Mobile applications have come a long way since they were first introduced as a thing almost two decades ago (yes, you should feel old after reading that!). From the heady days when you would play basic games and pretend to drink a beer, the world of mobile applications has now become so sophisticated that it seems almost impossible to perform specific tasks with them. The beauty of the app, along with one of the reasons they became so popular so rapidly, is that they are incredibly flexible and can be created with an almost limitless number of use cases depending on what you need. When it comes to a business, you have at your fingertips the ability to develop apps for in-house team use, sell directly to your customers, or really anything that you can imagine. However, perhaps the primary reason that more, smaller operations haven’t gotten around to developing their own is the barrier to entry can be pretty high if you don’t know what you’re doing. In this post, we are taking a look at the steps you need to take if you want to develop one that turns your existing business into a powerhouse of efficiency, productivity, and all the other fantastical nouns that you can think of.
Define Your App’s Core Purpose Clearly
The thing about incorporating new technology into a business is that those in charge can easily get carried away. When it comes to something like an app that you will likely need to pay a considerable sum to develop, it can be detrimental to simply create one for the sake of wanting one. Your first steps ought instead to be performing some research into the core reason why you believe you need an application in the first place. If you are struggling and need assistance, you can enlist the help of a mobile app development service and book an initial consultation with them. Doing so will allow you to tap into their extensive experience in this field as well as previous jobs they may have already finished, and it will offer you some advice on which direction of travel might be best in your situation. Once you have a deeper understanding of why you need an app and what function it will serve, then you can start performing more profound research into who you’ll target and how to go about it.
Research Your Target Audience
To follow on from the previous point, part of the core purpose will heavily depend on who you wish to target. This can vary wildly as, in some cases, you need an application you will use in-house to increase productivity and operational efficiency, and that will only be used by your team. On the other hand, it might be that you need an e-commerce-style app to push your wares out to those who are most likely not just to buy your stuff but are most likely actually to want to use it.
Choose The Right Platform
You might think that because the operating systems that will power your new application are only generally limited to Android, iOS, MacOS, and Windows, the choice is easy enough. After all, why not simply have your app developed to operate on all the major OSs so that you can target the broadest possible audience? Well, if you need to take this road, then that’s what you will have to do, but doing so will cost you considerably more as each operating system utilizes different code and has varying requirements to work effectively. Your best option is to see what your research says you need and focus on that rather than taking a shotgun approach. For example, if you plan on developing a mobile application, then you will probably need to focus your efforts on the two primary operating systems and eschew others. Conversely, if you need a program for your team in the office that predominantly uses Windows machines, then it won’t make sense to spend additional resources on porting it over to other platforms.
Develop A Robust App Prototype
Prototyping is a critical part of the development process and can help you find any issues as you go along. A minimal viable product will enable you to discover any glaring problems before the finishing touches are put on it, meaning you can avoid potentially costly overruns. If you hire a development agency, they should create various prototypes along the way for you to assess and search for any problems that might require checking. Once your app has been fully developed and you’re confident that it works as it should, you can move on to the next couple of steps.
Plan A Marketing Strategy To Promote It
If your application is intended for in-house use, you can skip this point. However, if it’s aimed at those you have discovered via your research, you will need to set up a marketing campaign to promote it and get it downloaded as much as possible. Just because you’ve created an app and posted it to the relevant app stores doesn’t mean that people will flock to it unless it serves a purpose and they can find it. You can use traditional marketing methods as you might with any other product you promote, but if you really want things to go off with a bang, you can think of adding perks that nudge potential users toward it. This could manifest as discount codes for downloading and registering on it, to providing the first couple of months free if it’s subscription-based.
Gather Feedback From Real Users
Regardless of whether it’s aimed at your staff or customers, you should have a section baked into it that enables users to provide transparent and honest feedback about what they like and dislike. You can use this data to refine the app in ways that make a real difference and make sure that it improves consistently over time. This will involve you keeping the original developer on as and when needed since they will be best positioned to make any alterations based on their previous work.
Creating an app is no mean feat and involves a lot more effort than most people tend to believe. Even if you hire a developer to create it, you will still need to understand the reason for making one, along with the people you are targeting, to ensure that it’s money well spent.
