If you’re dreaming up new app ideas or already working on one, consider this: the success of your app depends a lot on your reason for building it. Do you want to keep up with the latest trends and follow other entrepreneurs? Is there a problem your app can resolve? If your answer is the latter, you’re off to a great start. Here, we’ll look at six of the main steps to build a mobile app.
1. Solve a real problem
If you’ve got an idea in mind, that’s great! If not, it’s time to discover what you want from your mobile app. To be successful, you must have an idea that stands out from the competition.
Should there already be a target market for your mobile app, you have access to endless information on the highest quality and most-used apps in your market. But if you’re looking to solve a problem, the key to success is to think beyond the problem and outside the box.
2. Know your market
Next, you need to identify if there is a demand for your mobile app. Take a look online to discover if a similar mobile app or cloud-based service already exists. If similar products exist, that’s a good indicator that there is already a market for your idea. Your future competitors have already developed that market, which means it’s your time to swoop in and steal the thunder.
But if a similar product does not seem to exist yet, then you face two possibilities. Either you’ve struck lucky, or someone before you has already explored this path and hit a dead end.
3. Draft your app’s flow & features
Once you’ve identified the problem and the market, it’s time to detail your mobile app in a document. When you’re doing that, remember to be as detailed as possible. Include in your flowchart how users will navigate the app and explore potential features.
Once you’ve created a detailed draft of your mobile app and any related services, look closely at features you can remove. If you want to go the extra mile, use a wireframing tool for designing an in-depth layout of your mobile app.
4. Embrace your team & users
Design is not just about how your mobile app looks; it’s about how users will experience the app. With that in mind, don’t focus on just developing your app quickly — make the user experience your priority. During the design stage, it’s a great time to seek out a development and design team.
Before you hire a team, be sure to check their credibility and the apps they’ve created. Chances are, that if you like an app from your chosen team’s portfolio, they will be the right one for your app development.
5. Launch & integrate
When you’re almost ready to release your mobile app, you must register for a developer account with the app stores of your choice to be able to sell your app through their platform. You can register as either an individual or a company.
Once you’ve created your app store account, integrating analytics is essential. To track your mobile app downloads, user engagement and retention, analytics will help you gain a better insight into your mobile app performance.
6. Leverage feedback for updates
Once you’ve launched your mobile app on an app store, you can analyze your first users’ usage behaviors and potential issues. Those will give you a better understanding of how to enhance and improve your app.
You’ll likely also get user feedback — but don’t wait for users to leave their feedback in app store reviews. Instead, be proactive in your app or in your marketing and motivate your users to give you honest feedback. In your development modification stages especially, it’s vital to pay attention to your user experience and feedback.
Since you built the first version of your mobile app with limited features, it’s now time to evaluate and prioritize user feedback to help you plan new app features and updates. Refer to the analytics and feedback to determine if some features are still relevant, and if others aren’t. Never stop upgrading and developing your mobile app to its full potential.
Summing up
These six steps to build a mobile app aren’t essential, but rather serve as guidelines to ensure your app development building process is effective and seamless. For most app creators, building the app is the easiest part. The biggest challenges are getting and keeping customers.
MobileVillage has more app development tips and news here.
