AIDS Walk Detroit App Connects Fundraisers

Posted 81 days ago by FHDadmin

This year AIDS Walk Detroit is enhancing their ability to connect with supporters with their new mobile App created by Future Help Designs. The motivation to create an App for this year’s event was driven by the group’s desire to reach out to one of the largest growing groups of fundraisers – young adults who are fully connected through their smart phones.

The AIDS Walk Detroit App’s main features allow users to sign up as a walker and collect donations right on the spot. No signup forms to carry. The intuitive interface is set up in a way that many smart phones users are very comfortable with. Pull their phone out of their pocket, open up the app, register as a new walker, sign up sponsors and collect donations.

As an added bonus, Future Help Designs wanted to keep their most connected participants happy and included a feature to allow walkers to broadcast their progress along the route through Twitter and Facebook.

The AIDS Walk Detroit App for iPhone & Android will be unveiled at the Kickoff Reception held at Leon & Lulu in Clawson. Participants can then download the app from the App Store or Android Market to register.

AIDS Walk Detroit will be held on Sunday, September 16th, 2012. Those looking to participate or donate can visit www.aidswalkdetroit.org.

AIDS Walk Detroit provides financial support for programs in HIV prevention, education and services for HIV positive individuals in metropolitan Detroit. The organization promotes public awareness through events and activities to ensure people living with HIV/AIDS are treated with dignity and respect.

Since it’s inception in 1991, AIDS Walk Detroit has become the largest grass roots HIV/AIDS fundraising entity in Michigan. Over $3.5 million has been provided in grants to more than 20 different organizations working in HIV prevention and providing direct services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

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What is the Next Big Leap in Technology?

Posted 85 days ago by Christian Marcillo

In a word, accessibility.
The next big leap in technology is the ability to place tools such as the internet and mobile software in the hands of people that a year ago never even had a computer. Look at the number of nations that are embracing communication infrastructures such as cell towers that bring internet access and technology to homes, villages, and businesses. That level of infrastructure for many was previously non-existent, that is the next big leap.

Add to that the intuitive design that mobile software brings and barriers that it removes. Users otherwise intimidated by technology find comfort and are able to natively interact with applications that embrace intuitive design. The awkward intermediary interface devices such as a keyboard, and mouse, or trackpad are gone. Using an index finger or even your voice to interact with technology is much more natural.

Alongside that leap of internet and mobile software being accessible to developing communities also comes the growth of a new market which now has increased access, our youth. Educational software becomes very intuitive when an infant or child can engage with software without a keyboard. The learning curve of the software itself is greatly reduced.

Our business markets are both in education and in healthcare. Without a doubt, these next big leaps in technology impact our business. As the interface becomes more and more intuitive it allows patients, students, health care givers, and teachers to do their job, without having to learn a new skill. It is our job to ensure that this happens with every customer we deal with today and tomorrow.

 

Christian Marcillo is CEO of Future Help Designs and Director of Creative Designs.  The passion for using the latest technology to reach out and do every day tasks makes helping customers fun.  To find out more visit us at www.FutureHelpDesigns.com.

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Future Help Designs presents at BAAM (Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan)

Posted 88 days ago by Christian Marcillo

Future Help Designs presents at the 2012 Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan (BAAM) conference on three of it’s creations:  iBAA, KeepInMind, and FHDNet.  The presentations were given on February 23, 2012 at BAAM held in Ypsilanti, MI

The Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan has been organized to support and promote scientific research on the basic principles of behavior and the extension of those principles to create demonstrably effective and humane outcome-based therapies with the primary goal of establishing and enhancing functional independent living skills. BAAM  Future Help Designs gave two presentations in it’s second year at the conference.

The presentations are titled “Apps for Behavioral Assessment and Intervention”.  Part 1 features iBAA (Behavioral Assessment Application, and Part 2 features KeepInMind and FHDnet.  The presenters included Paul G. Chrustowski (Future Help Designs, Pontiac, MI), Christian Marcillo (Future Help Designs, Pontiac, MI) & Glen Konopskie (Future Help Designs, Pontiac, MI)

 

PART 1 iBAA,

Behavioral Assessment App

iBAA by Future Help Designs

iBAA is a behavioral assessment application for the iOS platform (iPhone and iPod Touch).  Instruction during the presentation included how the application can greatly enhance the time and cost efficiency of existing practices of behavior analysts in conducting the full spectrum of direct behavioral assessments:

  • qualitative observations,
  • cumulative behavioral frequencies,
  • peer-referenced interval recording,
  • functional behavioral assessments (FBAs), and
  • assessments of the instructional or observational environments.

