Same tools: different uses

You’ll have seen from the definition of an app that they are designed to do one thing very well.

Perhaps that is a bit of an oversimplification, because people usually discover that they can use them in all sorts of different contexts and situations. One app will be used differently by people, depending on their situations and circumstances. Take the teenagers who use a Facebook group chat to complain about their maths homework, but who then use that same chat to work through how to do that difficult homework by working collaboratively.

The first use of this Facebook group chat is purely social. The second, with largely the same group of people, is helping them study. The ability to communicate and collaborate with lots of people who are all engaged on a similar task can help understanding and completion of that task.

There are a limitless number of things you can do with apps. For example, you can manage work tasks such as managing your work schedule, agree meeting times, book a work visit, book hotels, review hotels, edit a video to embed in a presentation, and then share that information with colleagues around the world. You could even meet online using video conferencing if you couldn’t get together in the real world. This can be useful not just at work, but also for social activities. You could use exactly the same tools to plan your business meetings or sales conference, as you would to plan a holiday itinerary with friends.