6 Key Factors to Consider Before Developing a Mobile App

6 Key Factors to Consider Before Developing a Mobile App

The time when having a mobile app was considered “special” or “niche” is gone. With approximately 6.84 billion smartphones worldwide and 94.2% of internet traffic coming from smartphones, it is no surprise that most users essentially expect a brand to have an app now.

However, it is easy to just want an app as a user; the creation process of one is far from easy. Whilst hiring a mobile app development agency greatly takes the burden off one’s shoulders, one still must educate themselves on these 6 factors before they start the development of an app.

1. Define Your App’s Purpose and Audience

First things first, you must define what the app really exists for. They say if you cannot explain something simply, you do not understand it. Similarly, if you cannot explain the core values of your app in one sentence, your users likely won’t stick around either. One must have a clear understanding of who their target audience is and what they want. This information will shape the way the app looks, what features it has, and what monetisation strategy ought to be followed for best results.

Work closely with your mobile app developers as they will help bring your vision into reality, keeping you grounded. Agencies often conduct market research to validate ideas before a single line of code is written, anyway.

2. Choose the Right Platform Strategy

The most widely used smartphone operating system is Android, but iOS users tend to spend more on applications. Which is better for you? Each option has its own audience and development costs, and clearly has its advantages.

Whilst one can obviously create an app for both platforms, as the majority of high-tier brands do, it can be expensive. There do exist cross-platform frameworks like Flutter or React Native that can speed up development and cut costs. Your preferred app development agency would guide you on which route is best suited considering your budget and time.

3. Budget Beyond Initial Development

Picture this: You’ve hired an app development agency, they ask their developers to create an app as per your expectations. Days pass, and voila, you’ve got your app ready. All done, right?

Alas, things are seldom that easy. Many individuals and organisations that aren’t very tech-oriented assume app development is a one-time cost. Spoiler alert: it isn’t.

There are pre-development expenses such as research and pre-launch marketing. Then, there is the cost of developing the app, which includes design and testing. In comes launch marketing. Finally, when your app is completed and live, it needs ongoing maintenance.

Maintenance is perhaps the biggest expense as it is, essentially, forever. It covers the cost of servers, updates, and bug fixes. It eats up 20–30% of your initial development budget each year. Every mobile development agency worth its salt would make these costs clear from the get-go, but here you go.

4. Prioritise User Experience and Design

User experience matters now more than ever before. The era of the internet wherein people solely cared about getting their task done, be it retrieving information or placing an order, is done. Now, they obviously still want to do their primary task but they’re not going to stand for bad design.

A nice UI but poor usability? That’s a strike. The app must feel intuitive from the very first tap. Ensure your app is easy to navigate, the buttons are placed well and actually respond, it is visually appealing, etc.

5. Focus on Security and Compliance from Day One

People are more aware about digital threats than ever before now and we’re glad that is the case. Leaks and breaches destroy trust fast and result in the data of common folk being compromised. Security isn’t just a marketing scheme, it is a must-have especially if your app collects personal data. Ask your mobile app developers to implement encryption, secure authentication, and regular vulnerability scans.

6. Plan for Analytics, Updates and Growth

You’ve got the app up and it looks beautiful and works just as expected. But how will you measure its success? So, clearly define the success metrics before launch. Different organisations would have different goals but they can be anywhere from downloads to number of active users to whether or not the app reaches its revenue targets.

Again, you must plan for ongoing updates and improvements based upon user feedback to give the people what they really want.

Conclusion

Apps have become common and mainstream, but app development is still an art that requires immense skill. Partnering with a softwares solutions agency can ease the process. They will help guide you through every step of the process, they’ll already have these 6 factors (and more) in mind and will likely discuss the same with you during the briefing.