How and Why to Redesign an App

After all of that initial effort to design your app, the idea of redesigning it probably elicits groans and anxiety. The focus of the initial design is in how it looks and that it has all of the essential functionality that customers need. Over time, the look and the functionality simply aren’t going to hold up – that’s simply an inconvenient truth about technology. This doesn’t mean that you need to start redesigning your app as soon as it launches, but eventually you will need to redesign your app. Sometimes it will be to incorporate new technologies, other times an app gets old enough that a new look and feel could be incredibly beneficial. 

Let's take a look at the primary benefits of redesigning your app, and then we’ll go into how to ensure that the effort yields the best results. 

What a Redesign Can Do for Your App

Redesigning an app can be just as expensive as building one, so many companies are hesitant to make any substantial changes. However, there are some very important benefits to redesigning it, especially if your app is a few years old. 

• You can improve your conversion rate with a well planned redesign. Because there are always so many tech changes, older apps tend to become less convenient because they don’t have the simpler solutions that have been designed since your app was released. 
• A newer look is exciting and often translates into more users. People who stopped using the app are more likely to return to it just to see what has changed. 
• If users see that you are addressing their complaints, concerns, and recommendations for changes, they are much more likely to remain loyal to you. Customers like to see that you are actively trying to improve their experience, and a redesign shows that you are actively trying to make their experience better. 

Timing Is Important

The benefits are pretty obvious, but it is less obvious when it’s a good time to make such a serious investment in the app. If you have noticed a number of people complaining about the app, it’s usually a good sign that it is becoming obsolete. Ideally, it won’t come to this first, but if there has been an increase in complaints, it’s probably time to rethink the app. 

If your app looks dated, that’s another good indication that you need to make changes. Changing to a cleaner, more sophisticated look will help to make your app more noticeable. A lot has changed over the past 10 years, and making the app look more current can help to attract more attention. By redesigning your app, you can improve your app's conversion rate because it looks more modern. 

An obvious way to know that your app needs to be redesigned is if you are working to rebrand your company. Essentially, when you feel it is time to rebrand, it is definitely time to redesign your app. Apps are often one of the most prevalent ways that customers interact with your company. Making sure that your app aligns with your rebranding is essential for helping to make your rebranding successful. 

Another reason to redesign your app is because you want to reach a new audience. After a while, apps tend to stagnate. To attract more attention and build a bigger audience, sometimes it is necessary to change one of the primary means of interacting with your company. 

A Quick Overview of the Steps to Redesign Your App

If you’ve decided that you are ready to redesign your app, here is a series of steps to make sure that you fully consider everything that you should change. Don’t worry, this part isn’t too bad. 

1. Spend time analyzing your app and looking over the analytics. You need to develop a set of goals that you want for the redesign. Goals can be anything from number of subscriptions to a measurable increase in conversions. Track how many people who start the onboarding process follow through to the end of the process. Compare the number of times your app has been downloaded to the number of people who ended up creating an account. Pay attention to the number of people who have stopped using the app as well. You are going to want to bring those people back along with the new customers. 
2. Make sure you understand the user feedback already posted about your app. Inevitably you will see some contradictory feedback, so those you can ignore. What you need to pay attention to is the feedback that is largely consistent and then you should work to ensure that those concerns and complaints are addressed. 

If you would like to get more direct feedback, you can conduct a survey to get a better idea of what users would like to see in the app. You can deliver the survey through links in the app, emails to active users, and links on a banner of your website. You can also use social media to get more feedback and start a conversation going with your customers. Sometimes people will remember things they would like to see in the app when they read what someone else has said. 

1. Research what your competitors are doing and make sure that you provide comparable functions, especially if users have expressed enjoyment of simpler functionality. You can also look at apps in similar industries to see if there is a function or a look that you like that you want to incorporate into your redesign. 
2. Learn how users are currently using your app and play to your strengths. This means understanding the end user's journey. This can start with a mapping of the entire experience, from download to months of use. Spend time actually using the app yourself to see what it is like. This will give you the best understanding of what users like and don’t like. You can also have people whose critiques you trust to use the app and make recommendations. There is nothing like first-hand experience to help you see where you really need to make changes or enhancements. 

This is also a great time to start thinking about visuals that you think will improve the user's experience. See if there is either too much empty space or if the screens are too crowded. Document problems you encounter so that you don’t forget them later. Consider the following divisions to better track your findings:

• Features you think could be improved or added. 
• How to make purchases more seamless. 
• Consider how the app flow can be changed to be quicker and more efficient. 

1. Develop a full set of improvements and changes you would like to make. Make sure to discuss what you documented with the development team. Just like when you first had the app designed, you want to keep everyone on the same page. By providing a great deal of information in the beginning, the development team will be better able to plan for what they need to do. Developers appreciate getting a lot of details in the beginning because then they don’t have to spend much time guessing or working to find the right solution through the lengthy process of elimination based on what you don’t want. You don’t have to have every little detail mapped out, but you should have a good idea of what changes you want made to the current app. 

The redesign process is very similar to the initial development, but with more useful data to improve. It’s kind of like remodeling your home or office. You already have a good idea of what works, now you just need to improve on it.