Behavior analysts learned about using iBAA’s flexibility and customizable potential for use in a variety of clinical and residential settings with a variety of clients, ease of data entry, and reporting options.  Learn more about iBAA on the App Store.

 

PART 2 KeepInMind and FHDNet

KeepInMind by Future Help Designs

These two additional tools, KeepInMind and FHDnet, assist in implementation of behavioral interventions is shared.  The purpose of the apps include:

  • prompts to clients for treatment compliance;
  • delivery of affirmations to clients receiving behavioral treatment for depression;
  • delivery of attention cues for clients receiving behavioral intervention for Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD);
  • delivery of reminders for clients to do behavioral homework;
  • prompts to clients to use prescribed coping skills;
  • delivery of reminders to clients with developmental disabilities or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) for performance of activities of daily living;
  • prompts/reminders for plan implementers for delivery of discriminative stimuli and/or reinforcers; and
  • prompts/reminders for plan implementers to conduct a prescribed intervention or gather data.

Each prompt delivery requires a recipient response, providing the behavior analysts feedback regarding client treatment compliance or fidelity of implementation data for non-clinicians implementing a plan on a daily basis.  Attendees were also be exposed to a platform for iPad educational applications in development, which will allow for individualized and differentiated instruction on iPad in an educational setting.  The platform is of particular interest to those working with students as higher functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders as it will engage the learner and maximize and client functional independence. Visit KeepInMind on the App Store to learn more.  Look for upcoming releases of FHDNet on our blog.

Thanks to those who attended our presentation.  We invite you to share the information you learned via our links below.  Also for a copy of the presentation, please visit our link here.

 

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Community Developers working together

Posted 109 days ago by Christian Marcillo

On Thursday, January 26th a dynamic group of iOS Developers and inspired community members gathered at the monthly CocoaHeads Detroit Meetup hosted by Future Help Designs.

The typical CocoaHeads group’s “tech talk” includes conversations on both high and low level software topics.  Past presentations have included developer problem solving via software, a personal experience starting an app project, and utilizing native features on an iPhone® to connect a community.  The group’s 2012 mission hopes to benefit a broader audience outside their development circle.

As part of CocoaHeads Detroit’s 2012 mission they have introduced the concept of creating software for the greater good and will collaborate on a community development project.

CocoaHeads Detroit members engaged in a Community Development Project

CocoaHeads Detroit members engaged in a Community Development Project

The opportunities an iPhone® or iPad® create by putting technology in the hands of people who otherwise had no access has excited and motivated these Metro Detroit developers to help. Be it an app for a non-profit, or to support the education of our children, the possibilities became approachable.

Are you interested in sharing your ideas or working on this collaborative community project?  Join the CocoaHeadsDetroit Meetup group and share your thoughts in the groups conversation online.

CocoaHeads Detroit is part of a global organization of Apple platform developers creating software for the Mac®, iPhone® and iPad®.  To learn more and join us at our next event please visit http://Meetup.com/CocoaHeadsDetroit.

Future Help Designs inspires the growth of the mobile development community within the State of Michigan.  As a passionate mobile software development company we share the strength of Mobile Software

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Are my users on the mobile web or using mobile apps?

Posted 117 days ago by Christian Marcillo

Ever wonder if you should be considering your mobile presence in terms of where your users are at?  Are they more often looking at information via a mobile web or a mobile app?

Sarah Perez, of Seeking Alpha indicates that Mobile App usage is up to 94 minutes per day.  Reviewing Flurry Analytics on US Mobile Apps vs Web Consumption, Minutes per day indicates the switch in trend to apps.


More and more users are choosing to spend their time on their mobile apps vs the mobile web.  Flurry’s data starts from June 2010 up to Dec 2011.  The transition to mobile apps overtaking mobile web occurred between Dec 2010 to June 2011.  The current data indicates US mobile app users are online 94 minutes out of the day vs 72 minutes per day for mobile web.

So the next question is what are they doing in apps?  Again Flurry indicates that 49% of time is on games, 30% on social networking, 7% on entertainment, 6% on news, and 8% in other categories.

