Apps are used by most of us on almost a daily basis. If you’ve got a smartphone, then you’ve got apps. And it’s not just smartphones, as apps can be used on tablets and Chromebooks as well. So, what if you want to get in on the game and design your own app? There is a lot of technical know-how involved, but what are the basic steps you should be aware of? Here’s a simple step process you can refer to when designing an app.
Determine the Purpose of the App
This step needs to come before all others, as it determines how you will proceed. What is the purpose of your app? Having a “great idea” is only great if it serves a purpose and has an audience. What’s great about apps is that they are so diverse, with many popular categories. Experts often suggest you pick a category to focus on and then brainstorm within that concept.
Some of the top app categories include:
- Shopping
- Entertainment
- Games
- Health and Fitness
- Productivity
- Travel
- Social networking
There are plenty of other categories too, so don’t feel pigeonholed to pick one of these. You may even wish to choose the category based on the amount of competition.
Identify the Target App User
As you formulate your app idea this is also the time to identify who the target person is that will download your app. This will be important for marketing/advertising purposes so that you can directly appeal to them.
Find a Unique Hook
While designing the app make sure you create a unique hook, i.e., something that makes your app different from all the rest. This will be the reason why people will want to choose your app over the competition. It could be better pricing, better graphics, quicker speeds, a smoother experience, and so forth.
Make It Easy for People to Purchase Items
Some apps will contain products and services available for purchase, so you need to think about the payment solution for your customers. One option is Envestnet | Yodlee ACH payments, which are safe and fast to use. Other reasons to use Envestnet | Yodlee ACH payments include fee and cost savings, getting paid faster and there is no need to deal with time-consuming manual processing. You want to make things simple and streamlined for the user and you, the app owner.
Find Any Bugs and Fix Them
Here’s an incredibly important tip that can make or break the app. You cannot allow it to go live until you’re sure all bugs and issues have been worked out and fully addressed. If you release an app that still has issues, is crashing, lagging, and not performing as it should, you’ll have a very hard time keeping users and attracting new ones moving forward.
Using all these tips and taking the time to do your market and customer research will help to ensure your app is destined to succeed.
