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Forbes Offers 8 Rules for Mobile Application Development

8 Rules for Better Mobile Application Development

8 Rules for Better Mobile Application DevelopmentDan Woods, former CTO at TheStreet.com, current CTO and editor of CITO Research and current Forbes Contributor has some tips for your mobile app building strategy.

By now, many of you reading this blog will have already developed a mobile app for either your own business or for someone else’s. Maybe it went well, or maybe it didn’t, but it certainly won’t and can’t be the last app you build. As Dan Woods said:

The decision to create an app is not just about solving one problem. Mobility is really a continuing program for addressing many needs over multiple years, typically with multiple apps.

That’s why Dan distilled these eight rules, divided into three stages during your app development, launch, and management journey.

The First Stage, Discovery, is all about figuring out what you want your mobile app to do.

Rule one is to create a lifecycle for engagement.

This means you need to create internal capability for maintaining a mobility presence. Don’t make the short-term thinking mistake of hiring a one off developer to build an app and then think you’re done.

Rule two is to support mobile friendly scenarios.

Don’t just push your regular website onto a mobile device and think that’s that. Mobile devices lend themselves well to certain scenarios, like needing directions while on the go, and not so well to other scenarios, like refinancing a mortgage. Therefore, design the app to “support activities that are appropriate for the context people will be in when using the app.”

Rule three is to set a clear business goal for your app.

For me, this boils down to a simple question: how is the app going to make you and your company money? Or, if you are part of the public sector or a non-profit, how will the app contribute to the mission of the organization? Don’t just build an app because you and all the cool kids are doing it too.

Rule four is to develop metrics to track progress.

Progress towards your business goals in step three, that is. Business metrics to track how effective your app is at achieving your business goal could include increased revenue from the app, increased leads, more page views, and more. Other supplementary metrics can include the “number of downloads, repeat usage, social sharing, user reviews, and mentions in the press.” Just make sure to pick metrics that make sense for the business goals you’ve selected. For example, don’t focus on page views as your metric if your business goal is to increase revenue and you have no way of turning that increase in page views into an increase in revenue.

Now we’re on to Stage 2, the Product Stage, focused on building an app that fits the goals you’ve set out.

Rule 5 is to build your apps iteratively.

Dan believes that while the iterative, agile methodology is superior when it comes to all application development, it accords special advantages with mobile app development, even more so when combined with simulations.

Rule 6 is to avoid the siren call of HTML5 and cross-platform apps.

I’d call this Dan’s most controversial rule. There are great use cases for HTML5 apps, and many people I’ve spoken to swear by them. Additionally, when it comes to cross-platform development, there are some serious platform solutions out there that can give you both native performance and cross-platform reach. You can check out some of the best by following this link.

Dan’s argument is that  generally speaking it is tough to create an app that will run on all the major platforms and still provide the experience you are looking for. Therefore, native will give you the best user experience. Backing Dan up is Farhan Thawar, VP of Engineering at Xtreme Labs, with whom Dan sat down and condensed these rules. Farhan says:

Our opinion is that the best experiences are deep, rich, native experiences. That being said, we never turn a blind eye and make a generic statement, across the board. We work with our clients to figure out what the scenarios are, what’s important to them in terms of performance, UI flexibility and other issues, access to sensors, and then create the best-fit solution. Most of the time, it turns out to be native. Typically we talk to the client and say, ‘Since we’re going to be doing this multi-platform,’ meaning iOS, Android, maybe Windows Phone and Blackberry, ‘these components could be done in HTML5.” We do a four-, six-, or eight-week prototype in HTML5, show them the performance and UI, and then make a decision about whether to continue. In every single case where we’ve done that, the answer has been, ‘No, we don’t like this experience. We want to go back to native.

I’ll let you the reader decide about whether Dan’s and Farhan’s opinions apply to your own situation.

Moving on, we have Stage 3, the Performance Stage, focused on using evidence and your previously established metrics to improve the performance of your already launched app.

Rule seven is to create a tight feedback loop.

This rule means not only collecting information on how your app is performing technically and in achieving your business goals, but also establishing a process to take that information and use it to improve your app. This means measuring not only what goes wrong in order to fix it, but what goes right, in order to double down.

Rule 8 is to invest in marketing and promotion of your app.

Don’t just put your app in the store and wait for people to download. Engage in a robust advertising and distribution strategy to get the word out, using the most appropriate channels for your target audience/market. This is a step that should be taken well in advance of the launch of your app if you want to hit the ground running.

So there you have it. Highly valuable advice from experts in the field of mobile app development so that you can build and maintain your next blockbuster. For the full Forbes piece by Dan Woods, click here.

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