Jay-Z has become an icon within the arts and entertainment community. It is important to acknowledge his success and obtain some influence from him. Take a look at the below article before you develop your next mobile app.
No boundaries/cross borders
The world is flat these days, at least according to Thomas L. Friedman, therefore app developers and designers need to develop a product that can be used worldwide. To be honest, if it was not for Graham Calderwood, a Senior Partner at Ogilvy Mather and one of my prof’s at Mohawk College, I would not be familiar with Thomas L. Friedman. When developing an app that is meant for the mass-market; developers, designers and entrepreneurs should “think big”. Although I do not know Jay-Z on a personal level, I am pretty sure that he was not striving for regional success. Therefore when building an app GO BIG.
Work Unplugged/Disconnected
Well, not all mobile applications need to work offline but it definitely helps to have an “unplugged” feature, whereby the app works while the device is offline. Pulse Newsreader does this very well. The app allows users to save articles that have been aggregated from web connected content and read them while the device is offline. This feature is great and can be used when reading in an area that has no connection. When developing an app create something that can be viewed and managed offline.
Flow is Pinnacle
Jay-Z has smooth lyrics and transitions seamlessly from one track to another. Mobile app developers and designers should mimic Jay-z’s style and offer a user experience that is impeccably easy to navigate. Although Jay-z is known for his freestyle, my guess is that he spends a large amount of time determining how his song will sound and he tests different baselines, instruments, background lyrics etc. Therefore the same methodology should be used when designing and developing an app.
Collaboration is Key
Jay-Z is known for working with other artists and collaborating. The upper echelon of mobile applications leverage the power of social media and use permission based logins, social sharing, and social bookmarking as a tool to help grow a larger audience. It is imperative to scale quickly and have an app that is collaborative as possible. Get together with other app developers and marketers; throw around ideas and work together on making an amazing product.