You start with a plan – an idea that can bring revolution, and a powerful development team to create a perfect application that will do wonders. The founders and product managers ideate, design, prototype and develop a mobile app, hoping for a large user base and engagement. This is an absolutely reasonable expectation because the time and efforts you put in developing an app are tremendous. But not all mobile apps that get launched on app stores get expected traction, and if we look at the numbers, 80% of the apps are abandoned right after first use. That’s pretty devastating, isn’t it? This means that customers are fickle. They will readily jump to another brand if their experience with your app doesn’t meet their requirements and expectations.
So, in order to survive in the digital age where customers already have ample options, you need to see to it that your application is ready for launch, and solves the problem it is intended to solve. But how can you ensure that your app is “market-ready” and is in the rest 20% of apps that people use?
You need to ask yourself these questions to check the market readiness of your app:
- Does your app provide a seamless user experience?
Why do you think the users are so ruthless when it comes to apps and uninstall them so soon? The #1 reason is the inadequate user experience. Higher load time, distorted interface, Call-to-Actions not prominently visible, and poor linking across the navigation can break the deal for most of the app users. You need to provide a smooth, seamless experience to the user. A kind of experience that makes your app pleasant to use, and difficult to replace. You have a short span of time to grab the attention of your users, so use it well. Grab and hold that attention with a beautiful user experience, and half your job is done. - Is your app consistent across all user flows?
It’s quite common that the developers fail to think through all the use cases with respect to user flows. While most website developers are guilty of not testing their sites on Internet Explorer (or more than two browsers, for that matter), many mobile app development firms often do not include much rarer use cases during development. And if such cases occur, a user follows a journey on the app that wasn’t included in the logic, the app might show unexpected behaviour, or worse, crash. This leads to an unsatisfactory experience. Testing and Quality Assurance of your app should not be taken lightly. Consistency is the key, and it enables an intuitive and predictable user flow.
- Does your app perform well across all networks?
You need to think about the scale of your application. Will it be downloaded by users across the globe? Is it targeted for a certain demographic? In any case, your users may use different network carriers, mobile internet or Wi-Fi and your app needs to be well equipped to perform well on different geographical locations, and on devices that operate on a varied spectrum of connectivity. If it doesn’t, you are narrowing down your own user base significantly, and that can lead to the engagement rate being lower than expected.
- Does your app have a feedback loop?
Let’s face it – no app is flawless on its first release. Your alpha and beta tests might be successful to some extent, making you believe that your app is perfect, but when it is actually in use, you can (and you will) encounter some unexpected issues. Having a strong feedback loop from your users is a great incentive for them to keep using your app. Mind you, you will need to be active enough to respond and roll out bug fixes and new releases to solve the problems your users are facing.
At the start of your app development lifecycle
Let us talk about some deeper questions you must address before launching your app. It’s a two-faceted question that you should surely ask yourself at all points of your app development lifecycle. First is, what is the primary problem your application is solving, and how effective is your solution. The second question is what is the demographic you are targeting. And if you are not able to connect the two, your app is at a huge risk.
Unless your idea is truly unique, we are talking about an overcrowded marketplace, with useful apps and their multiple clones already launched, and ready to launch tomorrow. You need to think through your application, its details and nitty-gritty to ensure that your app is actually being used.
Tech Ahead has a team of highly skilled developers that can help you curate your app from scratch – right from the requirement analysis to launching your app. Get help from proficient developers with more than a decade of experience in various app development technologies to create a mind-blowing app that will be used by millions. TechAhead is consistently named as the top mobile app development company due to an adept and expert team of developers. Let TechAhead lend a hand to co-create the future with you.
Originally published at: https://tananet.net/when-is-your-mobile-application-market-ready/
