Why Your Business Needs a Mobile App: 10 Reasons

Does your business have a mobile application? If not, you’re missing out on so many opportunities to grow your brand and increase your client base.

There are a wide range of advantages of having a mobile app in business, from increases in sales to greater website traffic.

With strategy and planning up front, a mobile app can take your business to the next level and help you get ahead of your competition.

In this article, we’ll break down ten different reasons why businesses need mobile apps and how to get a mobile app for your business.

#1 Engage Your Customers

The average person spends over four hours a day on their mobile device, according to multiple studies and research efforts from various sources, including Nielsen, Pew Research Center, SmartInsights, and more.

For this reason, you want to ensure that your customers have easy access to your business on these devices, and the best way to give them this is through a mobile app.

If you make your business easily accessible to consumers, they will be more likely to engage with you and your content.

Another key to engaging your customers is making sure that the actual content within your app is engaging.

The applications that are the most successful today are those that help users achieve some sort of service or assistance with greater ease than they could without use of the app.

Try to think of a way to simplify one of your common business processes and allow users to complete it within your mobile app, whether it is placing an order or submitting a request.

#2 Increase Your Brand Awareness

Another reason why your business needs a mobile app is brand awareness, it’s essential to growing your business, and having an application is a great way to make your company accessible and known to customers.

Make sure you create an app that is brand-focused and centered around your company’s specific branding strategy.

This way, as consumers interact more with your app, recognition for your brand will increase.

In order to make your mobile app centered upon your specific branding strategy, pay special attention to detail during the design process

Use color and other design elements to your advantage by remaining true to the brand throughout.

#3 Generate Customer Loyalty

Another reason why businesses need mobile apps is to create customer loyalty, essential when it comes to long-term growth and success for your business.

A great way to begin building customer loyalty is through a loyalty program that you can initiate through a mobile app.

This program needs to be something that incentivizes people to continue to return and do business with your company.

For example, Starbucks utilizes a loyalty program where users earn stars with each purchase they make using their app, leading to an eventual free drink of their choice.

However, it is important to note that you do not necessarily have to have a loyalty program to grow your customer loyalty.

At the end of the day, loyalty is generated through repeated satisfaction and sincere interactions with your brand.

If your app is fulfilling a need and working well for consumers, they will become loyal to your business over time.

Although a loyalty program may be helpful here, a strong mobile application with a well-crafted user experience can build loyalty on its own, this is also why your business needs a mobile app.

#4 Build Your Audience with Valuable Content

If you really want to widen your audience and attract new users to your app, you need to provide content that holds some value for consumers.

The best way to generate valuable content is to ask yourself what your customers’ greatest needs are.

If you are able to create an application that fills a need people have or gives them information unavailable anywhere else, you may be able to widen your audience.

A great way to increase downloads and drive an audience to your mobile app is by incentivizing users with company-specific content that they cannot find anywhere else.

Whether this is an article that you make specific to your application, or a sale that customers can only partake in through an in-app purchase, make something exclusive to your mobile app.

The exclusivity will make your content more valuable, driving more people to download and use your app.

#5 Improve Sales

As a general rule, customer satisfaction will help to increase sales. In order to grow customer satisfaction, make sure that your mobile app leaves users feeling content with their time on the app or service they received.

Knowing how to get a mobile app for your business that can adapt to any device can make a huge difference in your sales.

Another way to increase sales through your mobile app is by creating a company store within the app.

Being able to make purchases within the application saves consumers the time of going to your website and through the entire checkout process there.

Instead, you can create a simplified checkout process within the application, which will likely drive sales just because of the ease of purchase.

#6 Create a Direct Marketing Tool

A mobile application can be extremely valuable to your business if you use it as a direct marketing tool.

A company-specific mobile app gives you a lot of power to push special sales and promotions right at customers’ fingertips.

You can make sales specific to the application, so that people are driven to use your application, or you can simply use the application as a tool to promote your special offers. Use mobile push and in-app notifications to your advantage, so that you can keep users engaged as much as possible.

Also, pay special attention to the descriptions and reviews that you choose to feature on your app, as these can give your app an edge as a marketing tool.

Your mobile app should be a place where users develop a positive perception of your brand, through your in-app content and marketing efforts.

#7 Drive Traffic to Your Website

Something very important to recognize is that a mobile app provides a direct connection back to your website.

If done right, your app can complement your website by providing a more personal experience that still connects back to the site.

If this connection is strong, you can drive lots of traffic to your website through your mobile app.

A mobile app is also very important to keeping users focused on your company and products. When customers are browsing the web looking for products, they experience a lot of noise and can be distracted by other companies’ offerings or advertisements.

However, a company-specific mobile app completely reduces that noise, because the app is solely focused on your brand and products.

#8 Connect to Social Media

If you strategize properly, you can use your mobile app to connect back to your social media platforms.

If you link back to your social media pages, users will likely be driven to those pages and potentially engage with your content on social media.

Be smart about how you integrate links back to social media within your application, and watch your social media impressions skyrocket.

Also, you can incorporate social media by encouraging users to share something on their social media pages, whether that is a review or link to your site.

The additional exposure for your brand is another reason why your business needs a mobile app.

#9 Gather Meaningful Analytics

Technology makes it so much easier to collect data, so why not have your mobile app collect analytics for you.

If you put in some work up front and develop a strategy for collecting data, you can generate some valuable insights from your mobile app.

A mobile app can help you track downloads, user engagement, and products that users show interest in, among other things.

Over time, if you track these metrics, you can use your data to develop a better digital strategy, which can be extremely beneficial for your company.

#10 Maintain Your Competitive Advantage

If no other reason has convinced you that your business needs a mobile app, this one should do it alone. In this day in age, every business needs a mobile app.

All of your competitors likely already have a mobile app or have one in the works.

Although this may depend on your industry, if there is a need for a mobile app, you need to create one or you will get left behind your competition.

In addition, if you are able to get creative with your application, you can take a giant leap ahead of your competition.

Especially if you’re in a field where not a lot of businesses have a mobile app, developing one may just be the thing that sets you apart from your competition.

Conclusion

In summary, having a mobile app for your business is absolutely necessary in the technology-driven world we live in today.

Without a mobile app, your business is missing out on so many advantages and opportunities for growth.

Although developing a mobile app may take a little work up front, it will be worth it in the long run and you should gather a few Mobile App RFP‘s from trusted mobile app development companies.

If you would like to request a Mobile App RFP from our team, please click here.

You will be able to watch your engagement, sales, and loyalty increase as your mobile app works its magic.

For these reasons, your company simply must have a mobile app to compete in the business world today.

Top 7 App Design Ideas

As an app developer, when was the last time you stopped to look at current trends for app design ideas in the development world?

You know, mobile apps are constantly evolving to improve the user experience, and it’s your job to keep up.

Oftentimes app designers keep their heads buried in their projects and forget about what consumers want today.

Try to break that mindset if you can, and put what the user wants first. If you excel at these app ui ideas, users will choose your app over one of your competitors, every time.

Swiping Features

There is some deep rooted psychological proof that swiping is in human nature. People love to swipe, even from a young age.

You need to have swiping features in your mobile app. If you’re still not convinced, just take a look at common dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hily, and so many more.

All of these apps are seeing huge success right now, and all of them use swiping as a primary feature proving to be some of the best mobile UI (user interface) design.

At this point, it’s almost impossible to deny a feature that is so apparent in so many successful apps.

It’s likely your mobile app doesn’t involve consistently swiping through potential matches, so how can you use a swiping app UI design to your benefit?

There’s so many places you can implement swiping. If you sell a variety of items and have them on display, that’s one place swiping can be extremely effective.

Customers love more options, and making it easier to go through each option with a swiping feature is a great app design feature.

Adding swiping features in any direction is going to be good, and you don’t have to be a dating app to implement good app design styles.

Here’s an example of one of our favorite trading apps Robinhood, where swiping on different stocks in your portfolio makes trading much easier.

Screenshot of Robinhood’s unique design, the swiping feature.

