We are not saying that behind every brand there is a mobile app, because many of the brands were there first, but it is indeed a fact that today every brand has a mobile app. Global corporations and the small and medium scale enterprises have realized just how important a successful mobile app can be to their business. However, having a successful mobile app in today’s highly competitive environment is not an easy task.
There are five questions that the enterprises must try to answer before they dive into a mobile app development project:
Which device to develop for?
When people are accessing their mobile apps through thousands of kinds of devices, device fragmentation becomes a major challenge for app developers. By analyzing the traffic to the company website, the development teams can discover the nature of the devices that the target audience prefers to use. If majority of the users are using Android devices, then the app will be created for the Android marketplace. However, the development teams will also have to analyze the traffic from the point of view of the transactional power. It is possible that the audience from iOS devices may be small, but they may still have a larger transactional power.
What should the app do?
The services that the mobile apps will provide should be based on the kinds of services that the customers expect to have. So a comprehensive customer research is a must for creating a successful mobile app. Ultimately it is for the business and the development team to decide what kind of features have to be there in the app. Do you want the app to have an entire gamut of information and services related to the brand, or do you want it perform only certain specific kinds of functions?
Can the existing system handle the rise in traffic?
Certain industry verticals such as e-commerce are known to lead to a sudden spike in web traffic once a mobile app is in place. If you are creating a mobile eCommerce app, you should ensure that you have the infrastructure and the systems in place for handling the additional traffic and transactions.
Is UI/UX a priority?
With millions of apps vying for user’s attention in Google Play and iTunes store, your app has to stand out in every aspect in order to inspire the users for pressing the download button. The appearance and the overall design of the app are also central to its overall popularity and effectiveness. Today’s customer does not only expect better quality of services, he is also looking for intuitive interface controls and elegant transitions. Issues like app’s size, its data consumption are also very important.
Is Outsourcing an Option?
There is no doubt that if the mobile app is being developed by an in-house team, then there will be greater control over the project. But you must also keep in mind that getting the work done through an in-house mobile development team will cost much more than what it costs to outsource to a app development company with solid track record. Even highly popular apps like Skype and websites such as fab.com were outsourced in their early days.
If you are able to set your head straight around these questions then there is nothing stopping you from going ahead and building a magical mobile app.