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A DREAM COMES TRUE.

Once in a blue moon does one get a chance to live their dreams when still young. Meeting the team at New Wave Technologies: Simon, Eisah, Ash, Robert, Patricia, Allan, David, Michael, Irene, Mama Dota was something we never thought would happen.

Dreams rarely come true but ours did. It was all possible due to the Mentoring Youth Organization that helped us purchase our dreams by giving us a chance to live like software engineers for two weeks at New Wave Technologies as interns.

We were on tenterhooks when we got this thrilling news about this once in life time opportunity. We were taken back when we first heard it but the fact was that fortune had knocked at our doors.

One never knows unless one tries. We were able to participate in some of the projects like YoStage – aimed at solving the issue of how to move an item from one point to another. The full day brainstorming session enabled us to share different views on how to address the problem. We also tested OlyPages market place, got a crash course on Word processing, browsed the Internet, setup email addresses as well as FaceBook Accounts. 

 

Union is strength. We carried out most of the work as a team and it was astounding. We laughed out our hearts whenever we broke the ice. With time, we were a common figure we were living and breathing our dreams that period. It was a golden opportunity to meet such a team we are very grateful for the chance they gave us. It was really an awe-inspiring time we had. It’s an experience we look forward to soon.

BY. OMURUNGI SHAKIRAH & NABIRYE SHADIA

Website Usability

 

 

Figure showing logical navigation 

 

Website Usability

Your website should be easy to navigate, understand and easy to read.

Some of the features to look at to improve usability will include the following features:

Simplicity

The best way to keep visitors glued to your site is through having content that is of value, well organized and a design that is attractive.

Fast-loading pages

 A page should load in 10 to 20 seconds or less, at more than that, you'll lose more than half of your potential visitors.

Minimal scroll

This is particularly important on the first page.

You can create links from the main page to read more about a particular topic

Consistent layout

The website layout is extremely important for usability. Use a consistent layout and repeat certain elements throughout the sit

Logical navigation

Place your menu items at the top of your site, or above the fold on either side. You should limit your menu items to 10 or fewer. Remember, your visitors are in a hurry, don’t make them hunt for information.

Descriptive link text

 Usability testing shows that long link text makes it much easier for visitors to find their way around a site. Long, descriptive link text is favored by Search Engines, too. Back links are important to give users a sense of direction and to keep them from feeling lost. Use a site map, and breadcrumbs, if necessary.

Cross-platform/browser compatibility

Different browsers often have different rules for displaying content. You should test your site in the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

Screen Resolution

Screen resolution for the typical computer monitor continues to increase. Today, the average web surfer uses a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. However, you need to make sure that what looks good at this setting will also work nicely for other resolutions less commonly used.

AT NWT, we ensure that our professional developers look into each of the above features of a website whose usability will be unquestionable.

 

 

Organizing your website content

 

Content is the most valuable asset on a website. It is the reason you have a website at all. It is important to critically look at your website content because visitors look for information that is relevant and of substance to help them make decisions. Some of the features to look at will include a short, well written, useful and effective, organized and done by a professional website designer. Content should also be updated regularly and this is done effectively by speaking to your visitors who will have insights on what can be updated.

Following these steps below will guide you to have good, organized content for your website:

Define a clear content structure

This can be done by first finding out who your target visitors are and then carry out some research in form of focus groups, surveys, interviews etc. This will instantly give you their ideas and a clear picture of their goals in visiting a website of your nature. Your content structure in the end is based on the findings of these surveys and not on your own.

Start with critical content

Once you have got your content structure, you can decide on what content is important and critical to put up on your site. People always start their search on the top page of your website. This landing page should then display your most critical content and more central content can be found by triggering your visitors to click on links or scroll down to find answers to their core questions.

Group related content

Another aspect to consider when organizing your content is to group your content into elements that are related. Content that is arranged in a logical, useful and practical way will make life easier for the user and when the time to find that content is minimized. Navigation through the website becomes more efficient for the users or visitors as a result of having your content well grouped.

Show everything and only what is relevant

You should know what is relevant and include that only. This means that you should keep it simple. The content should be relevant to the visitor at the time your visitor is on your website. You should be able to know and have a clear path of what your visitors’ goals and ideas are so that you can include content that will draw them in to make a purchase at different stages. You can place high priority content directly on the site or put it in different links of less urgent content as long as it is available when your visitor needs it.

