Growing Successful Mobile Apps that Engage Your Users
Nearly two-thirds of Americans carry and use a smartphone daily. That number is only expected to grow in the coming years. When considering statistics like this, creating a native mobile app for Android or iOS can be a tempting — and smart — proposition for many businesses, not to mention an exciting project for your team!
Though every product and business is different, there is a core set of best practices applicable to nearly all apps that will start your mobile product off on the right foot.
- Follow the platform standards and best practices
- Keep it simple
- Plan for your app’s evolution
Follow the platform standards and best practices
It is important to familiarize yourself with your platform’s best practices and competing products. Although iOS and Android operating systems have similarities, they are notably different platforms with different toolsets. Each platform has its own way of approaching common activities that their users expect. Breaking those expectations can leave your users scratching their heads.
Many core components on iOS and Android can be customized to give your app a unique feel while still feeling familiar to your users. Leveraging these core components can decrease the learning curve for your app and help it feel a part of the given platform’s ecosystem. There are endless ways to use color, motion, text and imagery to build a custom-feeling app that will delight your users.
You can learn more about standards and best practices in the Material Design Guidelines (for Android) and Human Interaction Guidelines (for iOS).
Keep it simple
When building an app, it can be tempting to add in as many features as possible. Overcomplicating an experience or loading up on features can actually decrease the value and usability of your app. It can be difficult to prioritize what is really important for your app, but keeping it simple can go a long way in improving your user’s experience.
Break your big product idea down to its core — what value is your app providing to the user? What makes it different than other competing apps? Keep your focus simple and specific. If you are having trouble deciding where to focus, vet your idea with your target users. Talking to your users will give you valuable insights to meet their core needs while establishing a platform you can expand upon as your product grows.
You can read more about planning your minimal viable product in this past Nerdery blog post.
Plan for your app’s evolution
A great mobile product is never ‘done,’ but it is important to guide the evolution of your app with feedback from users about their experience. It is likely you missed a few opportunities in your first release, and that’s fine! Give your users enough time with your app to get quality feedback and understand where the gaps are.
Consider what you want to learn and how you see your product growing in the marketplace. Embedding analytics in your app and planning for user testing post launch gives you the best insights on how to prioritize your product backlog and keep your platform growing strong.
Learn more about participant-led usability testing in this past Nerdery blog post.
Ready, Set, GO!
Begin your journey simply. Stay focused on what really matters, follow the platform best practices, and plan to evolve over time. Many of the well known native mobile apps in the world started out small, with one key focus. Staying small and nimble allowed them to grow and evolve into the successful products they are today. Focusing on meeting your users’ core needs first will allow you to iterate in a way that continues to support your growing product and set yourself up for long term success.