&quot;, &quot;Top Mobile Developers&quot;, &quot;Top UI/UX Designers&quot; of the USA 2024.

The 1st place for mobile development, the 2nd place for web development, and the 1st place for UI/UX.

And here&#39;re the links for proof:

- <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/awards-2024/mobile-app-development/united-states">mobile development</a>; 
- <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/awards-2024/web-development/united-states">web development</a>; 
- <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/awards-2024/ux-ui-design/united-states">UI/UX design</a>.&nbsp;

x3 winners of TechBehemoths Awards 2024

Washington, D.C., May 15, 2024 &mdash; Washington DC-based business news resource, The Manifest officially releases its rankings of the most reviewed and recommended B2B companies from Armenia for 2024 and Fusion Tech is&nbsp;honored to be part of this list for the second year in row!

In case you are not familiar with The Manifest, they are <a href="http://themanifest.com/am/web-development/companies?utm_source=directory&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=TM+Awards">a company list blog website</a> that aims to gather and verify the hard data, expert insights, and actionable advice that you need to build your brand and grow your business &ndash; to provide the practical business wisdom that manifests in your success.

Follow the <a href="https://themanifest.com/press-releases/awards-manifest-armenia-2024?utm_campaign=Awards%20%7C%20TM%2C%20VO%2C%20TDF%2C%20Clutch&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_nFYXR6HWt8HfjPGoSX3Zcr6h2YVBEs_R9E_umqtCbVsfyY-tC6bK3jZRH6cjdqeQ2l1biImwP-gh_7hFI-htCXRnJM8pWLs5A2aYj0ko-rckW2zM&amp;_hsmi=307096443&amp;utm_content=307041684&amp;utm_source=hs_email#h2-2">link</a> to view the original article and see us as winners.

The Manifest Names Fusion Tech the Most Reviewed B2B Leader 2024 in Armenia

The face of any company is its portfolio and reviews, since they reflect its expertise both in terms of the complexity of the implemented projects and the degree of customer satisfaction. We receive reviews on various prestigious international platforms, but today we are talking about new achievements on the <a href="https://goo.su/aGGgL">Clutch.co rating platform</a>. It would seem that only six months have passed, but we already have 29 (!!!) new achievements for various positions in various sections in 2 countries at once - the USA and Armenia. Moreover, from year to year we not only confirm our positions, but also expand our areas of presence - from the development of b2b and b2c applications to b2g.

New achievements on Clutch.co

We always talk everywhere about successful customer relationships we build. This time the TechBehemoths platform asked us to share some insights for their new survey and we took part in it with pleasure, the results can be found at the <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/blog/strategies-acquiring-retaining-b2b-clients-survey-analysis">link</a>.

TechBehemoths' Strategies for Acquiring and Retaining B2B Clients Survey Partners

The application was released, but customers did not appreciate the idea? The situation is not funny at all and even scary. No one will return the time, as well as the funds invested in the implementation of an unprofitable service. In this article we will tell you how an MVP can protect you from thoughtless expenses when developing a mobile app.

In the digital technology market, you can often find negative reviews from business owners who collaborated with companies using an outstaff or outsource model when developing an application for business. The product was implemented, integrated into work processes, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on it, but the desired result - qualified leads - was not received. Financial performance did not live up to expectations, and questions arise: who is to blame and what to do next?

Why is that? Negative customer experience is a consequence of insufficiently collected requirements and poorly described technical specifications. Such projects can be compared to a suitcase without a handle: it&rsquo;s a pity to abandon it, because a lot of resources have been spent, and what the financial efficiency is - a big question.

Is there any solution? Sure!&nbsp;

The best practice, which helps businesses understand without significant risks how much a product is in demand and automates certain processes, will bring profit and significantly reduce the budget for unnecessary expenses, can be considered MVP (Minimal Viable Product).

MVP or minimum viable product is a prototype of a future website, application or service. This is the basis or foundation of a future resource for testing the primary hypothesis and the performance of an idea.&nbsp;

Simply put, this is a ready-made product with a very basic set of options, which is planned to be implemented with more advanced functionality in the future.

What tasks does an MVP face when developing an application?

Minimum tasks:

<ul>
	<li>collect primary feedback from users in order to more accurately understand the needs of the audience, the pros and cons of the product (how well the created application meets the expectations of consumers, and what they would like to see in the final picture);</li>
	<li>analyze the collected data;</li>
	<li>create and test hypotheses in this direction: what functions of the application will make it more convenient, accessible and attractive to users.</li>
</ul>

Maximum tasks:

<ul>
	<li>speed up the entry of a mobile product to the market;</li>
	<li>convey its value to the target audience;</li>
	<li>attract quality leads and make a profit;</li>
	<li>carry out all these manipulations with minimal investment on the part of the business owner.</li>
</ul>

MVP for business is a rational approach to creating a new service. The development of a minimum viable product protects against risks, unnecessary expenses and opens up new opportunities in the form of investments if the project turns out to be in demand at the start.

At first, companies try to allocate a limited budget in order to clearly understand that the idea has a right to exist. In this case, MVP is the best assistant.

Feedback received during MVP testing gives an idea of the success of current hypotheses and scope for new ones: which features should be excluded and which ones the audience feels the need for.

What should an MVP be?

Just like the final mobile product, the MVP must, above all, be of high quality. The client must go through the entire user journey before completing the target action without obstacles: an intuitive design, the absence of technical bugs and other unforeseen situations. Nothing should interfere with key steps in the process of using the application.

All the rough edges that pop up along the customer journey are easier to detect and refine at the MVP stage, predict potential demand among the audience and gradually add new features to increase their loyalty.

There is an unspoken rule: if the user is disappointed with the product the first time he touches it, it will be very, very difficult to return it. The client will delete the application without learning about the improvements and new functions that have significantly improved the quality and convenience of the mobile service.

