Inspiring quality through innovation

Product and software innovation is a key element companies need to focus on if they expect to survive and thrive today. However, it is not always clear why this is essential for businesses. The following are some of the reasons to keep exploring new ideas.

Improve the Experience for Your Software Users

Naturally, you want to make sure that your users have the best possible experience while they are using your software. So, anytime you put out a piece of software, you will have to come back to it and adjust as necessary. Technology is evolving by the minute, and it is crucial to constantly innovate and keep up with its progress.

Gaming industry takes this methodology as an essential part of their development process. Many developers and publishers continue to make improvements and patches to their game after release, often based on direct customer feedback.

Another good example of true innovation regarding software comes from Adobe Systems. They are constantly finding ways to make their software better and more usable, and even introduce new software to their Suite. They always push the boundaries and innovate, which drives more people to their products.

Stay Ahead of the Competition

Of course, there is a good chance that your company also has quite a bit of competition creating software that has some similarities to what you are creating. You never want to be complacent or stagnant, as that is the easiest way to fall behind the competition. With innovation, you can build upon what you have and come up with new and better elements for your software that the competition does not have.

It is good to have competition, as long as all the parties involved are trying to outdo one another.

Stay Relevant With Customers

Customers, even those who you feel are loyal to your company and brand, are always looking for the next new and better product, feature or application. For this reason, sites such as MySpace and Friendster disappeared and everyone is on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you expect to stay relevant among customers, and gain new ones, you need to follow suit.

Users want to see innovation, and if your software development team is not providing it, they will move on to the competition.

Improve business performance

Innovation tends to bring more attention to the company, as well. When you have an improvement to a piece of software, or a brand-new version of some software that you are going to release, it can bring in some brand-new customers. In addition, many of your current customers will likely want to adopt the newest version of the software. As long as you focus on your user’s needs and expectations, innovation will help you increase your profits.

Innovation and creativity lead to breakthroughs

In any field, even software development, it can be easy to follow the status quo and to do everything that’s needed without really making any substantial changes or improvements. A team that understands the need to innovate can provide you with some impressive creative ideas that can help to take the software in a new direction, change the way your software works, improve upon it, and ensure customers are happy with the results.

Innovation and creativity are symbiotic, and you always want to make sure you are working with a team that feels free to express their creativity and ideas. It will empower your software, and your company will grow stronger.

Innovate Wisely

While innovation is essential, you should never make changes just for the sake of change. You need to think through the ideas you want to implement and be certain they are the best option for the end user.

Many times, you will find that working with a group of outsourced professionals who are not a part of your “ home team” can bring fresh ideas. Not only can they handle the technical tasks of getting the software up to par, but they can bring in some ideas that your local team might never have thought of before.

By continually improving the experience through innovation, you build loyalty among your customers as demonstrates that you care about supporting the software and them. The main goal is to deliver a high quality and engaging product, that will inevitably lead to a better business performance.

As consumers, we have come to expect, and highly anticipate, the annual launch of the next Apple gadget, Amazon Kindle book reader, and Microsoft Windows operating system. We also have accepted the fact that these much-anticipated gadgets and software too often ship with bugs that have to be worked out in the next upgrade, patch, etc.

keeping software quality in mind before shipping out new innovationsAnd while we love the innovation and capabilities these devices and applications bring to our lives, should we really just accept that they have to be immediately fixed in subsequent updates? Or should they ship with software quality in mind, with fewer defects, right out of the gate?

Apple shares are down about 23% from its all-time high of $705 per share. Is the Apple revolution slowing down because of a decline in innovation, the loss of Steve Jobs, or is it simply the case that declining software quality is contributing to these changes? Are customers demanding better quality from their applications and gadgets when they ship, and can the innovators we rely on so heavily meet those expectations?

Think about the automobile industry, and how quality affected the choice between American and foreign-built cars. That shift appeared to happen overnight, but actually involved several missteps along the way. Toyota is another great example of an iconic brand that has suffered from software quality issues including a 400, 000-car recall in 2010 after a software glitch was found to cause a lag in the anti-lock-break system of some vehicles. Just this week, Toyota recalled 2. 77M vehicles, including its Prius.

When will consumers say enough is enough? Today, the quality of American cars is stronger than ever, with Consumer Reports’ having called the new Chrysler 300 the “ best Chrysler in decades.” And that emphasis on quality is really starting to pay off, as Chrysler saw a 45% increase in retail sales in 2011 compared to 2010. This growth has continued throughout the year, with October 2012 being the best October Chrysler has had in five years, marking the 31st consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

To truly be successful, software quality must be part of the innovation equation – a major part, really. With a global workforce that relies on technology for virtually every part of its daily existence, challenges such as web outages, cell phone issues and car recalls should be the exception and not the rule.