Mobile App Development: 4 Tips to Consider

Mobile apps have rapidly become our personal assistants, organization tools, motivation gurus, and so much more. The popularity of mobile apps is what drives app developers and innovators to create new, useful apps for users to enjoy. All in all, this is the golden time for mobile application development.

Tips to Consider While Developing A Mobile App

If you decide to develop an app, what you need to be aware of is that there is so much you need to invest and put at risk. According to research, you need an average investment of $270,000 to design, build and launch an app and this number can go much higher depending on the app you want to develop. The money you spend won’t guarantee success considering the fact that two-thirds of apps will fail to reach 1,000 downloads in the first year.

The smartest move you could make before engaging in this process is to get informed. The following essential tips for Mobile app development will provide you with some useful and applicable information.

• Understand the Users
• Decide on the Operating System
• Clearly Set Your Goals
• Test It Out till Perfection

1. Understand the Users

Directed and successful app development demands that you target a specific type of user. Narrowing down the target audience will help you with adapting the app to their needs.

When you introduce an app to users there are questions that will instantly pop in their mind such as:

• What can this app deliver?
• Which benefits it offers?
• How can it make my life better/easier?
• How is it different from the others?

In order to have acceptable answers to these questions, you first need to define what type of people your target group consists of.

Understanding user behavior is a key step. The Fogg Behavior Model states that “the behavior of a person is influenced by his motivation to perform a particular action, his ability to perform it and finally, the trigger.”

Therefore, you need to motivate the users to give your app a chance. To achieve this, you need to take into consideration their age, gender, educational background, and other demographic elements. In addition, you need to get acquainted with their life habits and purchasing habits.

Collect the information with thorough research. Use different sources such as:

• Comments on apps in the same niche
• Social media (for example, browse through Facebook groups or Instagram hashtags)
• Blogs and forums (you can even ask questions through websites such as Quora)

The research should also focus on challenges that your customers face so check out the negative feedback on other (similar) apps. Understand who they are, what they like, and what they dislike, and you’ll know who your ideal users are.

2. Decide on the Operating System

Will you develop an app for Android, IOS, or both? Here’s one of the main questions you need to answer. 

Your code starts with this foundation. Depending on the operating system, you’ll direct your ideas and form the design and functionality. 

What can help you make the decision is your budget, the time, and the resources? The safest choice would be to develop the app for both Android and IOS but can you really handle that task?

Another question that arises is: Do you really need to make the app for both platforms? If your target users are predominantly Android users, developing an app for IOS operating system won’t be profitable. 

Your team also plays a vital role. Once you decide on the operating system you need to talk to your team members and check if they are qualified for this task. They need to have credentials or certifications that make them the right person for the job.

3. Clearly Set Your Goals

For a functional and effective development process, you should identify your goals and objectives before the development starts.

Consider the information you collected about the target audience as well as your decision on the intended platform.

Your goals should be aimed at two app elements: design and specifications/ functionality.

To define the specifications you need to think about how the users will use your app. What will they be able to gain or learn from it? Which aspects of the app will make their experience satisfactory and complete?

When it comes to the design, keeping it simple, intuitive, and attractive is the best option. The little details will be defined by your target audience. 

Don’t forget that you aren’t creating this app just for yourself but for the general public. That is, opt for the design that matches your audience’s preferences.

Once you decide on your goals, it is useful if you present them in the written form and available for everyone to see. If you need some help with putting this in writing and organizing your thoughts you can use writing services such as WOW Grade and Supreme Dissertations.

4. Test It Out till Perfection

The only way to check if your efforts are going in the right direction is to test the app as many times as you can.

You can dream about the app’s success and think that the development is going smooth, but you’ll know this for sure if you test the app first.

Some developers test the app only before releasing it. However, making this a one-time process will increase the number of changes you need to make. Not to mention, that not identifying the problems in time can lead the development in the wrong direction. 

A general rule is to test the app into each phase of development. Stick to this rule religiously. 

Based on these results you’ll identify possible crashes, improve UI/UX, and make any little change that catches your eye.

To sum up, frequently testing the app’s software is highly recommendable. 

If you decide to use both platforms, it is best if you first launch the app on one. This will be another test that can determine your further steps and decisions.