7 Easy Steps
to Create a Successful Mobile App
The Devil is in details and sometimes these details become key points in creating something new. Developing a mobile app is no exception. According to Statista, by 2023, worldwide revenue from mobile applications will increase to 900 billion US dollars. On the one hand, this indicates an ever-growing interest in the mobile development market, but, on the other hand, the level of competition is also growing, which means that it becomes more difficult for a new mobile app to gain its place on the market. But those who work hard and make the right decisions can achieve excellent results. Follow these 7 simple steps to create an app that will meet your bright expectations.
Find a free guide to mobile app development here.
1. Tell Your App Story
This step is all about your idea. Why am I talking about a story then? It’s simple. Ideas are pretty abstract until you give them some form. Thinking of creating an app, you need to clearly understand what exactly should be the result. What are the business goals of creating this application? For example, you want to attract additional interest in your business or the app itself will become your business, and you plan to monetize it.
Who needs your application and why, what functions it performs, and how it should work. Try writing a story about how your potential user interacting with your mobile app. Something like:
This is Kara, which works 8 hours a day, she has 2 children and absolutely no time to keep fit. But by downloading your application, Kara’s life has changed. Now every day, push notifications remind her to do exercises that take only 15 minutes.
How it helps: Such a story will help you to correct your idea and transfer it to the planning level. You will have to answer specific questions about your app, its features, and how it works. This will help you to draw up clear requirements in the future.
2. Conduct a Market Research
Once you have thought through your idea, proceed to market research. It’s not complicated and no one forces you to conduct complex tests. Start with the data you can find on the Internet. The main tasks of this step:
- to determine your target audience (your future users);
- to study competitors;
- to understand how you can be better than competitors.
Believe me, during the study you will think about stuff that didn’t even cross your mind at the first step. You may find that your idea is not new and worth refining, or that your target audience has slightly different needs that you can satisfy with a specific mobile application. Look at the data of the market with which you intend to work (local, global, specific country or regions).
How it helps: The success of your app directly depends on this step. Developers don’t really care which product to develop, they will create what you ask and everything will be right from the technical side, but if you don’t take into account the specifics of the market, the application will fail at the promotion stage.
3. Turn Your Idea into MVP
MVP is a minimum viable product. In other words, it’s the most necessary minimum of features and functions of your application that will help you to test its viability on the market. Imagine that you have been working on a product for 2 years, thought out, and developed every detail, and after the release, the project failed. You lose everything. To prevent this from happening, it’s better to create a version of the app with the minimum functionality that needs to be developed. Then you can test it on real users and modify your product taking into account real feedback.
Read how to create an MVP for your product in our recent article.
How it helps: An MVP strategy reduces development costs and also reduces the risks associated with delivering an unwanted product to the market.
4. Choose the Right Technology
If you have passed the first 3 steps long ago and are interested in the technical part of the question, here we are. Mobile applications vary in type, and the price of development depends on the type. Traditionally, these types of mobile applications are native, hybrid, web, and PWA.
- Native mobile applications are developed for a specific operating system (Android or iOS). They are highly productive because they are created taking into account the characteristics of a particular operating system.
- Web applications will run on two operating systems at once because they are not exactly mobile applications. The user interacts with them using a browser.
- Hybrid and PWA apps are a cross between mobile and web applications. They are also cross-platform, but each type has its pros and cons.
The choice of the type of mobile app depends on your business goals and intentions (return to step 2). Here are some common cases of when and which type you should choose.
! Please note, it’s better to consult with developers before making a final decision. Contact us for a consultation.
How it helps: Choosing the right technology, you don’t have to overpay for the development of your mobile application. Also, by choosing the wrong type you can get an app that doesn’t live up to your expectations.
5. Create UX/UI That Your Users Would Like
UI/UX design is not only an attractive visual part but also the convenience of your mobile application. People get rid of apps that are difficult to work with. According to Fortune, 75% of apps are used once after downloading, and then never used again. Resort to the services of professionals to create a UI/UX that your users would like. It’s significant. Your users will interact with your app, so it should first be liked by them.
How it helps: Good design encourages app users to take useful actions, whether it’s a purchase or a subscription, and make them return to the app again and again. Try to create an intuitive and simple interface that will help your app find its fans.
6. Find the Best Ninja App Developers
Even the finest idea can be ruined by a poor-quality implementation. Find a trusted development team with wide experience creating mobile apps. Of course, development prices vary by region, company size, and project scale. You can use outsourcing services. For example, you can find good developers and loyal prices in Eastern Europe. According to the Skill Value report, the top 5 countries with the best developers include specialists from Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine.
Read how to calculate the approximate cost of product development yourself here.
How it helps: Spending time selecting a software development partner you will get rid of hundreds of possible problems in the future. Experts will choose technologies that will help implement your idea in the best way, using their experience and skills.
7. Test Your App
Never skip this step. Testing is needed to make sure that everything works as intended. It’s better to identify the problem before the release, than a week after. Test the interface. Test usability. Test performance and stress resistance. Open your app on different devices. Get interested in the results of technical tests by the development team. It’s okay to find a bug, the main thing is to fix it in time.
How it helps: Without testing, you’ll need more time and resources to maintain a product than when investing in testing. Therefore, you save money by launching a proven application on the market.
Read how to build a peer-to-peer payment app here.
What’s Next?
Once you are sure that your app works as you need, it’s time to launch it. Congratulations! Although there is still a lot of work ahead with submitting the app to the app stores and regular updates (which should also not be ignored), you have gone through the main 7 steps in creating your perfect mobile app. Don’t ignore these stages of planning and developing a mobile application. Make sure that you have done your best to create a quality product. Success loves preparation.