To read more on the Flurry Analytics summer of internet consumption as reported by Sarah Perez visit http://seekingalpha.com/article/318320-mobile-app-usage-up-to-94-minutes-per-day?source=yahoo

Future Help Designs can help you prepare your mobile strategy to reach your customers through a mobile app.  When considering items such as being able to connect your users whether there is a constant internet connection or not, or the security of your users information in a mobile application those are items we’d be glad to help with.  There is great brand power when you get a customer to download your badge icon onto their mobile device.  They carry it everywhere with them.  Let Future Help Designs help you connect with your customers and show you ways to keep you in their minds and increase you brand awareness.

Christian Marcillo is CEO of Future Help Designs and Director of Creative Designs.  The passion for using the latest technology to reach out and do every day tasks makes helping customers fun.  To find out more visit us at www.FutureHelpDesigns.com.

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Going Mobile: From Idea, to Development, to Final Outcome – A presentation by Future Help Designs

Posted 123 days ago by Christian Marcillo

The concept of developing an app can be a daunting place to be.  Where does one start?  Do you need to understand a programming language, how will I design it, will it sell, how much will this cost me – all of these and many more enter the minds of everyone beginning a path into a mobile app development.

This may be a corporate project you’d like to present to your boss or a startup business in which this app IS your business.  How do you get started with your idea to get it to a point where you could communicate your idea and approach a mobile software developer to receive an estimate.

Future Help Designs outlined some basic principles to 150 attendees at MobileMonday Detroit’s Meetup group at Compuware on January 9, 2012.  The presentation topic was “Going Mobile: From Idea, to Development, to Final Outcome” and included a presentation by Christian Marcillo, CEO of Future Help Designs and Creative Director as well as an incredible panel discussion by local mobile development companies.

At Future Help Designs we have been creating apps for three years and offer services such as mobile software development, mobile development strategy, and mobile software design.

Our approach outlines communicating your idea, determining what platforms you wish to release to, and a potential roadmap of features you’d like to grow into.  A good starting point is with design.  Review the Human Interface Guidelines by Apple to get a good understanding of what mobile design should consider.  Once you can draw your concept on as simple as a napkin you have the ability to begin communicating your idea.

Your idea should include some basic drawings of some screen layouts, a list of features you’d like your users to be able to do, any existing ideas such as a website or similar apps.  Additionally plan for growth.  Determine what metrics you’d like to measure such as number of downloads and installations, average usage time, and many more.

When you’re ready to approach a developer be prepared to consider who is on your team and what you will need that developer to do.  Are there graphic designers or marketing people involved in the project, or potentially a backend service that will need to be created or is already existing.  What does the development relationship look like and who will be communicating with who.

These are all starting points to consider to get your idea to paper in preparation to approach a development corporation.

To find out more on how Future Help Designs can help you with your app development project and other services offered at Future Help Designs, please visit our website http://FutureHelpDesigns.com.

If you are a developer and want to know the technical side of iPhone® development please register to attend our Developer Workshop.

 

To attend the next upcoming MobileMonday Detroit meetup please RSVP here.


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Have technical skills and looking to create an app? Join us.

Posted 124 days ago by FHDadmin

Developer Workshop Series - Want to make an App?

Are you aware that in the state of Michigan the mobile sector has incredible job potential? For every job created in the mobile sector 3.9 additional jobs are created outside of that sector according to MTAM (Mobile Technology Association of Michigan).
If you have a technical inclination and are curious about what is involved in creating an application, please join us at Future Help Designs for our Developer Workshop Series. Experienced Mobile Developers will be on hand to answer your questions and guide you through the app development process.

 

Mobile Developer Workshop Series

Email us to be notified of Upcoming Workshop Dates & Topics

The series starts out with “So you want to make an App?”. This workshop is geared towards first time mobile developers and takes you through, step by step from getting licensed as an Apple developer, to setting up your development environment, and what it takes to submit an app to Apple.

The second workshop in the series is “An Introduction to Xcode” on February 28th. Here we get a little more into code and demonstrate how to navigate around your developer environment, what tools are available for you during the development process, and a step into a Hello World project.

To register for the class and find out more click here.

Gaming Development is the next special topic covered in the series. We introduce the theory of Gamification, the use of game play mechanics for non-game applications which encourages early adoption among users.

