Multiexperience (MXDP) Platforms in 2022: A Guide to Key Technologies and Top Solutions

Have you been hearing about multiexperience (MXDP) platforms and wondering what exactly they are and whether your business needs one? As someone who has helped multiple organizations implement MXDPs and build omni-channel applications, let me provide you with a comprehensive guide to understanding these powerful platforms.

In this article, I‘ll explain what MXDPs are, key technologies that power them, real-world examples, benefits for your business, leading solutions to consider, and advice on getting the most value. My goal is to help you make an informed decision on whether investing in an MXDP aligns with your digital transformation objectives.

What Exactly are Multiexperience Development Platforms?

Let‘s start by getting a clear understanding of what multiexperience platforms are.

As customers increasingly use an array of devices daily, they expect brands to engage with them consistently across these touchpoints. Multiexperience development platforms empower businesses to quickly build and deliver apps optimized for diverse devices and interfaces.

According to Gartner, "Multiexperience refers to the various permutations of modalities (e.g., touch, voice and gesture), devices and apps that users interact with on their digital journey across the various touchpoints."

In simpler terms, MXDPs help unify experiences across mobile, web, conversational interfaces like chatbots, voice assistants, augmented reality, virtual reality, wearables, and more.

These agile platforms allow companies to test and refine user engagement on new platforms quickly without lengthy development cycles. Once an app builds sufficient scale on any modality, businesses can still invest in custom experiences for it in the future.

Now that you understand what MXDPs are at a high level, let‘s look at why they are becoming vital for businesses today.

The Rising Importance of Multiexperience Platforms

A key driver of MXDP adoption is the exponential growth in devices and interfaces customers now use to interact with brands.

Consider these statistics:

• There are currently over 526 million connected wearable devices worldwide according to Statista. This includes devices like smartwatches and fitness bands.
• Per CCS Insight forecasts, 52 million AR and VR devices are expected to be sold in 2021. Immersive experiences are on the rise.
• By 2021, at least one-third of enterprises will have deployed an MXDP according to Gartner. Their importance is accelerating.

And this is just the beginning of the multiexperience era. As the chart below shows, the number of available apps in the Apple App Store has exploded from 500 in 2008 to almost 2 million now.

Supporting these diverse apps and touchpoints is impossible without the agility provided by MXDPs.

Businesses investing in these platforms now can gain a competitive advantage by delivering seamless engagements across multiple modalities. On the other hand, laggards may struggle to keep pace with changing consumer expectations.

Now that you appreciate the importance of MXDPs, let‘s explore the key technologies powering them.

Core Technologies Enabling Multiexperience

Modern multiexperience platforms allow building apps for a diverse array of devices, interfaces and modalities. Here are some of the most important technologies supported:

1. Conversational Interfaces

Chatbots and conversational UI enable interactions using text or voice in a natural manner. For example, automotive companies like Kia build chatbots that recommend vehicles aligned to interests shared by customers during conversations. This has led to 3X more conversions in some campaigns as per Digiday.

Advancements in natural language processing allow MXDPs to power very effective conversational interfaces today. These will only get better over time with AI/ML improvements.

2. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality layers digital information onto the real physical environment. For example, Qwake Technologies created AR-enabled smoke diving helmets that allow firefighters to navigate safely through smoke using enhanced vision.

AR allows businesses to blend the digital and physical seamlessly, creating immersive experiences. MXDPs make building AR apps accessible to enterprises.

3. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality generates interactive simulated environments using headsets and other gear. Instead of augmenting the real world, it creates a digitally immersive world. PlayStation VR enables gamers to feel fully transported into elaborate gameplay by wearing the VR headset.

VR has powerful applications for training, simulation, gaming and more. As equipment costs decrease, adoption is accelerating. MXDPs enable quickly building VR apps.

4. Wearable Devices

Wearables like smartwatches, fitness bands, health monitors continue to rise in popularity. MXDPs allow businesses to build apps that connect with data from these devices. For example, insurance companies can capture data from wearables to offer personalized, usage-based plans.

With over 526 million devices already, the wearables market is massive. MXDPs allow leveraging these ubiquitous devices in creative ways.

Now that you see the core technologies in MXDPs, let‘s look at some real-world examples of enterprises deploying them.

