Do you currently have a mobile app for your business? Are you thinking about building one? Or are you currently building one? If you answered in the affirmative to one or more of those questions, then making your app as pleasing an easy to use as possible should be the key priority.
Research has shown that most smartphone users spend over 80% of their time using apps on their mobile devices. More important is the fact that almost 50% of all sales generated from mobile devices were done from brand apps. In fact, it is estimated that revenues from mobile apps worldwide in 2015 will be around $45 billion and about $76 billion by 2017. If you want to partake of this, the following features are a must-have.
Easy User Interface
We’re talking about a very good UX here. Great usability is the key to succeeding with your app. People don’t want to feel frustrated when using your app. So, the more user-friendly you can make your app, the longer the time they’ll spend on your app.
Usability should be your priority. If you get every other thing right except usability, you might as well be wasting your time. If you have no idea of what the perfect user-friendly app is, check out Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Drive, WhatsApp and Instagram apps.
Excellent Feedback Feature
What’s the use of an app if your users cannot get back to you about glitches or poor performance? Having an avenue for feedback is crucial to your app’s success. Your users should be able to successfully report any bugs or issues through emails, direct uploads to your server or push notifications.
Most app users often like it when companies provide a means of feedback; it communicates to them that the company is interested in whatever they have to say. Now, if you go the extra mile to fix glitches quickly, you can be sure that it’ll also be one of the reasons why more people will use your app.
Fast Loading Speed
Users don’t want an app that takes forever to load. They want one that loads quickly, provides an update and is easily accessible – somewhere around 5-10 seconds. A buggy app that takes too long to load – anything longer than 10 seconds is testing your users’ patience – when the user’s connection isn’t great it is useless.
Customization Options
How easily can your app be customized to users’ tastes? Is there a setting where they can change the theme, colors, types of notifications, change from daylight to night and so on? If there isn’t, you should include one right away. The truth is when people spend more time on your app, they’ll want more options. Provide them with these options and you’ll have fewer complaints or criticisms.
Make Your App Very Easy to Use
If every app in the world followed the simple rule of keeping it silly simple, they wouldn’t have an issue with non-usage. Your app should be dedicated to doing just one or two things. For instance, Facebook has a standard app and a messenger app. The standard app loads user profiles while the messenger app which is automatically linked to the main app is strictly for chatting.
Most people would rather download many apps that allows them to do specific things quickly than deal with one convoluted app that does so many things but takes a lot of time to figure out.
If it takes longer than 5 minutes for anyone to understand how to use your app the first time, or it takes more than 3 clicks/swipes for them to execute their actions on your app, then you have a difficult-to-use app, and should go back to the drawing board.
Joining a respectable marketing community is a good way to develop your marketing strategies and connections. To learn more or start a conversation about Mobile Apps, visit Kreativa.co.
About the Author
Oscar King is a freelance writer and small business owner who shares tips and insights into effectively running a company. If you would like to learn more about Oscar, you can check out his google+ profile.
