Habyt

habyt

Fifteen years ago, crypto wasn’t on the mainstream media’s radar; but today, it frequently captures the spotlight on drive-time, lunch-time, and evening news channels, drawing both seasoned investors and curious newcomers into its orbit. While it’s exciting to witness this once-niche market gaining traction as the flood of crypto headlines inundate our newsfeeds, we have to ask: can we have too much of a good thing? Taking note of every headline as the ticker goes up; and down (sometimes multiple times a day) would be akin to suffering from investor whiplash… Sensationalism vs. substance Crypto headlines often oscillate between extremes. A prime example of this is a headline that read “Ethereum price lags”; while another read “Ethereum trader strikes gold as prices soar…” From exuberant predictions around astronomical gains to dire warnings of impending collapse - and everything in between - it can be hard to make head or tail of what’s actually going on. A broader view of crypto investment takes into account the long-term fundamentals that drive crypto adoption and value, including technological innovation, adoption by institutions and mainstream users, regulatory developments, macroeconomic trends, and societal acceptance. When investors read too much into market sentiment fueled only by headlines, they risk making short-sighted investment decisions fuelled by market manipulation and short-term noise. Understanding the broader context: the crypto market cycle “Do your own research" (DYOR) is a cardinal rule in investment circles, underlining the importance of doing your own independent analysis and due diligence before making financial decisions. In the dynamic world of crypto, this mantra holds particular significance where relying solely on hearsay (including mainstream media narratives) or social media hype can lead investors astray, exposing them to unnecessary risks and potential losses. To navigate the crypto landscape effectively, astute investors are those who have taken the time to understand the nuances of Bitcoin’s market cycle (and its effect on altcoins such as Ethereum). This four-year cycle is often referred to as the ‘halving cycle’ and has been historically closely linked to price, with the cycle progressing through ‘Bull’ (rising prices); ‘Bear’ (falling prices); ‘Accumulation’ (a leveling out of prices) and ‘Expansion’ (steady growth). Importantly, within each of these phases, there might be rallies, reactions, and a lot of volatility on (hopefully) the way up. Disclaimer: Crypto is volatile, carries risk and the value can go up and down. Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. Please DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! Back to basics: time-tested investment strategies Amidst a frenzy of post-halving headlines, investor disappointment around the absence of immediate spikes in price is real, but now is not the time to abandon proven investment principles. Instead, investors should anchor their strategies in time-tested approaches designed to weather market volatility: Dollar-cost averaging (DCA): Embrace the discipline of regularly investing fixed amounts, irrespective of market conditions. DCA mitigates the impact of short-term price fluctuations by averaging out costs over time and promoting a steady accumulation of assets.


The Hold-On-for-Dear-Life (HODL) strategy: In a market rife with volatility, the HODL mantra focuses on the importance of long-term conviction over short-term speculation. By focusing on the intrinsic value and fundamentals of assets, rather than succumbing to market hysteria, investors can cultivate their resilience.


Diversification: Diversification remains a cornerstone of sound investment practice, and sees investors spread investments across different assets (such as types of coins) to minimize risk from volatile market swings. A diversified portfolio fosters resilience and safeguards against unforeseen market turbulence. Don’t let hype eclipse substance! While an influx of crypto headlines signifies exciting maturation of the digital asset ecosystem, excessive fixation on sensational news can prove highly detrimental to investors' long-term success. By exercising discernment amidst the noise, understanding the broader market context, and adhering to time-tested investment strategies, investors can navigate the crypto landscape with confidence. Fifteen years ago, crypto wasn’t on the mainstream media’s radar; but today, it frequently captures the spotlight on drive-time, lunch-time, and evening news channels, drawing both seasoned investors and curious newcomers into its orbit. crypto While it’s exciting to witness this once-niche market gaining traction as the flood of crypto headlines inundate our newsfeeds, we have to ask: can we have too much of a good thing? Taking note of every headline as the ticker goes up; and down (sometimes multiple times a day) would be akin to suffering from investor whiplash… Sensationalism vs. substance Sensationalism vs. substance Crypto headlines often oscillate between extremes. A prime example of this is a headline that read “Ethereum price lags”; while another read “Ethereum trader strikes gold as prices soar…” From exuberant predictions around astronomical gains to dire warnings of impending collapse - and everything in between - it can be hard to make head or tail of what’s actually going on. actually A broader view of crypto investment takes into account the long-term fundamentals that drive crypto adoption and value, including technological innovation, adoption by institutions and mainstream users, regulatory developments, macroeconomic trends, and societal acceptance. When investors read too much into market sentiment fueled only by headlines, they risk making short-sighted investment decisions fuelled by market manipulation and short-term noise. Understanding the broader context: the crypto market cycle Understanding the broader context: the crypto market cycle “Do your own research" (DYOR) is a cardinal rule in investment circles, underlining the importance of doing your own independent analysis and due diligence before making financial decisions. In the dynamic world of crypto, this mantra holds particular significance where relying solely on hearsay (including mainstream media narratives) or social media hype can lead investors astray, exposing them to unnecessary risks and potential losses. To navigate the crypto landscape effectively, astute investors are those who have taken the time to understand the nuances of Bitcoin’s market cycle (and its effect on altcoins such as Ethereum). This four-year cycle is often referred to as the ‘halving cycle’ and has been historically closely linked to price, with the cycle progressing through ‘Bull’ (rising prices); ‘Bear’ (falling prices); ‘Accumulation’ (a leveling out of prices) and ‘Expansion’ (steady growth). Importantly, within each of these phases, there might be rallies, reactions, and a lot of volatility on (hopefully) the way up. Disclaimer: Crypto is volatile, carries risk and the value can go up and down. Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. Please DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! Disclaimer: Crypto is volatile, carries risk and the value can go up and down. Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. Please DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! Back to basics: time-tested investment strategies Back to basics: time-tested investment strategies Amidst a frenzy of post-halving headlines, investor disappointment around the absence of immediate spikes in price is real, but now is not the time to abandon proven investment principles. Instead, investors should anchor their strategies in time-tested approaches designed to weather market volatility: absence of immediate spikes in price Dollar-cost averaging (DCA): Embrace the discipline of regularly investing fixed amounts, irrespective of market conditions. DCA mitigates the impact of short-term price fluctuations by averaging out costs over time and promoting a steady accumulation of assets. The Hold-On-for-Dear-Life (HODL) strategy: In a market rife with volatility, the HODL mantra focuses on the importance of long-term conviction over short-term speculation. By focusing on the intrinsic value and fundamentals of assets, rather than succumbing to market hysteria, investors can cultivate their resilience. Diversification: Diversification remains a cornerstone of sound investment practice, and sees investors spread investments across different assets (such as types of coins) to minimize risk from volatile market swings. A diversified portfolio fosters resilience and safeguards against unforeseen market turbulence. Dollar-cost averaging (DCA): Embrace the discipline of regularly investing fixed amounts, irrespective of market conditions. DCA mitigates the impact of short-term price fluctuations by averaging out costs over time and promoting a steady accumulation of assets. Dollar-cost averaging (DCA): Embrace the discipline of regularly investing fixed amounts, irrespective of market conditions. DCA mitigates the impact of short-term price fluctuations by averaging out costs over time and promoting a steady accumulation of assets. Dollar-cost averaging (DCA): The Hold-On-for-Dear-Life (HODL) strategy: In a market rife with volatility, the HODL mantra focuses on the importance of long-term conviction over short-term speculation. By focusing on the intrinsic value and fundamentals of assets, rather than succumbing to market hysteria, investors can cultivate their resilience. The Hold-On-for-Dear-Life (HODL) strategy: In a market rife with volatility, the HODL mantra focuses on the importance of long-term conviction over short-term speculation. By focusing on the intrinsic value and fundamentals of assets, rather than succumbing to market hysteria, investors can cultivate their resilience. The Hold-On-for-Dear-Life (HODL) strategy: Diversification: Diversification remains a cornerstone of sound investment practice, and sees investors spread investments across different assets (such as types of coins) to minimize risk from volatile market swings. A diversified portfolio fosters resilience and safeguards against unforeseen market turbulence. Diversification: Diversification remains a cornerstone of sound investment practice, and sees investors spread investments across different assets (such as types of coins) to minimize risk from volatile market swings. A diversified portfolio fosters resilience and safeguards against unforeseen market turbulence. Diversification: Don’t let hype eclipse substance! While an influx of crypto headlines signifies exciting maturation of the digital asset ecosystem, excessive fixation on sensational news can prove highly detrimental to investors' long-term success. By exercising discernment amidst the noise, understanding the broader market context, and adhering to time-tested investment strategies, investors can navigate the crypto landscape with confidence.

Why Obsessing Over Crypto Headlines Is a Dangerous Investment Habit

Going from a mediocre team to an elite team can seem daunting, especially when we need to figure out where to start. The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) can be our north star, helping us build the habits and practices we need to be elite. We'll look at DORA, the challenges of building habits, and how to form habits that stick. What Is DORA? The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) report focuses on four key areas to measure elite teams: Lead time: How long does it take from code committed to running in production
Deploy frequency: How often does our organization deploy to production
Change fail percentage: How often do we need to rollback, patch, hotfix, or fix forward after a change
Failed deployment recovery time: How long does it generally take to recover service The challenge here is going from knowing about those four areas that need to be worked on so that we go from being a mediocre team to an elite squad scoring a ten on the DORA quick check. The four measurements of an elite team are: Lead time is less than one hour


Deploy frequency is on-demand (multiple deploys per day)


The change fail percentage is ideally 0%


Failed deployment recovery time is less than one hour To see where tour team currently places, try the DORA quick check. This blog will focus on the tools, technologies, practices, culture, and philosophies that will help teams become elite. Improvements in our work take time since we need to break old habits that don't serve us well and build new ones. This blog will keep that in mind as we move through different topics. Each post will have an invitation to try out what we learn. If there are any questions or issues that need to be covered, make use of the comments section to submit the question. The Challenges of Forming New Habits We've all seen New Year's Resolutions and possibly have had some of our own. According to the Forbes report in 2024, 53% of those surveyed had given up on their New Year's Resolutions by the end of March. For many people, sticking to a new resolution or goal is challenging. There is now a day known as Ditch New Year's Resolution Day, which during 2024 fell on January 17th. While the media paints a picture of a significant stumbling block, statistics show it's less troublesome than perceived. We can see the reality of the quit rate in the chart below: Source Why Do People Fail in Their New Resolutions/Habits? In an article by James Clear, he outlines five reasons our new habits might fail: Trying to change more than one thing at a time


Setting big goals without breaking them down into smaller steps


Seeking a result, not the ritual


We have not changed the environment in which we perform our good habits, so we quickly revert to our bad habits


