I adore the Apple News app over all others.

It eliminates one of my main complaints, which is having to constantly switch between five or six apps to get news. After this, I won’t have to download six separate apps on my phone in order to stay up to date on the news of the day.

Why I find it enjoyable

1. It gives the news a more pleasant presentation. With Apple News, I can focus on one news article at a time, read it through to the conclusion, and then go on to the next. I have trouble focusing on other apps, like Google News, because there are so many moving elements on the screen, such auto-play videos, banner adverts, and sliding news articles. I really tried these programs, but in the end I gave up.
2. Apple News is one of the best examples of human-centered design. Humans execute various tasks in a particular way, such as placing meal orders, shopping, purchasing publications, etc. To give you anecdotal experience, reading a magazine on the Apple News iPad app feels like having a real paper magazine in front of you. The Apple News app does not stray from this user behavior. In addition to employing rich typography and images, Apple developed a new format known as Apple News Format (ANF) to deliver this organic experience.
3. Lastly, my favorites are Apple News curating and quick preference learning. Apple employs both algorithmic and human curation, and I could see the curators’ work was put into selecting objective news items for the app’s focus section. It also picks up your preferences more quickly. After use the app for a week, I was able to see the news that I enjoy reading, and I never had to manually set my preferences.

Even though I use it a lot and adore it, there are several areas where I think this app might use some improvement. If you want me to continue, I would like to discuss those.

My favorite product is Pocket.

Pocket is an internet-based app that saves articles and videos for easy browsing, available on desktop and mobile platforms, but is commonly used as a Chrome extension.

After installing the extension, all I have to do is click on the Pocket extension icon in my browser to save a link (typically to an article or video) and it will store it to their remote server. It also makes recommendations for related articles that other users have previously saved at the moment the content is saved. I can add a hashtag to the article as it’s being saved, choosing an existing one or making a new one. All of my devices have the links and their tags synchronized.

The app is available in a Freemium model. Some of the features are only available to premium users such as searching articles using article content.

The reasons I like Pocket is because of its useful, easy to use, and innovative features.

1. I used bookmarking in chrome prior to Pocket to save articles or my favorite links but I found that whenever I needed to go back to a saved link, I hardly remembered which folder did I save it to so, search was a big issue. In case, I found the link, I couldn’t recollect what information did I find useful in the article when I first landed on it.
   1. Pocket comes very handy in this case. I can not only categorize the articles that I save using the tags but also search the saved articles in future by simple user-defined tags that I attach to them
   2. Additionally, I have the in-app highlighter feature which helps me in highlighting the main points about the article.
   3. So, Pocket is useful and definitely many steps ahead of the old school bookmarking that I used in the past
2. Secondly, the app is extremely intuitive and easy to use. I never needed a guided tour to understand its usage. There’s a search box at the top to search my saved articles using their titles or URL. There are 3-4 filters on the left side to search articles based on tags, highlights, whether they are favorite, and whether they are an article or a video. In case the list of tags becomes very long, I can always search the tags separately.
3. Lastly, I would like to talk about some of the innovative ways in which Pocket differentiates itself from simple bookmarking.
   1. I can save articles by emailing links to them
   2. I can view articles in Article view, change the font size and background color for easier viewing of article
   3. I can share my saved links through email with my friends and family

The user expresses their desire for Pocket to allow users to create notes for articles, comment at the end, or use an in-line notes marker similar to PDFs. They also desire a feature that allows collaboration on saved articles with friends, colleagues, or family. This would increase user engagement and lead to more users, as users would need to invite their friends for collaboration.

My Favorite product is : WhatsApp.

WhatsApp, an early product invented in 2009, is a free messaging app for Android and iOS users that enables text, voice, or video calls. It solves the internet communication problem, replacing SMS as the primary method of communication. WhatsApp was developed by two former Yahoo employees, Brian Acton and Jan Koum. The app quickly gained popularity worldwide due to its user-friendly interface and end-to-end encryption, ensuring secure conversations. Today, it boasts over 2 billion monthly active users, making it one of the most widely used messaging apps globally.

