8 Key Steps to Build a Successful Mobile App
If you’re not a developer, building a mobile application is likely to take several months and could cost anywhere from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand. Needless to say, you’ll want to do everything you can do before you start building your app to ensure you’re on the right track.
- RESEARCH THE MARKET
The first and arguably most important thing you need to do before you get started is research your idea. Fortunately, this stage doesn’t cost much and you can do most of it yourself. Start by searching the app stores, not just Apple but also Google Play, and look for competing products. There are more than 1.3 million apps in both stores, so it’s unlikely your idea will be completely unique.
- TALK TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
Ask family and friends for their honest feedback. If you plan to sell your app, ask them if it’s something they’d be willing to pay for. If so, how much? Would they make in-app purchases? What similar products do they use now? What are all the hurdles for them to switch to your app (i.e., lost historical data, leaving a social network behind)? Would they be willing to switch anyway?
- CONSIDER YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
How will your app make money? Around 90% of revenue earned in the app stores comes through in-app purchases. How does your app fit into this model? Whether you will charge people to download your app? Will the app be free but have advertising? If so, then how will that advertising fit within the overall experience? Do you intend to build an audience and later try to monetize that audience? If so, you’d probably need to raise several rounds of venture capital like Snapchat or Pinterest, for example.
- DEFINE YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION
How unique is your app and what it offers? The simpler it is to explain, the easier it will be for your audience to understand it. The more unique it is, the more likely customers will seek it out after you launch.
- ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM
In the competitive app landscape, having proven talent, both in design and development, is critical. Inorder To find a good talented designer, start by reviewing portfolios and looking for previous work that’s a visual fit with what you’re trying to achieve.
Design is more complex than simply the look of the app. The user experience is just as important or possibly even more important than the way it looks. Take the time to download and try out apps your potential designers have built. Are they easy to understand? Can you grasp how to use them quickly? Do they confuse you? Googles mobile App guide has tips on how to create a great user experience.
One of the best ways to determine the skill set of a potential developer is to review code they’ve written. You can also ask them to work on logic and coding tasks to see how they perform. Be sure to take a look at their portfolio. Download and just play with apps they’ve built and test them out. Do they require similar skills to what you’re building? Are they fast to load and interact with? Are there any bugs? If so, ask the developer about it. There could be an explanation why, such as a new operating system has been released or the client didn’t have the budget to fix it. If you don’t have the technical expertise to review their work, try to find a friend or colleague with a computer science background to help you. If that’s not an option, you can hire an experienced project or product manager to help you recruit a great developer.
- SET A BUDGET
Make sure you have a realistic budget with room to spare. It’s a good idea to allocate as much as 30% of the total for contingencies. In addition, you’ll need to set aside money to work on iterations of your app. It’s unlikely the first version of your app will be perfect, so expect to continue to refine it. After your first release, you’ll have meaningful feedback from users you can leverage for the next version.
- MARKET YOUR APP
Once you have the right app for your target market, it’s time to get the word out about it. Because the app stores have almost twice as many apps today as they did just 18 months ago, it can be challenging to get noticed. If there is a niche your product will appeal to? Start there and look to build advocates within that audience. Advocates can help you spread the word and break into larger markets.
- KEEP INNOVATING
No app is ever complete. Listen to your users and find out what they’re asking for. Keep a running wish list of features you can build when you have time. Also be sure to plan to make changes each year when there are updates to the operating systems.
Follow these eight steps and you will definitely be on your way to app store success.