| Arun Raj M. | @iamarun_raj

 A brief history of Agile

The term Agile was first coined in the year 2001 by a group of seventeen people known as “The Agile Alliance”. Agile is a development process which is flexible and collaborative. Different teams focus on creating working software through continuous customer-validation rather than focusing solely on technical requirements.

With Agile having made a major impact on the design world, it might be the best time to reflect on the realistic demands of current UX projects. Let’s dig into the four stages of every Agile product development lifecycle and explain the UX implications at each stage.

1. Research and Investigate
2. Brainstorm and Sketch
3. Design and Development
4. Test and Evaluate

 Research and Investigate

This is the most critical phase where you must focus on information-gathering and collecting answers to questions such as:

• Who...

| Sruthi Chandrasekar | - @sruthicha13

I was terrified when I started my first job just five days after my last undergraduate exam. Although I had previously interned at Influx a few months before, coming in as an employee felt completely different. I mean, I was walking into the company as a novice and had to work on how I wanted to be known. Now, it’s been a year and some and, over time, I have learnt a few things that have helped me cope and a few others that I am still discovering.

If you are starting on your first job and would like to dive in with some positivity, read on. Actually, even if you are not starting your first job, read on. :)

Here are the top five pointers that rank high on my list of what I have learnt so far at Influx. (BTW, I’m and still learning)

 Do not be afraid to ask for help

As a fresher at work, you will always find yourself trying to prove what you...

| Archana Jayaraman | - @Archietokes

Designing a website for AMC Cinemas, Saudi Arabia’s first cinema theatre in over 35 years, has been a brag-worthy moment for Influx. Working closely with Vista, the leading software services provider for cinema globally, we took the website live in record time!

Amit Mehta (@AmitKO84), our suave GCC business head based out of Dubai, and Nagarajan Manimaran (@universalnaga), our quiet, unassuming tech head, recounted their experiences of working on the project.

 Mother of all briefs — AMC Saudi Arabia?

Amit: We are talking about the largest movie theatre chain in the world! Of course, it was huge for us. They were the first ones to get a license to operate in Saudi Arabia, and while in discussion with Vista for developing their website, our name was suggested.

Naga: Discussions began towards the end of March 2018 and the client wanted the...

| Elampooranan A | - @elams5star

The internet defines Software Testing / Quality Assurance as the process of executing a program or application with the intent of identifying bugs.
The QA team is like the Electricity Board, where no one cares when everything goes well, but all fingers point at them when something goes wrong!

Here, at Influx, we define QA as a planned and systematic way of creating an environment to ensure that the process of validating a piece of software meets its business and technical requirements as well as end-user needs.

To deliver high-quality products and services to customers, we perform reliable quality assurance tests from the end-user’s perspective by finding conditions that must be met in all the phases of delivery. We strictly follow the PDCA — Plan, Do, Check and Act— rule in our QA processes to validate and verify the usability and functionalities...

| Sountharya M | - @msountharya

Recently, Google unveiled a new technology at its annual developers’ conference in Mountain View, California. The tech giant says the technology is called VPS, or Visual Positioning System, with augmented reality. To help guide people to their destination, Google is introducing a navigation system feature in its Google Maps app that uses augmented reality.

 What is Augmented Reality?

You might recall an earlier post on this blog about Augmented Reality. AR is technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.

 How it works?

Google has been providing the street view with a direction marker. Now the tech-biggie has announced that they will release a new Augmented Reality feature that is going to combine Google’s existing Street View and Map with a live feed from your phone’s...

| Ebenezer Davidraj | - @ebedavidraj

 Principles for using social media in a nonprofit organization

1. Commit
2. Set Goals
3. Plan your voice
4. Create Good Content
5. Respond to your audience
6. Listen to your audience
7. Excel
8. Maximize your efforts

 Importance of feedback and responding

• Create a policy for interaction with any and all feedback and stick to it.
• Feedback is also engagement with audience.
• If a lot of people are liking the content, but not sharing it, what’s missing?
• What can you do to encourage more sharing? Listen to what your audience is saying and what they are not saying

Response Policy: Always respond; always respond kindly.

 Brainstorming sheet

• Content
• Platforms
• Goals
• Paid Ads

 Creating your social media strategy

1. Set a Goal
2. What is the message and voice you want to portray?
3. Do you want to give them an inside scoop-bringing them in as insiders?
4. ...

Avanthika Sivakumar - @avsiii

As a millennial, I witnessed the advent of ‘Social Media’ during my pre-teen years. It started small, first a Facebook account, then Instagram, and soon rose in importance in all our lives.

It made sense for brands to naturally shift their marketing efforts to platforms with growing consumer bases. Not only was it faster, less expensive and more targeted, it seemed like the best possible way to connect with the audience. After all, a majority of teenagers start and end their day by checking social media! (And many more times in between.)

With this power also comes a great responsibility for brands to send the right messages to the audience. The best advice would be not to blindly grab people’s attention for sales, but to create a genuine connect which would lead to a lasting relationship with the consumer.

In today’s world, with all the clutter on...

| Daniel Anandaraj Garnipudi | - @dodosamuel

The other day, Harish and I were talking to a new associate who had joined us recently. We got around to discussing the values we see as important in an Influxian. With our strategic plans taking shape, I thought I would pen them down for the world to see!

If you feel you relate to these, what are you waiting for? Read this - Influx Insider I — Want a bus ticket to success? and email us on careers@influx.co.in. Let’s see if we can find you a spot here with us.

There are many values that we consider important at Influx and, in no specific order, I have listed the most important ones here.

 Intelligence

Understanding the needs of the clients and being creative in the digital space is what we strive for. This is the key Influx differentiator when we work with clients. There are many organisations that could build websites and apps, and do...

This month’s guest writer, Sabina Narayan, combines practicality and responsibility with ease and is, in her own words, a “community advocate”. Passionate about the environment, she works to help clean up her part of Chennai, the city in which she lives and works. Here are her thoughts on how we can keep our spaces at home and work healthy and safe.

Do share your comments and suggestions with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It does make a difference.

I am a mother, daughter, wife, sister, friend, animal-lover, community advocate, and victim of having a sweet tooth. I clearly do not mention these roles in any particular order of priority since “victim of a sweet tooth” is at the end.

All my roles are incredibly important to me because each one feeds a part of my being. But, reflecting on it, I realized that seven of them can be described as being a part of the broadest one...