Consider different audiences

Your visitors are likely to be of different target groups, foreknowledge and of different goals. When organizing content, you should make sure you have categorized your different users/visitors after which you can prioritize them but at the end you should make sure all your users are catered for. Some content may come off as doubled and duplicated because different users interpret and group content differently so some links may seem to have the same content but it is fine as long as all users have found what they are looking for.

Enter different entry points

You can further differentiate your visitors by separating your individual clients and business clients or first time visitors and recurring clients. This can be done by having different entry points to the website.

Offer customization

You can also involve your visitors by letting them decide what is important and what is less important especially for services or products that are personal or include regular usage.

Test before implementation

Lastly, after you have gone through all the above, it is imperative to test your website before you implement your final content structure. No matter how thorough your developers and content managers are, it is best to get feedback from your users before implementing your content. This can be done through remote testing or moderated user testing sessions.

We, at New Wave Technologies pride ourselves designing and developing websites that have well-structured content of your choice.

How does your website appear to your viewers?

A website reflects your company or your individuality, your products and services. It is the first impression any one gets of what you offer, therefore it should be visually appealing, professional and polished.

The website should have the following as some of the characteristics of a good appearance:

Good use of color:

You should use appropriate colour schemes that blend well and create a proper mood or tone for your business.

Don't overdo the colours because it can distract visitors from the written content.

Preference would be to use 2 to 3 primary colours.

Easy to read text:

The most easily read text is black text on a white background, but many other color combinations are acceptable if the contrast is within an appropriate range.

You should use fonts that are easy to read and are found on most of today's computer systems depending on your audience.

You should also keep font size for paragraph text between 10 to 12 points.

Meaningful graphics:

Graphics are important for any visual effect. They add appeal to any boring text on a website page.

However, it is advised to not over use them. You should make sure that your graphics add meaning or context to your written content.

It is also advised to not overload your website page with more than 4 or 5 images a page.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Quality photography

Use of high quality photography is a good way to enhance the visual effect on your website. High quality product images are especially important and appealing to all online retailers or visitors.

Simplicity

Keep it simple and allow for adequate white space. Uncluttered layouts allow viewers to focus on your message .Don't overload your site with overly complex design, animation, or other effects just to impress your viewers.

Figures 1 and 2 show website pages for Café Pap designed by New Wave Technologies Ltd .

These pages gives a clear picture of proper use of colour relevant to the service offered by Café Pap, high quality photography, meaningful graphics and it is very simple to interpret for any visitor.

The colour blend and text is simply very appealing and any visitor would be seduced into having that cup of coffee!!

Our Website designers will professionally deliver a website that will employ all the above characteristics exceptionally!

MOBILE SECURITY MEASURES IN AN ORGANISATION

What is mobile security?

This term refers to safety of all mobile devices’ information from external intrusion by any unauthorized person or threat.

These devices include laptops, tablets, and mobile smart phones. Most organizations have all these gadgets which have information that may be sensitive and should be secure from anyone or anything that is not authorized to have that information.

Below are some of the measures we, at New Wave Technologies Ltd ,are advised to take to ensure better security to these gadgets

Use of Passwords

Use of passwords to access mobile devices is encouraged.

It is advised to have a number of failed in login attempts on our machines which will then make the device at hand to wipe its internal storage clean. This is of course after putting in consideration the danger of the loss of the information that will be wiped clean.

Most smart phones and devices can use fingerprint scanners, facial recognition, and voiceprint recognition, all of which are cost free.

At NWT, all users of sensitive information encrypt all files with passwords.

Operating systems should be up to date

Keeping OPS’s up to date can be done by enabling prompts to update the system occasionally.

If one wants to upgrade to a newer version, they can purchase the upgrades online.

This prevents hackers from accessing files or information from the laptops or computers

Only authorized personnel should access the devices

This is done by basically giving the access to only the people allowed to access the information on the devices. 

Avoid installation of bad software into the machine by having anti viruses

Anti-Viruses can be purchased online as well and some come free of charge on some devices

Install USB scanners to avoid viruses

Another way to ensure increased security to these gadgets is to install USB scanners which can be found online once one has access to internet.

Controlling third party software installation

When an organization issues mobile devices to employees, it should have policies that block the use of third-party software. This is the best way to prevent possible infiltration resulting from installation of destructive software

Testing the devices

At least once a year, organizations should audit their mobile security and conduct penetration testing on the mobile devices used.

This can be done internally or hiring some reputable companies known to expert in that field.

Collaboration for better project results in software design and development

Collaboration is defined as the action of working with someone to produce or create something. For purposes of this article, and indeed collaboration, the context of working with someone is beyond just working in the same physical location. Collaboration is an important part of the culture at NWT and is promulgated through:

Open Communication – this ensures healthy work relationships and team spirit development.

