What You Need To Know About Planning Your App
One of the smartest things that a company can do these days is create an app. Allowing customers instant access to different products and services like this can be hugely beneficial. The app can present a quick way for customers to order from a business, but it could even be something entirely different, such as a game or something that gives users daily beauty tips (a good idea for a beauty company, for instance).
If you want to make sure that your app is a complete success, there are a few things you should know before you start planning:
Know Exactly Who You’re Designing Your App For
Before you sit down to design your app, you need to know exactly who you’re designing it for. This will make a huge difference to the features you include, how you design the layout, and pretty much every single relevant thing regarding your app. Make sure you know your target audience down to the ground. You could even do a survey or create a focus group to help you if you want to make sure that you get it right first time around.
Sketch It Out
Try sketching your app out so you get a feel for what it’s going to look like when it’s made. Make sure you consider things like the lay out, design, and how it will flow so you can create something that people actually want to use. You have a far better chance of getting your dream app created if you know what it’s supposed to look like first.
Your Goals
So, now you know who you’re designing your app for and what you want it to look like, you need to have a long think about the goals you want to achieve for both your business and the customer when launching this app. For example, are you creating this app in a bid to gain more customer loyalty, or are you simply looking to create more revenue streams? Make sure you consider what your goals are and how you’re going to achieve them using your new app.
Build A User Testing Focus Group
Building a user testing focus group can help you to understand what your audience are truly looking for in an app. Remember, you can’t simply tell them what they want; you need to be prepared to listen to them carefully and implement any changes that become apparent need to be made.
Remember, the first version of your app is never going to be the final version of your app. You’re going to make many updates and new versions, but as a rule, make sure you wait 2-3 months between roll outs so that you don’t overwhelm your audience and put them off. Of course you can take care of bug fixes and things, but avoid overwhelming them with new features.
Know What’s Out There Already
Make sure you do plenty of competitor analysis so you know what’s out there already. Do your research on the platforms you plan to support and know how they work and what is possible using them. Experiment with the most popular applications so you know which one is right for you. Make sure you know all about any competitor apps, what they do for the audience, and what you can do better. You need to differentiate your app enough that people want to download it regardless of the apps they already have on their phones.
Testing Your App Before It Hits The Market
Testing your app before it hits the market is key to ensuring that everything is in full working order and that there are going to be no immediate complaints. You can test your app yourself or get a group of people to test it – or you can contact a place like https://www.globalapptesting.com/ who are experts in this kind of thing. If you want to ensure that you haven’t missed anything crucial when creating your app, then taking the testing process seriously is an absolute must.
Decide On Technology That Can Grow With You
Make sure that you decide on technology that can grow with you when you are working on what to use. You need to make sure that this technology is going to suit you a few months, and even a few years down the line. Don’t make any snap decisions when it comes to your technology.
Plan To Analyse Everything
The last step in the process is figuring out how you’re going to measure the success of your app. You have features, platforms, tech, and an array of other things to consider, so this can be challenging to define. You can figure out how well you’re doing by asking the right questions. Here are some examples:
- How are we going to integrate with analytics tools?
- How many people do we want to start using our app?
- How are we going to integrate this with our social media program?
- Is this going to improve our brand recognition and loyalty from customers?
- Is this going to increase adoption and retention?
- Is this going to improve revenue?
Asking yourself these questions and any similar questions you can think of will help you to finalize the design and idea for your app. This process is just as important, if not more important than any other process, as there’s no point creating an app if it’s not going to help you to achieve everything you want to achieve.
Bonus Tips App Planning
Here are some bonus tips that should further help you to create the best app imaginable:
- Make sure the load time isn’t putting people off. If your app is taking an age to load, they could delete it right away as they will believe there is a glitch.
- Create something that isn’t on the market already. Try to differentiate yourself as much as possible from competitors and other apps in your industry.
- Get the price right for your app. It can’t be too expensive or people won’t buy it. Consider the value you’re bringing to customers and then use this to price your app accordingly.
- Become a master of one platform before going for other platforms. Don’t try to run before you can walk!
- Come up with a great marketing strategy for your app. Marketing your app well will determine how well it does just as much as the design and features. If you don’t market your app properly then you can bet it will fall flat.
- Make sure you write a compelling description. You have around 2-3 lines to really get across what your app is about and what you’re setting out to do. You need to sell your app with this bit of text!
- Know what your budget is. You may have to compromise on your budget by getting rid of certain features if you don’t have the money for them yet. Having a clear idea of your budget before you start will give you a good idea of how complicated and attractive you can make your app.
Hopefully, you’ve found some pointers here that are going to help you plan your app perfectly and come up with an idea that will help you to grow your business. Remember, having a clear goal in mind before you create your app will help you to achieve exactly what you’re looking to achieve with your ideas.
Are you ready to plan your app? Leave your own thoughts and tips below. Thanks for reading!