Voice Interface and Voice Search

Voice search is an app ui idea that has become increasingly more popular as voice search technology advances.

It’s getting easier and easier for smart speakers to pick up your voice and provide you the exact results you need.

When it comes to mobile apps, a voice search navigation feature can make the overall user experience of your app much better.

Depending on the app UI design of your mobile app, voice search could be an amazing app design idea.

Voice integration is not limited to the search feature though. Users can navigate through your app via voice commands.

Hiring a mobile app developer that can implement voice interfaces is going to be your best bet since they can provide you with a variety of app design styles.

One of the best apps that utilize voice search is YouTube. Their mobile app has voice search integration for on-the-go searching, making it extremely easy to find the video you need.

Vibrant Colors and Gradients

Choosing the right set of colors and gradients is crucial to a beautiful app design. Below, we break down two common approaches for the best mobile UI design.

Flat Design

The best app UI ideas combine a flat design with captivating gradients and shadows. Flat design has been around since the beginning of mobile app development, and is often still very effective.

Flat design is the most simple design style and makes the user experience pleasurable and positive.

Essentially, flat design avoids 3-D elements at all costs, and focuses on simple, bold colors and other style elements.

Flat design is amazing for the user experience, but can be boring to some users. This is why a concept called Flat 2.0 was implemented, in which skeuomorphic design elements are used as well.

Skeuomorphism

Skeuomorphism is the opposite of a flat design concept, in which 3-D elements are preferred and are used more often.

The goal is to mimic real-world elements and to make a mobile app feel alive. Skeuomorphism does this by employing elements like gradients and shadows, making parts of the app feel 3-dimensional.

While this style does work to improve the user experience by catering to natural human interpretations of objects/items, many designers feel the style of these app design ideas creates too much clutter, and makes using the app much more difficult.

Combining the Two

This is why combining both flat design trends along with a few skeuomorphic elements seems to be the best combination for great app design.

For example, the use of a gradient on an app background is a skeuomorphic element, but when done correctly, a flat design can still be implemented.

Gradients add a lot of depth to any scene, making a seemingly boring page come to life with emotion.

On top of using gradients, choosing vibrant colors seems to be a big trend in app design ideas.

Picking truly vibrant colors that match with one another for best mobile ui design can be difficult, so head on over to the Adobe Color Wheel to get colors that match.

Personalization

Arguably one of the most important app design ideas trends, personalization helps differentiate you from other apps just like yours.

The app market is becoming consistently more saturated, and you have to do something to stand out.

Personalizing your app is one way to show consumers that they should stay on your app because of the amazing user experience and great app design it provides.

There’s a few different ways you can personalize your mobile app, one of them being through eCommerce.

Most eCommerce style apps will tailor specific products to you based on what you’ve already scrolled through or taken interest in. Amazon is a great example of an app design that does just this.

Any app build that provides content should be able to personalize in some way. Over time, content should appear that align with their interests.

Content personalization is only one way to improve the user experience.

Creating user profiles for each user experience and delivering different app functions based on a specific user category is another way of personalizing a mobile app.

If you can make your app feel like it’s designed specifically for a user, you’re on the path to the best mobile UI design.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is definitely still a work in progress, but is becoming more and more prevalent as the years go by.

Now, let’s get the distinction right between AR and VR, because they are very different. VR (Virtual Reality) is a completely immersive experience that blocks out all real world input, and focuses the user entirely on computer generated content.

AR (Augmented Reality) on the other hand superimposes digital content onto a user’s real world view.

This makes it seem like there are digital elements actually within the real world. It is considered a composite view between computer generated content and the real world, making it much more applicable to mobile apps.

While the current applications of AR are somewhat limited to superimposing cute looking animals onto your camera, we are headed towards commercializing AR.

Being able to see and interact with products and services in augmented reality is the next step.

Augmented reality enhances the user experience by a massive amount, and if you can find a way to implement it into your app, you absolutely should.

Dark Mode

Dark mode is one of the best design features you can add to your mobile app. This is especially true for apps that use a lot of white space.

After a while, constantly looking at a white screen becomes a problem of eyestrain for users.

For users that use your app frequently, a dark mode could be an amazing option that will greatly enhance the user experience.

Some of the most popular apps have dark, or night mode built in. Reddit is one app that does this, and allows users to avoid eye strain, and remain on the app longer.

A lot of white space is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact it’s amazing and makes designs pop out much better.

Although a consistent downside is the eyestrain users face when looking at a white screen for too long. If you find your app to be in this category, maybe it’s time to implement dark mode.

Video and Animation

Stagnant app pages are a thing of the past. Customers are getting bored more easily, and need content that moves to keep them interested.

On top of being able to keep users attention, animations allow users to understand your content better.

Most people are visual learners, and will have a much better time navigating an animated app rather than a stagnant one.

From loading animations, navigation animations, to visual feedback animations, there are so many ways to implement interesting animations into your mobile app.

This seems to be a design trend that’s here to stay. Users simply love animation.

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As you can see, there’s a whole lot of trends to keep in mind as we cruise through app design ideas.

Some of them are not new app UI ideas, but are still the main trends that keep us busy. At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to improve the user experience in any way we can.

It just so happens that following great app design and implementing them into your app is one of the best ways to improve UI.

Hopefully we went through some design trends that you’ve already been doing, and maybe some that we surprised you with.

As your favorite mobile app development company, we strive to keep you up to date with all the latest trends. If you’ve found a trend that didn’t make it in our least, we’d love to hear about it!

Finding The Best Idea For an App

So you want to create a mobile app, but you don’t know where to start. Finding those innovative app ideas that haven’t been made is one of the biggest obstacles that keeps many “would-be” app creators on the sidelines. Just brainstorming an app can be overwhelming.

The idea is the most important feature of your app. It doesn’t matter how fast your app is or how well it’s designed; if you don’t have a unique and useful app, it won’t matter.

So how do you come up with an idea for an app? It starts with a problem (or problems). After you have determined the problem, then it’s time to brainstorm for solutions.

Next, think of people who have the same problem and ask them if your solutions would work for them, this is a way to get the best app ideas. Finally, prioritize.

Prioritize what’s going to be important and where you’ll need help (you’re probably going to need help).

Let’s get started.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the breakfast of developing an innovative app; if you skip it, you’re starting out on the wrong foot.

While you may be excited about app ideas that haven’t been made that you can’t shake from your head, it could be unrealistic or unwanted.

Imagine putting in hours and hours of work into your app, only to hit a wall where you find yourself needing an advanced programmer that you don’t have a budget for.

Brainstorming will force you to think abstractly of the many alternatives. You’ll have many different ideas to pivot to if things don’t work out right.

Even some of the most brilliant apps have had to pivot at least once. Brainstorming is a process, and you shouldn’t rush it all in one day. Find a problem, let it simmer, think of solutions.

Finding The Problem

For many failed apps, finding the problem was the problem (is there an app for finding problems for apps?).

What’s currently inconvenient for you or your business? Are you struggling to remember birthdays? Or are you and your coworkers having difficulties collaborating on projects?

The more you look at your day, the more you’ll find these small problems that we all somehow put up with. Whatever your problem is, there are probably more people out there struggling with the same issues.

When you find a problem you like (or hate), think of more issues that can relate to it. Think about the other people who are silently struggling along with you.

Who are they and what other issues do they have? Thinking of other people will force you to think more objectively and abstractly.

You can often find a root problem and smaller branch problems. Once you have a problem, think of how you can scale it up or down, this will help you get an idea for an app.

It’s important to not miss the forest for the trees; if you have a real niche idea, think of the bigger picture. If you have a big problem, think of different avenues you can explore.

Let’s go back to that birthday reminder idea. What other problems are those people having? They could be struggling to keep up with other personal relationships in their life. Maybe you can use your app to send periodic reminders to check in with uncle Jim from Houston. You just used your target audience to expand your vision.

You can explore this idea, and determine whether this is something that is worth expanding into. If you broaden your idea, you can find more apps like it on the market that you can review for research and investigate app ideas that haven’t been made.

