10 Steps to Achieve Success in Your Mobile App Development Process
February 13, 2014 by 0 Comments
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Are you planning to get your brand’s mobile app done? Knowing two crucial steps to achieve your goals must be established right off the bat: Educate yourself about the mobile app development process, and equip yourself with some app development knowledge.
Mobile has increasingly become an undeniable element of the branding and business mix. It’s also part of many business people’s to-do lists. Plenty of numbers are in to demonstrate that mobile is the future.
But we’ll not focus on dispensing one stat after another on mobile device adoption rates. Nor it will be concern of this blog to elaborate on frequent roundups of market share reports, or who’s winning between iOS and Android, and more of the likes.
Our higher goals concerns helping mobile app developers become knowledgeable about relevant mobile app development principle, coupled with the various mobile app development tools available today.
We’ll also help you become more than prepared when working with clients in their mission-critical business activities that involves mobile app development services. We’re expecting by following our tips, you’ll be credible when you speak with your client about their unique app’s feasibility, budget and time frame of development.
And if you’re concerned about choosing between hiring a mobile app developer or mobile app development services, this guide will give you ample idea about planning your foray into the mobile app development field.
Here now are 10 things to consider before getting started in mobile app development:
1. Know Your Goals Early On.
Always start with a clear goal in mind when you’re planning to develop a mobile app development strategy. Is your goal centered on beating the competition or building trust among your brand followers? Or it is being seen as the innovator in the mobile space?
When you have a clear grasp of the road map you set for the future of your brand, you will be seen ahead of the competition. Sometimes, it can also aid in building brand loyalty and increasing your revenue streams. Finally, make a priority list of your goals so you’re guided where to begin.
2. Simplify your Set of Options.
Doing everything you’ve set to accomplish at once will lead you nowhere. Instead, start small. Identify your most feasible options and choose which you think should serve as your basic app as a foundation. Seize the upgrade paths devices offer to provide regular updates to your users.
This is not only being realistic but practical at the same time because it prevents you from delaying and delaying your release, which is counterproductive if your goal is to enter the market soon.
Besides, you can refine when needed in latter period, which somehow reminds your mobile app users of new development and ensures that you’re top-of-mind of your stakeholders.
3. Know and Understand Your Intended Users.
Having a good grasp of your target users and knowing what their goals and needs are, and what technologies they use, are going to be vital aspects of your mobile app development process.
Researching your user demographics and the devices they’re mostly using are relevant to understand user experience. What does users use your online banking tools for? What functions do users click most often using your mobile app tools?
4. Create a Focus Group of Mobile Users.
Relying solely on user surveys is never enough. Pool mobile users under a focus group to intimately observe what they’re doing in your mobile application and find out what they’re looking for.
During this mobile app development process, discuss ideas with your users on a daily basis. There’s so much potential for you to derive deeper value out our initial discovery stage.
5. Balance User Needs and Your Business.
This is where the difficult part emerges: balancing your business drivers with that of your market’s needs. The two are inseparable yet always at odds with one another. To approach this aspect well, equip yourself with the right information.
Here is where you can use the outcome from your user research and focus group results, coupled with opinions from mobile app developers or experts, and the feasibility studies you conducted. Balance your mobile app solutions for users and value gains for your business.
6. Explore the App Marketplace.
After spending time exploring different platforms that you plan to support, list your findings – including the interface hierarchies and app collections supported. Exhaust time experimenting uses for the more popular applications to see what’s possible and not, which will meet user needs.
7. Include Your Mobile App Development Team During Early Discussions.
Tying your mobile app solution with your back end business processes can offer bigger technical challenges to your team. That’s why it’s important to involve your IT team early during the planning phase of your mobile app development process.
With their background knowledge, your mobile app developers can very well advise on properly creating your data delivery architecture and API management, as well as security, scalability and device optimization, and more of the likes.
8. Decide on a Technology to Use.
When you choose which application technology to use, make sure to consider that the mobile landscape always develops and matures. There’s a constant transformation and innovation in this sector, which is why you should choose the most appropriate technology that can serve your purposes well.
For example, you may choose HTML framework – that requires very little hardware integration – to reach as many users as possible. This will also guide you in choosing which mobile app development tools to use that deliver more efficiently on time.
You can also opt for application with deeper mobile integration, such as developing your mobile app that will require augmented reality technology integration. Decide carefully which will meet your needs and business goals.
9. Plan Your Mobile App Releases.
Mobile app developers we’ve interviewed advised that your mobile app releases should be well planned because it’s just the beginning. Users clamor for more features added and you can respond to this demand by releasing every new upgrades or updates. And this is backed up by research, which shows that users engage with a brand whenever new features are added.
But beware because users will find it annoying if you’ll release too often. Strategize carefully your release for updates. You can spread the release of key functionality within a 2-3 month window.
10. Set Your Benchmark for Success.
The final step in the mobile app development process is setting a benchmark for your success. This is quite tricky to determine given a plethora of planned features, devices and mobile app development tools and technologies to use. In determining your metrics for success, you need to answer these important questions:
a. Will the mobile app help generate a spike in your transaction volume, revenue?
b. Will the mobile app improve your image, brand recognition, and loyalty?
c. Will the release of the app help boost customer adoption and keep your users?
d. What is your target user figure?
e. Do you consider integrating your mobile solution with your social media program?
f. And more.
By following these steps in your mobile app development process, the rough road ahead getting your app done will be smoother and a lot easier to tread. Plus, you can expect more cost savings and efficiency.
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