What types of MVP are there in mobile development?

Quite often you can find various methods of how you can differentiate MVP based on the direction of the business, the specifics of the product that is created for this very business and the goals that need to be achieved. Based on personal experience in the field of development, we identify the following types of minimum viable product:

<ul>
	<li>Flintstone&#39;s MVP or The Wizard of Oz. The point is to manually check the viability of the idea. Let&#39;s say a client plans to create an Internet platform to receive a percentage of sales. Creating a large-scale service with personal accounts for sellers and buyers of goods will take a long time. To test how viable the product is, a simpler website is developed with the ability to list products for sellers and process orders.</li>
	<li>Concierge MVP. The method is based on finding out the needs of the audience as much as possible and taking these details into account when developing the product. All work is also done manually. For example, it is necessary to develop a hotel booking service. First of all, the team studies the audience and tries to follow their path to using the service independently (books rooms), and also clarifies the details and answers questions from future clients. After collecting feedback and understanding how the product should work to be in demand, development begins.</li>
	<li>Disjointed MVP. The method is used when the initial idea can be tested and implemented without developing unique software. Let&#39;s imagine that a company is launching an online service for selling concert tickets. Initially, all services are provided via email. And only when the required number of users is recruited, the product&rsquo;s functions are expanded: sales automation, email newsletters, and a full-fledged mobile application is created.</li>
	<li>Product with one parameter. An application, website or program is developed with one or two basic functions that are needed to assess the demand for the service. After testing the MVP on the target audience and receiving feedback, a full-scale service is launched.</li>
</ul>

Stages of creating an MVP

Like types, the stages of creating a minimum viable product may vary depending on various factors: company services, niche, audience, etc. These inputs determine how many steps it will take to develop the MVP. As a rule, the work consists of eight parts, which also includes a marketing analysis of competitors, a description of segments, identifying the core of the target audience, detailing the customer journey, and so on. If we talk only about development, then the stages of creating an MVP can be simplified to three stages:

<ul>
	<li>gathering requirements;</li>
	<li>start of the first version;</li>
	<li>making adjustments and adding new functions.</li>
</ul>

Gathering requirements: At this stage, an acquaintance with the customer occurs: the client comes with a big idea, from which analysts highlight the main idea, describe the minimum technical and business requirements for the successful implementation of the project. The product is still presented in the form of a bare frame (without design, with the most necessary minimum functionality).

Start of the first version: What do we see here? A starting version of a working product that may be attractive to potential users. Such a product can already be tested on an audience to understand how friendly the UX/UI design is and how the main feature of the product works.

Making adjustments and adding new functions: after collecting feedback from a potential audience, a more or less clear picture of how the application works is formed. On this basis, proposals for improving the product are formed and new options are added for further testing.

What challenges does a business face without an MVP?

Let&#39;s show it with an example. There are often cases when a technical specification that is voluminous and detailed at first glance (from 10 to 70 sheets) does not contain basic functions, without which the application will only cause rejection from the user.

The most typical situation: the absence of a password recovery button on the page. Without this important option, it will never be possible to log into your personal account if the user for some reason has forgotten his data. It turns out that the business will lose a potential buyer just because of one single button, which was not foreseen at the initial stage.

With MVP, the risk of such a problem is reduced to zero. An application prototype with a minimal set of options allows you to test basic functions and highlight existing shortcomings in the primary version, assessing its demand among the audience. Practice shows that it is better to develop a product with limited functionality and a small budget than to completely redesign the application in the future, slowing down the release and losing a loyal audience. Gradually adding screens, improving visuals and increasing the necessary and cost-effective functionality based on audience requests is easier than returning those who downloaded the application and deleted it due to an unfriendly interface, long loading times, or other reasons.

Gradually increasing functionality is a rational and competent approach from the point of view of preserving the company&rsquo;s finances and increasing future profits.

Budget savings + time savings = MVP

Which business is suitable for MVP?

Objectively, MVP protects the project from unnecessary risks that its owner may face one way or another. Therefore, from the point of view of importance for business, we can say that MVP is suitable for any direction and any size of the company. And for those who are just beginning to pave their way to success, and for those who have already reached certain heights and plan to maintain their position and expand.

For startups, MVP will give the right vector for product development, help save money and gain the opportunity to scale into a large and profitable project.

For mid-level companies or large enterprises, MVP is useful when introducing new options into a finished product that is already familiar to users and has its own audience.

Conclusion

An MVP is indispensable for testing a prototype of a full-fledged product and not being disappointed after the launch of its main version. It allows you to collect valuable information before the start and make the necessary adjustments, and also significantly saves time and budget. Suitable for those companies that care about financial performance and approach the final business functionality of their future service thoroughly.

How MVP helps you avoid risks when creating a mobile app

The loss of valuable information is a nuisance and sometimes a death sentence for a business. Details of contracts or transaction amounts are not information that should be shared with competitors. To prevent a partner or employee from disclosing information, an NDA is concluded. We will look at what this document is in more detail in our article.

WHAT IS AN NDA AND WHAT IS IT FOR?

NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) is an agreement on non-disclosure of confidential information, which protects the company from transferring secret data to third parties and once again guarantees the honesty of the parties to each other.&nbsp;

You can conclude an NDA with an employee, investor, counterparty or partner before starting to work together or at the time of the transaction. It is recommended to refer to such agreements when merging or acquiring companies, purchasing assets or signing investment contracts. An NDA will act as a guarantee of security when interacting with a third party who is entrusted to conduct the affairs of the enterprise, for example, with a private accountant, lawyer, or auditor.

The initiator of such an agreement is the company, which discloses information about internal processes to the other party.

A non-disclosure agreement is signed in areas of activity related to science, technology and development, media content and promotion (advertising and marketing agencies), real estate and construction.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION?