Multiexperience Use Cases from Leading Brands

One of the best examples of a consumer brand leveraging multiexperience comes from Domino‘s Pizza. Their AnyWareTM platform powers engagement across an impressive range of touchpoints:

• Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home for ordering
• Messaging platforms like Slack and Facebook Messenger
• Connected vehicles and smart TVs for contextual ordering
• Wearables like Apple Watch to track orders
• AR for scanning product packages to display offers

By combining capabilities like conversational UI, IoT, wearables and AR into their MXDP, Domino‘s enables natural engagement through the best device for each context. Customers love the flexibility to order from wherever they are.

Within enterprises, MXDPs can unify experiences across diverse employee touchpoints as well. For example, an insurance firm can empower claims agents via tools like:

• Smart glasses with AR overlays to assess property damages
• Voice assistants to file simple claims quickly
• Wearables to capture photos/video onsite
• Chatbots for claims status updates

Again, the MXDP makes delivering this range of capabilities easy without siloed development.

Now that you‘ve seen some examples, let‘s discuss the key benefits of MXDPs for your business.

5 Benefits of Investing in a Multiexperience Platform

Here are some of the top benefits enterprises can realize from adopting an MXDP:

1. Improved collaboration between IT teams and business users in designing omni-channel apps and experiences.
2. Faster development cycles with reusable components that accelerate delivery across platforms.
3. Cost savings from common backend services instead of separate APIs for each app.
4. Enhanced customer experiences leading to greater engagement and conversions.
5. Future-proofing via the agility to support new devices and interfaces as they emerge.

An effective MXDP pays for itself over time by boosting developer productivity, lowering costs, and driving revenue growth through better experiences.

While the benefits are compelling, you must also evaluate potential downsides.

Understanding the Risks of Multiexperience Platforms

As with any new technology, MXDP adoption does come with some risks to consider:

• Vendor lock-in: Reliance on a single vendor‘s proprietary MXDP can reduce flexibility. If requirements change, switching platforms may be difficult.
• Transition costs: Your dev team may need to learn new languages, frameworks and processes to leverage the MXDP fully. There is a learning curve.
• Potential instability: As a newer category, MXDPs carry risks of immaturity. Select established vendors with a track record of stability.

However, for most enterprises the benefits of MXDPs far outweigh the risks, given how urgent adapting to multiexperience is today.

Next, let‘s explore the leading options you have for MXDP vendors.

Comparing the Top Multiexperience Platforms

There are over a dozen notable MXDP solutions to evaluate from technology giants like Microsoft and Oracle to pioneers like OutSystems. Here is an overview of leading options:

This is only a sample of the diverse MXDP solutions available. Leading analyst firms like Gartner and Forrester provide detailed comparisons on vendor selection criteria.

Some key considerations are the platform‘s ease of use, extensibility, baked-in capabilities, tooling ecosystem, vendor reputation and pricing model.

Evaluate options closely to choose the MXDP that aligns best with your internal skill sets, integration needs and budget. You may even consider combining multiple platforms for flexibility.

Now that you have a solid overview of MXDPs, let‘s wrap up with recommendations on getting started.

Beginning Your Multiexperience Journey

Here are my top tips for organizations just getting started on their MXDP adoption:

• Start small: Run controlled pilots on 1-2 new devices/apps first. Learn and iterate before scaling across all touchpoints.
• Choose integrations wisely: Only connect new MXDP with essential backend systems at first. Add complexity over time.
• Involve business users: Get input from marketing, product teams early when defining multiexperience vision.
• Measure results: Define KPIs for MXDP success upfront. Track metrics like user engagement, conversion rates.
• Plan for change: Using an MXDP will require modifying processes, tech stacks. Model the future state.
• Leverage external expertise: Consider engaging an MXDP implementation partner, especially if in-house skills are limited.

With the right strategy focused on delivering business value, your MXDP initiative will get off to a great start.

The Bottom Line

I hope this guide provided you with a comprehensive introduction to multiexperience platforms. It explained the technologies powering MXDPs, real-world use cases, benefits for your business, leading solutions, and advice for getting started.

The key takeaway is that MXDPs provide immense strategic value in being able to continually adapt to emerging modalities. They enable brands to cost-effectively scale experiences as new touchpoints arise. MXDPs are a core enabler of digital transformation.

With clear vision and planning, you can implement an MXDP successfully to engage customers in exciting new ways. I‘m happy to address any other questions you may have. Reach out and let‘s continue the conversation!