At NWT, department teams conduct daily 10 minute catch up sessions to know where each member of the team is with their high-level missions (tasks) and collectively come up with solutions for rising challenges.

Working in close proximity: While collaboration goes beyond the notion of a shared work space, a sure productive way to great results is when people work in closeness to each other.

When staff are in close proximity to each other, decisions are made quicker, problems are solved communally and projects are delivered faster.

Ensuring clarity of roles and a focus on a common goal: At NWT, everyone is considered a player on the team and it is not rare for any player to be named a particular month’s MVP (as voted by everybody) and sent on a special treat.

We use the analogy of a sports team and more commonly a soccer team – where the mission is to score as many goals as possible and concede no goals at all. While it is crucial to achieve team success, it is known that when something is everybody’s responsibility it becomes nobody’s responsibility. Therefore roles at NWT are made clear and effectively assigned as a pathway to the chief goal.

Having the right toolbox: We use a number of tools to ensure collaboration from business-line and software development viewpoints. It is mandatory for our staff and clientele to converge and use the company’s Project Management Tool to set and track milestones, tasks and bugs. The software development team shares continuous integration and collaboration tools so that in the absence of one player on the team, another can quickly kick in to resolve any task. 

Sparking creativity in a team

Create a bond

The team at New Wave Technologies is dubbed ‘the NWT family’. This brings about a closeness amongst staff that makes it open to live up to its full creative potential. At our weekly family catch-ups and daily team-catch ups, everyone comes up with fresh ideas. In the catch-up, there are no ranks and everyone shares freely about wins and losses. Toasts and lessons/solutions are also shared together as one unit.

Create room for inspiration

Our team comprises leaders who inspire and encourage everyone to exercise their thought capacity and freely express ideas to improve workplace and non-work related activities.

Create room for interaction

Relationships (the cordial respectful professional ones) thrive where members on a team relate and talk freely. At NWT, this is typified by having a shared office space where software developers mix with the marketing team. Team leaders also sit and interact with the rest of the team on an open level. We then develop a mindset that we all have something worthwhile to share and air out.

In addition to the above, we strive to promote an environment where conflicts are resolved without taking down any member. In that way, no one is afraid to try and make a mistake. This further promotes mutual respect amongst members and does not deter anyone from freely sharing their ideas and thoughts from fear of being put down or disrespected.

Create room for diversity

The people at NWT have diverse cultures, backgrounds and interests.  While this notion is strictly upheld, diversity comes after merit. NWT is non-discriminatory. Our team comprises different personalities and interests. The mix-and-match creates interesting and colorful days, typical of our daily menu selection. At NWT, the chef doesn’t select the menu. Someone different suggests the team’s menu for the next day, every day, and it goes around. While some may love an oriental meal, others like continental and others street food. Once a menu is chosen, it is not adjustable.  At the end of the day, with all the diversity, the team has one thing in common and that is the singleness of passion, drive and open minds that push us to access our creativity in different ways but with a single goal for the unit.

At the end of the day, work is a game for us where everyone wins and everyone loves to play. Teams stay closely knit in a free and open office environment that allows every member of a team to express themselves.

I am a result-oriented, self-motivated bla bla bla

In my tenure as a business founder and manager, I have come across a good number of résumés from various prospective staff. I don’t take what is written in the résumé simply. For the benefit of doubt, even if commonly people are not really what they say they are on paper, I read the résumé credentials with keen interest.

It is typical for a résumé to have glossy career objectives, skills and attributes. If you have reviewed (or authored a résumé) you know well how a good résumé is not complete without one writing about how they are a team player, have leadership skills, are attentive to detail, are disciplined, are result-oriented, are self-motivated, can work with minimal supervision, are good at working under pressure and so forth. They could also be proficient in a certain field. Of course the workplace appreciates (and rewards) a proficient member of staff who can work efficiently in solidarity just as in solitude without having to be keenly supervised. One who is not primarily driven by their leader but by themselves to realize their targets (results).

Out of it all, I will draw my attention to self-motivation and result-orientation. I know business owners and managers are waiting for it like where the hell do all these nice-sounding and very critical named skills and attributes evaporate to as soon as an applicant is handed the opportunity they so badly wanted? It has been discussed and agreed in various fora that leaders ought to motivate the people they lead. Of course, leaders should motivate the people they lead. It is also without doubt, the people being led owe it to themselves and the people leading them to be self-motivated.