Confidential information can be absolutely anything. It all depends on the specifics of the company&rsquo;s activities and the wishes of its owner. Often, secret data refers to customer contacts, details of transactions with them, composition of products, employee salaries, as well as:

<ul>
	<li>business models, strategic and marketing plans of the company;</li>
	<li>financial agreements (transaction amounts, cost of services or discount amounts);</li>
	<li>information about the cost of goods and pricing established by the company;</li>
	<li>details of unique developments/technologies and the results of their application;</li>
	<li>creative ideas (design solutions, advertising slogans, texts, photos, video files, etc.);</li>
	<li>classified materials with restricted access.</li>
</ul>

WHAT FUNCTIONS DOES NDA PERFORM?

The main function of a non-disclosure agreement is to protect the company&rsquo;s activities from unforeseen situations:

1. An NDA protects financial information. A non-disclosure agreement ensures the safety of data, the leakage of which could damage the business or lead to reputational or financial risks. When signing an agreement, the company&rsquo;s partner will not be able to transmit, intentionally or accidentally, important information (transaction amounts, supply volumes, discounts, etc.) to the company&rsquo;s competitors or other clients.

2. NDA preserves intellectual activity. With a non-disclosure agreement, the company does not have to fear that valuable developments or ideas that are not protected by a patent will go to third parties. Employees handling sensitive information will not be able to pass it on to a third party without legal consequences.

3. NDA does not allow leakage of negative information. What is meant? For example, the company has legal or accounting deficiencies or tax errors. Specialists (auditors, lawyers) who work with such information that is vulnerable to the enterprise sign an NDA. Otherwise, there is a risk that the data will be lost to the external environment and the business will suffer losses.

WHAT TYPES OF NDA ARE THERE?

NDA is divided into several types depending on the number of participants in the transaction:

1. A unilateral agreement is concluded with a new employee, freelancer, with whom interaction is taking place for the first time. That is, based on the name, such an agreement is signed by only one party. The person who signed the NDA guarantees the safety of information to which access will be obtained in the course of work.

2. A bilateral agreement implies that both parties undertake not to disseminate confidential information outside. An agreement of this kind can be found when negotiations are underway on a merger or when it is planned to organize joint projects, including those of a marketing nature. A bilateral agreement is used when providing services, including contracting, purchase and sale, and so on.

3. The multilateral agreement is signed&nbsp;when companies exchange confidential information with each other. Confidential information may include design documentation or secret developments. Joint marketing research or selection of contractors for a large-scale event is also a reason to conclude a multilateral agreement. Otherwise, there is a risk of data being distributed ahead of time.

WHAT DOES THE NDA SAY?

The NDA must indicate what is included in the list of requested information and what is not. Persons signing a non-disclosure agreement must clearly understand what information they can share and what information they should keep silent about. Otherwise, misunderstandings may arise between employees, partners and the company in the future.

In addition, the non-disclosure agreement should include information about the validity period of the document, information about the responsibilities of the parties, as well as the conditions and procedure for exchanging access to information and channels for its transmission.

A TYPICAL NDA CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING POINTS:

1. General information in the &ldquo;header&rdquo; of the document. This includes the date, the name of the company that transmits the information, and the company that receives it. The details of the persons who act on behalf of these enterprises are also indicated here. The place where the contract is concluded is also indicated.

2. Subject of the agreement. This paragraph already reveals the main essence of the agreement. It describes in detail what both parties understand by the concept of &ldquo;confidential information&rdquo; (cost of services, transaction amount, amount of discount or salary, etc.).

3. Transfer of confidential information. This section of the document reflects the purpose for which the information is being transmitted. The method of its transmission is also recorded: oral, written, or providing access to the company&rsquo;s digital resources.

4. Storage and disclosure of confidential information. The obligation of the receiving party not to disclose the information received is once again stated. Plus, actions are prescribed if confidential data is required to be disclosed by investigative authorities.

5. Responsibility of the parties. Consequences for intentional or accidental violation of the NDA can be found here. The section indicates the amount of the fine or other disciplinary consequences (for example, reprimand, dismissal), compensation for damages depending on the damage caused.

6. Terms of the contract. A time period is fixed within which confidential information cannot be disclosed.

7. Details of the parties. The final section, where the basic data is once again indicated. If the agreement is concluded with a legal entity, the following information is specified: company name, tax identification number, location address.

WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF VIOLATION OF NDA?

A partner company/employee or other person who, contrary to signed agreements, violates the NDA risks paying a fine. Disputes under a confidentiality agreement are resolved in court if it is impossible to reach an agreement amicably or the amount of damage is too great. The injured company can request compensation for the losses caused and claim compensation for the expenses incurred. The amount of the fine or penalty may be initially specified in the contract.

Before going to court, you need to collect evidence that the agreement was actually violated. Correspondence, video files, and witness testimony can be used as arguments.

Violation of NDA by an employee entails disciplinary or material, civil, and sometimes criminal liability, depending on the amount of damage caused:

1. Disciplinary liability: The affected company has the right to fire an employee who accidentally or intentionally discloses classified information. Legislation in the form of the Labor Code is on the side of the employer.

2. Financial or civil liability: dismissal is an easy path for an employee who made confidential information public. If the amount of damage is too great, you will also have to pay a fine along with the loss of your position, provided that guilt is proven.

3. Criminal liability arises if an employee used company data for his own commercial gain.

Violation of the NDA by a partner company, counterparty or shareholder may result in administrative or civil liability and exclusion from the corporation.

HOW LONG IS AN NDA VALID?

The contract ends when the parties agree to terminate it. Other deadlines may be specified initially. In case of early termination of the agreement, additional documents are signed. If the NDA is terminated by one of the parties, the other party must be notified of the decision in writing.

SUMMARY

NDA acts as a tool for protecting confidential information in a company and guarantees the transparency of business relations between all participants in the process. Whether they are partners, investors or employees, a non-disclosure agreement promotes reliable and trusting interactions, eliminating possible problems in the future. Each party understands what information is closed to third parties and the possible consequences of leakage of this data.