Now let’s go back to that collaboration problem. What specifically are you and your coworkers struggling to collaborate on? Are files not being updated to the right location? Or is it too difficult to manage tasks across multiple platforms?

Now, you’re using your target audience to narrow in on specific problems. Specific problems are helpful because they are more easily acted on. For a big problem, you can probably think of a few problems that could contribute to it.

Finding Solutions

team looking for best app ideas

You’ve thought of your target audience, you have a firm grasp of your original problem and even considered the alternative problems. You can now think of solutions with the best app ideas.

In this stage, you are going to want to do a lot of research. You want to identify similar apps that are tackling a similar issue and what solutions unrelated apps have thought of as well.

Next, you want to start using your research to guide your own solutions. Finally, prioritize what solutions will be most important for your app.

You shouldn’t rush through the research phase. Since you have an understanding of your problem, start searching for apps that are already on the market that try to solve that problem.

Don’t get discouraged if you find something that was exactly what you were thinking of, you can use that as app inspiration.

After all, apps borrow from each other all the time, just look at Uber and Lyft. You’ll want to pay attention to the competition’s features, look and feel, and reviews.

How have other apps made their user’s lives easier? How do the other app’s interfaces look? What are people saying in their reviews?

Reviews are a goldmine for competitive research. You can easily find your audience’s pain points and if that app is doing a good job of solving those problems.

Next, you’ll want to look at other popular apps on the market. What features do they have? Can you apply what they’re doing to what you want to do?

Some of the best ideas are combinations from across industries. Make a spreadsheet with at least each app’s features, and any common customer complaints and compliments. It will pay dividends down the road.

Now it’s time to hit the drawing board. Using what you know, start thinking of ideas from mild to wild. Don’t think of the cost yet; you can think of that later.

Begin making your list of all the possible features you can include. When you feel like you’ve made an exhaustive list, write one more idea.

Finally, begin to curate your ideas. Which features would work well with one another? Which ideas would take a long time to produce? Begin to rank what features are essential and which ones can be left out.

You can always return to your list when you’ve launched your app for updates or pivots. With the ideas you do have, think of a nice thirty-second pitch.

You now have your idea for an app figured out and you’re ready for the next step, validation!

Validating

You made it! You have your app’s big idea all figured out. Now you can think of this time as a pre-testing time.

Go to your friends and family first. Tell them to be as honest and straightforward as possible.

The app industry is tough, so you want to have a firm understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Show them your other ideas, and get their opinion if there’s anything on your list they’d like to see.

Next, find your target audience. One of the easiest ways to find your audience is through online communities. You can easily go to places like Reddit or Twitter to get opinions on your idea.

People online may not be shy to tell you if they see a flaw, or they could not respond at all. Take feedback in stride and use it to improve your app’s idea.

Now you should have a complete understanding of your app’s direction. You can now work out the order of what you want to tackle first. Make a list of priorities.

Your main job from here on out will be to keep your list of priorities in check.

Conclusion

Finding an idea for an app for your mobile app can be tricky. It takes a lot of work and a lot of critical thinking to get that breakthrough idea.

Once you have your idea, you’ll have to think about what needs to be done and where your weaknesses are for creating your app.

If you’re confused about certain stages of the development process, mobile development tools you can use, or need professional assistance, reach out to us for any of your app development questions!

Modern Mobile App Design: Basics Guide

In this day and age, having a mobile app is crucial for many businesses. According to a 2017 study, more than half of the world’s population owns a smartphone and more than half the world’s web traffic comes from mobile phones.

For this reason, mobile phone app development is no longer an option for businesses. You need to have the best, most beautiful app design you can.

Innovative mobile app design is essential to compete in the mobile world, no matter the industry you are competing in, the app design trends are always changing.

So you need to develop the best mobile app around, but where do you start? It is most important to recognize that your focus should be on user experience (UX) throughout this process, UX is one of the mobile app design basics.

Within both design and product strategy, you need to focus on UX. You want to promote retention and re-engagement through your design, and the way to do this is by prioritizing your customers’ experience while using the application.

iOS vs Android App Development

Of the operating system market share, Android holds 68%, while iOS holds 29.2%. However, the United States is the only country in which Android and iOS hold a relatively equal market share.

For this reason, it is important to develop an application for both platforms, in order to optimize for users on both operating systems. However, there are pros and cons for each operating system, which are outlined below.

Android Operating System

Pros

When developing an application for the Android operating system, a major benefit is that Android is a relatively open system.

This allows developers to have more clarity into the inner workings of the operating system, which makes application design much easier.

In addition, publishing on the Android Play Store is fairly simple and quick, which makes it stand apart from other operating systems.

Cons

The major drawback of developing an application for Android is how fragmented Android devices are.

There are so many different types of Android devices with extreme variations in screen size, which is one of the basics of mobile app design, it makes developing and testing very time consuming and expensive for this platform.

iOS (iPhone Operating System)

Pros

On iOS, there is much less fragmentation than on the Android platform. This makes iOS application design much easier. In addition, iOS has a standardized User Interface (UI), which also simplifies the design process.

Revenues have also been found to be much higher on the iOS App Store, as iOS users tend to be extremely loyal to the brand and are willing to spend more on app purchases.

Cons

Some drawbacks of developing an application for the iOS operating system include it is fairly expensive compared to other platforms, and the iOS App Store has exclusive and restrictive publishing.

Also, because of the standardized UI, there is a lack of customization available for app designers on the iOS operating system, but that shouldn’t stop you from having a beautiful app design.

Steps to Creating A Modern Mobile App Design

In a 2016 conference, Google Developers shared with us their principles of modern mobile app design:

So you understand the importance of having a mobile application and the different operating systems, but how do you actually design your mobile app in the best way possible?

In the duration of this post, we will outline the three steps to the basics of mobile app design development: research, design, and testing.

Step 1: Research

Early on in the research process, you must identify your company’s goals in developing a mobile app. What are you trying to generate with this application?

Depending on whether you are trying to generate interest, engagement, or profits, your app design will look very different, this will determine your mobile ui inspiration.

Identifying these goals early on will allow you to make sure that your application aligns with your overall company strategy.

Discovering the purpose of your app is key here. Are you interested in making money off of your app? Think about how monetizing your app could affect your overall design and layout.

Continuing in the research process, it is a good idea to make sure you have a strong general understanding of mobile applications as a whole.

Stay on top of smartphone innovations and how they affect app design trends.

As an app user, learn to identify what you do and do not like when using an app. Check out your competitors’ applications, and see what features they offer and how their applications are performing.

Developing an understanding of mobile applications and the current offerings available to users will help you to develop a product that stands out from the crowd with a modern mobile app design.

The most important step in the research process is gaining an understanding of your audience. Use personas to determine what will drive your users’ actions within the application.

You can use user scenarios to generate insight into how a persona will act and develop experience maps to display each step a persona is likely to take when using an app.

This will allow you to see all possible conditions for a single user interaction within your application and help you understand all emotions and circumstances surrounding those steps. Researching your audience will allow you to design an application that meets all of their needs.

Step 2: Design

When beginning the design stage, start with the basics of mobile app design: simple prototypes and create a strong core.

You want to keep the interface relatively simple, as this will optimize speed and minimize your bounce rate.

Throughout your application, it is important to create consistency and use common UI elements. Be purposeful in your page layout and consider learnability for your customers throughout your design process.

If your application does not render quick learnability for your customers, you may need to rethink your design.

Throughout the design process, do not underestimate the importance of details. The details of your design are crucial, and may be what sets your application apart from your competitors.

Usability

When it comes to the usability of your mobile app, navigation needs to be made easy for users. This is not an area where you should get super creative, a beautiful app design can be the simplest one.

Pay special attention to detail. You should consider how people physically navigate a mobile app.

Most users navigate their mobile device using one thumb, so it is important to consider the “thumb zone,” or the area that users can reach with their thumb.

If you place an important feature or link in an area outside the thumb zone, this can make navigation and usability difficult for users, you can always check out other successful apps for mobile ui inspiration.

In addition, you should try to optimize your application for as many screens as possible, so that users can use your app on any device.

