You don’t have to be part of a major development studio to conceive, Design A Mobile App. In fact, with the tools available to up-and-coming designers, it’s easier than ever to pursue and fulfill this ambition.
With that in mind, here are the main steps you’ll need to take along the road to sending your very own mobile app out into the world.
Decide on the type of app you want to make
Ideally, you’ll be approaching this project with a concept brewing away in the back of your mind. But if you are literally starting with a blank page in front of you, it’s a good movie to be proactive about generating concepts for your first app.
There are a few ways to go about this. You could take a look at which apps are popular right now and see if you can iterate and improve on one of these existing ideas. You could think more generally about problems you face in your own day-to-day existence and work out if these could be solved with an app.
Whatever you settle on at this stage, make sure that it’s an idea that you are enthused by. If you’re not passionate about your app concept, you won’t stand a good chance of seeing it through to the end.
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1. Check out the competition- Design A Mobile App
No app can succeed if it isn’t designed with rivals in mind, and luckily it’s straightforward to browse your biggest competitors within the confines of the App Store and Google Play.
For example, let’s say you want to make a productivity app. Your research should involve not just installing and trying out alternative examples that do similar things for yourself but also looking into the feedback that people have provided.
Reorder reviews by star rating and check the most negative comments posted so that you can better understand the pain points users experience and address them in your own designs. For example, you could use a simple app icon to ensure visibility and avoid clutter on a user’s home screen.
Also, look into the features that are included in competing apps. You don’t need to outdo them because often, less is more. But the point is that with rigorous market research, you’ll be able to go into the next stages of the design and development with a sense of where your app will be positioned post-launch.
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2. Jot down the specifics- Design A Mobile App
Now you know what you’re up against, you can flesh out your app concept. You don’t need to be too restrictive at this point, and instead, it’s okay to embrace some pie-in-the-sky thinking.
Basically, you need to list the features you want your app to offer, with these then coming together to form the central vision for the finished product.
You may realize that certain elements are untenable or unnecessary at this early stage, and that’s great. But even if this is the case, the act of drilling down into the specifics will show you more of the route forward in its own right.
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3. Make a decision about monetization
Few apps are made entirely altruistically, and you’ll be hoping to make a return on the time and money you invest in the design and development at some point.
This is where monetization comes into play, and again you’ve got a diverse array of options available to you.
Making a premium app that requires payment up front is fine, but you might struggle to get users on board if you don’t also factor in the provision of a trial version to get them hooked.
Choosing an ad-powered monetization model, where revenues are generated by in-app marketing messaging from partners, is popular. Ads do frustrate certain users, though, so be careful about how you use them.
Another way to fund your app is through in-app payments, where you give the base experience away for free, then get users to pay to unlock other aspects one by one. This is best known in a mobile gaming context but also works for other applications.
4. Mockup the layout- Design A Mobile App
Now you need to get down to the nitty-gritty of actually choosing how your app will look and function, and the basis of the design can be put together on paper or via mockup editor.
You’ll want to be very barebones here; details like the aesthetics can come later. What you mainly need is to pick how the app will be organized and how this will impact the user experience, whether that means using separate screens for different menus and features or keeping it all within one interface.
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5. Prototype, test, and launch
You should be ready to get serious about app development, and if you are not an expert in coding, then outsourcing this to someone who is will be necessary.
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The Bottom Lines
Remember to test throughout this process so that problems can be pinpointed and ironed out ahead of launch.
With that, your app is ready for the big time and could open up a world of other opportunities if it hits right!
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