A lot of people want to build apps, and we like that. Here’s two pointers to consider if you’re thinking entering the wild jungle that is the App Store or Google Play.
Offer real value first…
As a wise business partner once said –
“Don’t be too concerned with scalability, worry about building something worth scaling”.
Too often I deal with people that have an initial focus on things different than offering real value. People need to download your app and put it to use. It needs to stay on phones. It needs eyeballs. The easiest way to do this is to create an app that adds value. Bonus points for building something that creates unique value in situations where a user is on their mobile device.
Then reduce.
As a great music producer once said —
“There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across”
Don’t confuse adding features and functionality with adding to a user experience. Too often feature mapping, design and a user-flows contains unnecessary steps and options.
A 2011 study showed users favorite and most loved apps weren’t ones that they killed half their Sunday afternoon on; but an app built for short uses on a frequent basis. In and out.
It makes sense. The things we do on our phones and tablets are often a quick info-grab so that we can move on with life. You use Tinder to find a date, Urban Spoon to find the restaurant to eat at, Yelp for a review of the restaurant, Open Table for the reservation, Google Maps for the directions to that restaurant and of course the various social networks you’ll proudly post about that first meet-up with “The One”.
Of course all of these actions could all be included in one fully encompassing app, but when we think about apps and how they’re used, that wouldn’t make sense.
More buttons and more functions, like money, can often lead to only more more problems.
Conclusion
When building an app, think about your users. Have a point, purpose, a value you add. Then focus on getting that point across using the least amount of information possible.
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