My Top 7 apps: James Garside from Ministry of Sound
I’m back with another Top 7 apps list and this week we have James Garside from Ministry of Sound.
Ministry of Sound Group is an iconic global entertainment business comprised of a unique portfolio that includes the renowned London nightclub, one of the world’s largest independent record labels, international events, the successful compilations business and an extensive digital presence which includes Ministry of Sound LIVE. Ministry of Sound’s flagship brands have been at the forefront of global dance music culture for twenty-four years and are some of the most recognisable names in the music industry.
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Citymapper – when I first downloaded Citymapper I instantly deleted my tube, train and bus apps. What struck me though was how they’ve brought personality in to what should be a dull travel companion – a persona is something everyone should have in their apps. Their release notes are incredible – if you have a spare five minutes each update then they’re worth a read. Crowdsourcing the information on which end of the train to get on was inspired.
BBC iPlayer – I use this a lot. The main menu drag-down is so cool – it brings a second dimension to an in-app gesture; something that I haven’t seen anywhere else. The future of mobile design is gestures, not buttons. Their curation of content is first class as well, they have wild amounts of content and they make it easily navigable which is a pleasure to use. I respect all BBC apps.
Shazam – nobody (to my knowledge) has cracked transitioning a user from the physical world to digital – it’s something that we all need. Audio has been a good medium to activate a user (and will remain for the foreseeable future) but where Shazam have expanded of late is using the camera. It’s still early days but there’s potential there. Siri uses Shazam so surely it’s only a matter of time before they become part of iOS and Apple Music users can benefit. We’ll see…
LIVE – I’m a genuine user (and fan) of our own music app. It’s cliché I know, but I believe a Product Manager should ultimately be a user of their product. You need to understand the habit of the users and the context in which they use the service – so to be one is ultimately the best solution. It’s only the start of the journey for our LIVE service – plenty more good stuff coming. The music is banging too, something for every occasion.
Uber – I was always too cheap for taxis prior to this app, but with the combination of me not having to touch cash/card and it being a button or two away, they’ve disrupted and revolutionised the private car travelling biz for good. A ‘simple’ but organically viral feature is splitting the fare with friends – creating a community that use your service is tough to achieve but this is a good case study for it.
Chrome – I love Material Design – it’s the best thing to happen to Android – it really is. I don’t use Chrome for much more than a simple browser, but I love the pull down to refresh with two options left and right – gestures, not buttons. It’s a simple thing but I like it because it keeps the same preferences/bookmarks cross–platform – I’m always moving around devices so the days of me emailing links are long gone.
Slack – I’m always ‘on’ as a Product Manager of a music streaming service. I have a team of 8 developers in Croatia working on 4 different platforms, so being able to communicate quickly (individually and as a team) is essential. The service has revolutionised the way we operate as a team.
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Thanks to James for his list of apps today. I’m a big Ministry of Sound fan so there was a slight fangirl moment 😉
I have recently started using Slack, so that was interesting to see it here. I’m loving it so far!
If you’d like to contribute your Top 7 Apps or if you are the PR representing someone you’d like to see featured, everything you need to know about participating is right here.