Why I like :

1. Usefulness: It’s quite convenient that users can converse no matter where they are or what country they are in. An ISD connection is not necessary in order to converse with family members who are located overseas.
   1. Innovative : WhatsApp has continuously came up with innovative features to engage and acquire new users. Some of them are:
      1. Enabling users to record a voice message and share it. This has impacted a huge customer base that is not very good at typing, like users in the age group of 45 to 60 and belonging to Tier 3 cities.
      2. WhatsApp Web: Connecting your laptop with your mobile phone via scanning a QR code is very innovative. IT gives the end user the flexibility to use WhatsApp on a laptop or desktop. It comes with some limitations, though.
      3. Fingerprint Authentication: This adds another level of security to the app.  With this feature enabled, even if you leave your phone unlocked, your chats cannot be accessed by anyone else until they are verified by your fingerprint.
2. Effectiveness: The most appealing feature of WhatsApp for me is how simple it is to use. It is not necessary for users to acquire new representations for every action; in WhatsApp, creating a group chat corresponds with inviting new users to join the existing conversation. To educate users, an in-application tutorial is not necessary. For them, it comes naturally.

Things to improve

Target Metrics to improve : Engagement

I am considering the engagement as metrics to improve and below mentioned features are suggested taking this metric in to consideration

1. Profile Photo Views : If user can see how many people viewed their profile pic , it gives appreciation to users. Currently one can comment on other’s DP but cannot really know how many people viewed it.
2. Bookmark Conversations : As a user I can bookmark the conversation in individual or group chat and can reference later.
3. Improving WhatsApp groups : There are few improvements specifically for groups
   1. Firstly while forwarding a message to several groups, WhatsApp should automatically disable those groups that already have that message .
   2. Secondly providing group based password protection

Prioritizing the improvements:

Note: Effort is rated based on technical complexity.

After prioritizing the improvements , I shall choose following 2 features

1. Profile Photo Views
2. Password protection for groups

To address this question using the rule of three and apply it to a product I favor, Grammarly, I have identified three essential attributes. Here is my approach to evaluating Grammarly:

1. Utility – Grammarly’s value lies in its capacity to alleviate a prominent pain point for users. It serves as a powerful tool for enhancing writing quality.
2. Efficiency – Grammarly streamlines the process of rectifying writing errors, requiring minimal user effort and facilitating a quicker resolution.
3. Innovation – Grammarly introduces fresh, intelligent approaches to tackle writing-related problems, ultimately augmenting the user’s competence.

For those unfamiliar with the product, I’ll commence by providing a brief overview:

“Grammarly is an extensive spelling and grammar-checking solution, accessible through a standalone desktop application, web application, browser extension, and MS Word plugin. The desktop and web applications share a similar interface, a user-friendly text editor that permits document uploads or new creation. Grammarly actively identifies errors and offers corrective suggestions as users type. The browser extension functions differently by automatically highlighting errors with color-coding and displaying suggestions upon hovering over the text.”

Let’s now evaluate Grammarly with regard to the three fundamental attributes mentioned above:

1. Utility – Grammarly proves its worth by significantly economizing time through its provision of precise recommendations. It achieves this by harnessing advanced machine learning algorithms and natural language processing to identify the most appropriate corrections. Furthermore, it expands the user’s vocabulary by suggesting more nuanced language alternatives. Grammarly also educates users on constructing grammatically accurate sentences.
2. Efficiency – Grammarly simplifies the correction process, requiring minimal effort on the user’s part. As an application user, a single click on a suggestion is all that’s needed to replace an erroneous word with the appropriate one. This straightforward process stands in contrast to the multiple clicks often required in applications like MS Word for similar corrections. Correcting an entire paragraph with Grammarly is as efficient as the number of grammatical errors.
3. Innovation – Grammarly embraces cutting-edge machine learning algorithms and predictive technologies to boost the accuracy of identifying and suggesting word replacements. Its versatility is noteworthy, functioning seamlessly across different platforms.

In conclusion, Grammarly earns its status as my preferred application due to its exceptional utility, efficiency, and innovative approach to improving writing quality.