Three Things You Should Keep in Mind When Planning for Your Mobile App

The demand for mobile apps is increasing. On top of the number of downloads from Apple’s iStore and the Android Market, there is the sales. Apple was able to earn close to $2 billion in 2010 in app sales alone. Even third-party observers are saying that the demand will continue to rise. Market research company IHS predicts that app sales all over the world would total around $4 billion in 2011.

If you take a look at the job market, there is also indications that app development is on the way up. Dice.com reported that want ads for Android developers increased by more than 300% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2011.

It really is time for you to have an iPhone or Android app to help you strengthen your brand and market more effectively. But what exactly do you need to know before you jump in? Here are three things you need to keep in mind.

1. Be secure. Make sure that you place a premium on security. Mobile app development is a new field so the security risks are not that well understood and the tools to ensure security are not that developed. It is easy to have data breaches and hacker attacks when using a mobile app.

2. Keep user experience in mind. It doesn’t matter how good your app is, if your app is not easy to use then nobody would use it. Be sure to put yourself in the user’s shoes. Is your app easy to navigate, understand and use? Do users have to scroll a lot or tap in a lot?

3. Learn from the best. Take time to see what apps are successful and you would see a common pattern or characteristics in them. So learn from the most downloaded app to see what your app should be.

A good app is:

• Useful – Your mobile app should solve a problem, accomplish a task or make your life easier.
• Easy to use – We’ve already said it above, but it merits another mention.
• Desirable – Using your app should elicit positive feelings and emotions from your users.