Assuming small changes don't add up However, there are ways to set ourselves up for success. In the book Atomic Habits, James talks about three key lessons: Small habits make a big difference.
Forget about setting goals. Instead, focus on the system.
Build identity-based habits. The Impact of Habits Building identity-based habits means, for example, instead of saying I go running, we say we're runners, or instead of saying we paint, we say we're painters. There is a subtle difference in the wording, but if we start to think we're runners, that can lead to thinking, what does a runner do? It could mean changing the food we eat, how often we train, when we train, and the goals we set for ourselves. If we focus on getting 1% better every day in one year, we'll end up being 37 times better than when we started. It means that anything we set our mind to can profoundly impact us. It may not be noticeable at first, but as the changes compound over time, we will notice that we're a different person than when we started. Like a cliff being eroded over time by the waves, at the start, we overlook the impact each wave has, but over time, we see how the cliff face changes in its shape. How Do I Go About Creating and Maintaining Habits? In the Habits Cheatsheet, James Clear talks about the four laws to create a good habit: The 1st law (Cue): Make it obvious
The 2nd law (Craving): Make it attractive
The 3rd law (Response): Make it easy
The 4th law (Reward): Make it satisfying As an example, let's say we've decided that we want to drink more water every day. We could make it obvious by placing a water bottle on our desk so that we can't miss it. Having a nice bottle or putting some lemon or mint in the water would be attractive. To make it easy, we fill the water bottle the night before so we don't have to think about it in the morning. Then, to make it satisfying, we could have a calendar above our desk where we put a sticker to mark each day that we've managed to empty our water bottle. How Do I Beat My Old Bad Habits? Again, in the Habits Cheatsheet, there are the inverse laws for avoiding our bad habits: Inversion of the 1st law (Cue): Make it invisible
Inversion of the 2nd law (Craving): Make it unattractive
Inversion of the 3rd law (Response): Make it difficult
Inversion of the 4th law (Reward): Make it unsatisfying Let's say we want to watch less TV. We could make it invisible by placing the TV out of view, moving it to another room, or inside a cupboard. We might unsubscribe to our streaming accounts and TV subscriptions to make it unattractive. To make it difficult, we place the TV's power cord or remote control in another room. Finally, to make it unsatisfying, we could have an accountability partner that we check in with, with whom we will have to confess that we ended up watching TV. The Next Steps As we reflect on our DORA scores, we have an opportunity to identify areas where we can improve by forming new habits. The DORA quick check provides guidance on key areas we can work on to improve our score. In our team, we can decide what to work on to raise our score, moving us from developers to software craftspeople. Then, we can form habits to help us make lasting changes. For example, if we identify a need to reduce lead time, we may realize our review process is slowing us down. When we explore it, we recognize we need to set aside time to review the code. We could take a habit-stacking approach. For example, when we open our laptops in the morning (our current habit), we first review all of the pull requests that are pending review for us. Another could be first to review pull requests after our lunch break. To make it attractive, we might realize that the pull requests lack enough information, so we add a pull request template so all the information is there. Then, to make it easy, we could have a simple way for people to launch the application and see the change. To make it satisfying, we could recognize a person each week who does a great job of meaningful reviews and helps speed up the delivery of features. Conclusion We've explored the DORA report and how it measures teams' ability to deliver software. We've examined how habits are the foundation of meeting our goals/resolutions, looking at good and bad habits. Our challenge is to move from software developers to software craftspeople, using our daily habits to help us transform. References State of DevOps Report: https://cloud.google.com/devops/state-of-devops
DORA quick check assessment: https://dora.dev/quickcheck/
Forbes article on New Year's Resolutions Statistics: https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/
5 Common Mistakes That Cause New Habits to Fail: https://jamesclear.com/habits-fail
Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
Summary of the Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits-summary
Continuous Improvement - How It Works and How to Master It: https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement
Habits cheatsheets: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/cheatsheet
Habit stacking: https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking The lead image was generated using Microsoft Designer. Going from a mediocre team to an elite team can seem daunting, especially when we need to figure out where to start. The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) can be our north star, helping us build the habits and practices we need to be elite. We'll look at DORA, the challenges of building habits, and how to form habits that stick. What Is DORA? The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) report focuses on four key areas to measure elite teams: report report Lead time: How long does it take from code committed to running in production Deploy frequency: How often does our organization deploy to production Change fail percentage: How often do we need to rollback, patch, hotfix, or fix forward after a change Failed deployment recovery time: How long does it generally take to recover service Lead time: How long does it take from code committed to running in production Lead time: Deploy frequency: How often does our organization deploy to production Deploy frequency: Change fail percentage: How often do we need to rollback, patch, hotfix, or fix forward after a change Change fail percentage: Failed deployment recovery time: How long does it generally take to recover service Failed deployment recovery time: The challenge here is going from knowing about those four areas that need to be worked on so that we go from being a mediocre team to an elite squad scoring a ten on the DORA quick check. The four measurements of an elite team are: The four measurements of an elite team are: Lead time is less than one hour Deploy frequency is on-demand (multiple deploys per day) The change fail percentage is ideally 0% Failed deployment recovery time is less than one hour Lead time is less than one hour Lead time is less than one hour Deploy frequency is on-demand (multiple deploys per day) Deploy frequency is on-demand (multiple deploys per day) The change fail percentage is ideally 0% The change fail percentage is ideally 0% Failed deployment recovery time is less than one hour Failed deployment recovery time is less than one hour To see where tour team currently places, try the DORA quick check . DORA quick check DORA quick check This blog will focus on the tools, technologies, practices, culture, and philosophies that will help teams become elite. Improvements in our work take time since we need to break old habits that don't serve us well and build new ones. This blog will keep that in mind as we move through different topics. Each post will have an invitation to try out what we learn. If there are any questions or issues that need to be covered, make use of the comments section to submit the question. The Challenges of Forming New Habits We've all seen New Year's Resolutions and possibly have had some of our own. According to the Forbes report in 2024, 53% of those surveyed had given up on their New Year's Resolutions by the end of March. For many people, sticking to a new resolution or goal is challenging. There is now a day known as Ditch New Year's Resolution Day, which during 2024 fell on January 17th. While the media paints a picture of a significant stumbling block, statistics show it's less troublesome than perceived. We can see the reality of the quit rate in the chart below: Source Source Why Do People Fail in Their New Resolutions/Habits? In an article by James Clear, he outlines five reasons our new habits might fail: article article Trying to change more than one thing at a time Setting big goals without breaking them down into smaller steps Seeking a result, not the ritual We have not changed the environment in which we perform our good habits, so we quickly revert to our bad habits Assuming small changes don't add up Trying to change more than one thing at a time Trying to change more than one thing at a time Setting big goals without breaking them down into smaller steps Setting big goals without breaking them down into smaller steps Seeking a result, not the ritual Seeking a result, not the ritual We have not changed the environment in which we perform our good habits, so we quickly revert to our bad habits We have not changed the environment in which we perform our good habits, so we quickly revert to our bad habits Assuming small changes don't add up Assuming small changes don't add up However, there are ways to set ourselves up for success. In the book Atomic Habits , James talks about three key lessons : Atomic Habits three key lessons three key lessons Small habits make a big difference. Forget about setting goals. Instead, focus on the system. Build identity-based habits. Small habits make a big difference. Forget about setting goals. Instead, focus on the system. Build identity-based habits. The Impact of Habits Building identity-based habits means, for example, instead of saying I go running, we say we're runners, or instead of saying we paint, we say we're painters. There is a subtle difference in the wording, but if we start to think we're runners, that can lead to thinking, what does a runner do? It could mean changing the food we eat, how often we train, when we train, and the goals we set for ourselves. If we focus on getting 1% better every day in one year, we'll end up being 37 times better than when we started. It means that anything we set our mind to can profoundly impact us. It may not be noticeable at first, but as the changes compound over time, we will notice that we're a different person than when we started. Like a cliff being eroded over time by the waves, at the start, we overlook the impact each wave has, but over time, we see how the cliff face changes in its shape. How Do I Go About Creating and Maintaining Habits? In the Habits Cheatsheet , James Clear talks about the four laws to create a good habit: Habits Cheatsheet The 1st law (Cue): Make it obvious The 2nd law (Craving): Make it attractive The 3rd law (Response): Make it easy The 4th law (Reward): Make it satisfying The 1st law ( Cue ): Make it obvious Cue The 2nd law ( Craving ): Make it attractive Craving The 3rd law ( Response ): Make it easy Response The 4th law ( Reward ): Make it satisfying Reward As an example, let's say we've decided that we want to drink more water every day. We could make it obvious by placing a water bottle on our desk so that we can't miss it. Having a nice bottle or putting some lemon or mint in the water would be attractive. To make it easy, we fill the water bottle the night before so we don't have to think about it in the morning. Then, to make it satisfying, we could have a calendar above our desk where we put a sticker to mark each day that we've managed to empty our water bottle. How Do I Beat My Old Bad Habits? Again, in the Habits Cheatsheet, there are the inverse laws for avoiding our bad habits: Inversion of the 1st law (Cue): Make it invisible Inversion of the 2nd law (Craving): Make it unattractive Inversion of the 3rd law (Response): Make it difficult Inversion of the 4th law (Reward): Make it unsatisfying Inversion of the 1st law ( Cue ): Make it invisible Cue Inversion of the 2nd law ( Craving ): Make it unattractive Craving Inversion of the 3rd law ( Response ): Make it difficult Response Inversion of the 4th law ( Reward ): Make it unsatisfying Reward Let's say we want to watch less TV. We could make it invisible by placing the TV out of view, moving it to another room, or inside a cupboard. We might unsubscribe to our streaming accounts and TV subscriptions to make it unattractive. To make it difficult, we place the TV's power cord or remote control in another room. Finally, to make it unsatisfying, we could have an accountability partner that we check in with, with whom we will have to confess that we ended up watching TV. The Next Steps As we reflect on our DORA scores, we have an opportunity to identify areas where we can improve by forming new habits. The DORA quick check provides guidance on key areas we can work on to improve our score. In our team, we can decide what to work on to raise our score, moving us from developers to software craftspeople. Then, we can form habits to help us make lasting changes. For example, if we identify a need to reduce lead time, we may realize our review process is slowing us down. When we explore it, we recognize we need to set aside time to review the code. We could take a habit-stacking approach. For example, when we open our laptops in the morning (our current habit), we first review all of the pull requests that are pending review for us. Another could be first to review pull requests after our lunch break. habit-stacking pull requests To make it attractive, we might realize that the pull requests lack enough information, so we add a pull request template so all the information is there. Then, to make it easy, we could have a simple way for people to launch the application and see the change. To make it satisfying, we could recognize a person each week who does a great job of meaningful reviews and helps speed up the delivery of features. Conclusion We've explored the DORA report and how it measures teams' ability to deliver software. We've examined how habits are the foundation of meeting our goals/resolutions, looking at good and bad habits. Our challenge is to move from software developers to software craftspeople, using our daily habits to help us transform. References State of DevOps Report: https://cloud.google.com/devops/state-of-devops DORA quick check assessment: https://dora.dev/quickcheck/ Forbes article on New Year's Resolutions Statistics: https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/ 5 Common Mistakes That Cause New Habits to Fail: https://jamesclear.com/habits-fail Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Summary of the Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits-summary Continuous Improvement - How It Works and How to Master It: https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement Habits cheatsheets: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/cheatsheet Habit stacking: https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking State of DevOps Report: https://cloud.google.com/devops/state-of-devops https://cloud.google.com/devops/state-of-devops https://cloud.google.com/devops/state-of-devops DORA quick check assessment: https://dora.dev/quickcheck/ https://dora.dev/quickcheck/ https://dora.dev/quickcheck/ Forbes article on New Year's Resolutions Statistics: https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/ https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/ https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/ 5 Common Mistakes That Cause New Habits to Fail: https://jamesclear.com/habits-fail https://jamesclear.com/habits-fail https://jamesclear.com/habits-fail Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Summary of the Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits-summary https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits-summary https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits-summary Continuous Improvement - How It Works and How to Master It: https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement Habits cheatsheets: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/cheatsheet https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/cheatsheet https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/cheatsheet Habit stacking: https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking The lead image was generated using Microsoft Designer. The lead image was generated using Microsoft Designer . Microsoft Designer Microsoft Designer

Elite Teams Are Built on Strong Habits

The path of least resistance is already open. Remember when learning to code felt like trying to crack a secret code? It seemed like only the tech-savvy elite had the key to unlock this world. But things are changing! Picture this: just like English has become an international language, platforms like Webflow are shaking up the IT scene, making it easy for anyone to dive into web development. So, what's the deal with Webflow? Think of it as universal English, but in programming. It opens up a wealth of opportunities. Being able to work with low-code and no-code tools allows you to quickly immerse yourself in the digital world and make your mark on a global scale. It helps everyone, regardless of their background, current occupation, and baggage in web development to master the technology and start creating cool stuff in no time. In this article, I aim to capture the vibrant essence of Webflow and share my list of five habits. These habits are designed to empower everyday individuals, like you and me, to unlock our web-wizardry potential. With Webflow as our ally, the realm of IT transforms into a comprehensible and welcoming space where creativity knows no bounds. Why Webflow? Webflow suddenly entered my life when I had just left my previous work in the shop. During this period, I was inspired by the ideas of Webflow and began to study it. The idea of no-code was not yet so popular and was only gaining momentum. But what do we see now? Webflow has a huge community (85,000+ members), its own awards, a large number of online and offline events, and an annual conference, which is the most anticipated event in the Webflow community. Now, this is a huge space that has accumulated incredibly talented people. When a community of successful people grows, this is the best confirmation of the development of the field, isn’t it? Webflow is a platform that allows you to develop websites without code knowledge. Webflow serves as a gateway to develop fundamental IT skills and understanding of web development. It is a great platform for both starting a career and deep advancement in the future. It allows you to delve deeper into web development as you gain experience and expertise, without stopping at just the basic functionality. The power of Webflow lies in the following: Quality training courses in the open source - it's free to learn how to use Webflow. An intuitive interface. Super-functional CMS. Apps Integrations that increase the power and capabilities of Webflow. Clean code of the finished product. Ease of publishing and handing over the project to the client. I’m keen to expand the number of people who understand how the web development industry works and, of course, this increase will inevitably lead to more competition in the web development market. However, I’m convinced that it also naturally breeds an improvement in the quality of the finished product. Ultimately, the success of each of us guarantees the improvement of the whole world. Top 5 Habits for Newcomers in web-development. On your journey from starting your IT career towards improvement and success, I suggest you enlist the help of the following habits: Focus of attention Whether it's improving your English, learning a new platform, or mastering a new skill or habit, the focus of your attention is directly proportional to the strengthening of those skills. But there's always something that keeps us from focusing on our goal. First, identify it and remove it from your life. In my case, it was endlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed. I filled even a 5-second pause with a 15-minute interruption. So finally I deleted the app from my phone, but left access from my laptop (not all at once, guys). I just made access to Instagram uncomfortable for me. And from day one, I felt a lightness. I now channel my daily supply of willpower into self-development instead of fighting the urge to swipe the feed. Time management every day Without a clear plan for the coming day, you will start doing everything that comes your way. Every little thing will look like a very important task, but once you get to the important one you don't have enough resources to do it. In researching this topic, I've developed 2 creative ways for me to plan my day. Each one is perfect on really busy days, so choose what suits you best. Method A - Changing Circumstances. : write a plan for the day based on the changing circumstances during that day. Example: I became a mum and my whole day is scheduled depending on what my child is doing: The idea Is my child healthy and in kindergarten/school or sick and at home? Are there other people besides me who can look after the child for a while? Does my child sleep in the afternoon or not? Do any everyday routines need to be done today? What time did she fall asleep tonight? and so on. It turns out that I have several ready-made variants of events and a detailed plan for each case. I use them as a template and can quickly orientate how my day will be organized further. Here’s a sample day plan: Method B - Look at your day like you’re watching a film When I know ahead of time that I have a lot to do the next day, I write what I call a script of tomorrow with me in the lead role. The idea: to describe in detail your day in the third person, as if you were watching a film. That is, I write: "Dasha woke up at 5:30, did her morning chores, and at 6:45 started to wake up the child for school. Then they had breakfast together and left the house at 7:40. ... " You need to describe the whole day with minute details. And after writing it, read it in full. The thing is, this method is good for 2 reasons: Allows you to really you'll have available during the day and plan in detail the beginning and end of each task. estimate the time Has a . When you start your day tomorrow and it matches your plan from yesterday, you'll feel like you've already lived that day, which means you'll find it easier to navigate the huge to-do list. déjà vu effect Community Engagement Add yourself to themed forums, get a mentor, participate in meetups, and surround yourself with an environment of IT and like-minded people. I’d like to share with you some of them: be sure to follow webflow social media: , . twitter linkedin My list of educational channels on youtube: , , . finsweet fluxacademy t.ricks russian-speaking community in . telegram Develop Empathy Strangely enough, this is a skill you need to develop in yourself to succeed, and in IT too. Be able to put yourself in the shoes of the people you work with and for: the client - understand what is important to them, how they will manage your project after you and how to make it as easy and convenient as possible. colleagues - take into account all points of view and see the general vector of direction. users - how they will use your site on their device, whether it will be convenient, intuitive, and whether this or that movement on the page will cause discomfort. Keep improving Be prepared that this is an area of constant learning. There are both pros and cons to this. You will always be updating your knowledge and learning new things, it will become your way of life and spread to all its spheres. On the downside, it will never end. Just keep that in mind and spread your energies. It got to the point where when I was planning a holiday, I started evaluating each activity in the category of whether or not I would learn something new by doing it. If not, it became wasted time for me. The trap here is that even a much-needed holiday starts to feel like wasted time. Don't fall into it. Conclusion No-code development is no longer an unknown novelty. It is an established field that has changed the way people start a career in IT. Webflow, as a no-code platform, empowers people with superpowers to direct their attention towards creating unique and amazing projects. Through its courses, Webflow gives a quick entry into the IT market. It's a doorway and a start. And with the 5 habits listed above, you can strengthen your position. I urge you to put aside fear, believe in your strength, and take action. How many more hidden talents will the IT world recognize, what progress our generation will get, what a wonderful world we will live in, and what benefits we will enjoy when web development has become so accessible? Good luck and see you in a minute on the IT stage. Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment and ask the next questions: What habits mentioned in the article do you think would be most beneficial for someone just starting their journey in web development? Do you have any concerns or doubts about using a platform like Webflow for web development, and if so, what are they?

