Nudges to learn something new

Duolingo is one of the useful apps to learn a new language. Once you enrol and start learning, they expect you to finish some work daily based on your learning speed. 

When you haven't done any lessons on a day, they send reminders. They follow-up with reminders for few days and then, when they are fed up, they send above message, 'These reminders don't seem to be working. We'll stop sending them for now.' 

A very nice nudge :)

Maximum 30 items please

Whatsapp used to limit users to uploading X items at a time (I am not sure of the limit right now).

As soon as user uploaded more than 30 items, a message is flagged, 'Maximum 30 items please!'

Nice way to say not to kill the bandwidth.

Currency Conversion

I have written about Elk app earlier.

I had set currency conversion from USD to INR. As soon as I stepped in Denmark, The app asked me to, 'Change to DKK(Danish Krone). When I went to Sweden, the app offered to change to SEK and in Czech Republic to CZK. 

Fabulous contextual app!

Status Updates

Facebook keeps asking you, 'What's on your mind?' When you post something, it is confused.

In above screenshot, I had previously updated my status. There was no confirmation that my status was posted successfully. When I tried again, I see a message, 'This status is identical to the last one...'

Well, you should have mentioned that to me as soon as it happened and not when I try to repost something. 

Isn't that fair?

Emirates Baggage Allowance

Google is smart. It takes everyone's information and gives it to users in the most helpful form. Here is one example:

I googled for emirates check-in baggage dimensions. Google packaged this in the most friendly way using quotes and text highlighting. But, hey! I was searching this from India. And this message fails to tell about passengers traveling to/from India.

It looks like North and South America are the only two countries that Google considers important (despite knowing APAC is the fastest growing sector in Travel)

Truncated Photos on Twitter

Twitter is a great place if you want to learn from greats. 

When photos are shared on twitter, we expect to see the picture in the tweet in full view. Thanks to tiny mobile glass surfaces, it is not feasible. However, the least Twitter can do about this is to project a reasonable portion of the picture. In this case, it would be the face of the the woman, the tweet talks about.

Can we do this better, Twitter?

Upgrade for a Price

Cabin upgrades, extra baggage, special services like wheelchair come at an extra price. More often than not, price is quoted without mentioning the benefits that comes with that price. Ryan Air does it differently and better.

Ryan Air app clearly states what the PLUS upgrade bundle brings with it in most simplistic way and also offers a way for travelers to get out without buying it conveniently.

Ryan Air is one of the top 10 mobile travel apps in Europe. We know how and why!

Virtual Cards

With unprecedented proliferation of mobile phones, card manufacterers for credit/debit cards, gift cards, airline privilege cards etc are forced to go digital and virtual.

Take a look at this Emirates card. It displays the name of the member, the tier information along with a barcode and membership number. This one is way better compared to giving a blank card with textual information. 

Adding a profile photo of the member is a good addition too.

Phone Number Options

It is painful to add phone numbers on an iPhone. Try to add a number and it gives you options like Home fax, Radio, Home phone, and Mobile.

There are two problems with this behavior. Firstly, how often is fax used these days? Should that be the first option? The same applies to radio. Secondly, why is mobile the last option? Isn't that supposed to show up first?

The most frequently used / popularly used option must be suggested to users to avoid multiple taps.

Highlighting New Feature

Introducing new features in mobile apps is one thing. Facilitating the introduction and training to use them is another.

Tez app highlights a new feature by highlighting the feature, greying out rest of the screen along with a description of functionality of the feature.

Zero Rupee Bill

Uber is one of the fastest growing companies empowering people who want to get from Point A to Point B in a hassle-free way. Here is what I received from Uber the other day:

A Zero Rupee bill.

Happy Me :)

A Helpful Settings Screen

Google Trips is one of the most powerful travel apps there is. With the power of data and control they already have on gmail users, they use all the information available to offer better experience to travelers. 

Take a look at their settings screen. There is clear definition of all things they do and the freedom to travelers to control what they want to control.

Simplicity at its best.