Color Scheme

As you design your mobile app, the color scheme is an important detail to pay attention to. When using color throughout your design, it should be used strategically to direct users.

Use color to draw attention to your CTAs, so that users are led to engage with the areas you would like them to.

While using color may be helpful, be sure not to use too many colors, as this can become very distracting and confusing for users.

As you are selecting colors, make sure you stick to those that reflect your branding, not personal preference.

Typography

When inputting text throughout the application, ensure that both the text and font is easy to read.

In modern mobile app design, the spaces between the lines and words are also important.

The screen space is very limited on a mobile device, so you want to make sure to utilize spacing in the best way possible, so that the text is easy for readers to read.

Also, you can use typography strategically to create hierarchy and clarity. Because spacing is so limited, using text strategically to develop a sense of hierarchy can help minimize the overall amount of text needed.

Affordance and Signifiers

Affordance is the relationship between the human mind and technology. It gives users cues on how to interact with the technology, without explicitly giving them directions.

Again, because space is so limited, affordance and signifiers can be extremely helpful.

You should use signifiers so that users do not need to think about what each UI element does, but know intuitively how to interact with your application.

This helps with both learnability for users and the limited spacing.

Step 3: Testing

Testing is one of the most important steps of mobile app design basics, because it helps provide quality assurance for your product.

Testing can reveal imperfections and help you find ways to improve through real interactions with the application.

The testing process should begin towards the end of the design phase, and you should thoroughly test your application through multiple stages, including:

  • Case and script design testing: Tests battery usage, app speed, data requirements, memory.
  • Manual and automated testing: Tests basic functions.
  • Useability and beta testing: Tests compatibility, UI, external factors, accessibility.
  • Performance testing: Tests functionality, installation, upgrades, sign-up and login, device-specific functions, services testing.
  • Security and compliance testing: Checks for security certificates, secure network protocols, encrypted usernames and passwords, restrictions on login attempts.
  • Device testing: Tests on all devices, cloud usage.
  • Control testing: Detailed tests to stabilize apps and uncover minor defects.
  • Test summary report: Documentation for the entire testing process.

Summary

Beautiful app design is a long and tedious project, but hopefully this guide gives you some insight on how to develop a successful application for your business.

In summary, here are some of the most important tips to remember:

  1. Make sure you understand your audience! Before even beginning the design process, dedicate some time to researching your audience and personas to help drive the rest of your project.
  2. Consider ease of usability for users throughout the process. From early prototypes to the testing stages, your focus should always be on making sure your application is easy for users to navigate and understand.
  3. Throughout the stages of design, consistency and simplicity are key. There’s nothing wrong with getting creative, but especially in the world of mobile app design, a consistent, simple design may be the best thing for your audience.
  4. Don’t forget to pay special attention to detail as you navigate through your mobile app design. Details, from your color scheme to signifiers, could be what sets your application apart from your competitors.
  5. Finally, testing is key to strong product quality. Do not underestimate the importance of testing, and be sure to maintain a thorough, critical eye throughout this process.

Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to developing a modern mobile app with a design you can be proud of.

Finding The Best Mobile App Development Company for You

So you want to hire an app development company for your new app idea, but how do you find the right one?

Choosing the right app development company for your project can be a difficult task. You want to ensure that the company is the right fit for you in every way, from your project scope to ease of communication.

Here are some things to look for to determine if an app development company is a good fit for you and your company’s needs.

Determine Your Own Goals

Before approaching a development company, you first need to design your entire project scope.

You need to make sure you have an understanding of what your company’s needs are so you can make your desires clear when discussing the project with potential developers.

Make sure you know the exact details of what your app is addressing, from goals to features.
Most importantly, make sure you have a clear understanding of the user needs you are looking to meet.

During the custom mobile app development, creating an amazing user experience is crucial to the app’s eventual success.

In order to create a good UX, you need to thoroughly explain the user needs you would like to meet with your application to the development company.

Where Do You Begin Your Search?

Now that you know your project scope, it’s time to begin your search for an app development company to work with.

There are a wide variety of resources you can use to find a mobile app development company, but the best places to start are with your professional network, social media, mobile app company online directory websites (such as Upcity), and search engines.

Your Professional Network

A great place to start your search is with your professional network. Inform your connections of your high-level needs, and ask them if they have any recommendations or even if they have experience with custom app development.

Your professional connections are a great resource for mobile app development companies that you may not have heard about otherwise.

Also, fellow professionals in your industry may know of companies that are a good fit for the specific needs of your field.

Social Media

Social media is a great tool to find a company to work with. On your various social media networks, be sure to post and describe your project and its requirements, sharing as much information as you feel comfortable.

Then, you can essentially wait for the best app development company to come to you. Social media can be very helpful in reaching developers that you may not be able to otherwise.

Online Directories

Online directories are another great resource for finding the right app development company for your project. Clutch, GoodFirms, Toptal, and App Futura are just a handful of websites that you can use to find an app development company.

These websites contain profiles of app developers, including their portfolios and reviews of their past work.

While doing your research and reviewing these profiles, pay special attention to companies that have won awards, have been mentioned on tech news sites, and have good, relevant experience to your project scope.

Search Engines

Finally, search engines can be a useful tool in finding a company to work with. Just keep in mind that search engines typically only show big-name companies on the first page, and these big names may not be compatible with your budget.

However, if you keep digging, you are bound to find the best mobile app development company for you.

Make sure you pay special attention to these companies’ reviews and past work before you pursue working with them further.

Take a Look at Their Portfolio

Once you find a company that you think may be compatible with your business, take some time to take a careful look at their portfolio.

Review their past work and even download some of their applications. Don’t just trust what the company tells you, but make sure you are able to see their real output.

While looking at the development company’s portfolios, gather an understanding of their process and methodology.

Ask yourself if their strategies will be compatible with your goals for the project. If you think the answer is yes, it is time to move forward and see if this company can meet all of your needs.

Can They Meet Your Needs?

Now that you’ve found a company to work with, the next question you need to ask yourself is whether or not they can meet the needs for your specific project.

From the early stages of design, to the final launch of your app, you want to ensure that this company will be a good fit for your custom app development.

Here are some factors to consider when determining if an app development company can meet your needs.

Platform

It is important to know what platform you want to use up front. If you want to build an app for multiple platforms, make sure the company you choose to work with has that capability.

You do not want to put yourself in a corner and choose to work with a company that can only develop for one platform when you need your product optimized for multiple platforms.

Design

Consider each company’s approach to user experience in app design. Ask yourself, “can this company design the app for my target audience?” if they can, you are on your way to the best mobile app development company.

By examining their past work, you can determine if a company has the experience necessary to design for your audience.

Remember that design is just as important as coding, so it is definitely something to consider when choosing a development company.

Timeline

As you look at app development companies, consider your project time constraints. Make sure the company that you choose has the capacity necessary to meet your desired timeline.

Regardless of whether or not you have a strict or short timeline, you still want to develop a timespan for your project and that the best mobile app development company will be dedicated to it.

Launch

When your app is complete and ready to be launched, you must first submit it to the designated app store(s). It is important to understand that a good firm will guide you through the submission process or even submit the app for you.

Once your app has been launched or near launch, you must consider the marketing efforts you will use to promote your app.

An important question to ask your app development company is whether or not your app will be integrated with social media because this will make a great difference in the marketing of your app.

When discussing the launch process with an app development company, try to look for a company that will stick with you throughout the entire process.

If you do not have experience launching an application, you don’t want to get stranded after development is complete.

Maintenance

Maintenance is another key area to discuss with a potential development company. Be sure to ask if they will be willing to make corrections if any bugs or problems arise.

Also, ask yourself if this is a company you could see yourself working with long-term so that you can potentially work with them to release app updates or add new features and functionalities as time passes.

Pricing

Although the price is an important factor to consider while choosing a company, don’t let price drive your decision making.

It is more important to have a good product over a cheap one, so try not to fall into the trap of choosing one company over another because it is less expensive.

While looking at pricing, keep your budget flexible. Make sure the company you choose is competitive in comparison to similar companies.