Lauch Your IT Journey with Webflow: Top 5 Habits for WebDev Newcomers 

The morning began as it always did. Blanket aside, sleepy gait, morning ritual, and the usual way to work. Even if the place of work is the desk in the next room. Every successful coach screams about fighting this system. But in fact, you don't need to fight it. It's enough to understand how it works and use it to your benefit. That's what neurohacking is all about. Dopamine mining in the 21st century: inflation Huxley's Brave New World is a super-concentrated utopia in which sources of quick gratification have possessed people. A button come off? Buy a new piece. Food, sex, entertainment - everything is calibrated and available. Even social elevators are predetermined from birth and literally written into your genocode. But let's move away from fiction and look at reality. In it, cyberpsychology and society are closely intertwined into a single structure that generates myths, supports them, and brings them to life. Dopamine swing The whole marketing industry is swinging a huge pendulum of neurohormones. At its highest point is dopamine. And at its lowest point, corticoliberin. It is the fear hormone, and slogans press it: "offer is limited", "the goods are running out", "discount for the first 10 buyers": The fear of being inferior to others hits our nerves because the loss of social status is comparable to death. If a major official/banker/top manager loses his position, the probability of his suicide increases many times over. It seems to us that work remains the only lifeline, without which we will be doomed to die in misery. Technological advances have spawned a synthesis of psychological mechanisms with advances in cybernetics. Today, cyberpsychology understands how to engage a person in absorbing material. How to create an interest that spurs one to watch a new series, go through another rink, or spend hours watching ten-second videos of cats and songs. Millions of years of starvation still outweigh 200 years of conventional satiety. Calories have become more dangerous than lead bullets. We're like primitive humans opening fire. Only we're not just warming ourselves by the fire. The problem is that the fire has become too much, and we are literally burning alive. Even though modern life is safe enough, the body refuses to accept it. Any lunge towards our safety or any threat to our social status is met with hostility. And the brain starts looking for solutions. Marketers present them on a silver platter. Speed is the main adversary We want to solve problems quickly. We also want achievements to stay with us for a long time. But what exactly they should look like, we have no idea. To be more precise, we stopped having about since childhood. Back then, we knew exactly the charm of the very stick, an unusual stone, or could wander for hours among a few trees while our brains drew incredible pictures of grandeur and adventure. But now we look up to seeming authorities who are slightly different from us. Authoritarians who broadcast the same things from every screen: Only true professionals use this smartphone. The super camera, the incredible processor, the screen with the number of colors your eye can't distinguish anyway. But this device becomes obsolete after a year, and you must make your next purchase to get back on track. Want to be fashionable? Here are the expensive brands. Here are ready-to-wear collections. Here are the dressed mannequins. Just take the same and enjoy! You don't need to tell everyone you are rich and fashion-savvy. Just wear the things we've already prepared for you. Have you heard of such a thing as constant self-development? We already spend a third of our lives sleeping! Don't waste time being bored. Boredom and procrastination are a virus worse than COVID-19. Here's a new series, a new movie, a new game. Give your brain a chance to solve interesting puzzles and sit down to work afterward. Develop your cultural experience. Play games, pumping up your game character. Just for your own sake, don't fall into laziness. Otherwise, unnecessary thoughts will start popping up in your head. Add to this shopping on the Internet, delivery services, social networking sites, and a man charged with caffeine who rushes through a maze of entertainment devices in pursuit of the horizon line that looms on every screen. And there is no way to get to it. Neurohacking of dopamine sources So, so far, the situation looks extremely unpleasant. There is a huge target on everyone's forehead, into which a beam of information stimuli is relentlessly beating. It is almost impossible to escape, but there is a way out. Neurohacking is not about taking grandmother's drugs to enhance brain activity. It is a way of life formed from understanding cognitive-behavioral principles and working not with the form of stimuli but with their essence. Power of habits "Step on the system". It applies to people with any type of addiction. Alcohol, drugs, and gambling become a natural ritual, like brushing your teeth or the route to work. To beat the system in the literal sense of the word is impossible. After all, fighting it will already be a reminder of its existence. Therefore, use switching: A notepad or text file in which you write down 3-5 events every day that brought you a moment of happiness. A beautiful sunset, a walk after the office, a dog you petted, a delicious lunch you made yourself. Allowing boredom. Boredom and procrastination are the same as a fever during a cold. It's only worth bringing it down when it's critical. Boredom indicates that you are doing something meaningless. And, quite possibly, there are more productive areas that need your attention. So it's worth giving them a little more attention. Cleansing. I think you know the feeling of not wanting to go to the shower. And then you don't want to get out of it. Same thing with dopamine. Walking on the landing with your smartphone turned off and not even music in your headphones... It seems like torture, but it will be extremely difficult to complete once you start the walk. For starters, you don't have to take it seriously. You're not struggling. You're not giving up habits. You are trying a new way of life. Everything is available to you, and nothing is beyond your control. This is the basis for the principles of Stoicism, which serves as a great balancing act when categorizing personal values. Shifting focus: what is stigmatized by marketers What's written above is a child's warm-up. You know, like morning exercise compared to professional sports. Only your main competition is all the mass marketing. Because to find happiness, you don't need marketing attributes. Comparing yourself with images on advertising posters is similar to biting your nails or lips. It is a kind of 21st-century self-harm. Cyberpsychology studies the tools used in the media by people and companies. These tools dictate the precepts of a successful, productive world. But their status quo can be disrupted by an alternate view conjured up in the mind: You don't need a new keyboard, a smartphone, or a branded notepad to be successful. You can afford all of those things. But it has no power over you. Buy things to get a dopamine boost. But remember that they are only things, and you can easily gift them to loved ones. Or part with them with no regrets. Happiness, like success, cannot be an attainable goal. Like, for example, a profession. It seems that here I will become a freelancer and will type on a chaise lounge on the island. But the screen glares, the charge is not enough, typing is uncomfortable, and it is generally hot. Happiness, success, and freelancing are states, but not an end in themselves. And it is almost impossible to acquire them. Your lifestyle will always seem miserable to some people. And someone will be shocked by its luxury. As Peter H. Diamandis wrote, there are 2 kinds of poverty. Absolute, when you have nothing to eat, and relative, when everyone else has the 12th iPhone, and you have only the 11th. You already have everything you need to experience pleasure and happiness. But it's like comparing a home chandelier to the 3D hologram from the Blade Runner remake... Advertising will always be brighter and more attractive. We will never own the products of the marketing world but only rent them, committing to changing sets of clothes, appliances, and even our personal data. They are left on a hundred websites and no longer belong to us but to supposedly secure databases. Is dopamine gluttony so bad? It may seem like a fierce criticism of modern society and consumer culture. But I'm not. It's more of an illumination of the situation as a whole. Marketing does put pressure on the mind, but companies can't do otherwise. But we can. There is already a culture of alcohol consumption in society. So why stop at just that? A culture of consuming gaming content, media content, marketing content... The excess of stimuli pushing on the dopamine receptors can really be bypassed. It's enough to choose your own goals, instead of being guided by marketing tricks. And yes, you just took a ride on the dopamine-corticoliberine swing.

Dopamine Pumps: Neurohacking Habits

ডোপামিন পাম্প: নিউরোহ্যাকিং অভ্যাস

Dopamin-Pumpen: Neurohacking-Gewohnheiten

Bombas de dopamina: hábitos de neurohacking

Pompes à dopamine : habitudes de neurohacking

डोपामाइन पंप्स: न्यूरोहैकिंग आदतें

ドーパミンポンプ: ニューロハッキングの習慣

도파민 펌프: 신경해킹 습관

Дофаминовые помпы: привычки нейрохакинга

Dopamin Pompaları: Nörohacking Alışkanlıkları

Bơm Dopamine: Thói quen tấn công thần kinh

多巴胺泵：神经黑客习惯

Hi, colleagues! As we approach the end of 2023, LeetCode is honoring active participants with badges. I have consistently tackled problems for over 300 days, earning myself this badge. An important note to emphasize is that this article is not about boasting about my achievement; rather, it focuses on cultivating a habit of daily practice, be it solving problems or revisiting those we tend to forget. Personally, concepts like dynamic programming and sliding windows took a while to sink in, and problems involving diagrams left me baffled. Immersing myself in a continuous cycle of tackling challenges has proven effective in keeping my mind sharp. In this article, I want to share an excellent life hack on how to always stay afloat in the IT market and keep yourself in shape by spending just 10-30 minutes a day in the morning. To start, simply allocate 10 minutes or more before work. I began my workday with a straightforward task. Instead of having coffee and reading articles, I started by reading problems. Later, I shifted this activity after stretching and before breakfast – a brief period to wake up, gather myself, and engage my brain. As a result, coffee became unnecessary😌 In This Brief Article, We Will Explore: Two valuable resources, one of which you are already familiar with – LeetCode, and the other where you can find an excellent free roadmap for studying patterns, along with problem breakdowns on YouTube. Strategies for finding time and determining the optimal time investment. The ultimate process we will achieve in the end. For me, solving algorithmic problems has always seemed like something akin to an Olympiad, and I long failed to grasp its value. Many argue that it is necessary solely for passing interviews, and that knowledge of how to invert trees or traverse them in depth will never be useful in real life. Partially, this is true, but when we start looking not only at high-level API libraries but delve into the logic, we begin to be amazed. Working with time, we can merge intervals; dealing with dictionary search, we can work with prefixes; working with a hash map, we can apply hashing algorithms. This is just the tip of the iceberg. As soon as we start writing a lot of our own code, not limiting ourselves to using frameworks, we encounter the need to optimize code, check its complexity, and make it more efficient. https://leetcode.com/problemset/?embedable=true LeetCode is an excellent way to start tackling easy problems to understand what complexity is and how much it affects the result. Starting with simple problems, we devise solutions, becoming more and more efficient, and ultimately, identifying patterns. It is precisely these patterns that allow us to determine how to solve a problem and what its complexity is. In most cases, we can solve it in several ways. What does this give us? In short, at work on your project, you will learn to instantly assess the efficiency of your code, especially if your project is constantly under heavy load. If your code transitions from cubic complexity to linear complexity, your servers and administrators will thank you. It also saves the company significant funds, especially when using services like Amazon. It may seem trivial, but such optimizations can save several thousand dollars! My Way! So, where to start? You have LeetCode, and you have problems, but what to do next? 1. Start With Easy Problems. It is recommended to begin by solving several " " level problems. Don't rush into the difficult ones right away. Take a sheet of paper and a pen, and start analyzing the problem verbally, without writing code. easy 2. Work Through the Solution. After you have a general understanding of the problem and have considered edge cases, start writing code. 3. Turn It Into a Habit. Solve a couple of problems per week, but don't rush. Gradually, you will develop an understanding of patterns and approaches to solving problems. 4. Pay Attention to Patterns. At some point, you will notice that your solutions repeat. This is where the time for patterns begins. If possible, consider a premium course on algorithms and data structures on LeetCode. There, you will find analyses of problems, video tutorials, and detailed solutions. If you want to save money, turn to the resource neetcode, where free problem breakdowns are available. https://neetcode.io/?embedable=true Neetcode has effectively organized everything into a tree structure based on topics, as well as tasks that are commonly asked. Certainly, on LeetCode, the precision is much higher, as users can mark which problems were actually asked and frequently update the problem list. However, I highly recommend exploring this resource and channel, even if you have been solving problems for a long time. You can choose topics and tasks: 5. Create a Systematic Approach. Take a plan: Open Neetcodee, and choose problems from the tree. Open the corresponding problem on LeetCode. Try to solve it. If you have solved it or couldn't, look at the solution, and write it down in a notepad. Transfer the solution from the notepad to the code and submit. And remember, failures in the beginning are normal. The key to this process is to learn and memorize patterns. As soon as you recognize a familiar pattern, solving problems will become much easier. Whether tackling easy or medium-level problems, it doesn't matter — just solve them! If memorizing problems is what it takes, go for it! There's no need to compare yourself to others, as we're in the process of cultivating a new and excellent habit. This habit will undoubtedly lead to significant improvement in the long run! Good luck with your learning! If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to ask. Cheers! 🚀

Why Making LeetCode a Daily Habit Is the Key to Skill Development and Career Growth

In the digital age, the evolution of reading habits is undergoing a profound transformation, propelled by the inexorable integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our literary landscape. As we delve into the realms of "Revolutionizing Reading," a seismic shift is discernible, with AI technologies reshaping the very fabric of how readers engage with content. Surpassing mere convenience, AI's impact is quantifiable—recent statistics reveal a staggering in personalized reading recommendations, fostering a dynamic synergy between algorithms and readers' preferences. 30% increase In this era of technological convergence, we embark on an exploration of how AI is not just influencing but fundamentally revolutionizing reader habits. Definition of AI in Reading: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in reading refers to the innovative integration of machine learning algorithms and computational capabilities in the realm of literature consumption. This sophisticated application of technology goes beyond mere digitization, leveraging data-driven insights to enhance and personalize the reading experience. Overview of Transformative Impact The transformative impact of AI on reader habits is nothing short of revolutionary. Beyond traditional paradigms, AI is reshaping the way we discover, consume, and comprehend literature. From personalized recommendations that align with individual preferences to adaptive learning platforms tailored to unique reading styles, . the landscape of reading is undergoing a metamorphosis In this exploration, we delve into the multifaceted ways AI is driving this transformative impact and reshaping the very fabric of our reading habits. Let’s dig into the deep Personalized Recommendations AI Algorithms in Reading Platforms AI-powered algorithms are at the forefront of delivering tailored reading recommendations. These algorithms analyze user preferences, reading history, and even contextual factors to that align with individual tastes. suggest books Statistics on Increased Personalization The impact is tangible—statistics reveal a significant increase in user engagement and satisfaction with personalized recommendations. Readers are discovering new genres and authors that resonate with their unique interests, fostering a more dynamic reading experience. User Experience Enhancement Beyond recommendations, AI contributes to an enriched user experience by adapting to evolving preferences in real time. Smart algorithms continuously learn from user interactions, ensuring that the content suggested remains relevant and engaging. Adaptive Learning Platforms AI-Driven Learning Strategies AI extends its influence beyond reading preferences into learning strategies. Adaptive learning platforms utilize AI to understand individual learning styles, allowing for the creation of customized strategies that enhance comprehension and retention. Customized Learning Paths Readers embark on personalized learning journeys as AI tailors content delivery and difficulty levels based on individual progress. This adaptive approach ensures that each reader receives a customized educational experience. Real-World Examples and Success Stories Real-world examples showcase the success of platforms, with improved educational outcomes and a deeper understanding of complex subjects. The synergy between AI and personalized learning is transforming the educational landscape. AI-driven adaptive learning AI in Content Creation Automated Content Generation AI's foray into content creation introduces automated generation tools, assisting authors in crafting engaging narratives. This collaboration between AI and human authors accelerates the writing process while maintaining the essence of creativity. Collaboration Between AI and Human Authors The collaboration between AI and human authors raises intriguing possibilities for literary diversity. AI can augment human creativity, offering fresh perspectives and contributing to a more inclusive literary landscape. Implications for Diversity in Literary Creations As AI becomes a creative collaborator, the implications for diversity in literary creations are substantial. The fusion of human ingenuity and AI capabilities can lead to a broader spectrum of stories that reflect the richness of diverse experiences. Reading Analytics Tracking and Analyzing Reader Behavior AI-driven reading analytics provide valuable insights into reader behavior, helping publishers and authors understand audience preferences, popular themes, and engagement patterns. Insights for Publishers and Authors Publishers and authors leverage these insights to refine marketing strategies, optimize content offerings, and tailor promotional campaigns, ultimately fostering stronger connections with their readership. Balancing Privacy Concerns However, the increased reliance on reading analytics raises privacy concerns. Striking a balance between gathering valuable data and respecting readers' privacy is crucial for maintaining trust in the evolving landscape. Accessibility and Inclusivity AI's Role in Making Reading Accessible AI plays a pivotal role in making reading accessible to a broader audience. Text-to-speech technologies and other adaptive tools enhance accessibility for individuals with visual or cognitive impairments. Breaking Language Barriers Language is no longer a barrier, thanks to AI-powered translation tools that enable readers to explore content in their preferred language. This breakthrough promotes cultural exchange and global literary exploration. Addressing Challenges in Inclusivity Despite these advancements, challenges in inclusivity persist, requiring continuous efforts to address biases in and ensure equitable access for all readers. AI algorithms Challenges and Ethical Considerations Bias in AI Algorithms One of the critical challenges is the inherent bias present in AI algorithms. Addressing this bias is paramount to prevent perpetuating stereotypes and ensuring fair representation in content recommendations. Privacy Concerns and Data Security As AI collects and processes vast amounts of user data, safeguarding privacy and ensuring robust data security measures are imperative to prevent unauthorized access and potential misuse. Striking a Balance Between Automation and Human Touch Finding the right balance between automation and preserving the human touch in reading experiences is an ongoing challenge. While AI enhances efficiency, maintaining the emotional and empathetic aspects of storytelling requires careful consideration. Future Trends Emerging AI Technologies in Reading The future holds promising developments, with emerging AI technologies poised to revolutionize reading further. Natural language processing, augmented reality, and immersive storytelling experiences are on the horizon. Predictions for the Future of Reader-Technology Interaction Predictions indicate a deeper integration of AI into daily reading habits, with technologies evolving to anticipate user needs, provide real-time insights, and offer an even more personalized and immersive experience. Potential Societal Impacts The societal impacts of AI in reading extend beyond individual preferences. A more educated and culturally aware society may emerge as AI contributes to accessible and diverse literary experiences. Conclusion In conclusion, AI is undeniably transforming reader habits by offering personalized recommendations, adaptive learning experiences, and innovative content-creation tools. The landscape of reading is evolving, driven by the dynamic interplay between AI and human creativity. Readers find themselves in a realm of limitless possibilities, exploring new genres, languages, and perspectives. As we navigate this transformative journey, a collective effort is needed. Readers, publishers, and tech innovators must collaborate to address challenges, uphold ethical standards, and embrace the potential of AI to enrich the world of reading for generations to come.

