How does digital product ownership fit into your mobile journey?

But how exactly does digital product ownership fit into your mobile experience?

The value of including true mobile experts in your project

Embedding experienced product owners into your project can unlock greater strategic alignment, ensuring your product is going to effectively meet business needs. They can also help your existing teams take more of a mobile-first approach that ensures the final product is providing a truly seamless user experience.

Driving innovation forward whilst managing risks can be a challenge, but experienced product owners can take your ideas and use their expertise to understand, manage and avoid risk alongside balancing practicalities of budget and scope. Product owners understand which features will add value for both the customer and the business, keeping ROI in mind as the roadmap is built and delivered.

A product-first approach for every step of your journey

No matter where you are on your journey, taking a product-first approach can unlock greater value. Let’s explore some examples of how that might look in practice.

“I want an app - what do I need to make it happen?”

There are still many businesses out there looking to start their digital journey, or expand into mobile for the first time; they know they want an app, but don’t know where to start. This is where an experienced product team can take the lead and guide you through the process effectively. This involves:

• Determining how and why an app would go hand-in-hand with your broader business strategy

• Undertaking a comprehensive strategy and discovery phase, focussing on understanding the business, users, and technical requirements

• Defining the product proposition and ensuring alignment with internal stakeholders

• Clear prioritisation - everyone must be in agreement on what the problem is and how the product we’re creating will solve it

• Iterative delivery, focussing on showing value early whilst planning long-term scalability

• Coaching your teams on best practices moving forward, supporting on embedding mobile into the business so that it makes maximum impact

We have supported a range of businesses at this stage, from retailers such as Poundland and Dunnes, to start-ups such as My First Five Years, and financial service providers such as Chetwood. Ireland’s largest supermarket Dunnes came to us in 2020, looking for mobile product experts to do just this. They knew they wanted to digitise their loyalty offering and build an app, but required support in refining their proposition.

Product strategy sessions allowed Apadmi and Dunnes to refine the product roadmap; we used our mobile expertise to then integrate multiple current systems for one seamless customer experience. We were able to keep the product delivery on time and within scope, allowing the mobile app to launch when Dunnes needed.

A key part of this project was managing and coaching stakeholders at Dunnes to understand the impact and benefit of a mobile app, and how the channel can be leveraged to better communicate with customers to drive in-store visits. The value was quickly realised, with Dunnes no longer needing to send millions of physical vouchers to customers.

“We need to inject pace into our mobile journey”

Organisations can sometimes start their digital transformation journey, getting to a certain point with product leadership. However, many find along the way that they need to accelerate the progress, or they hit roadblocks due to lack of expertise in their own teams. This is where product experts can inject some much needed pace. This involves:

• Assessing the current transformation journey, identifying areas where mobile expertise can unlock more value, and understand any challenges at hand

• Translating web-based strategies into mobile-first initiatives, using our experience to get you where you need to be faster

• Delivering proof of value and facilitating change quickly to help secure additional budget for further transformation as needed

• Improving broader ways of working and upskilling teams to manage and sustain the transformation post-delivery

• Creating a mobile-first approach and way of working by consulting and supporting on strategy and team transformations

Apadmi’s Product team has worked with the likes of TalkTalk, iD Mobile and Unite Students to inject pace quickly into ongoing projects. Having already started their digital transformation, TalkTalk wanted mobile expertise to assist them in their app build journey in 2022, with a strong focus on elevating the customer experience.

The aim was to ensure the features being delivered were of the highest value to both TalkTalk and their customers. Apadmi’s product experts worked closely with TalkTalk to agree on the proposition and purpose of the app, looking at how different user journeys would serve each individual customer’s needs, such as the after-sales journey, account management etc.

It was also crucial to map out how the app would allow customers to stay in contact with TalkTalk to help with their account, as well as giving TalkTalk the opportunity to cross and up-sell.

Apadmi’s expertise in complex integrations was particularly key for TalkTalk, as a deep understanding of the Backend-For-Frontend and API was crucial to creating the best customer experience on the Frontend. Cross-team collaboration was key as the Product team worked closely with Customer Experience and User Research teams at TalkTalk to deliver an effective solution.

“How can we migrate millions of users from a white label product to a bespoke app?”

Transitioning from an off-the-shelf product to a fully customisable bespoke solution is no easy feat, especially if you have a large number of users to migrate. This is where a skilled product team comes into play. This involves:

• Beginning with a strategic analysis to clearly define a way forward

• Establishing a BAU approach at first to ensure the same level of functionality that is being delivered by the existing platform is maintained

• Then focussing on release strategies to seamlessly migrate large volumes of users without disrupting their experience

• Unlocking the value of a bespoke mobile product by implementing enhanced data collection to improve personalisation

• Supporting the new app’s launch plan and understanding how to successfully migrate users

• Then addressing the post-migration challenge of changing a team’s mindset to iterating an ongoing product, rather than relying on a white label product

• Shifting from a short-term view to a long-term view to ensure product longevity

• Providing ongoing coaching and guidance for client teams

Apadmi recently worked with one of the UK’s largest hospitality brands to migrate millions of users from a white label solution to a custom built mobile experience, with Apadmi’s Product team playing a key role in the project.

“I need long-term product support and optimisation”

The journey doesn’t just stop at launch - maintaining and continuously optimising a product gives them the best chance to remain competitive and valuable to both end users and businesses. This involves:

• Product teams effectively prioritising delivery of consistent value through frequent updates and enhancements

• Keeping pace when it comes to making improvements and optimisations

• Ensuring compliance with Apple and Google as rules and regulations change over time

• Refining roadmaps and considering future strategies for growth in line with wider mobile and industry trends

• Creating a robust support structure to avoid downtime and maintain user trust

• Setting up high-performing teams to consistently deliver value

• Consistently evaluating and improving user experience to ensure customer satisfaction

The Co-op has been supported by Apadmi’s product experts to optimise their app strategy for the past 7 years. Working with domain knowledge experts ensures delivery of the best solution for users - together, we continuously refine the product roadmap to keep the app relevant to users. We help Co-op to bring broader business strategies, such as Member Pricing and the launch of Co-op Live, closer to customers through the app.

Working with a dedicated product team allows Co-op to deliver features that add value to the end user, ensuring continued customer engagement and loyalty. It also allows the app to use the latest mobile technology to keep the app running smoothly without interruption or down-time. The app itself has won several awards including the Best eCommerce App Development Project and Best Collaboration of the Year due to the outstanding relationship between Co-op and Apadmi.

Wherever you are on your mobile journey - find out how product experts can help

Whether you’re just at the beginning of your mobile journey, or you’re looking to inject pace and refine your product roadmap for growth - we’d love to hear more about your product goals and ambitions. Reach out to our mobile product experts today.