Also, gather a careful understanding of their pricing terms. You want to have a complete picture of their pricing so that nothing takes you by surprise down the road.

The Takeaways

Picking the best mobile app development company for you is definitely not an easy choice. Your project is likely very important to you and your business, so choosing a good company to work with is a priority.

If you want your project to go smoothly and be successful, you need to ensure that the custom app development company you choose is a good fit for you in every way.

Consider these final tips to help you make the right choice for your next app development project:

  • Make sure you take the time to examine the company’s previous work through their portfolio. This is the best way to determine how the company approaches app development and if their work aligns with your project goals.
  • Ask yourself if you and your potential development company have compatible work and communication styles. Without this compatibility, your time working together can become very difficult. However, determining your compatibility ahead of time can help avoid any issues and can lead to a very successful work relationship.
  • Along with determining if your work styles are compatible, you need to create a collaborative, communicative environment. You want to be involved in the process and not left out of the loop, so emphasize the importance of communication from the get-go.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask any questions you have up front! Get all the information you need about a company and don’t leave yourself with any unanswered questions. Even as you get deeper into the project, never hesitate to ask any questions you may have so that you are in the loop and content with the work being done.
  • Finally, prepare for a long-term relationship with your app development company by discussing strategies for measuring progress and success. By determining success metrics up front, you can make your needs known to the app development company. This will allow them to work to meet those needs from the very beginning of the project.

Follow these tips and you’re well on your way to choosing the best app development company for you!

 

5 Ideas On How to Monetize an App

If you’re thinking of ways to monetize an app, having an app monetization plan is essential if you want to push your app to the marketplace.

Unfortunately, if you’re an app creator, it’s a race to the bottom for the cheapest app on the market, which means you have to get creative with how you make money.

There are a number of monetization plans that could work for your app. You must know the pros and cons for each method.

It’s best to have your monetization strategy in place as soon as possible so you can have a focused path that’s ready for development.

The best policy for app monetization is transparency. The app market is chopped full of scam apps implementing sketchy practices to steal away money from their users.

Be ethical and upfront in implementing a monetization plan. If your plan is to just rip people off, this blog post is not for you.

At the end of this blog post we will give you the best mobile app monetization method, so stay tuned!

The Freemium

Freemiums have picked up a lot of steam in recent years as one of the most popular app monetization models.

They work by bringing in users with a free version of your app, then once you have them sucked in, the user has the option to pay for additional add ons. It’s one of the most effective and scalable methods on how to monetize your app.

With a freemium model, you want to be growing, growing, and growing. The “free” listing on the app store is enough to build a small community from the beginning, but after that, you want to have free users coming in who could be converted into paying users over time.

An important caveat to the freemium model is you have to make upgrading worth it to the customers. Your free version needs to be good enough for the customer to use and want to come back to, but not so good that they have no incentive to upgrade from.

You need to strike the right balance, and you should be researching early on to find what your customers want the most.

Don’t underestimate the value of free users, as they can still be useful. In an article published by Forbes, Vincent Kumar, a professor at the Harvard Business School, estimates that a free user is worth about 15% to 25% of a paying user.

If you make your app too unusable for free users, they will get mad, leave, and trash your reviews. Conversely, if your free app is too good, you run the risk of not having enough paid users to keep the lights on.

There are many different approaches you can take to building out an effective freemium model monetization strategy. For this section, we’ll talk about feature freemiums, capacity caps, and free trials.

For more information on freemium models, check out this article by the Harvard Business Review.

Featured Freemiums

Feature freemiums are best for apps that are providing a tool. If you’re building a photo editing app, you might include special photo filters as a freemium feature add on.

Like all freemiums, your paid features need to add value for your users. For feature freemiums, your paid upgrade needs to fill a user’s niche.

You need to have the expectation that the majority of your users will not pay for an upgrade. With this in mind, keep a pulse on who are the people who get the most out of your app and what their needs will be.

Pay attention to reviews on competing apps and what your early adopters are saying. To help you with this process, create a buyer persona. Finally, prioritize what you want to develop first for your freemium features.

Capacity Caps

You see capacity caps most frequently associated with cloud storage and business apps. They work like this: users are given a fixed cap in their usage, and when they reach that cap they have to pay.

Capacity caps are often stratified with layers of payment plans. Oftentimes, the unit cost decreases as capacity cap increases. This can incentivize the heaviest using accounts to continue to upgrade.

Again, you want to make the capacity high enough to work for casual users, but low enough to incentivize heavy users to upgrade.

Free Trials

Free trials are another common freemium model, but it comes with the risk of losing a lot of users. Free trials are self-explanatory; they work by giving users your app for free for a limited time.

You can also use a free trial to promote freemium features. You want to make your free trial bulletproof, so users will want to stay. Even still, after the free trial ends, you will likely see a mass exodus of users.

Virtual Goods

The highest earning video game of 2018 was a free game. You’ve probably heard of Fortnite by now, but if you haven’t, it’s a free game where players can opt into paying for new player skins and challenges.

Fortnite made $2.5 billion (yes, that’s with a B) in its release year in revenue from a game where the only incentives for paying didn’t even affect the gameplay. This video by Wisecrack does a great job of explaining the economics behind this new monetization strategy trend.

Most game apps make money from selling virtual goods or upgrades. Sometimes this means gameplay upgrades, extra lives, or bonus levels; other times it’s just cosmetic customization.

Character customization in games has really caught fire in recent years. The reasoning is many players want to stand out. Character customization is built around scarcity; rare features demand more money.

As a game develops a community, secondary markets for skins and items will often pop up. If you develop a game, you should pay close attention to your community and what they value. Start a forum and search for where your community hangs out online.

Virtual goods are almost exclusive to games. Keep tabs on how to monetize an app in the wide gaming world to succeed in the mobile game arena.

Advertising

Advertising is one of the hardest business models for apps to succeed in. In order to generate significant revenue, you need to be receiving tens of thousands of monthly users.

For an app like Instagram, this is no big deal, but for a small app, this is one of the hardest ways to monetize an app.

To make this work, you need your app to be free and accessible so you can generate a larger audience. Then you’ll have to find a mobile app ad broker to place ads on your app.

You’ll have to negotiate what types of ads can be shown, like: banner ads, video ads, text ads, and more.

You’ll also have to negotiate how much you’ll be paid for each impression, oftentimes it’s hard to earn a good rate.

If your app shows too many ads, you can easily disenfranchise your audience. Many apps that take in ad revenue have other app monetization plans built into them.

If you just want to build an app for your existing brand and leave it, then advertising could be a decent option to make some money back.

Don’t expect to make tons of money off of advertising alone until you have hundreds of thousands of users. Consider combining the advertising business model with the freemium model as a monetization strategy, tastefully, of course.

Paid Apps

Once upon a time, the paid app model dominated the market in how to monetize an app. Now, they make up less than half of total app revenues. The rise of the freemium model has made paid apps look less attractive for users.

New app creators are at a significant disadvantage with the paid app model. Without a track record or a brand image, getting potential users to choose your paid app over a free app is almost impossible.

Paid app models are incredibly straight forward. You know exactly how much revenue you’ve generated from the amount of users you have.

Once you have paying users, it’s hard to generate more revenue from them. In order to make money, you need to get new people to download. This where effective marketing and premium design needs to step in.

To attract new users, you need to have convincing campaigns across multiple marketing channels. Your promotional images need to be clear and understandable to potential new users. You need to sell the benefit that this paid app is higher quality than that free app next door.

Paid apps aren’t dead. The most popular paid apps are often business, photo editing, and productivity apps.

If you have multiple paid apps out, you can sell them in a bundle at a discount to lure in more users. Create effective marketing campaigns for your app that is designed to convert users.

Subscriptions

Subscription plan as a monetization strategy

Subscriptions have really become a popular and profitable way to monetize an app or software. Some of the best apps are subscriptions: Netflix, Blue Apron, Adobe.

Subscription apps take a lot of the same strategies of other app business models. First, you need to convince your customers to pay for your app. Then, you can incorporate freemium models for higher tier subscriptions.

