Co-creation Hub Nigeria; known as the hub where entrepreneurs, marketers and coders converge; has launched formally its Mobile Experience Lab in Lagos on Tuesday, 22 January, 2014. It is a space that gives mobile device users an opportunity to experience latest gadgets first hand.
According to a press item sent out by CcHUB, the MX Lab was born out of the need to bridge the gap between users and the digital service providers in Nigeria.
I know for a certainty that many users of smartphones, telco services and the services that run on them are usually on their own, figuring out how to make one service or the other work for them. It is common to find that some consumers pay a huge sum of money for services that are supposed to be offered free–like downloading of free apps from application stores when they visit Computer Village in Ikeja, the home of computers and smartphones. Hopefully, the MX Lab is going to help educate as many users that visit the place.
In attendance during the launch were stakeholders in the technology ecosystem; Honourable ‘Biyi Mabadeje, Commissioner for Science and technology for Lagos State; and Mr. Larry Annetts, Group Marketing Officer at MTN Nigeria.
“When people do not feel your pain, it is difficult for them to address your problem. That is why we encourage homegrown solutions;” Bosun Tijani, CEO of Co-creation Hub stated. “In our over 3,000 strong community of developers, tech entrepreneurs and enthusiasts, we have people building solutions but there is a massive disconnect between what we build and what the market is interested in. We need to engage the market more,” he concluded.
The MX Lab is going to focus on three domains:
- Research: generate, process and disseminate extensive knowledge and data to aid better understanding of the end-users by CcHub community members.
- Usability Testing: provide usability testing with real users helping developers avoid poor design which can ruin a product.
- Evangelism: sensitise and enlighten the community on the importance of usability and user experience in product development.
I am envisaging that this is going to be super useful to those who live close to Herbert Macaualy in Yaba. What will make people from outside the territory visit the Lab would be to see a new gadget in display – like the LG G Flex or the Pebble Steel Watch for instance. As long as the MX Lab will be having new devices to show before they are available in the market, folks like me will be there time and again.
To find out more about the MX Lab, you can visit the Mobile Experience Lab Website.
I wrote to them to find out if the device to be present would be limited to mobile phone only or would include smart computers like the Raspberry Pi and Intel’s Edison.
I am yet to get a response.
