Awardco's Progressive Web Application (PWA)

This article is about Awardco’s Progressive Web Application (PWA). The purpose of this article is to introduce what it is, how to use it, and what it can mean for your organization.

What is a Progressive Web App?

A PWA is a type of application that is delivered through the web instead of through a specific application. It is built using common technologies and is intended to work on any platform that uses a standards-compliant browser such as Safari or Chrome. A PWA behaves exactly like all the apps you are used to, but has some differences that make it more effective in many situations:

Customizable

A PWA is fully customizable to your brand. Instead of having an Awardco app for your organization to use, you can name the app whatever you like and put your logo and colors in it. This increases the credibility of your program within your company as employees will see an app that has a brand they recognize. A regular app through the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android cannot be customized to your organization.

Constantly Updated

Have you ever had a notification that an app you have downloaded needs to be updated, or suddenly the app might close in order to update? PWA’s don’t do that. With this kind of application the updates are constantly pushed without affecting functionality. This makes the app more reliable and engenders confidence that your experience is fully up to date no matter when you log in.

Easy Access

Instead of searching for a particular app and asking your employees to download it and only hoping they will, you can direct them to log in to the Awardco website on their phone’s web browser (Please note that iOS users must use Safari and Android users must use Chrome). Once logged in they will see a notification that asks if they want to add this application to their screen. This works whether the user has an iPhone or an Android, and once selected the app badge will be downloaded to their mobile screen for easy access from there. 

Sample Screenshots

             

How Do I Use the Progressive Web App?

Using the PWA is incredibly easy. Once downloaded to their home screen (see above) any user can access the platform by selecting the badge on their phone’s screen. The PWA has the following features:

Social Feed

The main screen of the PWA is the social feed where all the public recognitions given across the organization are visible. Seeing all the recognitions will encourage others to give their own!

Recognize

Recognizing others in the platform is incredibly easy. Simply navigate to the recognize button at the bottom and go from there. Tag people, use hashtags to highlight company values, and send your recognition.

Reward

Rewarding others with points in the PWA is the same as it is in the desktop platform. If you have the ability to reward points in your platform, you can do so on the PWA as well.

Redeem

Redeeming your points for items through the platform is as easy as clicking on the marketplace icon on the menu screen. From there you can add items to your cart using your points, then proceed to checkout. 

Extra features

The PWA has a chat function that will enhance the user experience significantly. Using this chat feature you can contact a support rep and obtain shipping information for your orders as well as ask any questions you may have regarding the platform. Keep an eye out in the future for additional functionality such as push notifications!

What Does Having a PWA Mean for my Organization?

Now that Awardco offers an app for your company to brand and utilize as a recognition and rewards experience, several benefits will follow:

Increased Adoption

In initial beta testing with the app we found adoption of the program to increase significantly. More users were using the platform and overall usage increased. 

Culture Boost

Because of the increased adoption there will also be an increase in usage of the platform. That means more recognition between peers, more celebrating of wins, and more notice for completed projects. With these benefits your organization will see a significant culture boost as you continue to build a culture of rewarding recognition.

Ease of Use

Since the majority of users use phones more than they do desktops both during and after work, having an app for your recognition platform will mean that it’s just that much easier for people to get in the platform and easily recognize each other and redeem points. 

Better Recognition Programs

The app is optimized for the use of the recognition programs feature in the platform. The more programs you have in your organization, the more success you’ll find in using the app!

With the PWA experience you will be able to provide even more rewarding recognition to all those in your organization. 

I'm having a hard time finding the download

If you chose not to download the app when prompted, do not be alarmed you can still do so. After you have navigated to your native browser and signed into your company's platform (company.awardco.com), for iOS (safari), follow these screen shots: 

   

If navigating from Android (chrome), follow these screenshots: 

   

If you feel this article left your questions unanswered, please let us know how we can improve and clarify this topic by commenting below. If your question is more complex, please contact our Support Team.