You shouldn’t just have one level of subscriptions; your most avid users will want more eventually.

You are going to need to convince your target audience that this app is not only worth paying for, but paying for repeatedly.

You need to be continuously providing value, whether that comes from frequent improvements or consistently great products.

Of course, you are going to need to have great marketing to get users to sign up. Build relationships with your users, and listen to what they really want.

Retaining customers is the key to the subscription model. Your users are paying for a consistently great product that will work and get better all the time.

There are plenty of resources for subscription models. This video by Polymatter does a great job of explaining the allure of the subscription model, and this article by Zuora gives 9 keys to running a subscription business.

Subscriptions are one of the most sustainable business models when monetizing an app, but you’re never going to convince users if the benefits don’t justify the costs.

Conclusion

So what’s the best app business model? Here’s our answer: elephant, cheetah, mouse — that’s it! Okay you’re probably confused but hang with me.

Each of these animals have evolved to fill their particular niche. You would never call an elephant a failure because it can’t run as fast as a cheetah; these animals all have different goals. When choosing a monetization strategy for an app, you need to consider your goals.

What itch will you scratch for your customer? What do you as an app creator and a business need to survive?

In choosing a business model, you’re making tradeoffs. What works for one category, may not work for another. Adapt and find the right balance. You can combine aspects of different business models to know how to monetize an app that works for you.

Always keep an eye on the changing environment, and embrace innovation when you can. Most importantly, be upfront and honest with your users — they are your most important asset.

If you’re confused about certain stages of the development process or need professional assistance, reach out to us for any of your app development questions!

iOS and Android App Development: Guide to the Basics

Building a mobile app from scratch can be a daunting task. This process isn’t easy, but it’s definitely not impossible either with the right mobile development tools.

In this article, we’ll help you break down how to start iOS and Android app development from the ground up, starting with wireframes, to launching your application, and beyond!

Step #1: Define Your Objectives

Before beginning iOS and Android app development, you need to start with identifying your objectives for the project so you can have the right mobile development tools.

Make sure that you have defined your goals as clearly as possible.

Start by asking yourself the basic questions:

  • What types of features should your mobile app have?
  • What issues or pain points is your mobile app addressing for the end-user?
  • Is the idea for a mobile app a realistic business model?

Make sure to take a look at your business objectives and how your app will fit into your overarching goals.

Once you have defined your goals, create use case scenarios and begin some basic sketching.

After you have an understanding of your objectives and clear direction of the project, it’s time to dive into market and competitor research.

Step #2: Conduct Market & Competitor Research

Before you begin working on your mobile app design, it is crucial to conduct your own research on what is popular in the market right now, as well as what your competitors are doing.

We are not saying to copy your competitors, but instead, generate some ideas of how you are going to make your mobile app better and more user-friendly.

Step #3: Create Wireframes

Developing wireframes for your mobile app is a key component in iOS and Android app development.

Knowing what a wireframe is, how to approach wireframes, and what you should and shouldn’t do with wireframes is essential.

What Exactly is a Wireframe?

Wireframes are digital, fairly basic sketches of app layouts. Think of them as the templates or blueprints of the final visual layout, they are an essential part of the mobile development tools.

They show how the app will transition between its various screens and menus. Wireframing also helps demonstrate the basic foundation for the UI (User Interface design) and UX (User Experience Design) flow.

Put simply, the wireframe is worrying about how the features and functions will become cohesive and run off each other.

Approaching Wireframes

It is vital to understand how to approach wireframing. It is important to know what you will be using and how the layout and designs will work with each other.

The most important part of the approach is to keep in mind that this is for a client.

You have to approach the layouts and features in the way the client intended. Luckily wireframes layout for the client step by step on how it will look and how it will function.

If edits are requested by the client, designers can go back in easily and adjust as needed.

The Don’ts of Wireframes

It’s important to realize that the wireframe is not a full-color mockup. A big problem people run into is worrying about the decorative feature of the app, this happens in both web and app development.

That is not what the wireframe stage should be about.

Need Guidance?

A lot of designers have had years of experience and know what works and what doesn’t work.

Even the best of the best have to look to other places for inspiration, and that’s totally acceptable.

Step #4: Design Full Color Mockups

Your app’s functionality should come first, but make sure you take the time to design an application that is appealing to the eye as well.

Replace the pieces of your wireframe with cool design elements and watch your application come together.

First, It is important to distinguish the difference between a mockup and a prototype. Unlike the prototype that is interactive, displays all the visuals and the user experience people will have, mockups contain the visual elements of the app, without being fully interactive yet.

During this stage, this is the time to mess around with the font, coloring, and other visual aspects.

There are plenty of tools online that show you how your font would look with a certain colored backdrop or how your spacing affects the design pages.

Using a colored contrast tool like Color Contrast Analyzer is perfect for this, as well as others.

Mobile development tools created just for digital product design like Sketch.com are hugely popular and great assets to use for mockups for web and app development.

If we could suggest the best digital product design software, we would suggest Figma.

We chose Figma because it has all the upsides of Sketch.com and more. It’s the best for team communication and collaboration as well.

What sets Figma aside from the rest is that it can be used on any operating system that runs a web browser.

So you’ve designed your full-color mockup, and you think it’s ready to bring to your client. You and your team have put your sweat and tears into this mockup and you need this to be a home run.

The link below is written by Luke Wroblewski (Product Director at Google), where he helps explain how to make sure that happens.

Step #5: iOS vs Android

iOS and Android app stores

iOS vs Android, Swift vs Java. The feud between these two continues to grow as they compete to be the number one platform to use for iOS and Android app development. How does someone know which one to use?

It all comes down to who your target audience is. Does your target audience prefer one over the other? Do they like to use both? If they like both platforms, you have to pick one to build first.

When deciding whether you want to launch your app on iOS and Android, There are five elements that everyone needs to consider:

  • Your target Audience.
  • How much time you have.
  • The features you want to have.
  • How much money you have for upkeep on app.
  • How much money you want to make.

There are plenty of benefits to both iOS and Android platforms, so it’s really up to what platform you prefer.

As mentioned previously, iOS (Apple) uses Swift for their apps. Swift is known for being quicker and doesn’t require as much code to be written.

Another benefit of iOS is that it is considerably cheaper than android when it comes to developing apps, 30-40% cheaper to be exact.

A third important benefit to consider with iOS is that research shows that Apple users are more likely to purchase apps from the app store.

Recently, Apple released Swift 5 which is now open source like Java. For those of you new to the programming language, open-source just means that it is available for programmers to use and modify however they want.

Android uses Java as its go-to language. Java script is known as the traditional coding language and the most widely used.

A benefit that android has over iOS is that it covers a much bigger audience. Android also has a huge benefit in that it doesn’t cost nearly as much to produce an app. Apple charges $100 and Android charges you once for $25.

iOS

Apple provides guides and materials for developing a mobile app. It’s a very comprehensive tutorial, so be sure to check it out if you have the time.

iOS app development is extremely fun, but can be challenging. Any roadblocks you have can be sorted out by app development professionals like us!

Android

Google offers guides and courses to help developers understand the Java coding language and SDK framework.

This guide is also very comprehensive (and free), so you can’t say corporate America didn’t give you anything for free!

The Benefits Of Building Both (iOS & Android)

  • If you want to expand your reach and get your app on as many devices as you can.
  • Catches bugs and other issues at a higher rate.

Step #6: Database Management (SQL)

When beginning to build your new app’s database, start by determining what sort of data you will need to keep.

This can vary from customer login information to app performance analytics. Then, draw an entity-relationship model (ERM) diagram to map out the relationships between the data.

Step #7: Time to Build Your App!

Once you’ve finished all of your planning, it’s time to implement! Here’s how to build your app the easy way:

Start with a test-driven approach

The test-driven approach is for the purpose of testing the requirements of a feature or something similar before it is used or accepted.

Coding

Accepting that bugs will happen. Bugs are pretty much inevitable, but not to worry, that’s what testing is for.

Tools to Use

Companies like Appium, Robotium, Testdroid, and TestComplete are just a couple of super helpful ones that offer many mobile development tools.