Revolutionizing Reading: The Transformative Impact of AI on Reader Habits

They push their agenda, do not stick to their own ideas, and refuse to listen to their teams’ feedback. Who am I talking about? Toxic managers and leaders. No doubt you have met at least one in your life. A few obvious signs of a toxic manager include nepotism, micromanagement, or disrespect of other people’s boundaries. There are also more obscure ones that may creep up on any team. What do professionals need to look out for? Toxic managers do not communicate with their teams directly I often talk about the importance of delegating. This is the form of business art that took me years to master, but when I did, it changed the name of the game. I was able to focus on strategically essential tasks and grow my business into the international group of companies it is today. But some managers take this to the next level. They delegate tasks to their successor, who then communicates with the rest of the team. This way, a manager becomes a mythical creature that may or may not exist. This creates a huge barrier between a leader and their team. Team members do not get an opportunity to ask questions about their career advancement, everyday processes, or relationships with their teammates. Getting through to a manager who chose this approach to communication is extremely difficult and can create many roadblocks, especially for new team members. Toxic managers lack confidence in their decisions While there is nothing inherently wrong with a person not being confident in themselves, leaders can’t afford it. They need to be sure about their decisions because people depend on them. Managers who lack confidence often change their decisions on the go and fail to stick to one idea at a time. They doubt themselves and others. As a result, almost nothing around them gets done. Even worse, managers who are not confident in themselves are almost sure not to be confident in their team members. This can result in constant micromanagement and lack of trust, which can lead to high team churn and low morale. Toxic managers promote hierarchy In the modern business world, relationships between teammates and managers are built on mutual respect and trust. Titles are often set aside, which makes communication more effective and pleasurable for both sides. A manager who frequently pulls rank and promotes strict hierarchy within their team is not doing anyone favors. Whatever conflicts there might be between them and their team, they only deepen it, making the situation worse. Constantly reminding team members who a manager is can also harm their creative and problem-solving processes. In short, such a team runs out of steam and stops working properly. Toxic managers  refuse to connect with their teams on a personal level Today is all about personal connections. Regular syncs, out-of-office team building gatherings, book and movie clubs — this is how we at SupportYourApp promote personal communication and connection. As a result, team members know each other on a personal level, which ultimately adds up to more efficient teamwork. Some managers refuse to connect with their team. They are all about business and work-related agendas. They can go as far as to skip the small talk and always go straight to work. Not even a ‘How are you doing?’ at the beginning of a meeting. That can be perceived as simply rude. When a leader refuses to connect with their team, it also sets a bad precedent. Team members start doing the same. As a result, they fail to form a connection vital for effective teamwork. In the long run, this hardly results in lasting team relationships. Can something be done? One of the most widespread thoughts is that a team cannot do anything if its leader turns toxic. Most think they need to go to their manager’s manager to resolve the situation. In reality, there are a few steps a team can take to get through to their manager. Provide feedback whenever possible. At SupportYourApp, feedback is an integral part of our communication. I give it to the members of my team, and they give theirs to their teams. Our support consultants can also review their Team Leads' actions and work, which ensures we eliminate all behavioral bottlenecks as soon as they arise. Take care of themselves. Professionals need to watch out for their mental state and make sure they do not burn out because of inefficient management. Talk-talk-talk. As tough as it may be, talking and communicating is the key to everything. Talking and making a difference is worth trying. If that doesn’t work, turning to some external help might be the best option for dealing with a toxic leader.

4 Habits of a Toxic Manager That Shatter Productivity and Teamwork

একজন বিষাক্ত ম্যানেজারের 4টি অভ্যাস যা উত্পাদনশীলতা এবং টিমওয়ার্ককে ভেঙে দেয়

4 Gewohnheiten eines toxischen Managers, die Produktivität und Teamarbeit zerstören

4 hábitos de un gerente tóxico que destruyen la productividad y el trabajo en equipo

4 habitudes d'un manager toxique qui brisent la productivité et le travail d'équipe

एक जहरीले प्रबंधक की 4 आदतें जो उत्पादकता और टीम वर्क को नष्ट कर देती हैं

生産性とチームワークを台無しにする有害なマネージャーの 4 つの習慣

생산성과 팀워크를 파괴하는 해로운 관리자의 4가지 습관

4 hábitos de um gerente tóxico que prejudicam a produtividade e o trabalho em equipe

4 привычки токсичного менеджера, которые подрывают продуктивность и командную работу

Zehirli Bir Yöneticinin Üretkenliği ve Ekip Çalışmasını Bozan 4 Alışkanlığı

4 thói quen của người quản lý độc hại làm suy giảm năng suất và tinh thần đồng đội

有毒管理者破坏生产力和团队合作的 4 个习惯

I am not in the habit of seeing the Household Words regularly; but a friend

ON HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.

In today's digital world, successful products are the ones that integrate into user’s daily routines. That’s why product managers need to understand the psychology behind . habit-forming products At the core of this psychology is the concept of habit loops. When you understand and leverage them effectively, these loops become the key to ensuring that users return to use the product repeatedly. But why are habit loops so powerful? And how can they be harnessed to boost user retention? In this article, we will dive into: What are habit loops? Why should habit loops concern you? How do habit loops increase user retention? Case study — Flo app Practical steps to create habit-forming products The Dark side of habit-forming products What are Habit loops? "The Habit Loop is a neurological loop that governs any habit. The habit loop consists of three elements: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Understanding these elements can help in understanding how to change bad habits or form better ones." - Duhigg, C. Elements of the habit loop The Cue The cue for a habit can be anything that triggers the habit. Cues most generally fall under the following categories: a location, a time of day, other people, an emotional state, or an immediately foregoing action. The Routine A habit's routine is the most obvious element: the behaviour you wish to change (e.g. smoking or biting your nails) or reinforce (e.g. taking the stairs instead of the elevator, drinking water instead of snacking, meditating when feeling anxious). The Reward The reward is why the brain decides the previous steps are worth remembering for the future. The reward provides positive reinforcement for the desired behaviour, making users more likely to engage with that behaviour again. The reward can be anything, from something tangible to something intangible to something with no inherent value but what it is given. Why should you care about habit loops? The most influential digital products on the market are habit-forming. They create engagement loops that bring users back repeatedly, not out of necessity but out of habit. Product managers can use the principles of the Habit Loop to build products that meet users’ needs and form part of their daily routines. Why understanding and employing habit loops is beneficial? The more user interacts with a product, the more value they get from it, resulting in a deeper product-user relationship. Increased Engagement: Habitual users are more likely to make in-app purchases, upgrade to premium versions, and are less sensitive to price changes. Monetization Opportunities: Users who find products valuable are more likely to recommend them to others. Organic Growth: Products that integrate well into users' daily routines are less sensitive to competition. Competitive Advantage: Regular user engagement provides a continuous stream of data. This data gives insights into user behaviour, preferences, and pain points. Data Collection: Understanding habit loops allows product managers to foresee user behaviour more accurately, aiding in long-term planning and strategy formulation. Predictable User Behavior: Habit loops and understanding habit-forming mechanisms allow product managers to create products that meet users' needs and become essential to their daily lives. This integration leads to long-term product success, sustainability, and growth. Habit Loops and User Retention User retention and user acquisition - one cannot exist without another. Both are crucial for a product's growth; no company can live without a user base. Yet user retention requires engagement and building a relationship. This makes them feel you care and motivates them to continue using your products. Other compelling reasons to consider user retention: Acquiring a new user is often more expensive than retaining an existing one. Marketing campaigns, advertisements, and other acquisition strategies quickly consume a company's budget. Cost-Effectiveness: Retained users generally have a higher lifetime value. They're more likely to make repeat purchases and upgrade, leading to increased revenue over time. Lifetime Value: Satisfied, retained users become advocates for your product. They're likelier to suggest it to friends and colleagues. That provides organic growth. Product Evangelism: Retained users give helpful feedback. Their continued engagement means they're invested in the product's success and can provide wisdom into potential improvements or new features. Feedback Loop: Now, how do habit loops play into this? As noted in " " Habit loops are cyclical processes that drive user behaviour. The four components— and I —work in tandem to create habitual product use. Nir Eyal's Hooked: Hooked: Habit-Forming Products, Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, nvestment When users consistently go through this loop, they form habits around a product. This habitual use makes them less likely to churn, directly boosting retention. The more often a user goes through the habit loop, the deeper the product implants into their daily routine. Over time, this repeated engagement firms their relationship with the product, making them less sensitive to competitors and more likely to stick around. Habit loops are the machine behind high user retention rates. They assure that users don't just sign up and engage once but return repeatedly, deriving value each time. As product managers, comprehending and leveraging these loops can convert casual users into loyal product advocates. Case Study: Successful Application of Habit Loop in Digital Products — Flo app The Flo app is a menstrual cycle tracking and fertility app that helps women understand their bodies better. Let's analyze it using Nir Eyal's "Hooked" model: Trigger These could be notifications to log symptoms, emails with insights about their cycle, or articles about women's body. For new users, seeing friends use the app or reading about it in media can also serve as triggers. External Triggers: As women get accustomed to using Flo, they might start logging symptoms or checking predictions instinctively when they feel specific physical or emotional changes. The wish to understand or predict one's cycle can also be an internal trigger. Internal Triggers: Action The primary action in the Flo app is logging daily symptoms, moods, and activities. Other actions might include reading articles, interacting with the community, or checking predictions about the menstrual cycle. The simplicity of logging and the immediate feedback (predictions or insights) make the action phase compelling. Variable Reward: These are insights and predictions about their menstrual cycle. One month, a user might discover a pattern in her mood swings, while another month, she might get clarity on her most fertile days or even get notified of specific abnormalities in the cycle. Flo also offers articles and tips, which can vary in relevance and interest for the user. Unpredictable content drives users to engage more frequently, as new information is always a surprise. Investment: Users invest in Flo by consistently logging their data. The more data they log, the more accurate and personalized the predictions and insights become. Engaging with the community and  bookmarking articles increases investment in the app. Users who see the value of their accumulated data and insights are more likely to return to the app and even recommend it to others. The Flo app effectively leverages the Hooked model. It provides timely external triggers, enables easy and meaningful actions, delivers variable rewards in insights and content, and encourages user investment through consistent logging and engagement. This combination can make the app a habit-forming tool for many users, helping them better understand and navigate their menstrual cycles. How do you get started creating habit-forming products? As a product manager, how can you begin working towards habit-forming products? A helpful tool is , discussed in the book “ ? by Nir Eyal. Habit testing Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products Habit Testing: A Guide for Product Managers Habit Testing is a systematic approach to optimize products for habitual use. Embedded in behavioural psychology and the principles of the Lean Startup Movement, it offers a structured way to ensure products attract users and embed themselves into their daily routines. 1. Identify Habitual Users First step: pinpoint who from your user base are the Habitual Users. These users frequently engage with your product and get significant value from it. As a general guideline, it's a good sign if at least 5% of your users can be categorised as Habitual Users. If less than 5% of your users fall into this category, your product needs reevaluation or refinement (Nir Eyal, Hook: How to Build Habit-Forming Products). How? Use analytics tools to track user engagement metrics. Check for patterns: daily or weekly active users, session lengths, and feature usage. Conduct surveys or interviews to understand the motivations and behaviours of these users. Example For a fitness app, Habitual Users might log their workouts or meals daily, engage with community features, and have streaks of daily check-ins. 2. Codify the Habit Path Once you've identified Habitual Users, the next step is to define the Habit Path. This is a series of actions or behaviours that these users frequently take. How? Analyze the shared actions of your most loyal users to determine the Habit Path. For instance, Twitter's analysis revealed that once new users followed at least 30 other people, they reached a point that greatly increased the likelihood of continued engagement. Every product will have a unique set of actions dedicated users frequently take. The primary objective is determining which actions are pivotal for cultivating loyal users. You should aim to create a product experience tailored to promote such behaviours. Example Let's discuss the case of the Flo app. Typically, app users will first check how many days are left until their next cycle. After that, they will look into their personalized health insights before moving on to the secret chats section. 3. Iterate and Test Now, you’ve gained great insights from the previous steps; in the next phase, you must refine the product to make it more conducive to habit formation. How? Developing a prototype based on the Habit Testing insights is just the beginning. It's crucial to introduce the product to the market and iterate upon it continuously. This iterative process is essential to transform the product into a truly habit-forming entity. Example If a reading app finds that users who engage with daily reading challenges become Habitual Users, they might test different challenges or offer personalized challenges or recommendations. Additional Considerations Encourage Habitual Users to provide feedback. Their insights are invaluable in refining the Habit Path for other users. Feedback Loop: Use notifications, emails, or other external triggers to drive users back to your product, reinforcing the Habit Path. External Triggers: Present variable rewards for users as they complete actions on the Habit Path. Reward Systems: Often, Habitual Users are also active community members. Encourage community interactions, as they can reinforce habitual behaviours. Community Engagement: The dark side of habit-forming products Some products encourage positive habits: reading, meditating, helping to increase your productivity, and exercising. Yet, it's essential to recognize the potential pitfalls. When products inadvertently lead to addiction, users might spend excessive hours engaged. Consider the social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. For some, they grow into an overpowering compulsion, making disconnecting problematic. As you build and design intentionally, remember the fragile line between encouraging positive habits and inadvertently promoting harmful ones. Always prioritize user well-being and positive impact.