All about NDA

Everything changes.&nbsp;

The sales tools that were used previously are no longer as effective. Finding an approach to a new type of client is not easy, but those who do not take risks do not enter into profitable deals. Together with the head of the Fusion Tech sales department, we discussed how to please the modern customer and win his trust for many years.

With the advent of globalization, people no longer buy and consume goods the way they used to. There is more information, opportunities and choice. Many sales methods that once produced excellent results are outdated. They have been replaced by a model consisting of three main messages: &ldquo;sell to yourself,&rdquo; &ldquo;sell yourself,&rdquo; and &ldquo;understand the client.&rdquo;

You can win the heart of a new type of customer if you learn to feel him, hear him, and identify the drivers and barriers on his way to purchase. You can talk as much as you like about the best characteristics of a product or service, but if this does not resonate in the heart of the client, he will not buy the product.

CUSTOMER AND PRODUCT FOCUS

When forming a development strategy, we are faced with a choice: to place more emphasis on the product or on the client. In fact, here we determine how we will build marketing campaigns and speak to our audience, developing the brand.

A product-first strategy will inevitably raise objections. On a subconscious level, we are all wary of a sales process that is too straightforward. And you need additional tools and incentives to convince the buyer to choose your product or service.

A client-oriented approach to strategy allows you to achieve the most transparent relationships and quickly gain the client&rsquo;s trust, forcing them to come back to you again and again. The best sale goes unnoticed by the buyer.

How to understand the client&rsquo;s desires and make him loyal to the company without him noticing anything?

A successful sales formula can be depicted as follows: we analyze the client&rsquo;s needs and pains &rarr; put ourselves in his place (what he thinks about when buying a product/service, what path he takes through the funnel) &rarr; offer a solution to his problem using our capabilities and tools.

And this concept should run like a red thread through all processes in the company, and not just through the sales department.

TARGET AUDIENCE AND CLIENT PORTRAIT

It is impossible to understand the buyer&rsquo;s needs if you don&rsquo;t know who he is and how he lives. Determining the target audience and drawing up a client portrait comes to the fore.

The target audience is a specific group of people to whom all marketing communications of the brand are directed.

In marketing books you can most often find the following structure of characteristics of the target audience:

<ul>
	<li>demographic data (gender, age, nationality, marital status);</li>
	<li>social data (education, specialty, source of income, level of income, religious beliefs, hobbies);</li>
	<li>geographical data (country of residence, climate);</li>
	<li>psychological data (life position, values, interests, lifestyle).</li>
</ul>

This structure is quite functional. Based on it, you can most accurately determine your client&#39;s needs. But, as many experts advise, it is unnecessary to include all the points in the description. Prioritize and pay attention only to those characteristics that are important when forming a strategy in each specific case. For example, it is inappropriate to include a locality in the description of the target audience of an online store operating all over the world.

When the target audience is described in detail, it should be segmented - divided into groups united by common characteristics. Among them, it is important to highlight the &ldquo;core&rdquo; and 2-3 key subgroups. This will help you focus on important customers, among whom your product is in greatest demand.

Ideally, you already have a developed database of customers who have already bought something, and you can identify their common characteristics (analyze the available information or conduct a survey, questionnaire or any convenient marketing research). It&rsquo;s more difficult for startups. You will have to use creativity and imagination, create a hypothesis and test it in practice.

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP

Now that we understand who our consumer is, we move on to the next step. We have to figure out how a customer makes a purchasing decision. There is an old, time-tested method for this - creating a customer journey map. Using the map, the main fears and expectations of customers (drivers and barriers to purchase) are revealed. This is the main difference between CJM and a sales funnel, which depicts a linear movement towards a product without detours. To draw up a map, you need to think through the possible behavior of the client at all points of intersection with the company: from the inception of the thought of a purchase to its completion. A good analysis requires information about the buyer and the product itself. All information is recorded on the card.

By default, the customer journey map contains sections that describe various aspects of customer research:

<ul>
	<li>points of contact;</li>
	<li>emotions;</li>
	<li>description of our and the client&rsquo;s actions at each stage.</li>
</ul>

The map can indicate the start and finish, significant stages and alternative routes on the path to purchase, as well as drivers and barriers at each step.

Drivers are what stimulate a purchase.

Barriers are what slows it down.

Now let&#39;s move from theory to practice: when the tools described above helped our clients reach a new level in organizing business processes and achieve the highest performance.

Example

We received an order to develop a web and subsequently a mobile application for a startup that was at the stage of inception and formation of the company&#39;s strategy. A real dream, isn&#39;t it?

The idea was to create a platform to connect media and show companies with performers, comedians, musicians and other entertainers. The site provided sections for the two types of users described above. There was no design, the structure of the site was described in its infancy - there was huge scope for creativity, but analytics first.

1. We start with the product description provided by the customer. We are talking about a service for organizing concert programs in several US cities. This is enough for the first stage.

2. Let&rsquo;s move on to specifics, namely a description of the product criteria that future clients of the service can pay attention to. Here they are:

<ul>
	<li>cost of company services;</li>
	<li>absence of intrusive advertising on the site;</li>
	<li>ease of use;</li>
	<li>design;</li>
	<li>company reputation;</li>
	<li>company competitors, etc.</li>
</ul>

At this stage, there is no need to cling to facts that have little impact on the client&rsquo;s motivation to buy the product. Focus on the details that impact the minds of customers most powerfully. The ideal number of criteria is 5-10 for the company&rsquo;s overall range of products or services.

3. &ldquo;Draw&rdquo; the image of the target audience. Describing a customer portrait is useful for both companies with a product strategy (it is necessary to describe cases, scenarios and conflict resolution tactics) and a customer-oriented one.