Management of Core Data is a more technical but equally popular topic that allows for fully integrated Apps within an existing framework.

Maximizing the capabilities of iPhone Bonus Features such as the camera, gyroscope, compass, and GPS can go along way to making your App’s usability truly second nature for your users.

# # #

Additionally, we invite you to attend a free monthly networking event for Apple Developers, the Detroit CocoaHeads Developer meeting. Each month, FHD gathers with a mix of mobile developers to hear about and discuss timely industry topics and network. To RSVP and attend the next upcoming meeting click here.

View our Events calendar, Follow us on Twitter or Friend FHD on Facebook to keep up on our latest Workshops and Industry Events.

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FHD in the News

Posted 133 days ago by FHDadmin

Notable Moments at FHD

Future Help Designs is Honored to Receive a DiSciTech Award from Corp! Magazine

Corp! Magazine honored the companies and educational organizations that are leading the way in Science and Technology through innovation, research and applied science, as well as those who are using Digital Technology to promote, improve or enhance their enterprises at its annual Michigan’s DiSciTech Awards.

The winners, comprised of 20 companies from across Michigan, were selected from two categories including Science & Technology and Digital. The winners were celebrated at a special breakfast event in their honor on March 20, 2012 at the MSU Management Education Center in Troy.

Future Help Designs grows staff by 3 as it works to grow app community

FHD efforts to support and grow developer community, including the Mobile Developer Workshop Series are recognized in Metro Mode Media. Read full article here.

Technology in Healthcare Newsletter Readers

Email The People at FHD to enter to win an iTunes Gift Card!

Crain’s Detroit Largest Mobile App Developers

Future Help Designs is featured in Crain’s Detroit Business as one of the top 20 Largest Mobile App Developers Ranked by number of downloads in 2011.

Pontiac: What’s Next… Metro Mode

FHD’s innovative office space featured as Metro Mode Media discusses the recent Rise of the Phoenix in
Pontiac: What Was, What Is, What’s Next…

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Mobile Leaders

Posted 134 days ago by FHDadmin

Leaders within the Mobile Community
What can we say, we love mobile technology! With the first iPhone we were hooked. We are passionate about being involved in the growth of the mobile community.

MgtGlen Konopaskie : President

As an early entrepreneur, Glen honed the creative problem solving skills that are a critical asset to the FHD philosophy today. He relies on his strong technical background and business management skills to guide the technical team through each unique app development process.

MgtChristian Marcillo : Director of Creative Design

Christian’s unique background in management and staff training have allowed him cultivated a dynamic team environment at FHD. His creative vision and passion for technology helps the graphics design and engineering teams deliver a high end user interface and end-user experiences beyond each client’s expectations.

 

Industry Recognition:
Mobile Industry Groups We’re Involved With:
Future Help Designs proudly serves as a Mobile Trade Ambassador to the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan.
 
Mobile Monday, a global community that works with local and global mobile industry visionaries, and developers fostering cooperation and cross-company business development through virtual and live networking events sharing ideas, best practices and trends from global markets.
CocoaHeads is a group devoted to discussion of Apple’s Cocoa Framework for programming on MacOS X (including the iPhone).
Psychology and Education Associations Where We Have Presented or Been Involved With:
Check out our Workshop & Industry Event Calendar to see where FHD will be next.

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Apps in the Enterprise

Posted 373 days ago by Christian Marcillo

At Future Help Designs we often speak of the reasons why we develop for the Apple® iOS platform. The two primary reasons are the security and the intuitive design that the iOS platform provides. Apple’s approval process provides for security levels that innately protect consumers data. That same approval process makes for some great working and looking apps as well.

So why is intuitive design and security important? The less you have to invest in training costs to teach your users on how to use your software the better. In a corporate environment you also want to protect your corporate data.

The value of Apple’s positioning and Future Help Designs decision to go with the platform that provides secure and intuitive design is illustrated in the enterprise adoption of the platform.
John Packjowski of All Things Digital reported Apples mobile device adoption rate in relation to ActiveSync hosting as compared to Android, Palm, and Windows Mobile. Within the enterprise model Apple’s mobile platform register at 61% (iPhone) and 98% (iPad).

Check out the full article at iPhone® Giving Android the Business in Enterprise

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