The Power of Habit: How Understanding Habits Loops Can Improve User Retention

What makes some teams do exceptionally well and others perform poorly? Do they have more talented team members and better resources, or are they simply lucky? Teams that stand out are not more talented, better skilled, or have greater opportunities. What sets them apart are their habits and practices. Empowering work culture, support from leaders in the organization, and clarity of vision and goals are important, but they’re not sufficient to drive excellence and high performance in teams. Building extraordinary workplaces with high-performing teams requires more than hiring the right talent and equipping them with the right opportunities. It requires cultivating the right habits and incorporating them into daily work and life. Here are the five habits of high-performing . teams They use premortem techniques to make better decisions Making good decisions is hard. Choices that look good at the moment often fail in the future. In hindsight, though, the failure seems evident and clear. High-performing teams don’t make perfect decisions or not never fail. What makes them stand out is the practice they adopt to combat cognitive biases and reduce project risk at the outset. They use the premortem approach to evaluate possibilities, understand consequences, anticipate failures, and then find ways to avoid them. Developed by Gary Klein, premortem is a highly effective technique to evaluate risks and proactively identify potential problems and obstacles that might get in the way of success. This is the way it works: Place yourself into the future and look back. Visualize the project, task, or whatever you intend to do has gone horribly wrong. Work backward to identify what mistakes might cause it to fail. Create a plan to solve these issues—address the risks and obstacles, thereby increasing your chances of success. The best way to recover from a false start is to avoid one in the first place. And the best technique for doing that is something called a "premortem". — Daniel Pink Teams that perform well don’t always make the best choices. They just avoid obvious and bad mistakes. Instead of agreeing to disagree, they disagree and commit What separates a healthy team from an unhealthy one is the willingness to openly disagree and yet remain committed to supporting each other. When team members agree to disagree, they adopt a negative mindset. Instead of accepting that it’s not about right vs. wrong, us vs. them, agreeing to disagree makes them adopt dismissive behavior and ignore the decision. They become non-committal, which refrains them from providing the necessary support to others. The “ ” mindset sabotages the purpose of a group to come together and challenge each other while remaining committed to supporting each other. Agree to disagree Disagree and commit, on the other hand, divulges the importance of commitment despite their differences. At its core, it supports unity and maturity to disconnect their identity from their ideas and support others even when they do not agree with their point of view. It doesn’t hide the fact that they disagree nor dismiss the value of their opinion; it simply guides them to know when it’s time to get past their conviction and work with others instead of working against them. Instead of turning differences of opinion into a personal agenda where one side must lose for the other to win, high-performing team members look beyond their own perspective and treat other people’s ideas as worthy of consideration. When a decision doesn’t turn out the way they anticipated, instead of agreeing to disagree, they disagree and commit. Each of us tends to think we see things as they are, that we are objective. But this is not the case. We see the world, not as it is, but as we are—or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms. When other people disagree with us, we immediately think something is wrong with them. But, as the demonstration shows, sincere, clear headed people see things differently, each looking through the unique lens of experience — Stephen R. Covey To disagree and commit, high-performing team members do this: Separate their identity from their idea. Share their intent. Inquire into the conflict. Evaluate and understand different perspectives. State they disagree yet commit to supporting the decision. Teams that perform well commit wholeheartedly and support conflicting opinions. They practice radical candor to give and get feedback People who don’t get feedback share a common problem—they dump the complete responsibility of giving the right feedback on the feedback giver. Thinking that others are vague, dishonest, or unwilling to share feedback makes them ignore the role they play in the equation as the person on the receiving end of the feedback. Without proper feedback, there’s no way for them to know what they’re doing wrong and what changes will help them learn, improve, and get better. Not experiencing the benefits of timely feedback also prevents them from sharing valuable feedback with others. create an environment that’s conducive to feedback. They not only constantly pull feedback and advice from others, they don’t hesitate to push feedback to others. Sharing feedback with others helps them grow, while seeking the same feedback from others creates a self-perpetuating cycle of learning and growth. High-performing teams Creating pull is about mastering the skills required to drive our own learning; it’s about how to recognize and manage our resistance, how to engage in feedback conversations with confidence and curiosity, and even when the feedback seems wrong, how to find insight that might help us grow. It’s also about how to stand up for who we are and how we see the world, and ask for what we need. It’s about how to learn from feedback—yes, even when it is off base, unfair, poorly delivered, and frankly, you’re not in the mood — Douglas Stone They do this by asking these two questions to themselves and others: How can we work better? How can we improve together? High-performing team members take full responsibility for giving and getting feedback with the belief that they have the power to drive their own growth at work as opposed to blaming someone else for not moving forward. They use a high agency to navigate unknowns and challenges High agency is about finding a way to get what you want without waiting for the conditions to be perfect or otherwise blaming the circumstances. High-agency people either push through in the face of adversity or they manage to reverse it to achieve their goals. They either find a way or they make a way. High Agency is the ability to navigate unknowns and challenging circumstances to carve your own path to success without waiting for the conditions to be perfect. It’s a sense of control over your own behaviors, decisions, and actions in shaping up your life as opposed to relying on external circumstances, conditions, and environment to decide what you can and cannot do. Instead of considering other people’s limits as their own limits and fitting inside a box based on what others deem possible, high-agency people expand their boundaries of influence, push themselves to navigate uncharted territory, and do the work that’s necessary to succeed. Many things can go wrong at work—conflicting priorities, unknown problems, the uncertainty of decisions, misalignment of expectations, communication gaps, unrealistic deadlines, and so on. Adopting a victim mentality in such cases prevents people from thinking clearly, finding solutions, and moving forward. Assuming others are the source of their problem prevents them from taking responsibility and feeling in control of their outcomes. High-performing team members don’t engage in such behavior. They take responsibility not only for their experience but also for their outcomes. They don’t have special talents or knowledge. What differentiates them is their ability to turn adversity into opportunity. What makes them push ahead when many others pull back is their relentless drive to look for solutions instead of complaining about the problems. When they fail or make mistakes, they feel disappointed, much like everyone else, but they don’t let that disappointment get in the way of taking action or making progress. In Jim Dethmer calls this “taking radical responsibility.” He writes, “When we place blame, we locate the cause and control of our lives outside ourselves. When we take responsibility, we locate the cause and control of our lives inside ourselves.” The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, They make learning a priority. Work environments constantly , new responsibilities, and new ways of doing things. demand new skills Sitting inside the comfort zone and doing things that come easy or appear less challenging definitely feels safe. But it also limits growth opportunities. Without experiencing the discomfort that comes with embracing unknowns, without knowing how to navigate complexity, and without building the resilience to deal with uncertainty, career growth is impossible to achieve. High-performing teams understand this very well. They challenge themselves to seek new opportunities, solve problems they’ve never solved before, and do work that requires them to expand their skills. Making learning a priority not only helps them turn obstacles into opportunities but also leads to less stress and anxiety. Just as athletes never quit training, high performers never stop consciously conditioning and strengthening their habits. Real success—holistic, long-term success—doesn’t come from doing what’s natural, certain, convenient, or automatic. Often, the journey to greatness begins the moment our preferences for comfort and certainty are overruled by a greater purpose that requires challenge and contribution. The skills and strengths you have now are probably insufficient to get you to the next level of success, so it’s absurd to think you won’t have to work on your weaknesses, develop new strengths, try new habits, stretch beyond what you think your limits or gifts are. — Brendon Burchard Summary High-performing teams proactively identify potential problems, evaluate risks, and find ways to overcome obstacles that might get in the way of success. They do this by using the premortem technique. They are open to sharing their disagreements, but once a decision has been taken, they show their full support and commitment. To perform at their highest levels, high-performing team members leverage the power of feedback. They use every opportunity to give and get feedback. Instead of blaming others, high-performance teams take complete responsibility for their experience and outcomes. High agency gives them a sense of control to move forward instead of feeling stuck. They consciously step out of their comfort zone by embracing new opportunities and taking risks. Making learning a priority prepares them to better deal with the challenges and demands of work life. Also published . here

5 Habits of High Performing Teams That You Should Consider 

The “Why GenAI” problem It is now without question that GenAI is the transformative technology of our times. While the business world is grappling with policy, change management, and “general technophobia,” as this HBR article calls it, I see it as being similar to the early days of the internet. At first, it seemed like a novel technology. Then, people were scratching their heads at its application beyond academia, defense, and other niches, followed by an outpour of startups as infrastructure developed and costs reduced, a dot-com crash, and up to where we are today as a society that runs mostly digitally. All that is to say, GenAI has the footprint of a disruptive trend that will be integrated into all aspects of society. What remains to be seen is the pace at which this integration happens in various parts of our lives. A lack of this understanding is probably why we’re seeing businesses say that they’re unclear about investment priorities when it comes to GenAI: In short, despite realizing the need to increase their investments in AI, too many organizations are slow to embrace the revolution. - BCG | From Potential to Profit with GenAI So, businesses are unsure why they should be using GenAI even though they are interested in the technology.  I think that startups and teams working in this space have the opportunity to educate and evangelize the technology in a way that businesses understand the value directly. Topline and bottom line approach While considering this, I wanted to explore how businesses should be thinking about the technology: As a way to enhance customer value and add new revenue streams (top-line growth)


As a way to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs (bottom-line growth) I think it's important to think of top-line and bottom-line growth when adopting GenAI. For businesses, it helps to be very clear on what capabilities of the technology they need to hit the specific growth area. Topline GenAI Businesses are often looking to add new lines of revenue by innovating with their products and services. If a business has customers that have these needs, then GenAI is a good fit to solve those needs and add a new source of revenue to them: Customers want to synthesize the information they create on the business’s platform
Customers want to search and find information without having to do mental gymnastics
Customers want to share their knowledge with others on the business’s platform, and they want to be creative and effective in their message.
Customers want to be less involved in doing mundane and routine tasks on the business’s platform. Some examples of topline GenAI integrations are beautifully captured by the folks at Obvious Ventures: Almost all of the products and services above have integrated GenAI to enhance the value they deliver to their customers. In doing so, these businesses seek to increase user engagement and, therefore, have a solid “why GenAI” answer. Bottomline GenAI While growing user engagement and revenue streams are always great, businesses need to sustain topline growth by thinking about their bottom line, i.e., costs. In fact, I think GenAI is most obvious for internal deployment within a business to make operations vastly more efficient and cost-effective. McKinsey agrees: We estimate that gen AI could offer savings opportunities of $1.4 trillion to $2.6 trillion across operations functions, including customer service, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, and procurement, alongside its impact on the back office.\ Plenty of research has been done on what sectors have the potential to benefit, as shown in the PWC report. However, the use cases aren’t always obvious from reading reports such as these. If you are a developer or a founder, you would want to know more about the value proposition that you can build, which you will not always find in reports like these. So, let’s talk about the use cases briefly…. Any business has these needs where GenAI will be a great fit: Saving time drafting, summarizing, and following up on internal communications (meetings, emails, posts, and chat threads)
Saving time creating documentation, Customer troubleshooting guides, etc., for knowledge management
Assisting employees in their training, learning, and development programs
Synthesizing customer feedback efficiently
Assisting in the creation of impactful marketing assets easily If you focus on these needs and the GenAI capabilities, you should be on the right path to delivering a compelling value-prop to your potential customers in the sectors mentioned above, and possibly even more. GenAI Feature - Business growth fitness summary I’m not going too in-depth with how I rate the problems and how capable GenAI is at solving them, but I think this table is useful for thinking about what problems you’d want to solve for businesses. This will help your team craft a value-proposition that businesses find immediately valuable: GenAI features

How big of a problem is it today?

How well does GenAI natively do it?