Our customer&#39;s target audience is limited to several cities and is clearly divided into 2 parts: concert organizing companies and artists who perform on their territory. We divide the target audience into subgroups and write down the key characteristics for each of them.

4. Let&#39;s start mapping the customer&#39;s journey. In our case, there are two of them: one for the organizing company, the second one for the artists.

By collecting all the information and suggestions from design, development and analytics specialists, we created a platform that brought the company more than 5,000 unique users in the first two months after its launch.

What does our example say? The fact that the better we know the client and his business, the easier it is for us to become friends with him and bring him to the desired result. A few life hacks on how to get there faster:

1) Listen carefully to your client and ask clarifying questions - this is an opportunity to extract priorities from the story and focus on them when analyzing and preparing a proposal.

2) Use an individual approach to each customer. And we are talking not only about projects and their implementation, but also about methods of communication with the client.

3) Be patient and friendly, no matter how the communication goes. The ability to behave professionally until the last minute always bears fruit: new deals, useful connections and long-term partnerships.

We believe that the client should feel that his project is important and is in good hands. And this is possible by establishing trusting and friendly relationships with complete immersion in the project, without inflating the budget with unnecessary functionality. Clients give their preference not only to a good specialist, but also to cozy service.

The way to the client's heart: how to build a long and strong relationship with the customer

To do everything in 24 hours, not to go crazy and stay in a good mood - is this possible? It&rsquo;s possible if you manage your time wisely. Many time management methods and techniques have been invented, but are they really that effective? Let&#39;s think about this with our CPO.&nbsp;

Time management is a method of planning time that allows you to get more done and spend your own resources effectively, achieving results without internal burnout.

There is a legend that the first person to mention the need for time management in work and life was the 15th century scientist and writer Alberti, originally from Italy. If you thought about this back in those distant times, then you cannot cope with the frantic rhythm of modernity without a clear approach to work and personal tasks.

There are many techniques that help you build time management in the most productive way and overcome procrastination (putting things off until the last moment).

The most interesting of them:

<ul>
	<li>Swiss cheese;</li>
	<li>Elephant;</li>
	<li>Tomato;</li>
	<li>Eisenhower Matrix;</li>
	<li>Frog;</li>
	<li>Rubber duck.</li>
</ul>

We have several solutions, a kind of symbiosis of well-known practices for wisely using resources and saving time.

IN OUR WORK WE USE THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES:

<ol>
	<li>We write down all plans and promises immediately.</li>
	<li>We decompose tasks so as not to get bogged down in procrastination.</li>
	<li>Once we enter a state of flow, we try to stay in it for as long as possible.</li>
	<li>We set priorities.</li>
</ol>

RECORDS

Leave notes in your phone, instant messenger, Google calendar, on a napkin in a coffee shop, the main thing is to immediately write down the necessary information so that you can return to it in the future. If a task is not recorded in time, then with a high probability it will be completely forgotten or will come to mind when it is already too late.

To ensure that important information is not lost, we recommend using services such as:

<ul>
	<li>Notion;</li>
	<li>Todoist;</li>
	<li>Focus To-Do;</li>
	<li>and the like.</li>
</ul>

Each of them has its pros and cons, but our managers prefer Todoist when planning their time. The free version is quite functional: you can create several projects and subprojects, separate personal and work, record your tasks, plans, promises, or transfer records there from other places. In Todoist, you can customize tags, priorities, add subtasks, and leave comments. The service provides excellent discipline, which is sometimes so lacking, and allows you not to keep too much information in memory, but to return to it when necessary.

DECOMPOSITION

Let&#39;s say you took our advice and keep track of your work and personal tasks. But it&rsquo;s not getting any easier; time management is still a fantasy concept. What to do? In one of the previous articles, we touched upon the importance of decomposition. How do other work and personal matters differ from the project? The same limited resources and high uncertainty, the same deadlines and nerves from pressing deadlines. There seems to be only one way out - tasks and plans also need to be broken down into smaller components.

A big task, let&rsquo;s call it &ldquo;Write technical specifications for a new product,&rdquo; always causes stress. The brain, trying to protect us from negative emotions, switches to more understandable and easy-to-do actions, for example, scrolling through a social network feed - quick dopamine and no cortisol. And the task remains in the &ldquo;To-Do&rdquo; section and waits for its deadline (apparently, not soon).

But if you break it down into smaller ones, for example: &ldquo;Describe the goals and objectives of the product &rarr; draw its structure in Miro &rarr; clarify the client&rsquo;s requirements for the feature &rarr; describe user paths and so on&rdquo; - it becomes no longer so scary to step up and start closing one position per one. You just have to start and the process will go like clockwork.

Decomposition of tasks or breaking them into small parts is the basis of the well-known time management techniques &ldquo;Swiss Cheese&rdquo; and &ldquo;Elephant&rdquo;.

&quot;Swiss cheese&quot;. The technique suggests dividing the task into components and first selecting those to which your heart lies most. Gradually &ldquo;eat holes in the cheese,&rdquo; that is, methodically close positions one by one until they are all resolved. An example of a method is writing an article: as inspiration comes, you can start presenting the material not from the beginning, but from the middle or even the conclusion, and then assemble a complete picture by dragging the parts to the right place.

&quot;Elephant&quot;. Time management technology similar to the &ldquo;Swiss Cheese&rdquo; technique. But there are also differences. In a metaphorical sense, an &ldquo;elephant&rdquo; is too large a task that cannot be &ldquo;eaten&rdquo; at once.&nbsp;In order to do the task, the &ldquo;elephant&rdquo; must be divided into several approaches. Unlike the &ldquo;cheese&rdquo; method, the &ldquo;Elephant&rdquo; method implies a consistent solution of problems (from start to finish), and not a chaotic one.

