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There are some general rules of thumb you can follow to build a CX roadmap to map out your goals and objectives. a CX roadmap lets your company prioritize the most important needs of your customers while clarifying the steps it will take to reach those goals throughout the year.
To you, apps are about improving your visibility and simplifying your interactions with customers. To your users, apps are a source of convenience and entertainment. Your customers' specific wants and needs should always be at the forefront of considerations when building a business plan. Your goals should be built around providing a great customer experience because when you focus on what the customer wants, that will undoubtedly help you achieve your own business objectives.
So, how can you involve the customer in your mobile app development from start to finish? The best way is to create a customer experience (CX) roadmap. A CX roadmap will visually outline your objectives and serve as a tool to measure your success, track your progress, and implement new strategies as needed. As obvious as a CX roadmap may sound, just thinking about vague goals is not enough. Actually putting together a clear and concise set of both short and long-term goals will make your mobile app development more manageable and successful. Below we will outline how to easily create a great CX roadmap.
While it’s true that some people know what they don’t want, not what they do – it's still valuable information about your customer. Sales and marketing teams are great resources to fine-tune work, but they should not be the go-to source for what the customers want. Reaching out to the customer directly is actually the best way. Think about the surveys and feedback you send out to gather data? Would you want your marketing team to respond, or your actual users? Seems like a no-brainer, but not every company follows these ideas.
The most common reason why companies go to internal resources is that it’s easier. These teams are, after all, tasked with spending most of their time talking to the customers and reporting back their new insights. And while this method of data collection may seem like a good idea, you really want to collect customer feedback organically, straight from the source. Holding discussion groups, developing your app to allow for feedback and comments, and sending out surveys are all fool-proof ways to truly understand your audience.
The details you collect from your customers can be a starting point in building your road map. Great customer experience doesn’t come from luck, it comes from strategy. Listen to your customers about their desires for your company's mobile app, align them with your business objectives, and when you need to fill in gaps-be open to adjusting your CX roadmap.
When it comes to owning and developing a mobile app, there are a lot of moving pieces. You want anyone who views your roadmap to be able to understand it, and align their role within it. Even a minor release or update comes with a lot of tiny little details that are important to the bigger picture, but the details should be left for the business plans. The roadmap should be a clear depiction of where your app is heading.
Of course, other aspects do need to be considered (especially features like security), but the roadmap for changes should focus on the bigger picture. Take security for example- implementing better security measures for your mobile app could contribute to an overarching goal of creating customer trust, and increasing users overtime.
Learn how customers use the app and the journey they take when using it. This will help you to better focus on creating a great user experience so that they keep coming back to your app. All changes and updates should make that user experience better.
When you sit down to create a roadmap, you should be focused on the full customer lifecycle. There are likely going to be both small and large ways you can improve the CX. The following are details that you can implement and address when creating your CX roadmap:
What users focus on within your mobile app should be where you place the most emphasis and attention. Don’t go overboard and try to deliver alterations that aren’t feasible or realistic, and work on urgent matters first rather than the things that require more research and can be postponed. When you’ve determined what opportunities you have to improve your app, you need to set the order in which you will make those opportunities. The top priority should go to the changes that have the largest impact on the CX and overall mobile app experience.
You may not be able to make all of the changes by the next (or possibly the first) release of the app, but you can start planning for future changes. This is where a roadmap is important. Owning a company and developing an app is a marathon, not a sprint. A roadmap will keep you aligned with your goals, but make them manageable and spread out over time. You can keep coming back to your CX roadmap, check in with your progress, and make adjustments where you’re falling off track. The best part? A CX applies to everyone, from customer service, to engineering, and data analysis. Everyone in your company can check in and make sure their actions are helping you work towards your bigger objectives.
Once you have the roadmap designed, you should make sure that you know when different parts will be completed and have methods of measuring success. Setting milestones and benchmarks will keep your goals realistic, and keep your team aware of the timeline you’re looking to follow. Some questions you can ask when tracking progress are:
Holding meetings with the different players involved in your web development will ensure that things run smoothly and that everyone is aware of the overall goals. Plus, it's a perfect opportunity for key members to report on their successes, losses, and areas they spot for improvement. Over time, you will learn to refine and streamline the process so that you can create a great roadmap for new updates. You can even apply the process to other types of projects outside of the app.
Remember, building a great CX takes planning and repeated action over time. Not everything needs to be figured out right away, but a roadmap will build a clear vision for your mobile app’s future, and keep you in line with goals.
Developing an app can be an overwhelming process to even consider. In today's world, though, they’re an important part of a good CX. If your app is outdated or you haven't developed one yet, Invemo, LLC can help. With over a decade of experience and great customer reviews, Invemo can help bring your vision to life with an app that's equally beautiful and efficient. To get a quote or learn more about our process, visit our website today.