I’m usually a more is more guy, but I have to concede when it comes to building mobile apps. As the world moves towards mobile computing, at Perficient XD we get a lot of clients that want to jump into mobile for the first time. They have great ideas for all the things they want to do, but the more complex the vision is, the more time and budget it takes to bring the vision to life, which in turn makes it harder to get buy-in from the suits. We say keep your vision big and build the app that’s right for your business. Here’s the trick.
The smart approach for building mobile apps is to break it down into manageable phases. This allows you to spread your budget over time, prove your concept, get buy-in, and launch something relatively quickly. Our most successful clients are ones that start small and iterate over time.
1. Plan big! Put a large part of your budget into thinking it all through. What do you want? Why are you doing it? What are your competitors doing? Get all your ideas documented and discussed at a high level. Make it amazing.
2. Break it down. When the dust has cleared, take a look at the full vision and what it will take to build. What features will require data? Where will the data come from? What tools or partnerships need to be considered? Do you have APIs in place to support these features, and if not, what will it take to build those? Decide on a reasonable minimum feature set you could launch with and make that Phase 1. This helps you to focus on what’s really important. Break up the remaining features into future phases that continually add value and are achievable for your team. The balance to aim for is, “This is great! If only it could…”
3. Prototype it. Design the architecture and flow for how the app will work. In many cases, it makes sense to go to your users and ask what they want and what they will use. Listen. Build a simplified version of the app and test, refine. This step takes time, but there is always valuable insight to be gained from the people who will actually be using the app, and this will shape ideas and priorities for future phases.
4. Build it. But first, make it pretty. Create a look and feel that is easy and fun to use. Now that we know how the app will work when it’s fully realized, we can move forward with the look and feel and development. We can put the basic framework in place and build it in a way that will carry us through future phases. Launch Phase 1!
5. Update it. What’s better than 1.0? 2.0! It’s easier to attract users when your app is simple and good at what it does. Starting with the basic features makes your app more approachable. Again, listen to your users and use their feedback to shape future phases. This is also a good chance to modernize, fit in tweaks, and remain compatible with the latest OS updates. Another great benefit of publishing updates is that the App Store will call out your app and focus attention on it, as it notifies users that there is a new version. Use this chance to communicate with your users in the update description. Ask for feedback, highlight upcoming features, thank them for their support. It’s a great way to engage your audience!
Start small and update. It’s the smart approach to mobile.
