What Makes A Good Mobile App?

What Makes A Good Mobile App?

Ten years ago, the very first iPhone was born; the launch of the mobile app store followed a year later in 2008. Only 500 apps were available, but it was groundbreaking in terms of creating the foundation for the mobile world we live in today. 10 million apps were downloaded in the first weekend, foreshadowing just how important mobile apps would become in our day-to-day lives. A few months later, Android launched their market with 50 apps, followed by Blackberry and Windows in the coming two years.

 

 

Fast-forward 10 years to 2017, and there’s an app for anything you could want or need, tens in fact that all do the same thing. So what sets the good apps a part from the bad? We’ve narrowed it down to four key points you should take into consideration if you want to make your mobile app a great one.

 

IT DOES ONE THING WELL

If you want your app to claim a place in the Apple Design Awards, good isn’t good enough; your app must be great. A way to create a truly great mobile app that defines it’s own space is to do one thing and do it well. Start with your core features in an MVP and keep it simple by focusing on one concept. You can implement all those extra features you’ve been dreaming about slowly and over time once you’re established. Not only will cramming too many features into the first version of your app confuse and discourage your consumer from using the app, it will also cost you extra development time and money. Focusing on perfecting those not-so-necessary features now will take away from your dedication to fulfilling the sole purpose of what your mobile app is supposed to do. Best to narrow it down, improve the standard and do that one thing well so you can design a product you’re proud of creating and your consumer is proud of using.

 

YOU’VE DONE YOUR RESEARCH

There’s no point in creating an app that does what it’s meant to do perfectly if no one is going to use it. You need to find your niche, especially when starting out small. Conduct research on whether your target market prefers iOS, android or if they use both. If you’re creating an app that already has something similar to it out there then your audience is going to expect you to do it better in your own unique way; otherwise you’re just re-creating a mobile app that already holds a place in the market. If your app idea is a little bit out there, consumers also more than welcome that! You just must make sure you’ve done your market research and can guarantee you’re meeting the needs of your target market, even if you’re providing them with something they didn’t even know they needed yet.

 

IT WORKS WELL (UX)

Your app idea could hit all of the points in terms of sticking to a few core features and meeting your users’ demands, however if it doesn’t provide a good user experience you can throw all ideas of having a good app out of the window. If your mobile app doesn’t function well enough to get it to do what it’s meant to, it’s going to be uninstalled as quickly as it was downloaded. It should always be stable and reliable, conduct more tests than necessary to ensure this is the case. Speed is a key component and as long as there’s no bugs or long waiting times while the cogs and wheels turn only to end up in the app crashing, your consumer should be happy. If not, the wait won’t be worth it and another app will replace yours on their device.

 

IT LOOKS GOOD (UI)

In the words of our CTO, Alexander Karan “I can make an iPhone do backflips, but nobody cares if it doesn’t look good while doing it.” Having a good-looking interface is just as important as making sure it works well, these two combined is well and truly what will create a great user experience for your customer. A simple and easy to follow design is crucial; if there’s too much going on it’s only going to frighten away potential customers. An app should be sexy and give off its own vibe. Colour schemes, transitions, animations and sound effects are all elements that you may think are minor details but really can be make or break; the devil is in the details! Make sure it looks polished, if it looks thrown together your consumer is going to recognize, and assume the functionality of the app will be a reflection of its design. So, make your consumer want to use your app, otherwise they will use someone else’s.

 

A great mobile app is one that offers a good solution to a relevant issue. It makes your consumer want to come back, it’s glitch free, runs smoothly and looks beautiful while doing so. If you take these four suggestions into consideration when making your app, there’s really nowhere you can go wrong! Who knows, you may make something truly incredible and land yourself in the running to be apart of the Apple Design Awards.