Category Archives: mobile application development

Quick Tips for Mobile Application Development

The world is at our fingertips, thanks to the presence of smartphones and mobile application development companies who keep on coming up with innovative mobile apps that make life easier. There are a multitude of mobile apps available in the Google Play and Apple Stores to cater to different user needs. All this has an impact on the world as a whole. Many companies are looking forward to developing their own mobile applications so that they can better communicate and sell their products to their target audience.

Your app should aim to meet the primary needs of the user or the business you are developing the application for | Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flikr)

The following are some quick tips that a business or developer embarking on mobile application development efforts should keep in mind.

Ease of use

Even though almost half of the world population now own smartphones, it does not necessarily mean that that everyone is an expert at using them. Your application should be easy to use and created in such a manner that they intuitively serve their assigned objective. Difficult to use applications often puzzle users and are abandoned or deleted.

Create an offline experience

Sure your home and office sure have reliable WI-FI, but away from there the user of your application has a completely different experience. Sometimes, the network is slow; sometimes there is no network at all. Perhaps your app user is on a camping trip in a remote area. Or, maybe, they are on a flight and they don’t want to pay for WI-FI. That is why you need to think ahead about how an application works in the offline mode or when Wi-Fi isn’t available. You should attempt to provide, as much as possible, the same user experience even on spotty network areas.

You should plan on your app being available on as many devices as possible

An increasing number of mobile application development companies recognize that users no longer stick to a single device. Today, devices of all kinds – smartphones, tablets, phablets, wearables, etc. – are pouring into the market. For this reason, developers need to make sure their application is available across multiple devices and platforms.

Don’t pack in too many features

As a developer, your app should only aim to meet the primary needs of the user or the business you are developing the application for. Focus only on your target audience while building your app. Good user experience means doing more with less. Anything that the user will find difficult to use will not sell and this means wasted time, money and effort on your part.

Test your application

The main testing phase in mobile application development comes after the application has been coded and before the launch. Most of negative app reviews are associated with bugs that were not picked up before the launch. So it is important to spend a decent amount of time testing the application throughout the whole process — to ensure its quality.

These tests are absolutely important in order to ensure that you are entering the market with a strong product. The application may not pass your testing the first time but if you run it through the cycle of tests a few times and make the necessary tweaks and improvements, the application will eventually hold strong.

Conclusion

Creating your first mobile application can be a challenging experience. It requires a great deal of technical, designing and development knowledge. However, the above tips can give you a great start. If you start in the right direction, you will definitely be able to create great applications that will serve users and companies better.

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Are You Improving the User Experience of Your Mobile App?

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User experience is a topic that is hotter than ever in the world of mobile app development. According to a new study conducted by Survata Research Partners, 64% of the mobile marketers surveyed from enterprise brands, said “the top priority for their mobile apps is to enhance the customer experience and drive customer loyalty.”

According to Greg Stuart, CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, who was quoted in the report, “This is a significant shift from 24 months ago when mobile apps from this class of enterprise brands were primarily for sharing information or driving commerce transactions.”

The top priority for their mobile apps is to enhance the customer experience. | Photo: TechStage (Flikr)

How does this shift of focus affect you and your mobile app development?

These marketers have realized the importance of user experience and are rapidly making changes to improve their apps. Brands who fail to acknowledge the importance of creating an intuitive, pleasing user experience will find themselves falling behind their competition who are working to improve the experience of using their app.

How do we improve our apps’ user experience?

Should you wisely decide it is the time to improve the user experience of your application, you should know that user experience design is made up of a range of disciplines, from customer research to information architecture and knowledge management, interaction design and user interface design. Many businesses choose to hire in-house specialists but there are many UX agencies that can be hired to help improve your product.

Is it worth it?

According to some studies, every $1 invested in UX can have a return of up to $100. Clearly this can make a big difference on the bottom line of your business. It benefits your customers and it benefits your brand. Remember that customers want to interact with apps that are pleasantly designed and easy to navigate. This is why apps that have positive UX earn repeat visits from users.

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4 Pro Tips to Improve Your App’s User Experience

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As any app developer can tell you, these days it takes more than compelling content to get users excited about your mobile application. Beyond that, keeping their attention once they are interested is not a given. Businesses need a strategy for their app’s engagement and user experience.

Here are some tips to consider before you start your mobile app development project. Not only will they help you improve the user experience of your application, but will help you increase engagement with your application.

Do Your Homework

Consumers are used to apps with good user interfaces and will rapidly abandon substandard apps | Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flikr)

As mobile apps have grown and evolved over the past few years, many companies have rushed to publish a mobile app or web site. Because of this we have reached a point that only apps that are engaging will be used by consumers. Consumers are familiar with apps with good user interfaces and will rapidly abandon substandard apps.

Carefully review apps that have are doing well and evaluate what works for those apps. Keeping up with the times is important too. Are flat interfaces in or more dimensional types of interfaces? What type of navigation is your target demographic used to using?

Put Your Users First

When you start your app development process, put yourself in your customer’s shoes and try to understand what they would want in your app if they choose to download it. Avoid over complicating your app, most successful apps have a tight focus rather than trying to be all things to all people. Then you can review and prioritize these features and expectations to start to formulate a streamlined experience that will appeal to your consumers.

Keep in mind that the attention span of most mobile consumers is very short. Some say as short as 8 seconds now (Microsoft). You don’t have long to grab your user’s attention. The best way to do that is to avoid the hard sell and focus on improving your custom’s user experience.

