This post is the first in a series of posts that will present a set of features and key characteristics of one of the major outcomes of Waternomics, the Applications Platform. In this post we are going to introduce to the concept of Waternomics Applications Platform depicted in the following figure.
If there is one thing we learned from our long term interaction with our pilot users is that it would be very difficult to develop one application that will meet all the needs for each and every pilot user. Even within the same pilot there are users with different requirements. The persona design process that followed described the range of users we are dealing with all pilots and made clear that what was needed was a set of applications designed and targeted for specific user each time.
In order to provide a common area for all of those different applications it was essential to build a platform where users will be able to find and use those applications based on their needs. The applications platform apart from the basic function of concentrating all developed applications in one central place also provides a set of innovative ideas transferred from other domains of ICT to the water related industry.
The applications platform itself as a concept draws an analogy with the already familiar concept of marketplaces that many of the mobile and web ecosystems offer today such as the Apple’s AppStore, Android’s Google Play, Chrome Webstore etc. From our user tests it was made evident that even the not so tech-savvy users are familiar with the concept of this type of marketplace and can understand its functionality. Therefore, it was decided that in order to serve all the specific and detailed needs of users we should follow an approach of creating multiple simple apps focusing on specific needs that combined can meet the different set of needs for each and every user.
The flexibility of covering a wide range of user needs is based on the concept that users can use a tool to create their own applications based on their needs by simply putting together different components available to them from the platform. Apart from this flexibility, the Waternomics applications platform was designed so that it can also provide some additional benefits to its wide range of users that will be presented in following posts. Moreover, as it is evident from the following graphic overview of the platform, it also aims to facilitate developers to register their applications and use platform wide features such as the user management and the notifications which also are going to be presented in following blog posts.
So, stay tuned and find out more in the next weeks.