How to Plan a Mobile App
While on the face of it, mobile application planning appears like a simple endeavor, there are a substantial amount of things that happen behind the scenes that you would need to consider.
With the whole world going mobile, developing an app for your business appears as it should happen as quickly as possible. However, it is important to consider the complexities and plan for them. This will ensure the strategic success of integrated the app into your marketing campaign.
In fact, before even laying out the technicalities of how to go about the design process, a pre-planning procedure is recommended.
Pre-Planning Process
The pre-planning process will promote communication about the concept of the app, and this is where you will need to determine the functions of the app, as well as how it will work and the reason as to why you believe your company needs it in the first place.
Answering these questions will smooth the actual development process tenfold, because the technicalities behind the idea will already have been ironed out – technicalities such as how much the project will cost, marketing strategies around it, etc. It will also include decisions such as the possible addition of e-commerce features and others that will ease customer interaction with your business.
Define the Concept
While this step is the beginning of the entire process, it by no means needs to be anything extravagant. A simple description laying out the core idea of the app in simple terms will help to convey it to others.
Here is where you can also determine what your expectations are for the app, how it will work, and how it will enable users to engage with and provide usefulness to. Try to refrain from any unnecessary details and rather stick to the idea in its simplest form with its key features.
Define the Audience
As with any other business procedure, a clearly defined target audience is essential to the success of the project. You will need to determine who you are marketing the app to, what problem they are facing, and how your app will help them solve it.
During this stage, some significant changes can happen to your initial concept since you will be catering the app to a specific group of people. Their needs will become more evident, which will make marketing to them later in the process more efficient.
Define the Competition
It will be likely that your app is one of many others like it, but this does not have to be a disadvantage. You can use your competitors’ apps and identify their key features, how they solve the problems the target audience is facing, and how these can be improved.
You can determine why people use the app, why it is successful, what its function is, and how much it costs. With this information, you can ensure that your app will be the superior choice by making the necessary adjustments to fill those needs better.
Develop the Idea
During this step, you can test your concept by doing research and gathering feedback on the idea. It will help you narrow in on any refinements that are necessary, as well as provide you with insight into the customer behavior of your target audience.
You can gather this information in a variety of ways: by conducting forum conversations or surveys, researching the platforms your app will feature on, and then gathering an understanding of each experience your potential users are having on these platforms.
During this step, you can also develop how the app will look and work. You can set up diagrams and flow charts to demonstrate how each screen on the app will function, and this will make it easier to modify decisions if and when changes are required.
Hire a Mobile App Development Team
While you may have a company that has its own development team, this significant use of internal resources might not be the most efficient approach, since it could impede the workflow for other companies that provide income for your business.
It will be far more beneficial for you to hire an external team of developers since it will come complete with its own designers, developers, and testers to develop the ideal app according to your specifications. At Epicdev our professionals pride themselves on delivering top-notch designs for all our clients. We keep ourselves inspired by staying ahead of trends, implementing best practices, and ensuring that we are on top of our game. Our team understands the importance of close, in-depth knowledge of our clients’ goals, products, and services. Our clients love our professional, quick service and the personal touch we embed in each website, design, and illustration.
If you do not have a vast team of technical developers, then there is a large chance that an external team will have access to far more resources and a wider set of skills. While this is a costly endeavor, the resulting app will be something you can proudly present to your customer base as an easier, more efficient way for them to conduct business with you.