Keep It Easy to Use

When planning your user interface for your app remember to keep it easy to navigate and devoid of clutter

Remember the qualities of the mobile format and how your users use their devices. You will want to provide concise content without unnecessary clutter. Make sure to use readable fonts that are easy on your customer’s eyes. Don’t forget to peak their interest by suggesting other items or content on your app by suggesting they look at what is trending on your app. Or make use of editor’s picks or customer favorites.

Personalize

No longer can businesses simply create a single ad and just hope it will do the trick. These days businesses need to understand their customers and deliver content based on their likes, preferences and buying habits. Consumers have come to expect personalization.

If your customer is going to engage with your app through their phone, they expects a personalized user experience. To do this you will need to utilize data from their demographic info and app usage, additionally you can factor in context by considering their geographical location. Users are often willing to provide info on their interests that can help you customize the user experience and make it more relevant.

Final Thoughts

Mobile phones have changed our lives and the way we do business. You will need to understand how to market your brand via these amazing devices as soon as possible. The opportunity is there for those that choose to do so.

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3 Hot Ideas to Improve Your Mobile User Experience

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App design has become more and more customer focused since the mobile app first came out. Consequently customer experience is king when it comes to mobile apps and rightly so. Before you start your next mobile app development project make sure you think about how you will be collecting data, what data you will be collecting and how you can use it to benefit your app’s user experience.

Make sure you think about how you will be collecting data | Photo: TechStage (Flikr)

Here are three hot ideas on how to improve your app’s user experience using data:

Personalize

The modern shopper and app user wants a personalized experience. Your users will expect you to not only understand their needs but also be able to deliver messaging based on those needs. Businesses that are able to do this will be able to build a more personal connection with their customers. Using data such as a users name, age, gender or location in your messaging can help improve response. Simply using a customer’s name puts your message in a more conversational tone that customers respond to and by developing a full plan based on delivering personalized information you can use your apps to build customer relationships.

Keep a sharp eye on privacy

I think we have all experienced marketing that is so targeted that it comes across as creepy. One day I was buying a pair of boots for my daughter at Journeys and came home to find my Facebook feed full of Journeys ads, I have to admit I felt fairly creeped out at that moment. You need to respect your customers desire for privacy and not step over boundaries. Customer’s respond favorably to ads that are relevant and interesting but will be put off if they feel you are going too deep into their personal lives. You need to be strategic with what data you collect and how you use it.

Be data savvy

Be collecting and analyzing the right data you will be one step closer to a great user experience, but remember the experience is only as good as you data. A quality data analyst or architect can be very useful in helping you with this stage and you will probably realize it is easier than you think it will be if you talk to the right data analyst. Focus on the information that is important to your customers. What is their purchase history? What is their behavior while using your app? What demographic data have they given per their profile? Once you have this data you can use it to personalize your messaging to customers.

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Engage Your Mobile App Users with Location Based Marketing

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Location-based mobile marketing not only creates opportunities for businesses but benefits your consumers. Mobile is part of our lives today and with the effectiveness of location-based marketing programs it is important that businesses leverage the tools available at their disposal.

Location based marketing brings context into the marketing equation and is the perfect tool to leverage time and place. With a little planning prior to your mobile application development and the proper communication with your iPhone app developer or Android app developer and you business will be able to communicate personalized communications with your customers at just the right time and in just the right place. Using geo-targeting, geo-fencing and beacons you will be able to enhance your customers’ experiences and improve your revenues.

Geo-targeting, geo-fencing and beacons can enhance customers’ experiences | Photo: CAFNR (Flikr)

According to Cisco, 61% of mobile application users have an improved opinion of a brand when it offers a good mobile experience. They also found the impact was highest when utilized location-based programs.

If you are not familiar with the difference between geo-fencing and geo-targeting or don’t know what a beacon is here is a quick overview.

Leveraging customer records that customers are generally willing to opt-in to in order to improve mobile experiences, businesses are able to dramatically improve relationships with their customers. This data allows businesses the ability to deliver a personalized message based on a user interests. Geo-targeting involves delivering specific content based on the location of a user. This location is easily determined based on the location of their smart phone. Imagine you run a chain of sporting good stores and want to increase the effectiveness of your marketing. Geo-targeting allows you to deliver content that will likely be of interest to users depending on their location, for instance you might want to showcase sales on surfboards in California locations while sending out push notifications to Arizona users highlighting hiking boots and mountain bikes.

These marketing efforts can be augmented with a geo-fencing program that allows notifications to be sent whenever users are withing 5 miles of one of your locations or perhaps withing 5 miles of your competitor. Studies have shown ads to be delivered within 5 miles of a retail location to be highly effective due to the contextual relevance.

Once customers are in your retail location beacons are tremendously effective for delivering content while with the store. Beacon technology allows you to be notified who a customer is when they walk through the door. While this customer walks through your store notifications can be delivered based on their location within the store and data regarding their interests, making for a truly effective engagement program. Customers will appreciate that you can anticipate their needs and deliver the content they are looking for without even asking for it.

This all leads to a scenario where a customer researches a product via your app one day and then receives a notifications from your business when they are driving by your location attracting them in. Once that customer enters your store your store manager can great them by name and your mobile app could remind them of the product they were looking at a couple days ago.

Remember that customers will not be engaged if you messaging is not relevant and that location is an important factor in relevance. The better you can engage your customers with relevent data the more likely they will be to use your application on a regular basis.

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