5 tips for making a successful app

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In spite of the reassuring statistics that people are spending more time on a mobile device and that the mobile app market is flourishing, developing a successful app is not that easy.

Even with a good understanding of the logic behind the user flow of your app, testing it relentlessly and at length, and working with zest to enable a hassle-free user experience, you can miss a spot or skip a step, and end up with a poor-performing app. Sometimes, the deepest insight in the app development sphere, backed up by years of experience, won’t do the work. Without a generous marketing budget, an ability to choose the right tools and the right team, and remain open to a particular approach in app development, you won’t be able to monetize the app to bring in and grow revenues that will justify the investment.

Certain developer challenges are more and others are less obvious. In a nutshell, not all apps fail because the project team did the job poorly or because the development process didn’t work. The reality of many successful apps shows that without an affluent amount of money to be spent on marketing, the app launch is destined to fail. Instead of relying on earning the ‘success’ tag only by merit, you must bring the product out there to the customers.

What is a typical development pathway that leads to success?

Although a golden book of app development has not yet been created, many winning apps have been brought to life by implementing the following helpful tips:

1. Identify a gap in the app development market
Exploring customer needs for mobile apps is not unlike other businesses that are trying to provide a solution to aching, frustrated or ambitious customers. Most great app ideas are generated by solving a problem and thinking of the features that will support that solution. Customers can be unpredictable, but you can’t start the app development journey without clearly defining your target users, the mobile platforms and supported devices, and without developing the revenue model.

Having a narrow focus in the initial stages can overlook a group of users. By designing for the average user interface, you can exclude a group of users. Have a look at these disability app development tips to see how can you make an app more inclusive. This is an example of making apps accessible to users who need support in hearing, sight, screen orientation, and color perception by integrating assistive technologies.

Target users are linked to the device type. When you develop for users, develop for devices, too. Consider performance, battery life, coverage and other device features.

The next question that needs to be answered in the initial stage is the revenue model. The final thought here is that you’ll have to attract the users who will actually spend money on your app, regardless of the revenue model – paid, in-app purchases, freemium, ads, subscription or pay-per-download. While programming the revenue model, think of how much money you have to invest in developing a free application, because most of your budget will be spent on marketing.

2. Pay attention to designing your app
This stage comes as a natural consequence of the previous. In fact, they are not strictly separated. UI design is the primary task of app development teams as it creates that instant visual impact on users while providing functionality and usability at the same time. It is simple – the design again should hit the needs of the target group.

Following popular design trends, including bold contrast, multi-touch gestures, simple navigation and color schemes, and the 3-dimensionality of subtle depth, can help you impress the right group.

3. Pick a hybrid app development approach
Depending on the client consultation or the operating system, you may not be at liberty to choose hybrid apps all the time.

Sometimes, you will have to opt-in for a native approach to deliver a unique user experience. Since they take longer to develop, native apps are costly and can burden the project budget or harm the time management.

In contrast to the platform-specific apps, web apps work on multiple platforms, cost less and take shorter to finalize. In face of simplicity, the user experience can suffer. If you choose hybrid app development, in a way, you get the best of the two worlds by using native technology and sprucing it up with web coding.

4. Make that prototype
After all that research and planning, it’s important to know when it is enough and get your hands dirty to make a prototype. This is the step where ideation and imagination turn into a product to check its initial functionality and see how well it corresponds to the generated ideas.

The prototyping stage is important if you are working with a client that has a specific request because you can rework or recalibrate the features to fit their demands. But, it is also equally if you are into an independent app development project since prototypes present benefits in a more palpable way to potential buyers, investors or licensing authorities. Since it is out in public, this is the crucial moment to secure the code and encrypt the data to protect your app.

5. Measure, improve and market
The last stage is really a dynamic multi-action process where you need to measure the app performance and success, check for bugs that need to be fixed and investigate user behavior to make improvements. Improvements are about continuous system updates, security requirements and user preferences.

Don’t underestimate the funds you’ll need to spend on making the app visible on the market. This vital step in the app development process is a breaking point of success. As the mobile app market becomes more saturated, it is not easy to stand out immediately and make a fast return on investment.

Conclusion: You can take an imaginative idea to a final app faster if you leave your app development team some time to discuss the project, explore the competition for amazing precedents that already exist on the market and draw a sketch of what should the product look like. Always think of the project size in line with your budget and let the revenue model be a guide to how much you can innovate and how much you need to use from templates. Don’t forget to make time for finding the right app development company.

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