3 Tips for Developing a Mobile App Users Will Love
Developing a mobile app that user love isn’t easy. You may have a good idea but it’s all about the execution and the end product. Your development team has to know how to make that brilliant idea a reality. And that reality has to be a way that users respond to and enjoy.
Here’s our guide to developing a mobile that that your users will love.
1. Make Your Mobile App As Simple As Possible
A common misconception with mobile apps is that users want the app to do everything straight out of the gate. That’s not true. Your users are busy people and they don’t want to spend hours trying to figure out how your app works.
Instead, you should aim to make your mobile app as simple as possible. Before you begin developing it, you should figure out how your app helps (e.g helping users remember their shopping). Then look at the easiest way to do that. Ask yourself if your features need lots of instructions or if they are intuitive.
Some examples of mobile apps that are easy to use, but provide huge benefits to their users, are Instagram and Endomondo. Instagram only has three steps: the taking or choosing the photo/video, choosing a filter and then posting it with a caption. Endomondo lets people do sports, track their fitness and set goals for themselves. This isn’t easy to create, but for the end user it looks really simple.
2. Add New Features Over Time
With those core features completed and released you can think about other ways to aid your users. Don’t try to pack everything into your app at launch. Some features may be overlooked. Consider what your users actually want afterwards.
If you listen to your users and take their thoughts into account, you can do things that they’ll love. For example, Snapchat previously let users send photos and video but then it added ‘Stories’ and ‘Story Events’. It’s users were documenting their days and documenting events they were at (e.g festivals). So Snapchhat released features that allowed them to do that in a more organised way.
Additionally, adding new features over time is a great way of getting the word out about your mobile app. You can inform the media and put out press releases about it. This should increase downloads even after launch.
3. Optimise, Optimise, Optimise
To guarantee that your users love your mobile app, you should be testing it on them. Even if you’re releasing features that that they’ve asked for and are improving their daily lives, your app may struggle if it isn’t optimised.
Optimisation is when your mobile app offers the best experience possible. Whether this is the name of your app, the icon you use, the placement of its buttons or even the size of its font, these little things all add up for a fantastic user experience.
Nearly all the elements of your mobile app can be tested and measured for optimisation and conversion rates. This eBook from Optimizely offers some good tips, such as a survey where users have to find and download your app and then give you a rundown of what they like or would change. That information is incredibly valuable and you should tweak your app accordingly.