FLOW

Getting into tasks that require long-term concentration and attention is always difficult, even if you divide them into parts. But this is only at the beginning. There is such a thing as a learning curve. It clearly demonstrates an increase in productivity - at the beginning of the journey, productivity will always be low, but the more time spent on a task, the more involved in the process there is, and the more efficiency increases.

The first 15 minutes of learning something new are the most difficult. It seems that it is impossible to find a solution and it is better to first direct resources to an easier task or one with a more visible result in the near future. But as you get involved in the process, productivity will grow upward, and at some point the long-awaited exit to a plateau is inevitable - this is the very notorious &ldquo;flow&rdquo;.

Staying in it for as long as possible is a gamble. To do this, you need to minimize contact with all distractions:

<ul>
	<li>close all instant messengers and apps - turn on the maximum focus mode;</li>
	<li>we move away from colleagues who are eager to quickly discuss a non-urgent issue (headphones + a piece of paper asking not to disturb, a red flag or something else that will&nbsp;make it clear that now is not the best time for conversations (the main thing is to convey this scheme to colleagues in advance);</li>
	<li>we reduce the influence of extraneous sounds - put on headphones and completely disconnect from the environment with music (if this option suits you) or find a&nbsp;quiet place in the office where no one can interfere with concentrating on the main thing.</li>
</ul>

The state of flow also needs to be controlled so as not to get carried away and eventually burn out. The Pomodoro method allows you to maintain the desired balance without fanaticism. The point is to set a certain timing for work and rest: 25 minutes for work, 5 minutes for a break, and do it all over again. You can adjust the time to suit yourself if, for example, 25 minutes for a task is not enough. But you still have to follow a certain structure if you choose the &ldquo;pomodoro&rdquo; approach.

PRIORITIES

All tasks, at first glance, seem important and urgent, but in reality this is not always true. A useful skill in time management is the ability to identify a truly key task among many secondary ones, that is, to set priorities. To do this, you can use a simple but working tool - the Eisenhower Matrix, which helps determine what is really important and what can be put off and done later (or never). Moreover, the effectiveness of this method has even been scientifically confirmed.

The Eisenhower Matrix consists of four squares, in each of which things should be distributed according to the degree of importance and urgency: urgent and important, not urgent and important, urgent and not important, not urgent and not important. 
You can draw such a matrix on a simple sheet of paper or in any graphics editor. All that remains is to brainstorm, scatter things and gradually close tasks from each square in order of priority.

One of the highest priority but unpleasant tasks that you want to put off until the last minute is best done in the morning. This is exactly what the author of another popular approach to time management advises - the &ldquo;Frog&rdquo; method. It becomes easier to do other things when the frog is already eaten at the beginning of the day.

The above techniques are ideal when the task seems difficult, but in general we understand how to complete it and what the result should be in the end. The opposite situation - the task seems to be clear, but how to approach it, where to start, and what the outcome will be - seems very vague. It takes too much time to think about it, and the state of panic creeps in more and more as the deadline approaches. What to do? The &ldquo;Rubber Duck&rdquo; will tell you. No, we&#39;re not talking about bathing with yellow toy (although that&#39;s also a good idea), but about another time management method. Imagine a rubber duck in front of you and tell him about your task, what difficulties it causes, what blocks prevent you from achieving the result.

Finally, we share valuable advice as a bonus: in an attempt to do everything at once, do not forget to use up-to-date business services and tools in order to allocate resources more rationally and find time for yourself.

Time management or how to manage everything and everywhere?

How quickly a digital product will be released depends on many factors: how long it will take to develop the design layout and code, how many bugs will be found in it during the testing stage, and so on. Each level of approval will have its own conditions, which inevitably affect the timing and quality. How to effectively manage this process so that the client is satisfied and the employees do not burn out after the release, as well as which task manager turned out to be the most effective for us, told the head of the Fusion Tech&#39;s Project Department.

At the very beginning of the journey, at the project planning stage (project management), and right up to implementation, the following factors will influence the speed of the final product and its quality:

- how the task is described (how detailed and accessible it is for all team members to understand);

- what parts it is divided into (how it is decomposed*) and whether it is divided at all.

If the team does not understand the task, then the output will not be what was expected at the beginning of the work. Without a clear technical specification the result will be unpredictable. But why is it so important to divide the project into separate components?

ADVANTAGES OF DECOMPOSITION*

*Decomposition of tasks into small parts makes it easier to understand, evaluate, and ultimately complete one large task faster and more efficiently.

Decomposition helps to:

<ul>
	<li>take a look at the entire project, better understand its overall structure;</li>
	<li>correctly plan upcoming tasks and outline the relationships between them;</li>
	<li>highlight priorities;</li>
	<li>manage work more effectively and distribute resources (people, time, money) between tasks;</li>
	<li>monitor progress and results.</li>
</ul>

Breaking down tasks into small parts increases the accuracy of project planning and helps you see which functions that may not be obvious at first glance need to be included.

For example, let&#39;s take the creation of a business messenger. It would seem that the main feature of the product is messages, but not everything is so simple. If you break down the task into pieces, additional functions will appear:

<ul>
	<li>presence/absence of formatting when typing;</li>
	<li>notification of a new message;</li>
	<li>saving a message as a draft;</li>
	<li>editing or deleting a sent message;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;pinning&rdquo; or adding it to the &ldquo;Favorites&rdquo;;</li>
	<li>marking as read;</li>
	<li>emoji and much more.</li>
</ul>

A real case from our practice

A long-time partner contacted the company to improve an application they had previously developed for online nanny booking. The task was to add another section - a new &ldquo;Type of work&rdquo;, which differs from the existing one in several parameters. It sounds quite easy, but upon subsequent decomposition we found a lot of nuances:

<ul>
	<li>you need to create a new page with an additional set of parameters;</li>
	<li>some old components need to be rewritten because they are not ready for change;</li>
	<li>layout adjustments are required on a number of pages;</li>
	<li>many other additional features that grow like a snowball when you dive deeper into the task.</li>
</ul>

Thus, taking into account the peculiarities of the old code and complex business logic, our estimate for the complete implementation of a task with tests increases from 1-2 days to 2-3 weeks.

