21 - 004 Adcard

 

Adcard was a product that ZigZag Digital Associates created in late 2017 but did not really try to market it until 2020. But with the loss of my business partner George Szubinski (Technical Director) in April 2020 we had to suddenly close it down. So unfortunately the  website (adcard.adcard.xyz) that the Adcards were hosted upon had to go since George looked after all these hosting aspects. So since April 2020 the Adcard product has just been lying dormant and to be honest I thought it would never be used again. With the demise of ZigZag I have concentrated on my DMB Publishing activities and it was whilst trying to sell books I decided to take a look again at Adcard. No longer hosted on our website  it had to reside on some free digital resource. So a proof of concept was undetaken to use freely available resources to delivery it rather than paid for website hosting services. So the first platform looked at was Google offering a variety of free applications including Google docs, Google blogspot and the Google slides applications. I like the software engineering undertaken by Google it being both reliable and pragmatic. But also possibly more significantly they offer and support excellent free services. The Google philosophy has embedded in it  the true academic innovative techie approach to building software that has fortunately been carried through from their founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The different applications you use being on the same platform do integrate easily without too may problems. This does set the Google platform apart from the other platforms. So for example I don't use Blogspot to write a blog. I really use it as a Content Management System (CMS) and if anybody chooses to access it as a blog then that is a bonus. Why? Because its the most efficient free tool on the internet for posting digital content.  Its User Experience (UX) is best I have ever used and its performance is exceptional. Well done Google and please don't change it. Its Cloud Computing at its best. But first some background to Adcard.

Adcard is what you could term "flash advertising" with it intended to be launched from within say a Social Media post looking to have a high visual impact upon the user. When launched it would completely take over the user's device screen essentially blotting out the Social Media User Experience (UX). It was intentionally aggressive and intrusive. Very in your face.  So when links to it were posted into Facebook Community sites, like you do, the Administrators quickly looked to delete and block it. They objected to it being too bold and obviously to it being advertising that they usually (and rightly) banned from their community sites.We brought Facebook Sponsored advertisements and embedded the link into these obviously without any objection from Facebook. But we always liked the concept of things being free so paying to have them distributed sort of defeated our main objective. It was found that when launched by a user Adcard did have a larger than normal impact on the user experience. But not one they always liked. In fact some really disliked it. Not a good policy if you are trying to sell them something. But it was an interesting experiement in a sort of visual social engineering context. It did certainly prove that users were getting conditioned to specific User Experiences (UX).  Do all the screens have to look like Facebook? We further enhanced Adcard adding links to YouTube videos that we made so they acted more like a "Commercial Break" that was outside the normal Social Media User Experience (UX). But this still had its critics. Its not good practice to take your users outside their comfort zone particularly if they are relaxed into a comfortable seat with a coffee beside them.  Ask Bruce Tognazzini author of the famous "Tog on Software Design" (1996) one of my treasures from the past. Users don't like surprises they only like to see what they expected to see. Using a software interface their brains are conditioned to anticipate whats coming next and if its different that causes them stress. The final ZigZag development step was to make Adcard what has come to be called a Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) . It was a mini-portable website contained within an Adcard. The idea was a mini-magazine all contained within an Adcard. But then development ceased in April 2020. 

The ZigZag Adcard was output in HTML5 format with it hosted by us on our own website.We looked to ensure it worked correctly in all the major browsers running on all the main hardware platforms. It was a solid reliable solution. Now unfortunately what I term the DMB Adcard lacks all this supporting infrastructure. Because of this it cannot be marketed and sold as a product. But this has not prevented me from experiementing with it. The plan one day when times and funds permit is to go back to the development of ZigZag Adcard.

So how could the DMB Adcard without being coded in HTML5 and hosted on a website work. The decision was made to experiment with other graphical file formats. This does create many problems for something you want to be generic. It certainly makes how it will display itself on a users device a little random depending upon their installed graphical engines. The configuration of each users device will determine its success or failure. Now its obviously not a good practice to stipulate to a user what he needs to install and configure on their own device to receive your advertisement that he does not want in the first place. So DMB Adcard has no future implemented this way. But I can experiment with it amongst friends and colleagues. (ie Linkedin users) until someone offers to fund the move back to HTML5.  It is by this experimentation that evolution takes place. It has the possibly of being platform centric rather than internet centric. So I await the offer from Apple, Google or Microsoft. Watch this space.          

