9 STEP GUIDE TO MAKE YOUR APP A HIT

Having a mobile app idea is not enough to make you a millionaire! A lot goes behind a successful and popular mobile application. App stores are flooded with millions of apps every now and then. But not every app makes it to the top of the app store. As pillars sustain the foundation of a building and helps to grow it stronger, here are the essential pillars to sustain your app in the market and make it a hit!

 Pillar 1: Ideation and its validation

Mind is the storehouse of ideas. App store is for a mobile app. Having an idea is not just enough to become successful. You have to figure out is your mobile app idea valid in reality. A reality-check to your idea can set the right direction for your future and come up with outstanding strategies to make your vision a million-dollar reality.

For example, if you have an idea for an AI based messaging app, you need to check the feasibility of your idea in reality. You need to figure out is it practical to develop such an app with the available technology.

 Pillar 2: Genuineness and originality of your app idea

You need to determine now, how your app idea is different from others. Everybody has their own definitions of genuine and original. Even though it’s a subjective term, still you need to determine how much genuine and original your app is from other similar apps in the market.

You should be able to state clearly how your AI based messaging app will be different from other. You need to determine what will be your key driving proposition that will set you apart from other and make you a market distinguisher.

 Pillar 3: Sketching and drawing

Once you have come up with an innovative idea for your future mobile application and validated its every single aspect, it’s time to get to sketching and drawing.

Sketching is the fundamental design process to give a concrete shape to the thoughts and imaginations of your mobile app idea.

Then comes drawing where you bring your sketched imaginations and thoughts to structured interfaces. These structured interfaces define the graphical flow of your app in a more professional, decent and tidy manner.

Sketching is an excellent brainstorming tool that gives a pen and paper form to your thoughts and helps to evolve your idea.

If you want to explain your idea to yourself, do sketching. It is a rough interpretation of your ideas. But if you want to show your idea to other stakeholders, go for drawing. It is a neater and decent representation of your thoughts.

For example, if you want to give a pen and paper shape to the thoughts for your AI based messaging app, do sketching. If you want to show it to your team or potential investors, go for drawing.

 Pillar 4:Researching the market and competition

After you have finished giving a pen and paper form to your app’s ideas and thoughts, it’s time to research the market and figure out –

Whether your app can succeed or not?

If yes,

Then how to make your app a success?

62% new projects succeed due to adequate market research while 14% ideas become commercial failure due to poor market research. These statistics account for the ideas and projects that come in the category of becoming a potential hit in the market. Rest of them don’t even make it to the market.

You need to start with primary research where you have to figure out your potential audience base. Then you need to do secondary research where you will derive strategies to compete with other competitors in your segment.

Take the example of your AI based messaging app. In primary research, you will figure out the set of users who are more likely to use your app. In secondary research you will figure out how to retain them by competing with other competitors in the same market segment.

 Pillar 5:UI Design

More than 50 % of mobile apps fail in the market because they lack a quality and appealing user interface. So it’s highly critical to come up with the best user interface for your app that resonates with your vision and the sophistications of your app. You need to take care of necessary UI patterns and design processes to come up with a simplified user interface that will drive more traffic to your app.

When you will move towards designing the UI for you AI based messaging app, you need to take care of these critical aspects –

• How simplified your chatting interface is?
• Have you followed the progressive disclosure approach?
• How you are planning to enhance the user experience by giving visual weightage relevant app components?

These aspects are critical to generate the most simplified UI for your app.

Top apps that succeeded on the basis of UI:

• Yono.mp3 - Music app
• NightOwl Coffee - A coffee ordering app.
• Karoline - Shopping app

 Top apps that failed because of poor UI:

• Wesabe - Money management tool
• Google Wave
• Myspace.

 Pillar 6:Technology Partner

Association with the right technology partner is extremely critical when you complete the design process. It is mandatory that your vision and your technology partner’s perspective align together.

You need to figure out –

For which mobile platform you want to develop your app – android, iOS or both?

What approach you want to follow for your app development – traditional or agile?

What is your budget?

What is the deadline of your product’s delivery?

Only an experienced mobile app development firm can assist you with an AI based messaging app. You need to figure out what exact technicalities you need to cater to. A well-established mobile app development company with an experienced team has the potential to bring out a successful product.

 Pillar 7:Performance

Once you have the finished product in your hand, the next step is to check its performance. How well executed product you have developed can be clearly understood from the issues you have catered to while developing and how much compatible you have made it for your OS and device hardware.

You can measure the performance of your AI based messaging app on the basis of:

• How fast it loads?
• How fast you can transfer media and other files?
• How much memory it consumes?
• Does it overheat your phone?
• How much battery does it consume?
• Does it work properly on all the networks such as 4G, 3G, 2G.?

 Pillar 8:Launch Time

Now there is just one thing left for a perfectly developed app. It is awaiting to be launched in the market. But the critical question arises –

When should you launch your app in the market?

More than 75 percent of mobile apps fail in the market due to incorrect launch time.

To answer this, you need to figure out the market pattern and when you will get more response from the audience. You need to understand the user engagement cycle and what will make them stick to your product.

You need to figure out the exact time when your app will create more impact upon users. For an AI based messaging app, every day is the right time because AI based apps are few in the market. So such an upgradation will definitely capture more user attention and engagement.

 Pillar 9:Customer Support

Lastly one highly critical aspect that many mobile app businesses overlook is quality customer support. If your app is not capable to help your users when in need, it is for sure that your business isn’t going to sustain in the long run. 24/7 customer support is the essence for today’s mobile base businesses for user retention.

You should have a strong customer support framework so that your user does not leave you. It is difficult to get new user than to retain existing one.