Modern people in the biological classification can easily become a species of Homo sapiens gadgets because smart devices have become a part of everyone’s everyday life. Now having a smartphone gives access to any service or product. Therefore, it is important that the application applied by the person is very easy to use.
How to create an application successfully
Before developing an application that is a service or end product for the user, you must study all your competitors carefully and in detail. Then you will understand what functionality is lacking in competitors or what can be improved – there is always such a thing!
If you are developing a new product, try to release the first version, which is fixed and limited in terms of functions. It is necessary to already see the result of your actions. Otherwise, perfectionism will hinder you – when you start to finish something or constantly remake it, it can drag on for a long time, and the world may not see the first version of your product. Therefore, it is worth carefully developing a plan with clear deadlines.
Don’t be afraid to release a version, even if there are minor problems, and be ready for anything. You will be surprised, but the feature you cannot imagine your service or product without may not be needed by your users.
Get feedback
So, you have chosen the service or product idea you want to make. You have looked at all the competitors, discovered a lot of shortcomings, and know how to fix them. You developed a plan and began to implement your idea. You even released the first version. What’s next?
Listen to your users; they will guide you where you need to go. A user map is useful in this regard. A user map is an ultimate path you would like a user to follow through your app. For example: open the application, click “Start,” then another button, and so on to the endpoint (passed level in the game or the user got exactly what he wanted). Events should be placed along this path so that you can see where the user deviated. Maybe it’s difficult for him; maybe he doesn’t understand something – this way, you can “hear” him. With the help of the user map, you will always find things that can be improved.
And finally – never stop, develop and update the application constantly, make holiday releases, understand and communicate with your users, listen to them because their good mood and the solved problem is the goal of your application.
The conclusions can be put into a short but working strategy:
- find an idea that you should really like;
- study competitors, find what can be improved or removed;
- develop a thorough action plan;
- try to release the first version as soon as possible;
- put "ears" everywhere you can;
- listen to users;
- never stop in the development of the application.
Success is guaranteed!
The author is Dmytro Kizema – an entrepreneur and investor.