So assuming you want to see my advert for my DMB Publishing Business Books. If not move on now. 

To use this link below download Google Slides App to your device for free. When the link launches remember to press the small triangle in the header bar and select "Present on this Device".

Please post a comment on it. Your feedback is appreciated

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WFgHXGeZsn7NUZFy84zGf7nUiwc6RlXDLCRBv34FP3E/edit?usp=sharing

The "Back" button when pressed has been hyperlinked to relaunch my page on Linkedin so you go back to where you came from on my page. Now not surprisingly this seems to work sometimes and not others . This does highlight many of the problems you can experience when you cross commercial platform boundaries. In this case leaving a Google Platform (ie Blogspot) to gain entry into a Microsoft Platform. (ie Linkedin). I will not go on here about all the problems associated with hyperlinking across the web. Take all year. Material for a later blog post. But just to say that Ted Nelson was so right and  if we had only listened to this genius when he said "Hypertext Goes Down a Wrong-Way Street" (1967). But nobody did listen so we have the current mess that needs sorting out sooner than later. 

21 - 003 eflow

eflow Cover

eflow Map

DMB Publishing has several clear objectives in terms of the software it recommends to its customers. It should be easy to install, easy to use and ideally be free. So in terms of the Business Process Management (BPM) and the use of flowcharting tools there was a need to develop a number of new concepts. Firstly it had to be workflow based and not heirarchical in design. Workflows, as the name suggests, "flow" across the business horizontally from function to function. There maybe some hierarchy in terms of the management and control of the work but the work itself flows horizontally through the organisation. Secondly it has to be usable on smartphones and tablets so it is totally accessible at all times at work and home. Thirdly it has to be easy to understand and use. It has to be a "go to" tool everybody in the organisation wants to use. Its use then sets a standard or pattern of work that everybody in organisation understands and to which they adhere. Welcome to "eflow".

So DMB Publishing sells a Workflow Mapping Methodology called eflow.

So "eflow Pattern" is the name of the map you make and display in eflow.

The methodology covers two key aspects of eflow. The design of the workflow paradigm itself and the system integration of the computer components needed to make eflow work.

The methodology is not just theoretical because it does deliver a real useable Business Process Management (BPM) solution. The methodology teaches an organisation how to implement eflow covering both the software components required but more significantly how this software needs to be configured. Unbeknown to you your organisation is likely to  already have all the software components required in daily use. When these are added to some free ones we will advise you about in the methodology it will allow you to have your own eflow and make your own "eflow Patterns".  

So why is eflow so different to the other Business Process Management (BPM) software products in the marketplace? One major difference is it is free apart from the purchase cost of the methodology. So there are no capital expenditure decisions to be made whilst the cost of the methodology can be funded as a revenue cost. The cost of experimenting with it can be very low. But maybe more significantly it presents business flowchart mapping in a very different accessible style. It is very easily understood and an attractive solution to both create and use. It has been deliberately designed to use bold colourful graphics to have a high visual impact on the user. It does not have the feel of the normal boring business flowchart mapping solutions.   

eflow is a workflow or pathway (if no work is undertaken) type of system. Workflow covers a start to end activity with all the steps undertaken presented step by step. But if necessary it also supports all the normal business decision making and flow branching. This branch can be to a new workflow. Or it could terminate the workflow. Or it could loop a workflow back to an earlier process step if required. Business logic can be embedded in eflow but in an unintrusive way. 

eflow offers a very simple intuitive User Experience (UX) based upon the common familiarity that people experience when using a London Underground Map to plan a journey. It makes minimal use of symbology. No complex flowchart mapping symbols to remember. The workflow lines are colour coded to represent different department functions or people roles. It has sequentially numbered process points (stations) along these lines. It can branch to other workflow maps. It can have embedded supporting Work Instructions (WI's) or Rule Instructions (RI's) aligned to the practices of the organisation. It can include visual and audio elements including image, photo, video, music and voice.It is capable of being fully hyperlinked to the internet. It can be made to be a full multi-media experience or operate as a simple linear chart format. 