For example, Testdroid lets you run a test on real-life iOS and Android devices available on Github.

The biggest benefit is after every code check-in, these tools will be able to catch performance problems.

Step #8: Put Your App Through Rigorous Testing

Testing your app is a crucial step in the iOS and Android app development process because it helps ensure that the product you are creating is at the quality you would like and ready to be launched.

There are many types of testing you can conduct on your app, but these are some of the most important:

  • Functional tests: Tests basic functions and all application features, including but not limited to: battery usage, app speed, and memory
  • Performance tests: Tests functionality, installation, responsiveness, battery consumption, stability, etc.
  • Device specific tests: Tests app performance, test cases and scripts on specific device types
  • Usability tests: Tests compatibility, UI, external factors, accessibility

Step #9:  Launch on the App Store

In order to put your mobile app on app stores, you need to get the respective certifications for the app stores.

Enter the stages of manual review with the Apple App Store or Google Play Store in order to do so.

When it comes time to launch, release your application in cycles. This way, your launch process will be much more stress-free.

Step #10: Monitoring Your App

To monitor your app well, pay attention to metrics like response time, crash rates, and other performance-specific data.

Review user behavior metrics with analytics data, and the data consumption by consumers.

Also, make sure you pay attention to your online reputation. Monitor your Google Play Store and App Store reviews and respond to any that need your attention.

Takeaways

There’s a lot that goes into designing, coding, and launching a mobile app, but it can be done with proper planning.

Hopefully, this guide has helped you in iOS and Android app development.

If you’re confused about certain stages of the development process, mobile development tools you can use, or need professional assistance, reach out to us for any of your app development questions!

UX Best Practices: Mobile Apps With User Experience In Mind

The main focal point during any project you may undertake should be having the UX best practices in mind during the app design process.

What is User Experience?

User experience (UX) can be defined as a person’s emotions and attitudes about a particular product, system, or service.

UX is truly the intersection of psychology and technology, as it examines the relationship people have with the technological products they use.

The goal of a seamless user experience is to improve your customer’s satisfaction and loyalty with your company through their ease and enjoyment of use of your product.

UX takes into account user behavior, by examining how users navigate through the mobile application and optimizing the app experience so that it can be the best it can be.

Difference between UI and UX

User Interface

User interface (UI) is the external look of your application.

UI includes the basic features of a product, mobile app design, graphics, and presentation.

Additionally, UI should be presented so that it is appealing and attractive to the user so that they want to engage with the application.

Social Media App User Interface
Social Media User Interface Concept from https://www.mockplus.com/

User Experience (UX)

In contrast, user experience (UX) includes the internal workings of a product.

UX encompasses the feelings, perceptions, emotions, and preferences people have while during and after using an application.

In order to optimize user experience, it is important to make sure your design implements UX best practices in order to resonate with your users’ needs.

Mobile User Experience Example
Mobile User Experience Example image from https://www.behance.net

UX Design

Focus on Your Audience

When beginning to design your user experience, the most important thing to remember is that your design should be centered around your audience.

In order to better understand your audience, develop personas that you can use to predict user behavior. Use these personas to identify user goals, emotions, pain-points, and behaviors.

Starting by developing a better understanding of your audience will help you to remain focused on their needs throughout the design process.

Once you have a good understanding of your audience through personas, begin to map out your anticipated customer journey or user flows.

You need to be aware of every customer touchpoint throughout the user experience so that you can predict any problems or potential issues before they arise.

If you are able to anticipate your user’s needs and provide them with a seamless user experience, you can create passion and loyalty toward your brand among your audience.

Create Wireframes and Prototypes

Wireframes for a seamless user experience

Another of the UX best practices in the design process is to begin to develop wireframes and prototypes. When doing so, use user flows as the baseline for your product’s needs.

You want to make sure your product is centered around the user, so pay particular attention to user flows in the early stages of development so that UX remains a central focus throughout the app experience design process.

Wireframes

Wireframes are digital, simplified visual concepts for your project.

They are created very early on in the design process to gather an understanding of the basic structure of the application before adding visual elements and content.

Wireframing should be used to create a strong foundation and to develop a relationship between the interface and user experience.

This way, the UX best practices are treated as a priority starting with the beginning stages of the project.

App Wireframe Stage Example
Wireframe Example from https://www.uxmatters.com/

Prototypes

Prototypes are dynamic, interactive models that are created later in the design process.

They are created with their respective wireframe as their foundation, but take things many steps further by including the visual elements and content, thereby simulating the actual product.

Prototyping helps provide designers valuable feedback of both the user experience and the app experience.

Wireframe to Prototype Example
Wireframe to Prototype Example from https://uizard.io

Develop Strong Design Patterns

Design patterns are the relationship between the situation, problem, and configuration that solves the problem.

Design patterns will be found throughout your mobile app. When deciding on the best patterns for your product, try to use something that is natural and organic for the medium.

This is not an area where you should get overly creative, because you do not want to confuse or overwhelm future users instead of providing a seamless user experience.

When developing design patterns across the interface of your application, consider utilizing repetition among these patterns.

Consistency and repetition are fundamental best practices that can be crucial to improving user app experience because these qualities will make it easier for users to learn and understand your product.

As users move from page to page, they will not find themselves trapped in a continuous learning curve if your design patterns remain fairly consistent.

Use Creative Problem Solving

Throughout your UX design, remember that UX best practices should surround your everyday business processes.

The mobile app you are creating should be designed to fulfill your business’ and consumers’ needs. Be certain to not leave any gaps in your user experience that will hinder business processes.

Most importantly, try to create a product that answers your users’ frequently asked questions and provides for the needs they have expressed to you, and attempt to do so in a creative way. In order to develop an app that does this well, include non-designers in the design process.

Usability Testing

Usability testing is one of the most important steps in the design process.

Not only is usability testing important for quality assurance, but it reveals any flaws in your user app experience through real trials with real users.

This process tests how easy your mobile app design is to use on a group of users and is often conducted repeatedly with multiple trials.

There are two types of usability testing: low fidelity usability testing and high fidelity usability testing, which are described in detail below.

App Usability Testing

Low Fidelity Usability Testing

Low fidelity testing tests your initial design solutions, including your wireframes and very early prototypes.

This type of testing gives initial feedback on your design to see if the project is going in the right direction overall.

In addition, low fidelity testing can reveal any flaws in your early designs, which can help you to avoid larger problems later on in the design process of a seamless user experience.

High Fidelity Usability Testing

High fidelity testing is not so much a best practice but an essential part of the process, it uses your finished and more mature designs, including final prototypes or even the finished app.

These tests allow you to discover any possible mistakes that may still remain before launching your product.

High fidelity testing allows you to catch any errors before the product reaches your users, which helps you avoid having to do damage control later on if those errors remained in the launched design.

Now that you understand the types of usability testing, it is time to dive into the actual process of conducting usability testing on your design. Below we will outline the steps to usability testing.

Step 1: Create a Test Plan

Another of the UX best practices is to create a plan. In your plan, you should outline how you are going to test your product and what data you need to collect.

It is critical that you determine what metrics you are going to analyze ahead of time so that you can be sure that you collect all of the data you may need for analysis.

When creating your test plan, remember that the performance of your mobile app is just as important as its design. While your mobile app’s design is crucial to a positive and seamless user experience, the performance of your product can make or break the user experience.

If you have slow load times or broken links in your app, this can destroy the quality of your user experience. For this reason, make sure you incorporate usability testing for both the design and performance of your product.

Step 2: Conduct Testing

Once you have developed a plan, it is time to begin the actual testing. Usability testing is generally conducted by observing users as they attempt to complete tasks.

You then will record these users’ behavior and data as they navigate your mobile app and attempt various tasks.

Step 3: Analyze the Data

After conducting testing, it is important to analyze your data and gather insights from the tests you have conducted. There are two major types of data to analyze, the metrics you chose to focus on and user feedback.

Metrics

When conducting usability testing, there are a wide variety of metrics you can analyze, depending on your product type and company goals. Below we have outlined some of the most common usability metrics.

