The app stores are overcrowded with mobile apps. There is a stiff competition among the apps in all categories and genres. If we look at the stats, there are approximately 1.7 million apps on Play Store and 1.5 million on Apple’s App store, the two leading mobile platforms of the world. To fight with this competition and coming out victorious, the app has to be designed and developed in a unique manner with a lot of emphasis on quality and performance.
If we look at the app retention rate, it is very dismal. An average app is abandoned by 77% of the users within three days of installation. Hence, while designing the app, the focus should be on users’ engagement. There are many factors that affect the retention rate of the apps but there are a few issues that are quite common like the dip in app’s performance after a few days of usage, frequent app crashes, inconsistency in the design layout and many others. Such recurring issues can be kept at bay if the developers and designers preempt them and take preventive measures. Among all the measures, the one that is of utmost importance is testing as it removes most of the bugs and errors beforehand.
Focus on the user experience
Right from the onset, the designer’s focus must be on the user experience. A lot goes into making an app that offers a delectable experience to the users that does not fade away so easily. The magic is to offer these experiences and surprises in layers so that the interest is kept intact for a longer time. Moreover, the screen transition, intuitive UI, uncluttered design are some of the pillars that form a good user experience. The gestures used to interact with the UI should make the most of the multiple-touch capability of the smartphones and other device sensors like the gyroscope.
Keep your mobile app simple
What differentiates magic from technology? It is the simplicity that is manifested in a magic. To take your app closer to the feel of magic, you have to do complex things in the simplest manner possible. A user is not as well-versed with the technology as a developer or designer is. The complexity of the app must be encapsulated into simpler gestures to make the app a preferred one. The less a user has to think while operating an app, more he or she will get indulgent with it. Come to think of Tinder; all you have to do is to right or left swipe.
Quality assurance
Quality assurance is something that you cannot cheat with. Even if your app is able to provide an immersive experience, it will have no takers if it crashes frequently or in the midst of an operation. These crashes can be prevented only when you do not squeeze the QA process. Usually, this process is saved for the last as there are deadlines to meet. Developers procrastinate it thinking that any bug or error will be rectified in the subsequent updates as it appears. This approach can be quite detrimental for the app as the users who would experience trouble using the app initially are less likely to go for the update even if you have killed all the bugs.
Use agile methodologies
Agile is a software development methodology that is based on incremental cycles. It aims to provide rapid and continuous delivery of the software in the form of incremental releases.
Each iteration of the software is built on the previous one with added functionalities. When you need to provide time-critical software, this methodology is the best one. Some of the advantages of using Agile is faster development, error-free code, and better design. All these are ensured with frequent meeting and close interaction among the developers, project managers, and other stakeholders.
Test your app after release
You may have performed testing all the while developing the app, but it was in the test environment. The real bugs and errors crop up when the environmental configurations are changed. Deployment of the app also plays a major role in testing the app after the release. You can also integrate code that captures the error screen and send to the developer so that the bugs may be rectified in later updates.
Summing it up
Mobile users are aware of the fact that they have got a plethora of choices when it comes to mobile apps. If they do not like a particular app, they can keep switching to other alternatives till they find the best one. With such fierce competition to handle, an app must be designed with all these factors in mind. Only then, your app will be able to meet the expectations of the users.
Author’s Bio
Ashni Sharma (@anshiapps) is a senior app developer working at AppsChopper App Design Company, Apart from building groundbreaking mobile apps for several platforms, Ashni loves to write about different aspects of mobile app industry and shares her insight about how to build successful apps. You can follow: LinkedIn, Google+