If you do not decompose the task, then all these little things that cascade together will not be taken into account in time, which will affect both the deadlines and the quality of the final product.

DISADVANTAGES OF DECOMPOSITION AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

Breaking down tasks into parts makes your work much easier. But there is also a downside to the coin - if the decomposition is overly detailed, then it can become too complex and difficult to coordinate all the details. Maintain a balance:

1) You should not decompose the entire project at once; as a rule, plans change and are clarified during the work process. It is better to use the &ldquo;rolling wave&rdquo; method - when the entire project is divided into large parts, and during the work the nearest blocks are detailed.

2) Break down the task into small parts together with the entire team involved in the project - experts in their field, who themselves know well what to do and how to do it correctly in order to avoid mistakes.

TOOLS FOR DECOMPOSITION

Task managers which are already familiar in the IT play as assistants in breaking down tasks into smaller ones. They are used by all team members: from technical specialists to sales and marketing ones. The advantages of a task manager are obvious: convenient assignment of tasks, visibility of the workload of all team members and clear deadlines.

Among the most popular task managers are the following:

<ul>
	<li>Jira;</li>
	<li>Wrike;</li>
	<li>Trello;</li>
	<li>Asana;</li>
	<li>Things;</li>
	<li>ClickUp;</li>
	<li>Todoist;</li>
	<li>Habitica;</li>
	<li>Basecamp;</li>
	<li>Worksection;</li>
	<li>and many others.</li>
</ul>

WHAT TASK MANAGER DID WE CHOOSE AND WHY?

At the startup stage, we used Trello - it&#39;s a great tool for small projects. But as the team grew and the level of complexity of tasks increased, it became cramped for us. About three years ago we switched to another popular service.

We spent a long time choosing between competitors; we considered the familiar Jira, Monday, and the free open source Redmine. But in terms of functionality, convenience, support and cost, ClickUp turned out to be the most attractive for us at that time.

Pros of ClickUp:

1) Convenient hierarchical structure of the system, intuitive interface, flexible settings and custom fields in tasks, a huge number of integrations. For example, on projects we use integration with Gitlab and Github, we pull branches from repositories (data stores) to specific tasks, within one task you can see all the commits, the state of the branch, comments, and so on. This is very convenient for a code reviewer or technical lead who monitors the quality of the code and architectural solutions.

2) In addition to the basic set of any task manager: creating project and task boards, there is also a Notion for compiling documentation and a knowledge base, a time tracker, and a dashboard and goal designer. In ClickUp Docs, for example, we maintain knowledge bases for projects, where documentation and useful links are stored, to which all team members have access - there is no need to &ldquo;run around&rdquo; across different products and look for the necessary information. Another plus is that the knowledge base is immediately linked to the project space. You can use it to create project documentation, build a hierarchical document with deep nesting and built-in links to external resources.

3) We use ClickUp to work on projects and it is also convenient to manage tasks within departments and their interaction with each other. The system allows you to place the necessary data and internal boards of project managers in one place: you can quickly switch between tasks within one tool.

THE PROCESS OF CREATING TASKS IN TASK MANAGER

At ClickUp we use templates for different types of projects. Each template has its own set of blocks that need to be filled out by the PM, QA, or the person assigned the task.&nbsp;

In general, the process of creating a task in the task manager can be depicted as follows:

We write down the name of the task &rarr; assign the person responsible for the task &rarr; add other participants &rarr; set deadlines &rarr; describe the details &rarr; upload additional files &rarr; set priorities.

Depending on the task (development, bug fixing, research, and so on), this scheme can be expanded or narrowed. Using the most popular tasks as an example, we will show how this happens:

<ul>
	<li>Development: if you need to create a new feature, then the task&nbsp;structure will necessarily contain a User Story, Acceptance Criteria, links to design, documentation, parent or other tasks related to it.</li>
	<li>Bugfixing: if the goal is aimed at correcting errors, then in addition to a description of the bug itself (what, where and under what conditions occurs or does not occur), you should add preconditions and reproduction steps, expected and actual results, screenshots and screen recording.</li>
	<li>Research: in addition to development or bug fixing tasks, we also use Spike tasks. They are needed when you need to create a new, previously unknown product. Typically, such a task describes what final result we want to obtain and what tool or technology should be used for this.</li>
</ul>

These examples allow you to clearly understand how requirements change depending on the specifics of the project, as well as how decomposition and the task tracker together break down the general thing into parts in order to dive deeper into the task, more accurately plan budgets and deadlines, and set the right expectations for the customer. It&rsquo;s up to you to decide whether to use them or not, but our team recommends approaching the project carefully or applying to specialists for lack of resources.

Decomposition and task manager: how to effectively break a project into tasks. Personal experience

PHOTOS AND ANIMATIONS

Not as popular methods as illustrations, but tools used to attract attention are photos and animations. Recently, on websites you can see memes or familiar images in a new interpretation, including animated ones. This approach conveys nothing better than clear examples. So, let&#39;s go!

The personal website of a creative person is always a field for experimentation. This abundance of animation from memes is not only demonstrated by designer Daniel Spatzek, but that&rsquo;s not all&hellip;

&nbsp;

We can see an equally interesting portrait on the portfolio website of Rubens Kantuni. To prevent the author&#39;s works from being stolen, they can only be viewed by those who have access to the site. For users who do not know the password, this experience will be negative, because they will never see the work. But the funny animation of the suspicious designer softens this moment a little.

&nbsp;

The LunchBox team showed that food delivery can also be funny - their website in a daring style is complemented by equally brutal images (which makes them even funnier): a wild cat with pizza, a cut tomato, a wise man and other slightly mystical images.

