However, there’s one thing that is exciting to me even more at the moment — although it is tightly linked to mobile KPI apps. I’m literally pumped and constantly pushing our developers to bring that thing to life. What’s that thing I’m talking about? It’s called KPI push notifications.
Push Notifications Will Change Mobile KPI Apps Completely!
From my point of view, this approach has the power to completely change the way you work with KPIs and mobile KPI apps. So with this blog post, I’m going to introduce that approach to you, and I really want you to understand the enormous potential it holds.
What’s The Status Quo — KPIs And Mobile KPI Apps
But let’s first take a look at how airlines deal with operations KPIs today. Most airlines have daily, weekly, or monthly reports to check operational performance.
On top of that, some airlines have already taken the next step and transformed it into real-time KPI tracking. Relying on real-time KPIs for many airlines reflects a considerable step towards improved performance. Instead of ex-post analysis, real-time monitoring of KPIs gives you the possibility to identify problems right when they happen.
I am a massive fan of the real-time KPI dashboard, which is evident since we are offering a solution precisely for this use case. And many of our clients achieved excellent results and massively improved their level of situational awareness when it comes to airline operations.
The only disadvantage of real-time KPIs and dashboards I’ve always felt is that you continuously have to monitor the information and KPIs. And don’t get me wrong: That definitely does not mean that real-time dashboards aren’t of high value. But it means that real-time dashboards have to be considered as “pull-information.” You have to look at the panel. You have to monitor it.
Based on that fact, we started to think about a solution that liberates you from constant monitoring. A solution that informs you whenever KPIs change.
KPI Push Notifications — Unleashing The Full Potential Of Mobile KPI Apps
So what’s behind that idea? Push notifications are the notifications that pop up on your tablet, mobile, or smartwatches. I’m pretty sure you’ve seen and already used them, for example, for your favorite newspaper or other apps on your mobile.
Here’s an example of how push notifications look on an iPhone.
Our Approach To KPI Push Notifications
So what we did here at Information Design was to develop an entirely new component within our cloud-based dashboard infrastructure. A feature that continually checks the KPIs we are calculating for our clients.
Additionally, we set up a rule-driven engine to identify changes that matter to our clients. Now, whenever a rule matches, the component sends out a push notification to relevant stakeholders of the airline, informing them about the situation.
To give you an example: By using rules, an airline can define to send out push notification in case the on-time performance (OTP) drops by 2% within 60 minutes, or the number of cancellations is 2% greater than yesterday’s cancellations.
KPI Push Notifications Changes The Way You Approach Information
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, this approach completely changes how you approach KPIs. Instead of constantly monitoring your real-time KPIs, you can be sure to get informed whenever something tremendous happens.
And even better: You get notified precisely on the device you are currently using:
- You’re in a meeting and using an iPad -> Push notifications pop up on your iPad.
- The next day you’re at the airport and checking your emails on your mobile -> Push notification pops up on your mobile.
- In the evening you’re working out at the gym and only wearing your smartwatch -> Push notification pops up on your smartwatch.
- Etc.
It’s No Longer About Pulling Information
I firmly believe that this approach will sustainably change the way we work with real-time KPIs. It’s no longer about pulling information from dashboards but about getting actively alerted, actively pushed when something happens.
Certainly, real-time dashboards still have the right to exist, and there are many use cases where the dashboard makes sense. So I don’t consider push notifications as a replacement for dashboards and reports. Not at all.
Push Notifications Are Massively Adding Value To Mobile KPI Apps
Conversely, I think push notifications are adding additional value to KPIs. They provide the possibility to provide every person, every stakeholder with precisely the information they need. Moreover, they receive the information only when it’s relevant to them.
Here’s an example of how relevant push notifications can look on your mobile.
What Do You Think?
Always happy to receive your feedback and thoughts. Just hit me up on Twitter or get in touch on LinkedIn.
