Many people are coming up with new mobile app ideas. They either want to reach a new audience or better serve their existing customers. However, people are relatively unaware of the steps or process needed to turn a mobile app idea into reality. Due to lack of ability and information among startups and established companies, most of them don’t know how to create a successful app.
Here are the 9 steps you need to create a successful app.
Step 1: Feature List
Writing down the feature list on a piece of paper helps you focus on your idea and expand on it. This list also will be helpful when you are discussing with your co-founders, designers, investors or developers; they all are going to ask for it.
Your feature list should be clean and easy to understand. Also make sure it has popular and unique features, which will play the major role in the success of your product.
Step 2: Market Research
You need to do market research to find the competition, trends and market needs. Make sure there are no similar apps on the market. If there are, find out their reviews, ratings, feedback, and what is missing in them. Add features in your app that would make it unique and more attractive to the audience. After doing market research, you should update your feature list.
Step 3: Identify the Market Audience
It is very important to find who would use your app and who the audience would be for your product. Your users are from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, existing customers, or any other group.
Once you identify some demographics about the audience, you can find out what people from these demographics prefer or like. Knowing your audience helps you re-engineer your app and the features in it to cater to them.
Your whole project moves around user engagement. You can also conduct focus group studies to find out what your audience may like or dislike. Your audience will decide your product’s success.
Step 4: Monetization Strategy
You can make money from your app idea in several ways: subscription fee, in-app buy, in-app ads, sponsorship, etc. You want to know which one works for your app, audience, and market.
Launching a paid app does not work these days, but you can make the app free with an in-app purchase option for more functions.
Having user data is becoming a big monetization strategy, as you can use it to make indirect money. You can find sponsorship for the app; this works for an app with a social mission. It is important for you to select 1 or 2 techniques that would give you a good return on investment.
Step 5: Create a Wire Frame
The rough sketch or wireframe helps you define the concept and refine the requirements of your product. You can draw a rough sketch using paper and pencil, while a wireframe can be created using online tools.
When you start doing the sketch/wireframe, you will be able to polish your app idea and features list further. Also, this helps you decide the proper navigation of the application.
You don’t need technical skills for this step, but you need to have a common-sense understanding of how navigation works. Your wireframes, along with your feature list, will create very good specifications for you to build the mobile app.
Step 6: Find Vendors and Developers
Once you have your first version of the feature list and wireframe, you want to start identifying vendors who can build your mobile app in a high-quality, cost-effective way. You should search for local vendors and some global vendors and reach out to them.
A good vendor should check your details and ask you lots of questions. You should make sure to answer them in detail so that your idea is fully communicated. A good vendor should also be able to give you some suggestions to improve your idea.
You should get proposals from multiple vendors, with time and cost of development, and compare them. You should check the vendors on past performance, process, price, time, testimonial and their eagerness to work for you. Finally, you should be able to select one vendor and start working with them.
Step 7: Complete the UI/UX
Once you have selected the company, you should work with them to create the UI/UX of the app. You should have them first create the detailed wireframe of the application so that you can visualize each screen, function, and flow of the application.
After review, you can decide to add or remove features. Once the wireframe is complete, you want them to create the visual design of the application. It should give the color, theme, fonts and visual appeal for your idea.
This step will give you a near-final picture of what your mobile app would look like and how it would flow. After completing it, have your vendor reevaluate the development plan, time and cost. You want to pay the right value to your mobile app developer.
Step 8: Test the App
Have your app developer start building the app for you. They should be able to send you the app (in progress) every week and you should be able to test and give them feedback. It is very essential for you to QA the app as they develop it, as this helps you control the quality, cost, and timeline, and learn whether the mobile app needs some tweaks.
If you come up with new sets of features during the development, discuss those with your app developer and get the time and cost estimate. If it fits your budget, get it done right away. If not, wait for the next phase.
Step 9: Market the App
Once you are satisfied with the app, launch it in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. You should also start marketing the app. Get some consulting from experts on app marketing. You can also do self-marketing.
Start on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as this is an easy way to spread the word about the app. You should also reach out to reporters and bloggers who may be interested in your app and write about it. A press release on free sites or a paid site can be very handy.