  • Completion Rate
  • Time on a Task
  • Number of Clicks
  • Conversion Rate

User Feedback

Alongside metrics, don’t forget to analyze and draw insights from the user feedback you receive during usability testing.

One of the primary goals of usability testing is to develop an understanding of how your application appears from the user’s perspective.

The best way to understand this perspective is through user feedback, so don’t forget to spend some time analyzing this feedback.

Step 4: Develop the Test Report

Once you have conducted your usability testing and analyzed the data, it is time to create your test report.

The overarching goal of this report should be to demonstrate whether or not users are able to complete their desired tasks, and if not, you should outline what changes are needed.

Takeaways

Overall, the UX best practices are to consider seamless user experience and app experience throughout every step of the design process for your mobile app.

From wireframing to usability testing, try to make UX a focal point for your creative energy. If you craft a user experience from the early stages of design, you’ll be able to create a mobile app that captivates users and their loyalty.

Now that you know how to craft a mobile app that is optimized for user experience, do you have an app idea in mind? Here’s how to find an idea for your next mobile app.

If you want our team to help you with any of these steps, click here to reach out to our team.

How to Promote an App: Essential Tips & Tricks

Have you ever developed a mobile app just to see it fail and not attain any users? Maybe you’re in the early stages of development and just have a really cool idea for an application.

Or maybe you have already completed your application, or even have had an application on the market. 

Regardless of where you are in the app development process, you must think of how to promote your app. It is very unlikely that your app will be successful if you do not take the time to develop an app promotion strategy.

Marketing is a crucial piece of ensuring your mobile app is a success. Having a strategic marketing plan for your mobile app is the best way to make sure your audience is aware of your application, to uniquely position your app in your market, and to incentivize people to actually download, install, and use your app.

In this article, we’ll break down how to advertise your app the right way. Follow these tips and your application will be successful in the marketplace!

Schedule a Release Date

The first step to marketing your mobile app is to determine your release date. This is because once you know your release date, you can strategize all other app promotion efforts around this date. 

In order to market your app well, you need to plan ahead. You will want to generate awareness of your new app long before the release date, so that you can have a successful launch.

Conduct Market Research

A basic part of how to promote your app is having a solid understanding of your target audience and competition. The best way to acquire this understanding is through the market research process.

Since you most likely built the app after you completed market and competitor research, you likely already have a good understanding of your target market.

However, it is important to ensure that you have a thorough grasp of your audience and competition before developing your marketing plan.

Understand Your Audience

One of your focal points throughout your research process should be identifying “where” your target audience is hanging out online.

This will show what marketing techniques will work best for your specific audience. 

For example, if your audience does not spend much time on a certain social media platform, there is no need to post on that platform to promote your application. Determining these characteristics ahead of time will save you time and effort down the road on your app promotion.

When creating a marketing plan, utilize personas based upon research. Outline pain points that your target audience experiences. Navigating around these pain points will speak volumes to your audience and will make your marketing efforts much more successful in the long run.

Conduct a Competitive Analysis

During your research, you should also spend some time gathering knowledge on your competition. Make a list of all your competitors and analyze how they position themselves as a brand, as well as how they position their product. 

Consider the verbiage they use to market themselves. If specific verbiage works well for your competition, you may incorporate similar verbiage into your own marketing strategy.

In addition, take notice of where your competition is the most active online, whether that is on social media platforms, their website, or paid media.

Again, if a specific strategy appears to work well for others in your industry, it may be worth considering implementing a similar one.

Develop a Message and Brand Position

In order to create your specific message, you need to ask yourself what makes your mobile app unique. Once you have determined your Unique Value Proposition (UVP), capitalize on that throughout your branding strategy. Your UVP is what sets your application apart from the competition, so do not hesitate to emphasize it throughout your app promotion marketing campaign.

If your mobile app has the potential to appeal to more than one target audience, you need to strategize for each of those audiences when developing your message and brand position. 

Develop messaging that is mapped out to speak to each of your target audiences, so that you appeal in a unique way that is specific to each one.

Gather PR Materials and Begin the Outreach Process

Once you have determined your marketing strategy, it is time to start gathering PR materials. You need to have pitch templates and a press kit ready, so that you are prepared to outreach when the opportunity arises.

One of the best ways to make your mobile app known to a wide audience is to outreach to journalists and bloggers.

Give them the opportunity to look at and test your app before launching. This way, these journalists and bloggers can give their audience the inside scoop on your application and generate buzz for your product long before the launch date.

Another important step in how to promote an app is to determine the list of websites you will submit your PR materials to once you launch the app. You want to have this list decided ahead of time, so that you can send out those materials soon after launch.

Generate a Media List

Once you have planned out your PR materials and outreach plan, it is time to develop a media list.

You should reach out to influencers, publications, bloggers, and others to secure backlinks. Developing backlinks will help you to get your message out there and to increase your visibility on search engines.

Create a Website or Landing Page

If you are planning on launching a mobile app, you should know that mobile websites are the number one source of app installs. This means that having a website can make a big difference in the number of installs that you receive. It can also help to get some early SEO while creating hype for your mobile app.

However, you may not want to create a website yet, and that is perfectly okay. At the very least, you should have a landing page.

Create a pre-launch landing page that includes a video trailer, to entice users to download your new app.

App Store Optimization

App Store Optimization, or ASO, includes the processes surrounding improving the ranking of mobile applications directly within the app stores.

By utilizing various optimization techniques, you can acquire a higher ranking for your application in the app stores, which will allow it to be visible to a greater audience.

Write Your App Name and Description (With ASO in Mind)

When thinking of how to advertise your app, make sure you create something that hooks users. You want to create a name that is catchy, creative, or unique, while also being easy for people to remember.

The name of your mobile app is definitely pretty important, so don’t hesitate to spend some extra time on this step.

Once you have a name picked out, it’s time to write your description. Make sure you outline the features and benefits of your app clearly, so that users who are browsing the app store can get a good understanding of your app’s capabilities fairly quickly

Also, add some screenshots and videos on how to use the app for people to glance over.

One of the most important steps to writing your name and description is keyword research. However, this step is often overlooked.

Don’t forget to conduct keyword research while writing, so that you can optimize your title and description and get your app exposed to a wider audience.

When preparing to place your application on the app store, ensure that you choose the right category for your app. Preferably, choose a niche category, which will give your application a higher chance of ranking in the app store. Also, make sure that your app is localized, meaning that it has the right location for its language.

Content Marketing is Critical

Content marketing is incredibly important to marketing your mobile app. Write a launch post, which you can post on your mobile’s app’s website blog and share on your social media profiles. 

Additionally, you can post the launch post on other blogging sites, such as Medium, or even LinkedIn if it’s relevant to businesses. 

When writing content, create posts that highlight the app’s features by showcasing screenshots and videos. You want to use your content strategically to convince people to download your app. 

To go along with that, creating a blog is one of the best things you can do for your business and new application. Quality blog content is a great content marketing strategy for app promotion to capture traffic from search engines and introduce people naturally to your mobile app product.

Strategize on Social Media

To use social media wisely to promote your mobile app, set up pages for the application on each social media platform. Try to use the platforms that are most popular with your target demographics. 

Once you have determined the platforms you will be using and have your accounts set up, start developing a strategy for your actual content.

Create a social media posting schedule as part of your content marketing efforts. Then, prepare your social media content ahead of time so that you are ready on your posting days.

As you brainstorm ideas for content, strive for content that is creative and utilizes multiple types of media, from videos to infographics.

Also, create a unique hashtag that you can use on your posts across all platforms. Make this hashtag branded and industry related.

The Takeaway

There are a ton of mobile app ideas and applications already on the market; however, if you market your app correctly, you can make it stand out among the competition.

When marketing your mobile app, it all comes down to execution. Make an amazing product that addresses your target audience’s pain points, and then take advantage of those qualities in your marketing campaigns.

Make sure you market your amazing product effectively so that it resonates with your target audience.

Follow these steps, and you’re well on your way to having a successful mobile app!