5 Tips to Build a Successful App

With apps being such a large investment, you want to make sure that yours is successful. There are definitely obvious incentives you could give users to download and regularly use the app, a really successful app is well designed and useful so that using it is enough incentive. Admittedly, it is easier for some types of apps to provide this than others. However, with the right planning and care, people will continue to use your app.

This article covers the planning process. To really have a successful app, you do need to regularly update your app, so don’t get too complacent after people love your app after release.

Establish Your Prerequisites

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to dive right into the development process. There are a lot of questions that you need to answer to properly plan for your app. The following are the primary tasks to complete to make sure you understand what you want and what you expect the app to be like when it is done.

1. Document in 1,000 words or less what you want the app to do. This shouldn’t include any technical details or elements that are details. Consider this an overview of why you want an app, including things like any problems you want to resolve with the app.
2. Conduct a market analysis to determine if there is demand for an app and check out what your competition is doing. You may need to make some changes to the document you wrote about what you want once you have a better idea of what the current market is like.
3. Establish a potential and realistic estimation for when you want the app completed and how much revenue you hope to make from it.
4. Initiate both a high-level business plan and a project plan, including estimated dates of completion for different stages. Things will obviously change, but you need a starting point.
5. Establish a budget, leaving a bit of room for upgrades at the end as technology changes.

Establish the Development Team and Commit to the Budget and Requirements

While it would be easy to simply send the information to the development team and then to review the app a couple of times, but that is almost certainly the wrong approach to making a successful app. While you don’t need to hound the development team, you should be an active participant in the development process. This not only ensures that the app is being designed within the established timeframe, but it isn’t going over the established budget.

All apps cost a fairly good chunk of change, ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars for large companies that want apps with a lot of bells and whistles. Whatever range you app budget is, you want to make sure that the team stays within that budget. If you are a part of the development process, you will know when there are issues and can make decisions for changes when problems arise. And you can keep the budget in mind when changes are made.

The app team should have a project manager to keep the team moving forward and communication open. There should be several people dedicated to the app development; it should be their primary focus. You don’t want the team to be people who are simply “helping” in their spare time. The app will never get done that way. With a dedicated project manager and a few people actively developing the app, the project will move considerably faster and is far less likely to go over budget.

Avoid the Mistakes of Others

One of the benefits of not being one of the first apps in your field is that you can see what your competition did that worked and what didn’t. Take the time to read the online reviews about similar apps to the ones you want, and make sure that your app does not have the same things that people didn’t like.

You have the chance to learn from the mistakes and problems that others have made. It is a unique position, so make sure you take advantage of it and find ways to correct the problem.

In the event that you are working with a company to develop your app, work together to make sure you are missing the known problems. They will probably have more insight into how to avoid problems, and you will be able to provide insight into what could work based on what your own clients likes about your product or service.

Review Your Own Customer Feedback

Another distinct advantage you have is that you already know what your customers like and what they would like seen changed. You can start to use their feedback about your current products or services and play to your strengths in the app.

As soon as your app launches, make sure you immediately incorporate the initial feedback about the app. Give people incentives to take the time to rate the app as well. This can improve visibility in the different app stores, as well as giving you an idea of where to go from that initial launch.

The Priority Should Always Be Ease of Use

The fastest way to destroy your budget and reduce the usability of an app is to try to add a lot of new features in the beginning. When you initially launch an app, always make sure to focus on getting out a clean, easy to use app that people will find useful. The more features and functions you add, the more problems you will likely face.

Give your users an app that is reliable and that lets them quickly complete whatever tasks they need to complete. There will be time later to add a few new, cool features. In the early days, you want to provide a pleasant, positive user experience to start generating positive reviews.