Speaker: Kurt McIntire, Co-Founder, Vektor Digital @kurtmcintire, @vektordigital Launching a product or business that utilizes beacon technology? In this presentation, Kurt McIntire, Founder of Vektor Digital, breaks down the 11 keys to success for crafting successful beacon applications. He draws from his team's experience building over a half-dozen beacon and BLE applications for innovative startups and cutting-edge businesses. 11 Keys to Success: 1. Set Stakeholder Expectations 2. Validate If Beacons Are Needed 3. Know Your Operating Systems 4. Understand BLE Background Modes 5. Convey Value During Onboarding 6. Handle Bluetooth Off States 7. Provide Privacy Settings 8. Ensure User Interface Matches Beacon Accuracy 9. Utilize Beacon Cloud Management 10. Deploy with Interference in Mind 11. Aggregate Analytics Centrally

1. Crafting and Launching
Successful Beacon Apps

2. @KurtMcIntire @MatthewJHolmboe

3. @KurtMcIntire @MatthewJHolmboe
@VillainVaughan
@AndrewAarestad
@ShawnBurtis

4. Mobile
Development
Mobile
Strategy
iBeacon
Solutions

5. Projects
• Restaurant order payments startup (LA)
• Retail analytics startup (Bay Area)
• Advertising agency (Minneapolis)
• Business reviews startup (NYC)
• Proximity based rewards startup (Bay Area)
• Tech and education entrepreneur (Queensland)
• Sports safety startup (Minneapolis)
• Cycling hardware and software company (Minneapolis)
• Personal accessories brand (NYC)
Beacons
BLE

6. products
prototypes
concepts

7. crafting and
launching successful
beacon apps
11 keys to success

8. 1. Set stakeholder
expectations
Your stakeholders think beacons
can do everyyyyyything

9. 1. No app is required
2. All content lives in the beacon
3. Battery life is forever
4. Infinite range
5. Pinpoint accuracy
Common Misconceptions

10. Beacon and BLE do not make
experiences. They make experiences
better and faster.
2. Validate that
beacons are needed

11. Geofences Wifi
NFC None

12. 3. Know your
operating systems
Beacon development and
deployment is different on
Android, iOS and Windows

13. WindowsiOS Android

14. 1. All the ranging, all the monitoring, with battery trade-off
2. An app isn’t required with Eddystone beacons
3. Greater than 57% of devices support BLE
4. Individual models are better at BLE than others
Android
Eddystone AltBeacon

15. 1. Lock screen notifications even when an app is terminated
2. Suggested apps for those already downloaded
3. Greater than 84% of devices support BLE
4. Core Bluetooth is required for complex functionality
iOS
iBeacon Core Bluetooth

16. 1. Available on Windows 8.1 with open-source WinBeacon
2. Available officially with Windows 10
3. Allows monitoring and ranging (watching and scanning)
Windows
Windows 10 WinBeacon

17. 4. understand BLE
background modes
Do your business goals match
limitations of background modes?

18. 1. Determine proximity (immediate, close, far) from beacons
2. Get limited lock screen notifications
1. Avoid impacting battery life
2. Show content outside lock screen notification norms
What you can do
What you can’t

22. 5. convey value during
onboarding
What do your users get for sharing
their proximity?

26. 6. handle BLE off states
Not everyone has bluetooth “on” all
the time. Let users know they’re
missing out.

30. 7. provide privacy
settings
Make it easy for users to understand
what they’re sharing and how to
change it.

32. 1. Be transparent about why you want their location
2. Explain what you are collecting and how it benefits them
3. Give them an option to opt-out, or modify privacy settings
Optimizing for the user?

35. 8. Ensure User Interface
Matches Beacon
Accuracy
Beacon accuracy isn’t perfect. Your
UI shouldn’t suggest it is.

37. We’ll tell you how far away
your Tile is in feet
Tile is
16.8-ft
away

38. 9. utilize beacon cloud
management
If you don’t have a maintenance plan,
your app won’t be useful for long

42. 10. deploy with
interference in mind
Beacons signals aren’t transmitted
uniformly and get scattered or
dampened by materials

53. 11. aggregate analytics
centrally
Capturing proximity analytics is a
huge piece of any beacon project.
Ensure you’re tracking centrally.

56. 1. Set Stakeholder Expectations
2. Validate If Beacons Are Needed
3. Know Your Operating Systems
4. Understand BLE Background Modes
5. Convey Value During Onboarding
6. Handle Bluetooth Off States
7. Provide Privacy Settings
8. Ensure User Interface Matches Beacon Accuracy
9. Utilize Beacon Cloud Management
10. Deploy with Interference in Mind
11. Aggregate Analytics Centrally
crafting successful
beacon apps

57. @VektorDigital
@KurtMcIntire
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