Piloting: a vital pillar in innovation and tech evolution  

Chief Product Officer, Dan O’Gorman, explains the importance of piloting and the launch of Locale Labs

 The fundamentals of any tech solution should always answer to five simple questions:

1.    Will this digital solution add value to me and key stakeholders? 
2.    Will it improve efficiency and productivity?
3.    Does it solve a problem that I have?
4.    Is it flexible and can it be evolved?
5.    But most importantly – do I need it?
 
I have been in the real estate sector for well over a decade now and one thing I have learned is that digital solutions should not be done for vanity. Without proper insight, consultation and a sustainable strategy, no solution will survive, hence why, over the years, we have seen overly complex technology left on the side.
 
At Locale Group, we never rest on our laurels, and continuously look to enhance and develop our offering responding to the evolving needs of our clients. Our UK-based in-house product development team utilises agile principles for continuous discovery and delivery, enabling the team to respond rapidly to feedback and market demands. We look to identify evolving needs and pain points of building teams and occupiers, ultimately aligning strategically and operationally to provide value and continual competitive advantage.
 
All our initiatives undergo thorough research with Product/UX investigating the problem space, empathising with our users and their goals. Ideas and prototypes are put through real-world testing before being delivered. Given our solution is used by both businesses and consumers (often the end users) with a wide variety of stakeholders and use cases – covering residential and commercial assets and accounting for both management and end-user interactions – piloting enables testing, learning, and iteration within real buildings, ensuring the product is the best it can be. It also increases the number of testing touchpoints and reduces the risk of unknowns prior to wider rollout.
 
Piloting: the client advantage 
New initiatives and solutions are piloted with Locale Group’s clients prior to wide release through our newly launched Locale Labs programme. This allows early adopters to get their hands on new technology before it’s widely available and test it out in real life situations with the full support of our Product Development and Customer Experience team. 
 
Acting on the feedback
We value every piece of feedback from our clients and partners. Feedback and suggested updates can be delivered rapidly whilst trialling to ensure the best user experience, giving you direct input into shaping the product.
 
It also enables us to constantly be ahead of the curve and keep our solutions fresh and relevant. 

Crucially, our piloting process has allowed us to learn from our experienced and engaged clients who value the opportunity to help shape the product and the future of the digital solutions they use. A recent example included updates to our key management module, where the Front of House teams we worked with expressed a need for arrangement creation shortcuts when they were temporarily holding keys – hence the Quick Drop functionality was born and has been widely adopted across our clients.

Why not be part of the product development journey? If you’re interested in joining Locale Labs, our early adopter group for priority access to new features, contact me or your primary contact at Locale Group or register your interest via support@locale.co.uk.