So why can it do all these things? Well the methodology recommends the use of industry standard graphics packages which can vary in complexity (and price) in terms of the capabilities they can embed in the "eflow source file" . But this gives eflow the potential to offer simple charts up to full multimedia capabilities. Then once the "eflow source file" arrives on the users device (Smartphone, Tablet or PC) the local selected graphics engine will be used to generate the final User Experience (UX). These "eflow source files" can be based on a variety of different file standards both proprietary or open systems. Importantly eflow whilst displaying the User Experience (UX) can act as a hyperlinked internet portal displaying information from other relevant organisation websites or any websites across the internet. This allows eflow to act, using the latest jargon, as mini Electronic Publishing Platform (EPP) .  But whilst eflow can support complexity its ethos and essence has to be retaining simplicity. The objective of eflow is to "Keep it Simple".    

So why is eflow marketed by a publishing company and not a software company ? 

Well DMB Publishing is selling essentially a "How to do it....." service to you and nothing else. All the software you use will be owned by other software companies who either charge or offer it for free. DMB Publishing sells you the recipe (methodology) on how to put it all together. DMB Publishing has developed the methodology and techniques over many years keeping pace with all the technolgical changes. Originally DMB Publishing wrote and sold its own software packages to orginally support book publication. It has now evolved into what you could call a "system integrator" joining together software packages written by others to achieve specific focussed business objectives. With its sole source of revenue now to sell these recipes (methodologies) on how to undertake these unique integration projects  allowing you to achieve specific business objectives ideally for free. 

DMB Publishing technically monitors all the major platforms looking for integration opportunities preferably those offering the use of free components. Whilst preferring not to use cross platform components. But provided they comply with rigid open file standards this approach can be acceptable. The Google and Microsoft Platforms remain the key platforms used by DMB Publishing although other platforms maybe used when these two cannot provide the required function. Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Adobe are some of the other key proprietary platforms. At the time Open Systems Platforms like Wordpress, Woocommerce, Drupal and Joomla are growing in popularity. These along with the Consumer to Consumer (C2C) platforms like Wix and Shopify who are also mounting their own focussed challenges. Navigating this maelstrom of unrelenting digital change looking for new opportunities keeps DMB Publishing very busy.   

DMB Publishing offers services in support of eflow through DMB Consulting. Although our preference is to avoid you having to incurr the high costs of consultancy. So the underlying approach is very simple requiring no more than basic IT Office Skills. (preferably using Microsoft). No programmer skills or advanced graphical skills required. But if you need face to face consultancy we can offer it but it costs. Be warned. We believe if you need consultancy we have failed and made it too complicated. Our objective is to "Keep it Simple".    

So enough of the background let us now run one on your device. 

Qualification

This is an incomplete sales demonstator created for a private company provider (CRC) to the National Probation Service in 2016. It does not represent the real processes being undertaken being only a "mock up" but it did include many real legal aspects to make it credible in the sales demonstration. The majority of the navigation options were not enabled. But some were enabled to illustrate the power of the eflow approach. For example press the  "Purple 04" box to see the use of Description, Practice, Process and Data. The power of eflow comes from being able to access all the processes in an organisation using simple process naming labels like "Purple 04". Organisations where eflow is very well established acquire their own language around using these process naming labels. So the qualification is it is incomplete.. So do not log any problems. Its just a sales demonstration not a complete system. 

Step  1    Pre Demonstration Preparation 

You need to load a graphics engine app on your device. In this case based upon the "eflow source file" being used in this demonstration it is recommended you locate the free Google Slides (Google LLC) in your app store and install it now before proceeding.  

Step 2    Click on this link below

eflow Sales - Probation Management V06 090221 - Google Slides

Step 3   Using the Slides Package

In the top menu bar press the triangle symbol and from the drop down menu press the "Present on this device" option. 

On the displayed eflow Cover press About and More for background information.

On the About page press Services and Books for more information.

Then press Go to launch the eflow Pattern. 

Red graphics mean navigation. So Arrows (not all enabled), Back and Home buttons are for navigation. 

Try the "Purple 04" box then press Practice, Process and Data to appreciate how the scope of eflow can be extended into the use of Work Instructions. (WI).

Disclaimer

Please note this is only a theoretical demonstration.It does not represent real processes. Many of the options are not enabled. It is intended as a demonstration only of eflow capabilities. It has had no involvement or approval from the National Probation Service or the CRC.

If you have any feedback on this demonstration please email dmbpublishing@gmail.com stating in the email title "Sales Demo - Probation Management V06 090221". 

Thank you.