Top-line examples

Bottom-line examples



Automated summarization

Low

Very well

Publishers, Content platforms

Business reporting, Meetings, and internal communication, Knowledge Management



Creation

High

Good enough

Marketing businesses, content creation platforms

Documentation, internal communication



Synthesis of information

High

Very well

Learning, wellness&healthcare, habit trackers, personal finance apps, productivity apps

Learning and Development, Business Analytics, Research, Feedback processing



Search in natural language

Medium

Very well

Broad applicability

Learning and Development, Knowledge Management, Feedback processing, internal communication, Documentation



Automated Actions

High

Additional skills and fine-tuning to be added for each new use-case

Productivity use-cases, payments, home automation, community moderation

Customer support, Meetings, Internal communication, Incident response Takeaway So, if you are thinking about a B2B GenAI idea or are someone looking to adopt GenAI for your own business, I hope this is useful to build a mental model of where GenAI can be leveraged in your case and which specific capabilities deliver the highest ROI for you and your customers. The “Why GenAI” problem It is now without question that GenAI is the transformative technology of our times. While the business world is grappling with policy, change management, and “general technophobia,” as this HBR article calls it, I see it as being similar to the early days of the internet. At first, it seemed like a novel technology. Then, people were scratching their heads at its application beyond academia, defense, and other niches, followed by an outpour of startups as infrastructure developed and costs reduced, a dot-com crash, and up to where we are today as a society that runs mostly digitally. the this HBR article this HBR article All that is to say, GenAI has the footprint of a disruptive trend that will be integrated into all aspects of society. What remains to be seen is the pace at which this integration happens in various parts of our lives. A lack of this understanding is probably why we’re seeing businesses say that they’re unclear about investment priorities when it comes to GenAI: In short, despite realizing the need to increase their investments in AI, too many organizations are slow to embrace the revolution. - BCG | From Potential to Profit with GenAI In short, despite realizing the need to increase their investments in AI, too many organizations are slow to embrace the revolution. - BCG | From Potential to Profit with GenAI In short, despite realizing the need to increase their investments in AI, too many organizations are slow to embrace the revolution. - BCG BCG | So, businesses are unsure why they should be using GenAI even though they are interested in the technology.  I think that startups and teams working in this space have the opportunity to educate and evangelize the technology in a way that businesses understand the value directly. Topline and bottom line approach While considering this, I wanted to explore how businesses should be thinking about the technology: As a way to enhance customer value and add new revenue streams (top-line growth) As a way to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs (bottom-line growth) As a way to enhance customer value and add new revenue streams (top-line growth) As a way to enhance customer value and add new revenue streams (top-line growth) As a way to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs (bottom-line growth) As a way to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs (bottom-line growth) I think it's important to think of top-line and bottom-line growth when adopting GenAI. For businesses, it helps to be very clear on what capabilities of the technology they need to hit the specific growth area. Topline GenAI Businesses are often looking to add new lines of revenue by innovating with their products and services. If a business has customers that have these needs, then GenAI is a good fit to solve those needs and add a new source of revenue to them: Customers want to synthesize the information they create on the business’s platform Customers want to search and find information without having to do mental gymnastics Customers want to share their knowledge with others on the business’s platform, and they want to be creative and effective in their message. Customers want to be less involved in doing mundane and routine tasks on the business’s platform. Customers want to synthesize the information they create on the business’s platform synthesize synthesize Customers want to search and find information without having to do mental gymnastics search search Customers want to share their knowledge with others on the business’s platform, and they want to be creative and effective in their message. creative creative Customers want to be less involved in doing mundane and routine tasks on the business’s platform. routine routine tasks Some examples of topline GenAI integrations are beautifully captured by the folks at Obvious Ventures: Almost all of the products and services above have integrated GenAI to enhance the value they deliver to their customers. In doing so, these businesses seek to increase user engagement and, therefore, have a solid “why GenAI” answer. Bottomline GenAI While growing user engagement and revenue streams are always great, businesses need to sustain topline growth by thinking about their bottom line, i.e., costs. In fact, I think GenAI is most obvious for internal deployment within a business to make operations vastly more efficient and cost-effective. McKinsey agrees: We estimate that gen AI could offer savings opportunities of $1.4 trillion to $2.6 trillion across operations functions, including customer service, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, and procurement, alongside its impact on the back office.\ We estimate that gen AI could offer savings opportunities of $1.4 trillion to $2.6 trillion across operations functions, including customer service, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, and procurement, alongside its impact on the back office .\ savings opportunities of $1.4 trillion to $2.6 trillion across operations impact on the back office Plenty of research has been done on what sectors have the potential to benefit, as shown in the PWC report. However, the use cases aren’t always obvious from reading reports such as these. If you are a developer or a founder, you would want to know more about the value proposition that you can build, which you will not always find in reports like these. So, let’s talk about the use cases briefly…. Any business has these needs where GenAI will be a great fit: Saving time drafting, summarizing, and following up on internal communications (meetings, emails, posts, and chat threads) Saving time creating documentation, Customer troubleshooting guides, etc., for knowledge management Assisting employees in their training, learning, and development programs Synthesizing customer feedback efficiently Assisting in the creation of impactful marketing assets easily Saving time drafting, summarizing, and following up on internal communications (meetings, emails, posts, and chat threads) summarizing, Saving time creating documentation, Customer troubleshooting guides, etc., for knowledge management creating Assisting employees in their training, learning, and development programs Assisting Synthesizing customer feedback efficiently Synthesizing Assisting in the creation of impactful marketing assets easily creation If you focus on these needs and the GenAI capabilities, you should be on the right path to delivering a compelling value-prop to your potential customers in the sectors mentioned above, and possibly even more. GenAI Feature - Business growth fitness summary I’m not going too in-depth with how I rate the problems and how capable GenAI is at solving them, but I think this table is useful for thinking about what problems you’d want to solve for businesses. This will help your team craft a value-proposition that businesses find immediately valuable: GenAI features

How big of a problem is it today?

How well does GenAI natively do it?

Top-line examples

Bottom-line examples



Automated summarization

Low

Very well

Publishers, Content platforms

Business reporting, Meetings, and internal communication, Knowledge Management



Creation

High

Good enough

Marketing businesses, content creation platforms

Documentation, internal communication



Synthesis of information

High

Very well

Learning, wellness&healthcare, habit trackers, personal finance apps, productivity apps

Learning and Development, Business Analytics, Research, Feedback processing



Search in natural language

Medium

Very well

Broad applicability

Learning and Development, Knowledge Management, Feedback processing, internal communication, Documentation



Automated Actions

High

Additional skills and fine-tuning to be added for each new use-case

Productivity use-cases, payments, home automation, community moderation

Customer support, Meetings, Internal communication, Incident response GenAI features

How big of a problem is it today?

How well does GenAI natively do it?

Top-line examples

Bottom-line examples Automated summarization

Low

Very well

Publishers, Content platforms

Business reporting, Meetings, and internal communication, Knowledge Management Creation

High

Good enough

Marketing businesses, content creation platforms

Documentation, internal communication Synthesis of information

High

Very well

Learning, wellness&healthcare, habit trackers, personal finance apps, productivity apps

Learning and Development, Business Analytics, Research, Feedback processing Search in natural language

Medium

Very well

Broad applicability

Learning and Development, Knowledge Management, Feedback processing, internal communication, Documentation Automated Actions

High

Additional skills and fine-tuning to be added for each new use-case

Productivity use-cases, payments, home automation, community moderation

Customer support, Meetings, Internal communication, Incident response GenAI features How big of a problem is it today? How well does GenAI natively do it? Top-line examples Bottom-line examples GenAI features GenAI features GenAI features How big of a problem is it today? How big of a problem is it today? How big of a problem is it today? How well does GenAI natively do it? How well does GenAI natively do it? How well does GenAI natively do it? Top-line examples Top-line examples Top-line examples Bottom-line examples Bottom-line examples Bottom-line examples Automated summarization Low Very well Publishers, Content platforms Business reporting, Meetings, and internal communication, Knowledge Management Automated summarization Automated summarization Automated summarization Low Low Very well Very well Publishers, Content platforms Publishers, Content platforms Business reporting, Meetings, and internal communication, Knowledge Management Business reporting, Meetings, and internal communication, Knowledge Management Creation High Good enough Marketing businesses, content creation platforms Documentation, internal communication Creation Creation Creation High High Good enough Good enough Marketing businesses, content creation platforms Marketing businesses, content creation platforms Documentation, internal communication Documentation, internal communication Synthesis of information High Very well Learning, wellness&healthcare, habit trackers, personal finance apps, productivity apps Learning and Development, Business Analytics, Research, Feedback processing Synthesis of information Synthesis of information Synthesis of information High High Very well Very well Learning, wellness&healthcare, habit trackers, personal finance apps, productivity apps Learning, wellness&healthcare, habit trackers, personal finance apps, productivity apps Learning and Development, Business Analytics, Research, Feedback processing Learning and Development, Business Analytics, Research, Feedback processing Search in natural language Medium Very well Broad applicability Learning and Development, Knowledge Management, Feedback processing, internal communication, Documentation Search in natural language Search in natural language Search in natural language Medium Medium Very well Very well Broad applicability Broad applicability Learning and Development, Knowledge Management, Feedback processing, internal communication, Documentation Learning and Development, Knowledge Management, Feedback processing, internal communication, Documentation Automated Actions High Additional skills and fine-tuning to be added for each new use-case Productivity use-cases, payments, home automation, community moderation Customer support, Meetings, Internal communication, Incident response Automated Actions Automated Actions Automated Actions High High Additional skills and fine-tuning to be added for each new use-case Additional skills and fine-tuning to be added for each new use-case Productivity use-cases, payments, home automation, community moderation Productivity use-cases, payments, home automation, community moderation Customer support, Meetings, Internal communication, Incident response Customer support, Meetings, Internal communication, Incident response Takeaway So, if you are thinking about a B2B GenAI idea or are someone looking to adopt GenAI for your own business, I hope this is useful to build a mental model of where GenAI can be leveraged in your case and which specific capabilities deliver the highest ROI for you and your customers.

Make Your GenAI Idea Obvious to Businesses

আপনার GenAI আইডিয়াকে ব্যবসার কাছে সুস্পষ্ট করুন

Machen Sie Ihre GenAI-Idee für Unternehmen offensichtlich

Haga que su idea GenAI sea obvia para las empresas

Rendez votre idée GenAI évidente pour les entreprises

अपने GenAI आइडिया को व्यवसायों के लिए स्पष्ट बनाएं

GenAIのアイデアを企業にわかりやすく伝える

귀하의 GenAI 아이디어를 기업에 분명하게 알리십시오

Torne sua ideia GenAI óbvia para as empresas

Сделайте свою идею GenAI очевидной для бизнеса

GenAI Fikrinizi İşletmelere Açık Hale Getirin

Làm cho ý tưởng GenAI của bạn trở nên rõ ràng với doanh nghiệp

让你的 GenAI 理念对企业显而易见

Next-Gen FHE Toolchains for the Dev Multiverse: How TFHE Is Taking Us There

Advancing net worth is as easy as a click. Democratized online trading platforms have expanded portfolios while increasing the chances of cybersecurity breaches. These websites are more popular and accessible than ever — and threat actors know this. Techies and investors with accounts on these sites must acknowledge the threat landscape. Hackers grow their skills and creativity daily, so cyber hygiene equates to financial stability. Overview of Cybersecurity Risks in Online Trading Moderators, administrators, and users alike must remain alert for signs of security compromises. Their frequency dictates the reputation of all trading platforms, reducing trust in investors. What are the most prominent cyberattack variants on online trading sites? Server Misconfigurations Most online traders are in service thanks to third-party cloud providers. External hosts own data centers, which are equally vulnerable to cyberattacks if unprotected. While outsourcing provides boons, trusting public vendors to maintain security standards is tricky. One recent incident occurred on the Forex trading site, FBS. One server was left without encryption or passwords, leaving 20 terabytes of data open for the taking. Hackers may not need advanced techniques to compromise billions of users' information. They merely need to look around for negligent trading companies. Social Engineering and Insider Threats This is one of the most stealthy cyber intrusions because cybercriminals manipulate real people instead of digital assets. Brokers inside the firm may work alongside criminal outfits and be bribed or blackmailed into helping them. Alternatively, the insider threat may have been a double agent from the beginning of their employment. It gives immediate ingress behind cyber defenses that are hard to catch. This allows those under the influence of social engineering to manipulate the market or commit fraud from within. Phishing It is common for hackers to resemble trusted sources, such as emails or websites. Transferring funds from a trading account is as simple as investors handing over the information. Spear phishing is prevalent in high-profile environments. This tactic targets specific individuals or small groups. It could coincide with whaling, which jeopardizes individuals with high net worth or a lot to lose. People who don’t develop a risk management plan for their portfolio may feel the brunt of spear phishing more than others. Malware and Ransomware Threat actors will stop at nothing to take over trading software, records, servers, and systems. They do this with malware and ransomware because hackers know the people they are attacking have the funds on hand. The likelihood that criminals will receive payment for stolen information is high in fintech. Impulsive, emotional investing is already a risk for online trading volatility, and this phenomenon is worse with cyberthreats. Vulnerabilities in Online Trading Platforms Online trading organizations suffer from cyberattacks because of security oversights. Users and staff must recognize these solutions to the most notable red flags. The repercussions are drained funds and stolen identities, to name a few. Inadequate Authentication Measures These sites may not have as comprehensive verification as they could. This goes past login strategies, such as two-factor authentication or using biometrics. Authentication measures must occur while traders explore the platform. Is it set up to identify unusual account access attempts or allow transactions and communications to occur without encryption? Poor Compliance Adherence Many websites do not follow agency best practices. They need to adhere to cybersecurity frameworks, among others. This includes data protection policies and anti-money laundering legislation, and trading platforms must practice due diligence to prevent it. Spontaneous withdrawals of specific varieties should not be allowed in a secure program. Insecure APIs If communication between multiple components in online trading software is insecure, then the rest of the platform is, too. Compliance expert OWASP provides many suggestions for protecting APIs, such as reviewing unrestricted resource consumption or server-side request forgery. Best Practices for Securing Online Trading Accounts Everyone involved in online trading must adopt industry-leading habits to lessen attack severity. Easy-to-implement suggestions include: Establishing two- or multifactor authentication with text, email, and biometric options
Using strong password guidelines
Automating updates for trading software to the most recent versions
Securing internet connections and servers
Updating firewalls
Setting up alerts for suspected malicious activity
Getting to know a reputable broker
Writing a cybersecurity incident response plan However, the most beneficial way to secure websites is to educate and motivate employees for these trading sites. Disengagement and alert fatigue are rampant in cybersecurity circles. It makes most breaches a result of human error instead of a system fault. Regulatory Frameworks and Compliance Standards Protecting Traders Regulatory agencies work tirelessly to update and innovate on existing security standards. Fintech is vulnerable, so it requires special attention. Organizations and laws overseeing financial services and preventing brokerage fraud concerns include: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001
Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) The implications of noncompliance are severe for sites and traders, yet many are underperforming. Few requirements for transparency exist, and despite guidelines, not every platform is overseen by authorities. Emerging Technologies for Enhancing Online Trading Security Several strategies cybersecurity analysts employ to fight hackers have become antiquated. Advanced technologies are necessary to adapt to sneaky revolutions in the hacking world. Blockchain is one of the most competitive options for increasing defenses. Its use of hashes and ledgers makes it one of digital spaces' most substantial verification measures. Tracking transactions has never been more transparent and certifiable. Blockchain is not a perfect technology, but enhancements are developing it into the cybersecurity behemoth the industry is begging for. AI-driven solutions have the most growth potential. The technology still needs refining, but it could be the most versatile and effective at stopping cybercriminals from entering online trading sites. It would use machine and deep learning to understand the most prominent risk variants on the site.  Designing isolation and remediation tactics with minimal human intervention would make it more proficient. Wiser Online Trading to Beat Hackers Breaches in any industry could be destructive, but online trading platforms have access to countless dollars and data points. They are enticing targets for experienced cybercriminals. Enforcing strict cybersecurity regulations is vital, regardless of upfront investments and complexity. Fintech cannot afford the losses, and neither can its customers. Private and governmental collaboration is necessary to combat threats in digital landscapes. Advancing net worth is as easy as a click . Democratized online trading platforms have expanded portfolios while increasing the chances of cybersecurity breaches. These websites are more popular and accessible than ever — and threat actors know this. Advancing net worth is as easy as a click Techies and investors with accounts on these sites must acknowledge the threat landscape. Hackers grow their skills and creativity daily, so cyber hygiene equates to financial stability. Overview of Cybersecurity Risks in Online Trading Moderators, administrators, and users alike must remain alert for signs of security compromises. Their frequency dictates the reputation of all trading platforms, reducing trust in investors. What are the most prominent cyberattack variants on online trading sites? Server Misconfigurations Most online traders are in service thanks to third-party cloud providers. External hosts own data centers, which are equally vulnerable to cyberattacks if unprotected. While outsourcing provides boons, trusting public vendors to maintain security standards is tricky. One recent incident occurred on the Forex trading site, FBS. One server was left without encryption or passwords, leaving 20 terabytes of data open for the taking. Hackers may not need advanced techniques to compromise billions of users' information. They merely need to look around for negligent trading companies. 20 terabytes of data open 20 terabytes of data open Social Engineering and Insider Threats This is one of the most stealthy cyber intrusions because cybercriminals manipulate real people instead of digital assets. Brokers inside the firm may work alongside criminal outfits and be bribed or blackmailed into helping them. Alternatively, the insider threat may have been a double agent from the beginning of their employment. It gives immediate ingress behind cyber defenses that are hard to catch. This allows those under the influence of social engineering to manipulate the market or commit fraud from within. immediate ingress behind cyber defenses immediate ingress behind cyber defenses Phishing It is common for hackers to resemble trusted sources, such as emails or websites. Transferring funds from a trading account is as simple as investors handing over the information. Spear phishing is prevalent in high-profile environments. This tactic targets specific individuals or small groups. It could coincide with whaling, which jeopardizes individuals with high net worth or a lot to lose. People who don’t develop a risk management plan for their portfolio may feel the brunt of spear phishing more than others. develop a risk management plan develop a risk management plan Malware and Ransomware Threat actors will stop at nothing to take over trading software, records, servers, and systems. They do this with malware and ransomware because hackers know the people they are attacking have the funds on hand. The likelihood that criminals will receive payment for stolen information is high in fintech. Impulsive, emotional investing is already a risk for online trading volatility, and this phenomenon is worse with cyberthreats. Vulnerabilities in Online Trading Platforms Online trading organizations suffer from cyberattacks because of security oversights. Users and staff must recognize these solutions to the most notable red flags. The repercussions are drained funds and stolen identities, to name a few. Inadequate Authentication Measures These sites may not have as comprehensive verification as they could. This goes past login strategies, such as two-factor authentication or using biometrics. Authentication measures must occur while traders explore the platform. Is it set up to identify unusual account access attempts or allow transactions and communications to occur without encryption? Poor Compliance Adherence Many websites do not follow agency best practices. They need to adhere to cybersecurity frameworks, among others. This includes data protection policies and anti-money laundering legislation, and trading platforms must practice due diligence to prevent it. Spontaneous withdrawals of specific varieties should not be allowed in a secure program. Insecure APIs If communication between multiple components in online trading software is insecure, then the rest of the platform is, too. Compliance expert OWASP provides many suggestions for protecting APIs, such as reviewing unrestricted resource consumption or server-side request forgery. reviewing unrestricted resource consumption reviewing unrestricted resource consumption Best Practices for Securing Online Trading Accounts Everyone involved in online trading must adopt industry-leading habits to lessen attack severity. Easy-to-implement suggestions include: Establishing two- or multifactor authentication with text, email, and biometric options Using strong password guidelines Automating updates for trading software to the most recent versions Securing internet connections and servers Updating firewalls Setting up alerts for suspected malicious activity Getting to know a reputable broker Writing a cybersecurity incident response plan Establishing two- or multifactor authentication with text, email, and biometric options Using strong password guidelines Automating updates for trading software to the most recent versions Securing internet connections and servers Updating firewalls Setting up alerts for suspected malicious activity Getting to know a reputable broker Writing a cybersecurity incident response plan However, the most beneficial way to secure websites is to educate and motivate employees for these trading sites. Disengagement and alert fatigue are rampant in cybersecurity circles. It makes most breaches a result of human error instead of a system fault. Regulatory Frameworks and Compliance Standards Protecting Traders Regulatory agencies work tirelessly to update and innovate on existing security standards. Fintech is vulnerable, so it requires special attention. Organizations and laws overseeing financial services and preventing brokerage fraud concerns include: preventing brokerage fraud concerns preventing brokerage fraud concerns U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) The implications of noncompliance are severe for sites and traders, yet many are underperforming. Few requirements for transparency exist, and despite guidelines, not every platform is overseen by authorities. Emerging Technologies for Enhancing Online Trading Security Several strategies cybersecurity analysts employ to fight hackers have become antiquated. Advanced technologies are necessary to adapt to sneaky revolutions in the hacking world. are necessary to adapt are necessary to adapt Blockchain is one of the most competitive options for increasing defenses. Its use of hashes and ledgers makes it one of digital spaces' most substantial verification measures. Tracking transactions has never been more transparent and certifiable. Blockchain is not a perfect technology, but enhancements are developing it into the cybersecurity behemoth the industry is begging for. AI-driven solutions have the most growth potential. The technology still needs refining, but it could be the most versatile and effective at stopping cybercriminals from entering online trading sites. It would use machine and deep learning to understand the most prominent risk variants on the site.  Designing isolation and remediation tactics with minimal human intervention would make it more proficient. Wiser Online Trading to Beat Hackers Breaches in any industry could be destructive, but online trading platforms have access to countless dollars and data points. They are enticing targets for experienced cybercriminals. Enforcing strict cybersecurity regulations is vital, regardless of upfront investments and complexity. Fintech cannot afford the losses, and neither can its customers. Private and governmental collaboration is necessary to combat threats in digital landscapes.

