With the phenomenon of digital transformation, many businesses are investing on Apps as a strategy for a relationship and sales. A user experience on a mobile application is significantly and fundamentally different from that on a desktop. For instance, mobile applications have location-based services that give companies the potential to reach and interact with customers on new and meaningful ways. They also need to fit a lot of necessary information into much smaller screen sizes. Websites cannot just be ported to fit in a mobile device, especially since there are many different operating systems that need to be considered. Companies must choose to either make applications that will work with multiple systems, such as iOS, Android, and Windows or decide which users they want to reach first.
There are many challenges to create a successful mobile application that will replace the experience from what is seen on a PC. One struggle that is faced is the diverse operating systems that need to be accounted for because it is necessary to have different application versions for the App to work on each system. Another important big challenge is to understand customers’ preferences and necessities to develop an efficient, easy usable app.
The development team has the responsibility to deliver a good and navigable app to the clients. For that, it is important that the company promotes researches with users and hear their feedback. After that, the team needs to build frames and offer constant tests to the customers in order to understand what is important for them, what helps and what annoys them. It’s always good to remember that the app is developed for the clients and not for the company.
Before launching an app, there are some points that should be considered, ensuring that its development will be successful. Here we will list these points separating them by three sides:
Management side: You can’t just port a Website or desktop application to a smartphone or tablet. It’s a different system development process. It might sound costly to develop apps and websites that way, but in the long haul it will pay off. Managers should know what benefits they want to develop, whether it is customer benefits or company benefits.
Organization side: A mobile strategy includes more than choosing mobile devices, operating systems, and applications. It additionally includes changes to business procedures, changing the way individuals work and the way a firm collaborates with its customers.
Technology side: Big issues would be keeping up with the changes in technology, which is constantly altering and rapidly improving. Companies will have customers at all areas of the spectrum when it comes to mobile devices. This means that the application must be compatible to work with older technology, as well as be optimized for the newest technologies. The result for many businesses is that they are forced to prioritize which mobile platforms to deliver apps on first and how to deliver consistent, easy to use and fast services. Determining in which systems the mobile apps will be available on is also something to be considered.