DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS
JADE FITZGERALD
TITLE : EXPERIENCE DESIGN DIRECTOR COMPANY : BEYOND LOCATION : UNITED KINGDOM
Fitzgerald shapes products that empower users and solve real problems . She helps businesses excel in digital experience transformation through the power of user experience design .
“ We have seen some household names begin to explore the possibility of diversifying their apps , such as Uber , Klarna and Lydia ,” Baber adds , “ but have much further to go to reach super app status .”
In contrast to the Western model of different apps serving single-use functions , super apps amalgamate a wide range of services . Tom Grogan , CEO of MDRx , notes that this approach is antithetical to Silicon Valley ’ s ‘ narrow focus ’ development models . “ A super app provides a large number of simultaneous services in a way that means
you can conduct entire parts of your professional or personal life on it without needing to swap applications ,” he says . “ WeChat is the classic example , in that it combines payment , messaging and shopping .
“ They are definitely the new obsession for Western technology companies , most vocally Elon Musk and X . This is particularly interesting , not least because it is antithetical to the modern Silicon Valley product development model , honed over decades of building successful and often valuable software products , which emphasises flawless execution of the narrowest possible ‘ thing ’ and user-centric and iterative development usually using an agile methodology .”
The regional disparity of super apps Super apps flourish in Southeast Asia but struggle to find similar favour in the West . Jade Fitzgerald , Experience Design Director at Beyond , attributes this to China ’ s firewall policies and superior cellular
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