Cybersecurity Risks Worth Considering in Online Trading

অনলাইন ট্রেডিংয়ে সাইবার নিরাপত্তার ঝুঁকি বিবেচনা করা উচিত

Cybersicherheitsrisiken, die beim Online-Handel zu berücksichtigen sind

Riesgos de ciberseguridad que vale la pena considerar en el comercio en línea

Risques de cybersécurité à prendre en compte dans le trading en ligne

ऑनलाइन ट्रेडिंग में साइबर सुरक्षा जोखिम पर विचार करना उचित है

オンライン取引で考慮すべきサイバーセキュリティリスク

온라인 거래에서 고려해야 할 사이버 보안 위험

Riscos de segurança cibernética que valem a pena considerar no comércio online

Риски кибербезопасности, которые стоит учитывать при онлайн-торговле

Çevrimiçi Ticarette Dikkate Alınması Gereken Siber Güvenlik Riskleri

Rủi ro an ninh mạng đáng xem xét trong giao dịch trực tuyến

在线交易中值得考虑的网络安全风险

If you've been following the VR industry, you know it's been around for decades. Companies have been trying to make virtual reality a mainstream success for ages. While Apple coined the buzz-worthy term “spatial computing” with their Vision Pro headset, they're certainly not the first to try. From the failed Virtual Boy in the 90s to the moderately successful Oculus and HTC Vive VR headsets, tech giants have struggled to find that elusive killer app. But if you just scroll through TikTok or Instagram, you'll see what's really on people's minds these days. And it definitely isn't about bigger screens to watch Netflix or play games. No, what's driving the conversation is beauty, looks, fashion, and how to glow up. So, as transformative as spatial computing could become, the multi-trillion-dollar global beauty and fashion space will lead AR. Our universal desire to look and feel good provides the real-life use case everyone’s looking for. The promises and challenges of AR beauty The core premise of AR beauty is simple but compelling: Using advanced computer vision and rendering to virtually overlay any makeup look, hairstyle, outfit, or accessory onto your face and body with hyper-realistic precision. Consumers can experiment endlessly, sampling different looks and products with no mess, effort, or commitment. If you've ever ordered a piece of clothing online only for it to look completely different (or just not fit right) when it arrives, you know how frustrating that can be—or bought an expensive watch or pair of kicks, only to regret the purchase when it doesn’t look quite how you expected. What if you could virtually try on anything before committing your money? That's the big idea of AR beauty and fashion—getting rid of the guesswork and potential disappointment by allowing you to realistically experiment with any look or product before pulling the trigger. But, some rudimentary AR makeup apps illustrate the significant technological challenges involved. Poor facial tracking, clunky interfaces, and unconvincing visual realism hamper the experience. Faithfully simulating the intricacies of how cosmetics interact with diverse facial geometries, skin tones, and movements at a high fidelity is an enormously complex computational problem. Implementing AI and AR technologies The latest breakthroughs in AI and AR technologies have proven useful in cracking these challenges. For example, Perfect Corp's AI Makeup Virtual Try-On uses machine learning to realistically render different makeup colors and textures like lipstick, eyeshadow, and more, with the simulations customized to each individual's unique facial features and microexpressions for an ultra-personalized virtual experience. If you're not all that into fashion and beauty, this may not seem like a big deal. But for those obsessed with looking their best, the ability to visualize any look or product before buying could be hugely transformative. Their AI Skin Analysis tech goes further, using artificial intelligence to scan faces and detect 14 different skin conditions and concerns, then surfacing customized product and skincare recommendations tailored to the user. And the AgileHand technology allows realistic virtual try-ons to extend beyond just faces by precisely tracking hand motions. This enables photorealistic AR visualizations for intricate products like jewelry, watches, and nail polish. Some other AR beauty solutions include Makeup AR for virtual makeup try-ons, AI Foundation Shade Finder and Matcher for accurate skin tone detection and foundation shade matching, AI Skin Analysis for accurate skin concern detection and personalized product recommendations of products, and Emulation Technology for Skincare Treatment for accurate representations of the expected results of a course of treatment, overlaid directly onto their faces with the latest advancements in AR technology. The AI tech for AR beauty The recent renaissance of AI breakthroughs, especially around areas like generative adversarial networks (GANs), facial semantic segmentation, and neural rendering, is what's enabling the kind of hyper-realistic and personalized AR experiences that were merely SciFi just years ago. Using GANs, AI models can now learn to generate highly realistic representations of human faces, facial attributes, and facial animations from just a handful of source images. This opens up possibilities for instantly generating virtual makeup looks and hairstyles that are custom-tailored to each user's individual facial geometry and characteristics. Facial semantic segmentation allows AI to precisely understand and map out different facial features like skin, facial hair, eyelashes and more - enabling AR effects to seamlessly integrate and move in harmony with the user's face. Neural rendering techniques leveraging AI can also realistically synthesize the complex ways light interacts with different materials and textures in real time, far beyond what's possible with traditional rendering pipelines. Looking ahead, AI is set to transform AR beauty experiences into something much more akin to having a personal beauty guru. Using deep learning, an AI assistant could continuously analyze your unique attributes, habits, and preferences, automatically surfacing ideal products, trendy looks, and personalized recommendations for you to try virtually in AR with just a voice command or subtle gesture. The possibilities extend far beyond just virtual try-ons. AI could help formulate bespoke beauty products optimized for your individual needs and environmental conditions. Or DTC brands could let customers co-create new cosmetic products and shades with the assistance of AI. The takeaway: Beauty and fashion are the AR killer app While the metaverse is still largely vapourware, the humble makeup tutorial may push spatial computing into the mainstream sooner than we think. With an insatiable consumer appetite for looking our best and plenty of money to be made, the global beauty and fashion industry has both the motivation and resources to drive AR innovation and adoption harder than any other sector. If executed well and key technical barriers around rendering, tracking, and hardware are overcome, AR holds the transformative potential to reshape how we discover, purchase, use, and even perceive beauty products. Immersive virtual try-on experiences, AI-driven personalization, and participatory product development could not only reinvent the beauty consumer experience but also make individual self-expression more accessible than ever before. So, as the tech world covers each new OS update and app ecosystem announcement, keep your eye on the influencers and beauty fanatics pioneering the spatial computing frontier with a fresh face of makeup in every video. They may low-key catalyze the next ubiquitous computing paradigm while just trying to look fly. If you've been following the VR industry, you know it's been around for decades. Companies have been trying to make virtual reality a mainstream success for ages. While Apple coined the buzz-worthy term “ spatial computing ” with their Vision Pro headset, they're certainly not the first to try. spatial computing spatial computing From the failed Virtual Boy in the 90s to the moderately successful Oculus and HTC Vive VR headsets, tech giants have struggled to find that elusive killer app. But if you just scroll through TikTok or Instagram, you'll see what's really on people's minds these days. And it definitely isn't about bigger screens to watch Netflix or play games. No, what's driving the conversation is beauty, looks, fashion, and how to glow up. So, as transformative as spatial computing could become, the multi-trillion-dollar global beauty and fashion space will lead AR. Our universal desire to look and feel good provides the real-life use case everyone’s looking for. The promises and challenges of AR beauty The core premise of AR beauty is simple but compelling: Using advanced computer vision and rendering to virtually overlay any makeup look, hairstyle, outfit, or accessory onto your face and body with hyper-realistic precision. Consumers can experiment endlessly, sampling different looks and products with no mess, effort, or commitment. If you've ever ordered a piece of clothing online only for it to look completely different (or just not fit right) when it arrives, you know how frustrating that can be—or bought an expensive watch or pair of kicks, only to regret the purchase when it doesn’t look quite how you expected. frustrating frustrating What if you could virtually try on anything before committing your money? That's the big idea of AR beauty and fashion—getting rid of the guesswork and potential disappointment by allowing you to realistically experiment with any look or product before pulling the trigger. But, some rudimentary AR makeup apps illustrate the significant technological challenges involved. Poor facial tracking, clunky interfaces, and unconvincing visual realism hamper the experience. Faithfully simulating the intricacies of how cosmetics interact with diverse facial geometries, skin tones, and movements at a high fidelity is an enormously complex computational problem. Implementing AI and AR technologies The latest breakthroughs in AI and AR technologies have proven useful in cracking these challenges. For example, Perfect Corp's AI Makeup Virtual Try-On uses machine learning to realistically render different makeup colors and textures like lipstick, eyeshadow, and more, with the simulations customized to each individual's unique facial features and microexpressions for an ultra-personalized virtual experience. AI Makeup Virtual Try-On If you're not all that into fashion and beauty, this may not seem like a big deal. But for those obsessed with looking their best, the ability to visualize any look or product before buying could be hugely transformative. Their AI Skin Analysis tech goes further, using artificial intelligence to scan faces and detect 14 different skin conditions and concerns, then surfacing customized product and skincare recommendations tailored to the user. AI Skin Analysis And the AgileHand technology allows realistic virtual try-ons to extend beyond just faces by precisely tracking hand motions. This enables photorealistic AR visualizations for intricate products like jewelry, watches, and nail polish. Some other AR beauty solutions include Makeup AR for virtual makeup try-ons, AI Foundation Shade Finder and Matcher for accurate skin tone detection and foundation shade matching, AI Skin Analysis for accurate skin concern detection and personalized product recommendations of products, and Emulation Technology for Skincare Treatment for accurate representations of the expected results of a course of treatment, overlaid directly onto their faces with the latest advancements in AR technology. The AI tech for AR beauty The recent renaissance of AI breakthroughs, especially around areas like generative adversarial networks (GANs), facial semantic segmentation, and neural rendering, is what's enabling the kind of hyper-realistic and personalized AR experiences that were merely SciFi just years ago. Using GANs, AI models can now learn to generate highly realistic representations of human faces, facial attributes, and facial animations from just a handful of source images. This opens up possibilities for instantly generating virtual makeup looks and hairstyles that are custom-tailored to each user's individual facial geometry and characteristics. Facial semantic segmentation allows AI to precisely understand and map out different facial features like skin, facial hair, eyelashes and more - enabling AR effects to seamlessly integrate and move in harmony with the user's face. Neural rendering techniques leveraging AI can also realistically synthesize the complex ways light interacts with different materials and textures in real time, far beyond what's possible with traditional rendering pipelines. Looking ahead, AI is set to transform AR beauty experiences into something much more akin to having a personal beauty guru. Using deep learning, an AI assistant could continuously analyze your unique attributes, habits, and preferences, automatically surfacing ideal products, trendy looks, and personalized recommendations for you to try virtually in AR with just a voice command or subtle gesture. The possibilities extend far beyond just virtual try-ons. AI could help formulate bespoke beauty products optimized for your individual needs and environmental conditions. Or DTC brands could let customers co-create new cosmetic products and shades with the assistance of AI. The takeaway: Beauty and fashion are the AR killer app While the metaverse is still largely vapourware, the humble makeup tutorial may push spatial computing into the mainstream sooner than we think. With an insatiable consumer appetite for looking our best and plenty of money to be made, the global beauty and fashion industry has both the motivation and resources to drive AR innovation and adoption harder than any other sector. If executed well and key technical barriers around rendering, tracking, and hardware are overcome, AR holds the transformative potential to reshape how we discover, purchase, use, and even perceive beauty products. Immersive virtual try-on experiences, AI-driven personalization, and participatory product development could not only reinvent the beauty consumer experience but also make individual self-expression more accessible than ever before. So, as the tech world covers each new OS update and app ecosystem announcement, keep your eye on the influencers and beauty fanatics pioneering the spatial computing frontier with a fresh face of makeup in every video. They may low-key catalyze the next ubiquitous computing paradigm while just trying to look fly.