As I reflect further, I believe self-motivation comes from within and not without.

If you say or imply that you are self-motivated and result-oriented, be honest; find your motivation and show your results. Be kind to your leader, don’t wait on them.

Celebrating ten years of New Wave Technologies - A speech by Ash Luwambo | Friday, 4th December 2015, 730pm

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome.

On behalf of the team and proprietors at New Wave Technologies Limited, allow me to extend our sincere welcome to the chief guest and to you all in your esteemed capacities. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for gracing this event. Please feel at home.

The cause of celebration today is our attainment of a decade’s existence. Please don’t be mistaken. This is not a celebration of arrival but a celebration of an important milestone on a journey that we started to walk 10 years ago. A journey that we look forward to walking for more decades to come. Join me in celebrating a cause bigger than each one of us.

New Wave Technologies is on a mission to become a continental brand. Let me rephrase that, we are on the way to becoming a continental brand. A brand known for solving wide-ranging challenges through the application and deployment of smart, relevant and robust solutions to organizations and societies alike.  

We value creativity and dominion and we believe that imagination rather than knowledge is more boundless.  

We have so much to be thankful for and celebrate but today we shall focus on the following;

  • Youth-led entrepreneurship.
  • Creativity and Innovation.
  • Focus and determination.
  • Our people, partners and processes.
  • Learning from mistakes.

Let us applaud the following people; Aloysious Zziwa, Eisah Kakyama Mayanja, Luke Kyohere, Albert Mugisha, Gerald Begumisa and Yasim Ramathan Ismail. While they were students, they founded the dream whose reality we are currently celebrating. A number of these gentlemen operate illustrious establishments elsewhere. Therefore, I am talking about an industrious, zealous, focused, determined and disciplined bunch of gentlemen. The New Wave Technologies enterprise has directly employed permanently or temporarily hundreds of people cumulatively. Currently we employ on both temporary and permanent basis about a dozen people. That is our small contribution to the employment of the youth of this nation and we look forward to making an even bigger contribution. Honorable Chief Guest, it was not accidental to have called you to preside over this function. We called to appeal to you and the government to support organized youth-led enterprises like New Wave Technologies to tackle the challenge of youth unemployment.

Regarding creativity and innovation, please don’t believe the hype. New Wave Technologies should be known more for creating solutions than designing websites. As a matter of fact, the first ever product New Wave Technologies did before any website was developed was SmartAlert, a system that would give you affordable asset surveillance with enough intuitiveness given the cost and complexity of video surveillance. We have since moved into the asset tracking and general ERP spaces. Honorable Chief Guest, your government is already doing a good job supporting local innovations but we shall be happy to see the government do even more in supporting the commercialization of local innovations and we welcome you to look at some of the things we have done that require that support.

Those who have worked with us before know that once you are in ‘the wave’, you have become part of a family – and there is no turning back. Our former staff present please stand for recognition and let us thank you for every one of your efforts while at New Wave Technologies. It was not in vain. People are very important to New Wave Technologies and they remain at the forefront of our everyday thinking be they partners or staff. We don’t have customers at New Wave Technologies, we have partners. In our partners, be they a supplier or a consumer of our services we find immense value and a reason to grow from strength to strength.

If I could I would tell a story about each one of you our partners. Obviously, some stories would be good, some not very good and some not good at all, but that would have to be another date. If it didn’t go well, we apologize and welcome you to an improved version of New Wave Technologies.

Above all, ladies and gentlemen, we are committed to going with you and everyone you know into the next decade.

Lastly, please join me in toasting to what lies ahead of us. God bless you all and thank you for listening.

Are you really 10 years old?

New Wave Technologies (NWT) makes 10 years this year. A number of people may ask what the big deal is about marking 10 years of existence as a business. They have probably witnessed and heard of establishments in their centuries and longer jubilees. There are a number of younger businesses doing even better than New Wave Technologies in a number of aspects. Rightly, this is not special news.

That said, my fascination is with the reactions we get as we bellow our #weAre10 mantra. Some of the common remarks we get are, ‘Really!?’, ‘Is it 10 years already?’ I have not yet known if the remarks are to question or cheer our story of evolution.  Of course we have done some things right and some things wrong. Made some good friends and some not-so-good friends and despite the 10 years’ existence we are still imperfect but growing strong.

As we usher in the next decade, we are looking forward to giving our partners a better and mature experience. For our partners that have had a less-than-fulfilling experience with us, we regret it. Forgive us, we were young.

Cheers to our past and present clientele, the NWT team and all our partners.