Experts estimate that, in the future, a whopping 88 percent of the time people spend on mobile devices will be spent on mobile apps.
If you’ve been thinking about creating a mobile app, now is a great time to get to work.
What if you’re not sure how to make a successful app, though? What if you need help coming up with a winning idea?
If you’re struggling to figure out what kind of app to develop or how to get started, keep reading. Explained below are some tips that everyone needs.
What Makes a Great App?
There are millions of apps available for download, and new ones hit the app store each day. How do you make yours stand out?
Here are some characteristics that the most downloaded apps share:
They Solve a Problem
First, for your app to be successful, it needs to solve a problem.
There are tons of different problems people face throughout the world. It’s up to you to decide which one you want to address.
Do you want to help people communicate more effectively? Do you want to help them find specific products or services that they need and have trouble finding?
When figuring out which problem you want your app to solve, remember to be specific. It might help to think about your own experiences and consider your frustrations or pain points.
They Target a Specific Group
Speaking of specificity, it’s also important to think about who you’re going to help with your app.
Whose problems are you trying to solve? How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests? The most popular apps are geared toward a specific demographic.
It might be tempting to say that you want to help everybody (and maybe you truly do). When you don’t have a particular audience in mind, though, it’s hard to market your app and get people interested in checking it out.
Remember, you can always expand your offerings to include more people later. When you’re first getting started with the app creation process, though, it pays (literally) to pick a niche.
They Encourage Engagement
How are people going to use your app? How can you encourage them to open it regularly?
One of the best ways to encourage user engagement is with a simple onboarding process. If it’s hard for people to sign up and start using your app, they’re not going to be inclined to return and check it out again and again.
You might also want to consider an incentive-based system that will reward people for visiting your app. For example, perhaps they can earn rewards (access to new features, points to put toward a purchase, etc.) when they use the app consecutively for a certain amount of time.
They Look Good
If you want people to download and use your app, it needs to look good. Design matters. There’s no getting around it.
When creating the user interface for your app, make sure you’re keeping things simple. If you use too many colors, patterns, or fonts, people are going to get overwhelmed and end up exiting the app.
Make sure the design is consistent across the app, too. Use the same colors, fonts, and images to improve the appearance and provide a more cohesive experience.
They’re Easy to Use
You can see that design is important. Don’t forget, it’s also important for your app to be easy to use.
Good app creators don’t make people guess at how to navigate it and get from one point to the next. They make sure features are visible and keep the layout as intuitive as possible.
Keep platform guidelines in mind, too.
Think about where your app will be available for download and make sure you’re following all of that platform’s rules. This will improve usability and ensure people continue using your app after they’ve downloaded it.
They’re Responsive
Finally, remember that a successful app is a responsive app. Speed is of the utmost importance when you’re creating apps.
Forty-seven percent of users expect a page to load within 2 seconds. If a page takes longer than 3 seconds, 40 percent of people will abandon it altogether.
If your app is slow or unresponsive, you’re going to lose downloads and users, and your app will not be as successful as you’d like. When you’re testing and getting ready to launch, be sure to make speed a top priority.
How to Build an App
Okay, you’ve got an idea for an app that will check all the boxes listed above. Now, it’s time to turn your idea into an actual product.
Follow these steps to design and build a successful app:
- Create a business plan: A business plan helps you figure out how you’re going to fund your app, how long it’ll take (approximately) to get it ready to launch, how you’ll earn money from it, and how you’ll measure its success
- Create a marketing plan: Figure out how you’re going to spread the word about your app and get people interested in downloading it
- Develop a prototype: A prototype outlines how your app will look and how different features will be laid out
- Develop a Minimum Viable Product (or MVP): An MVP is a usable version of your app that allows early users to get a feel for it and provide feedback for future versions; if you don’t have the skills to create an MVP from scratch, you’ll need to partner with an app or software development professional
After you and your developer (if you hire one) have finished creating an MVP, you’ll be ready to launch your app. From here, start collecting data to see how people are responding to the app and figure out how you can improve it in the future.
Create a Successful App Today
Now that you know what goes into successful app development, it’s time to stop researching and start doing.
As you begin the development process, be sure to keep the tips listed above in mind. They’ll take away a lot of guesswork and help you create an app that your target audience will love. At Alpha Bravo Development, we are here to help you every step of the way. Reach out to us to start building your dream app?