If the past year was any indication of what trends will rule in 2014, it\u2019s safe to say that technology will keep getting more and more personalized. While over the last several years technology has enabled people to connect in unparalleled ways and form new online communities, in 2014 we can expect that the individual will take center stage.<\/p>\n
Over the past year we saw some new buzzwords spring to life and some long desired sci-fi fantasies come alive. Whether it was the first wave of Google Glass owners or Apple\u2019s usage of their iBeacon feature on the latest Black Friday sales, technology of the individual is clearly on the horizon.<\/p>\n
Here are five personal-tech trends that will rule 2014:<\/p>\n
The hottest trend that only seems to grow stronger is quantified-self products. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s tied up with the rise of trends like productivity or a general increasing awareness of health, but people are becoming more and more obsessed with tracking and analyzing their habits in different ways.<\/p>\n
You can use a product like \u201cRescue Time\u201d to measure productivity at work and how you use your computer, but if you\u2019re a fitness fanatic you can turn to wearables<\/em> like Angel, Fitbit or Jawbone\u2019s Up that combine a device with an app to measure every aspect of your daily health rituals.<\/p>\n One other bright spot on the health tech horizon are the increasing number of health apps connected to gadgets that can actually help improve the lives of people with chronic illnesses. Great examples of this are products like the recently launched Dario, which will revolutionize the lives of people with diabetes, or smartCARD, a device that lets you check your cholesterol via an iPhone<\/p>\n You\u2019ll notice I\u2019m not mentioning Google Glass. That\u2019s because I think this trend is waiting for 2015. Smart-watches \u2026 well lets just wait for Apple to decide.<\/p>\n You know this already: about 90% of customers say their purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews and social media. This is not a new trend. Brands have been trying to capitalize on their online word of mouth via social media outlets for a while now. Over the past year, brands finally cracked the puzzle. I believe that in 2014 we will see companies like Yotpo, Get Fresh, Pluck, and Lithium become more and more popular with social tools to make customer\u2019s reviews spread even wider.<\/p>\n Every email marketer already knows the famous *|FNAME|*<\/em> merge tag. It\u2019s the tag that automatically pulls in your subscribers name and translates the \u201cHi *|FNAME|*\u201d into \u201cHi Roy\u201d. This level of personalization has been around for a while, but it\u2019s been getting more popular and more sophisticated. Nonetheless, this has only lately really shown its impact on marketing, but in 2014 it will rule it.<\/p>\n The reason sending complex personalized content to customers still hasn\u2019t become a really big trend (beyond email marketing), is that it\u2019s been out of reach for most users.<\/p>\n In 2013, the industry saw the launch of several smart CRM platforms that leverage user data in a big way. Sure we can look at services like Intercom and Hubspot\u2019s inbound CRM platform that have experienced growth this year both in rates as well as in buzz, but you also have companies like Idomoo that are taking it to the next level by creating personalized videos for millions of customers integrating customer data and targeted offers.<\/p>\n Adding that to Apple\u2019s iBeacon and other technologies that will help marketers to react in real-time to their clients, 2014 will be ruled by uber-personalized messaging. No more one size fits all.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been hearing about \u201cconnected homes\u201d or \u201csmart houses\u201d ever since the first Jetsons episode was aired. Though smart houses have been around for a while, they were always portrayed as something only the richest people could afford.<\/p>\n Over 2013 there was a giant leap forward for connected homes. This leap became possible thanks to the small very smart gadgets that have evolved around the growth of smartphone usage. Some of the most interesting products, such as ex Apple exec Tony Fadell\u2019s Nest, have already introduced their self learning and programmable thermostat\u2019s and smoke detectors and I can\u2019t wait to see what \u201cboring\u201d utility industry they\u2019ll disrupt next with their great and smart design.<\/p>\n Another company that got my attention this year and I\u2019m looking forward to see what it\u2019ll bring with 2014 is Evoz. This company creates the software for smart utility devices, and serves as the brain behind the connection between your smartphone and other devices.<\/p>\n For example, they have focused on baby monitors, turning this generally simple product into a more intelligent device. The platform can issue push notifications when your baby is crying and can even help you develop a new sleep plan for your child. The same system will soon be applied to more and more utilities around the house, making it a lot smarter and pro-active for everyone.<\/p>\n No, I\u2019m not trying to tell you that mobile apps are going to be big in 2014. They\u2019ve been big for almost four years now. Designing for mobile first has been trending in 2013 but a more interesting trend that has been developing in the last year is redesigning for mobile. Email is one of the first tools to go through a re-imagination process. Mailbox reimagined email around tasks and to-do lists; Molto worked to make email conversations feel more like chat with social media oriented features, and Hop, not yet fully launched, will take a similar approach.<\/p>\n So what will be next? I\u2019m guessing chat applications (Facebook already took a shot with their \u2018bubble heads\u2019 feature), and there\u2019s still calendars, phone books, and other apps that we seem to take for granted but I expect will be completely reimagined for the \u201cphone-first\u201d era.<\/p>\n Usually trends tend to develop over a year, hinting at what the next big thing might be. But, the real fun is in finding the surprising winner. Every year we try to predict the next trend, while at the same time some struggling new company, or few guys at a bar, or maybe, just maybe a current tech giant is getting ready to shuffle all the cards with innovations we can\u2019t even think of. We\u2019ll just have to wait and see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If the past year was any indication of what trends will rule in 2014, it\u2019s safe to say that technology will keep getting more and more personalized. While over the last several years technology has enabled people to connect in unparalleled ways and form new online communities, in 2014 we can expect that the individual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1052,"featured_media":34205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUser Generated Content Is The New Marketing<\/h2>\n
Personal Experiences<\/h2>\n
\nIf you think about it, social media is built around this personalization, where each platform is crafted by your engagement and content. Just like fingerprints, there are no two similar Facebook news feeds, and each person\u2019s experience is shaped by their interests and community.<\/p>\nConnected Homes<\/h2>\n
Redesigning For Mobile<\/h2>\n