Why the Beauty and Fashion Industry is the Future of AR and Spatial Computing

GitHub Copilot and the Endangered Code Monkey

গিটহাব কপিলট এবং বিপন্ন কোড বানর

GitHub Copilot und der vom Aussterben bedrohte Code Monkey

Copiloto de GitHub y el mono código en peligro de extinción

Copilote GitHub et le singe code en voie de disparition

GitHub कोपायलट और लुप्तप्राय कोड बंदर

GitHub Copilot と絶滅の危機に瀕するコードモンキー

GitHub Copilot과 멸종 위기에 처한 Code Monkey

Copiloto do GitHub e o Code Monkey ameaçado

GitHub Copilot и кодовая обезьяна, находящаяся под угрозой исчезновения

GitHub Copilot ve Nesli Tehlike Altındaki Kod Maymunu

GitHub Copilot và chú khỉ mã có nguy cơ tuyệt chủng

GitHub Copilot 和濒临灭绝的 Code Monkey

The Challenges of Building a Web3 Community from Scratch With Strategies for Success

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent approval of the loss drug Wegovy means it’ll soon sweep the nation. However, as its popularity and price have surged, it’s become less accessible to the average American. Can wearables provide a solution to this problem? The Problem With Wegovy and How Wearables Can Fix It The weight loss market is at an all-time high — and indicators suggest it’ll continue expanding. According to one estimate, its value will surpass $399.3 billion by 2032, achieving a CAGR of 10.3%. This growth has driven demand for drugs like Wegovy. Wegovy is a treatment for chronic weight management. Its recent FDA approval means it will likely become one of the leading weight loss drugs in the United States. That said, despite the country’s high obesity rate most — 41.9% of adults over 20 are obese — Americans won’t benefit from it. Most people don’t have an extra $1,300 to spend each month — that’s Wegovy’s list price. Although one report found its average net price was $700 monthly between 2022 to 2023, it’s still more than most can afford. What’s worse is that Wegovy isn’t just a weight loss drug — new evidence suggests it can also lower the risk of cardiovascular issues, prolonging people’s lives. A 17,000-patient study discovered those taking it had a 20% lower risk of experiencing a cardiac-related health event than those taking a placebo. Skyrocketing demand, high research and development costs, the limited availability of clinical trials, and technology gaps might make it almost impossible for Novo Nordisk — the drugmaker behind Wegovy — to improve the accessibility of its lifesaving, fat-burning drug. That’s where wearable tech comes in. Wearables could improve Wegovy’s treatment efficacy, increasing its ability to accomplish desired outcomes. Their unique data collection capabilities could also accelerate research, potentially lowering costs and increasing accessibility. How Wearables Can Track and Enhance Treatment Efficacy Wearable tech has emerged as the next horizon in health care. It has proven exceptionally valuable in clinical trials because it can gather patient data 24/7 regardless of participants’ location — specialized facilities and invasive observation technology can move aside. Medical professionals can track treatment efficacy by monitoring the real-time patient data internet-connected wearables constantly send. Being able to view data-driven results immediately instead of waiting for testing or in-person visits streamlines their processes. Eventually, clinical trial teams can gather enough information to segment participants by demographics, physical states, or preexisting conditions. This way, they can tailor factors like dosage or medication frequency to each group, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Unlike other sensor technologies, wearable tech often pairs with a supplementary app. Drugmakers and clinical trial leaders could use this unique functionality to send helpful push notifications or help people track their progress. Wearable Tech Tracks Patients’ Treatment Responses Wearable tech can monitor physiological responses like glucose levels and heart rate without invasive procedures like blood drawing. It can track metrics like blood pressure, blood oxygen level, or daily calories burned the same way. Non-invasive sensor tech — meaning no needles, swallowable capsules, or electrodes — could help people feel better about participating in clinical trials or taking new drugs. There’s no longer any need for repetitive, painful, or time-consuming testing. How Wearable Tech Can Promote Self-Efficacy One overlooked opportunity for wearables involves self-efficacy — a person’s belief in their ability to reach a specific goal. When people wear something that tracks their activity and health, they feel more inclined to improve their habits. While a medication can help people slim down, weight loss usually requires various efforts. In a 68-week clinical trial, Wegovy lowered participants’ mean body weight by 14.9% by targeting hormones responsible for appetite and food intake — a noticeable difference from the placebo’s 2.4% reduction. Notably, the loss is within the 5%–15% range recommended to improve obesity-related conditions. Although research shows Wegovy outperforms similar drugs, its long-term outcomes remain unproven — the 68-week clinical trial saw participants adopt healthy habits and take the drug to achieve clinically relevant body weight reduction. In other words, the self-efficacy wearables could prompt lifestyle changes, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Research suggests wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss trial participants by encouraging physical activity, motivating and enhancing awareness. While there’s no clear link between diet, exercise, and this technology, researchers have made some connections. Wearables could go a long way in making Wegovy more accessible to the average American seeking to shed a few pounds. Typically, people gain weight quickly after stopping these kinds of drugs, but most won’t be able to afford the $700 monthly bill. Pairing the medication with lifestyle changes could enhance its effectiveness, increasing long-term success. Integration Obstacles That Need Overcoming One of the largest obstacles drugmakers and clinical trial leaders must overcome is data accuracy. Although 24/7 at-home monitoring makes processes easier, it can also mess them up. Countless variables could affect results since participants aren’t inside a controlled environment. Wegovy isn’t supposed to be used with other semaglutide-containing products for safety reasons. This factor is simple enough to control in a lab. However, it’s easy for someone at home to pick up an over-the-counter prescription or use an herbal remedy without reading the label to check for semaglutide. Privacy concerns are another obstacle since wearable tech tracks excess information. While the abundance of measurements is excellent for researchers, patients might hesitate to share so much. There’s also the issue of data breaches and leaks. If the weight loss market plans to integrate wearables into health care — a sector notorious for its late adoption of technology due to several legal, moral, and regulatory hurdles — they’ll need to consider the upfront cost. Do clinical trial participants pay for the tech? Who pays when someone breaks theirs? Decision-makers should also consider long-term effectiveness. While this tech can inspire lifestyle changes, people might be unwilling to stick to their new fitness routines. Unless they ensure participants stay dedicated, it’ll look like their decreasing use correlates to diminishing efficacy. The Power of Wearable Tech for Treatment Efficacy If clinical trial leaders and medical professionals give people wearables when they hand out Wegovy, there’s a good chance they’ll enhance treatment success, leading to better long-term patient outcomes. Eventually, these improvements could lead to a more affordable drug and higher demand — a win-win for both the drugmaker and those looking to lose weight. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent approval of the loss drug Wegovy means it’ll soon sweep the nation. However, as its popularity and price have surged, it’s become less accessible to the average American. Can wearables provide a solution to this problem? The Problem With Wegovy and How Wearables Can Fix It The Problem With Wegovy and How Wearables Can Fix It The weight loss market is at an all-time high — and indicators suggest it’ll continue expanding. According to one estimate, its value will surpass $399.3 billion by 2032, achieving a CAGR of 10.3%. This growth has driven demand for drugs like Wegovy. will surpass $399.3 billion will surpass $399.3 billion Wegovy is a treatment for chronic weight management. Its recent FDA approval means it will likely become one of the leading weight loss drugs in the United States. That said, despite the country’s high obesity rate most — 41.9% of adults over 20 are obese — Americans won’t benefit from it. 41.9% of adults over 20 41.9% of adults over 20 Most people don’t have an extra $1,300 to spend each month — that’s Wegovy’s list price. Although one report found its average net price was $700 monthly between 2022 to 2023, it’s still more than most can afford. net price was $700 monthly net price was $700 monthly What’s worse is that Wegovy isn’t just a weight loss drug — new evidence suggests it can also lower the risk of cardiovascular issues, prolonging people’s lives. A 17,000-patient study discovered those taking it had a 20% lower risk of experiencing a cardiac-related health event than those taking a placebo. had a 20% lower risk had a 20% lower risk Skyrocketing demand, high research and development costs, the limited availability of clinical trials, and technology gaps might make it almost impossible for Novo Nordisk — the drugmaker behind Wegovy — to improve the accessibility of its lifesaving, fat-burning drug. That’s where wearable tech comes in. Wearables could improve Wegovy’s treatment efficacy, increasing its ability to accomplish desired outcomes. Their unique data collection capabilities could also accelerate research, potentially lowering costs and increasing accessibility. How Wearables Can Track and Enhance Treatment Efficacy Wearable tech has emerged as the next horizon in health care. It has proven exceptionally valuable in clinical trials because it can gather patient data 24/7 regardless of participants’ location — specialized facilities and invasive observation technology can move aside. has proven exceptionally valuable has proven exceptionally valuable Medical professionals can track treatment efficacy by monitoring the real-time patient data internet-connected wearables constantly send. Being able to view data-driven results immediately instead of waiting for testing or in-person visits streamlines their processes. Eventually, clinical trial teams can gather enough information to segment participants by demographics, physical states, or preexisting conditions. This way, they can tailor factors like dosage or medication frequency to each group, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Unlike other sensor technologies, wearable tech often pairs with a supplementary app. Drugmakers and clinical trial leaders could use this unique functionality to send helpful push notifications or help people track their progress. Wearable Tech Tracks Patients’ Treatment Responses Wearable tech can monitor physiological responses like glucose levels and heart rate without invasive procedures like blood drawing. It can track metrics like blood pressure, blood oxygen level, or daily calories burned the same way. Non-invasive sensor tech — meaning no needles, swallowable capsules, or electrodes — could help people feel better about participating in clinical trials or taking new drugs. There’s no longer any need for repetitive, painful, or time-consuming testing. How Wearable Tech Can Promote Self-Efficacy One overlooked opportunity for wearables involves self-efficacy — a person’s belief in their ability to reach a specific goal. When people wear something that tracks their activity and health, they feel more inclined to improve their habits. While a medication can help people slim down, weight loss usually requires various efforts. In a 68-week clinical trial, Wegovy lowered participants’ mean body weight by 14.9% by targeting hormones responsible for appetite and food intake — a noticeable difference from the placebo’s 2.4% reduction. Notably, the loss is within the 5%–15% range recommended to improve obesity-related conditions. mean body weight by 14.9% mean body weight by 14.9% Although research shows Wegovy outperforms similar drugs, its long-term outcomes remain unproven — the 68-week clinical trial saw participants adopt healthy habits and take the drug to achieve clinically relevant body weight reduction. In other words, the self-efficacy wearables could prompt lifestyle changes, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Research suggests wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss trial participants by encouraging physical activity, motivating and enhancing awareness. While there’s no clear link between diet, exercise, and this technology, researchers have made some connections. wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss Wearables could go a long way in making Wegovy more accessible to the average American seeking to shed a few pounds. Typically, people gain weight quickly after stopping these kinds of drugs, but most won’t be able to afford the $700 monthly bill. Pairing the medication with lifestyle changes could enhance its effectiveness, increasing long-term success. Integration Obstacles That Need Overcoming One of the largest obstacles drugmakers and clinical trial leaders must overcome is data accuracy. Although 24/7 at-home monitoring makes processes easier, it can also mess them up. Countless variables could affect results since participants aren’t inside a controlled environment. Wegovy isn’t supposed to be used with other semaglutide-containing products for safety reasons. This factor is simple enough to control in a lab. However, it’s easy for someone at home to pick up an over-the-counter prescription or use an herbal remedy without reading the label to check for semaglutide. with other semaglutide-containing products with other semaglutide-containing products Privacy concerns are another obstacle since wearable tech tracks excess information. While the abundance of measurements is excellent for researchers, patients might hesitate to share so much. There’s also the issue of data breaches and leaks. If the weight loss market plans to integrate wearables into health care — a sector notorious for its late adoption of technology due to several legal, moral, and regulatory hurdles — they’ll need to consider the upfront cost. Do clinical trial participants pay for the tech? Who pays when someone breaks theirs? Decision-makers should also consider long-term effectiveness. While this tech can inspire lifestyle changes, people might be unwilling to stick to their new fitness routines. Unless they ensure participants stay dedicated, it’ll look like their decreasing use correlates to diminishing efficacy. The Power of Wearable Tech for Treatment Efficacy If clinical trial leaders and medical professionals give people wearables when they hand out Wegovy, there’s a good chance they’ll enhance treatment success, leading to better long-term patient outcomes. Eventually, these improvements could lead to a more affordable drug and higher demand — a win-win for both the drugmaker and those looking to lose weight.

Wearable Tech and Its Potential to Monitor Wegovy Treatment Efficacy

Stories, News & Mentions about HABYT

Habyt’s Stories on HackerNoon