Top Ten Tips: How to Create a Great Mobile App

TOP 10 TIPS O How To Create a Great Mobile App By apadmi mobile apps and solutions Let's be honest, there are a lot of ordinary apps out there and in an increasingly noisy marketplace, another ordinary app will just disappear from view. Nick Black, Co-Founder & Director at Apadmi discusses the key considerations you should think about when creating an app to ensure you build a successful product that users will love. IN JULY, 2013 Apple claim that customers are downloading around 800 APPS PER SECOND On the 5th Anniversary of the App store, Apple announced that over 50 BILLION APPS Apple represents around 20% of the European smartphone market. have been downloaded since it opened in 2008. Whether you are looking to create an app to improve an internal company process or an external app to improve customer interaction, this article provides the key points and considerations when planning and developing an app to help you ensure it is a successful one. NO.1 Be Clear About Why You Are Building An App Is it to enhance the way customers interact with you, to increase customer engagement, improve your brand presence, or generate revenue directly through paid downloads, in-app advertising or in-app purchases? Identify exactly what your app is for, and what you want to achieve. If you just want your website available on a mobile device, create a responsive website. An app should enhance and complement what your existing website offers, not just copy it. Apps Have Many Benefits SALES PAID Provide a fast and efficient way for your customers to interact with you Increase customer Improved brand Create new business Promote you as an innovator in your field and they can also generate hard revenue directly through paid downloads engagement presence and sales NO.2 Understand Your Target Users Will the app's users be web-savvy... Шl OR novices? When do you expect them to use the app, and for how long? Where will they have connectivity, and what mobile platforms and devices do you expect them to use? What will their usage patterns be? The answers to these questions will help you to define and design your app to ensure it's both useful and usable. What Will It Do? NO.3 Your app should be developed to meet a specific need, perform a specific task and complement your existing website and brand. The keys to a successful app are It's better to launch a simple application that does one thing well, rather than one that does lots of Simplicity Usability Reliability things badly. So the more detail you can add at this stage, the better: it will help the development team to provide more accurate costings and delivery plans. NO.4 Content Matters Apps are generally used in two ways: Consuming Content OR Creating Content If you're consuming content, it is vital that you know where that content comes from, and how it gets into your app. Whether the content is embedded into the application, or downloaded from a server has a massive influence on the size of the app, and the complexity of the code. Embedding content makes apps harder to update, but simplifies the code. Downloading content remotely makes the code more complex, but updates easier. NO.5 Design An Intuitive UI Expectations are high: Users are accustomed to well-designed, functional apps, so counter-intuitive design will only hinder adoption. Mobile UI A good user 15 experience is critical to success. It's quicker, cheaper and easier to test a paper or HTML-based mock-up of a UI, than to fully-develop the application and then discover that the Ul doesn't work with real-world users. UK +16° <meta charset="utf-8"/> Remember that users of an Android device do <title>Mobile App Development for iPhone, Android, Windows, HTMLS5 Blackberry Apadmi</title> <meta name="description" content="Apadmi are Manchester based mobile app developers; we work on Mobile Operating Systems a focus on providing aled expertise in mobile hology.> not expect apps to behave in the same way as they would on an Apple device. Each platform has certain idioms which users become used to – so ensure your app fits users' expectations on the intended platforms. Choose Your Partner NO.6 You may have a compelling idea and a detailed brief but, if you're new to app development, making it real can seem daunting. The partner should be able to take you through concept creation and definition, user interface design, development, app testing, launch, social media integration, analytics and ongoing support to fix bugs and ensure compatibility with new platform versions and devices as they launch. You need to establish if you need to bring in a partner to undertake some, or all of the project. When choosing a partner, remember that developing an app is more than just programming. and ask how they will work with you: this interface will be a key factor in determining the app's success. Also, be clear on what is and what Look at the partner's... isn't included within the overall budget. Experience Customers References NO.7 What's Yours Is Yours Unless agreed up front for "commercial reasons", it's critical that you launch the app under your company name, not the developer's, to avoid confusing users and future complications. If you create a great app, it should have your brand all over it. NO.8 Source Code PAID Again, unless agreed up front, ensure that you own the source code. You've paid for it, after all! <> Make sure you actually receive it, as this gives you more options when it comes to maintenance and future releases. NO.9 After The Launch It could have a lifespan of several years, but will need updating to keep it fresh and functional on the latest Ensure you have a roadmap for the life of your app, including support for new An app is not just for Christmas, unless you Review your app's app store rating to gather want it to be. devices and platform versions. devices and releases. direct feedback from users – this will give you valuable insight for future update decisions. NO.10 Marketing & Monetisation With hundreds of new apps launching each day, it isn't enough just to launch a great app and hope it gets downloaded - it won't unless people know it exists. You will need to consider how you get your app to your customers - just via app stores, or by other means too? Plan the launch and promotion of your app with a strategy that fits within your overall marketing plan. Also consider pricing: inevitably, free downloads are more popular than paid ones, so you should only charge if the app truly adds value through content or functionality. FREE APP The Apadmi team has been developing extraordinary mobile experiences since the very first smartphone in 1998. apadmı mobile apps and solutions So whether you need help with a project that is going off track, or you would like us to help bring your idea to life with the full design, development and delivery of your app, contact us to talk in more detail. Source: http://www.apadmi.com/whitepapers/12-top-tips-to-create-a-great-mobile-app/ WWW.APADMI.COM/ 0161850 1300 [email protected]