&nbsp;

The Cartier agency is a clear example of a classic European site, but that is until you scroll all the way to the footer (bottom of the page). There&#39;s a funny illustration hidden next to the news subscription. This approach will certainly make the user smile at least once.

&nbsp;

If you switch from his site and return to another tab, you will see a full-screen ironic GIF with a playful rebuke, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you dare leave this website.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

BornFight uses the same element of surprise in its content as Cartier. But instead of illustrations, there are memes here, which are much easier to implement than custom images, but the impact on the user is no less.

&nbsp;

You can&#39;t just walk past the Discord app (chat platform). The product itself is very &ldquo;light&rdquo; due to the fact that it is aimed at young people. It is not replete with illustrations or humorous wording, like various NFT collection sites, but uses them very cleverly - for example, as a placeholder for an empty state in notifications.

&nbsp;

The site from the Evron &ldquo;UI Kids&rdquo; studio is completely built on the ironic presentation of interface elements as individual characters. It contains all the details of humor: funny titles, comical characters, and animation.

&nbsp;

Humor is a powerful marketing and design tool, a driver for purchasing that can strengthen relationships with the client. Today we&#39;ll talk about humor in graphic elements. How to add a humorous subtext to a visual so that it not only brings a smile to your face, but also has a positive effect on audience loyalty and motivates you to buy. And the main thing is when it is applicable and where.

So, humor in the visual part of the product can be used in:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">icons;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">illustrations;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">animations;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">photographs;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">any other graphical interface details.</li>
</ul>

Icons (small images on a website) can act as an independent interface element or work in pairs and reinforce the meaning of the text. As an auxiliary unit, they can be located in categories, cookies, and so on. Icons play an independent role in badges (an interface element in the form of a strip: new product, sale), menu tabs or buttons. But, as you know, it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times. Below are some examples of icons that are based on humor.

An excellent example of such fun customization (individualization of a product or service) was shown by the Malai online store. The usual basket here looks like an ice cream cart (a reference to the product being sold), and there is even an umbrella as a reminder of the hot summer.

&nbsp;

The rather conceptual site Badass Project uses a creative icon in the interface in the form of an eye that moves after the mouse cursor. To make it more believable, his pupils even dilate.

&nbsp;

And here we see an unusual way of designing tabs - the names are supported by graphically presented interjections: &ldquo;WHAT&rdquo;, &ldquo;OH&rdquo;, &ldquo;OMG&rdquo; and the like. Apparently, these are exactly the words that users say when visiting each of the pages. You immediately want to come in and have a look, don&#39;t you?

&nbsp;

Another example where icons (more like mini-illustrations) work as a complement to text. Unusual art objects, like those on the Tigermilk website, will definitely not leave users indifferent.

&nbsp;

Playful images in the interface can also be found at the Back Market online store. To break up the strict style of the site, they added a block with smiling icons, which immediately sets the tone to a light and friendly one.

&nbsp;

The creators of the Haema application also used the same method - not the most positive moment in UX, when you need to inform about the end of the trial version, they reinforced it with a smiling weirdo, which slightly smoothes out the annoyance of the end of the trial period.

&nbsp;

The Tasty app, unlike recent examples, itself looks very positive. But the Discover icon on the tapbar deserves special attention. It combines both a magnifying glass and a frying pan at the same time - aerobatics in design!

&nbsp;

ILLUSTRATIONS

The easiest way, besides icons, to add a good mood to a product is to use funny illustrations. The dosage depends on the general concept, the target audience (we previously wrote about the specifics of humor and design in general in the East) and the final goal. For example, various NFT collections are full of humorous illustrations and use humor openly both in the visual component and in the text. If the site or application does not aim to hook the user in this way, then funny pictures should be used within measure. For example, place them in empty states (a page without data with an image and small text, for example, when entering an empty query in the line), on default avatars, 404 pages - where they will not be so noticeable at first glance.

Thus, the website of the Surfe product, through funny pictures drawn by hand in a casual style, creates a friendly atmosphere and encourages further friendship between the user and the brand.

&nbsp;

Let&#39;s summarize:

<ol>
	<li>Irony is subject to the concept of the product, the tastes of its users and business goals.</li>
	<li>Choose the dosage of humor depending on the goals of the product - the greatest effect is achieved when the user accidentally stumbles upon a funny moment in the interface.</li>
	<li>There should be one style, but techniques can be combined: be it drawing, photography or animation.</li>
	<li>Don&#39;t be afraid to be funny, either in life or in design. Moderate, subtle humor will make your product stand out from others and attract new customers to the brand. And we are always ready to help with this.</li>
</ol>

&nbsp;

Humor in UI/UX

As globally recognized experts in the mobile development market according to various prestigious sites, we constantly participate in surveys and research. This time we partnered with TechBehemoths, during the dialogue we talked about the mobile development process, its costs, popular and in-demand technologies, ways to monetize applications and much more. 
 
You can read it <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/blog/state-mobile-app-development-prices-processes">here</a>.

TechBehemoths' Mobile Development Market Survey Partners

We are already gradually receiving the results of our work for the year in the form of new achievements, so today we are writing about the latest one - based on the results of voting by clients and the jury as part of the TechBehemoths Awards 2023 on the TechBehemoths rating platform, our company was recognized as winners in all of our main service areas in the USA! Mobile development - 1st place, web development - 2nd place, UI/UX - 1st place.

What became the core of the victory was our strong portfolio and feedback from our clients.

We have been working hard all year long with Fusion Tech to once again prove that our expertise is highly valued and not obly by our clients

And here are the links to the lists of winners:

- <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/awards-2023/mobile-app-development/united-states">mobile development</a>; 
- <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/awards-2023/web-development/united-states">web development</a>; 
- <a href="https://techbehemoths.com/awards-2023/ux-ui-design/united-states">UI/UX design</a>.

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