We follow 14 steps to success…
1. ASSESS
The best apps don’t just look good, they solve a problem, make life easier or make you smile (again and again). We assess new app ideas based on three criteria: Originality (is it new?); Engagement (will people use it and keep using it?); and Revenue (will it make money?). If an idea passes all three tests, we usually run with it.
2. BUDGET
We need to know your budget. This isn't so we can spend all your money. It's because your budget influences our approach enormously. £5,000, for example, won’t buy an Augmented Reality app. Similarly, evolution is key to maintaining engagement and failure to plan for this now will damage future success. So, we agree a realistic allowance for total development costs at this early stage.
3. MEASURE
Many times apps projects are started at the request of a member of the executive team because of external pressure to “do something” in mobile. This pressure can lead companies to rush into development before clear goals are set as to whether the project is expected to highlight the brand, build buzz for the brand, generate revenue for the business etc. Without a clear definition of what constitutes a successful return on investment, it will be difficult to analyse and track the app's success. So, what metrics will we measure success by? (e.g. downloads, money spent through the app, leads generated etc.). For some apps, payback comes from charging for the app directly, in-app purchases and subscriptions, or less directly, through advertising. On the other hand, apps built for purposes like marketing, branding or customer service are normally free, since the whole point is to get them distributed as widely as possible. But if we make an app, how many prospects and customers will it reach? For example, only 27% of mobile users in the UK use an iPhone; that's 73% who don't! Similarly, less than 40% of Americans own a Smartphone. These factors put a ceiling on the potential success of an app, so we agree the key metric(s) now.
4. INVITE
Apps can benefit every part of a company, from HR to Sales and Operations. Failure to invite every department to the table often results in failure. So, we work hard to understand everyone's goals and objectives. We ask lots of people, lots of questions!
5. RESEARCH
Apps don't exist in a vacuum. Use occurs in the real world with real people. Beyond the testing chambers are: rural areas with poor Internet access; elderly eyesight that makes small text hard to read; children demanding attention etc. We research the target market to understand the end user, inside out. Brands that develop their first app for every platform, don’t recognise who their customers are.
6. STORYBOARD
We deliver the full app architecture in the form of a screen-by-screen storyboard. The storyboard details the user journey, functionality and features within the app, and sets the table for a discussion in which we can all agree how the finished app will perform.
7. PLAN
A lot can go wrong during app development and release, from poor project planning to faulty API’s. The biggest mistakes often happen before any code is written. So, we plan thoroughly. This involves preparing a detailed, written specification of the app, which contains everything learned and agreed in Steps 1-6. This becomes our blueprint.
8. DESIGN
Next, our designers go to work on creating the app's user interface and overall aesthetic. Once preliminary concepts are created, we work with you to tweak and finalise the design.
9. BUILD
Our developers start coding and will normally deliver a functioning alpha version of the app in 4-6 weeks. We build for all platforms, including Android apps (Google), Blackberry apps (RIM), iPhone and iPad apps (Apple), Windows apps (Microsoft), HTML5 web apps and hybrid apps.
10. TEST
Post-release testing is not the time to discover bugs. So, we conduct early and sustained QA testing throughout the app's development. We test, poke, prod and try the app in lots of situations on multiple devices to ensure a seamless user experience.
11. PLAY
When internal testing is complete, the beta version app is ready to play with. We'll ask for your feedback (good and bad) and make improvements accordingly.
12. APPROVE
We'll package the app ready for launch and obtain App Store or Marketplace approvals, if required. The average approval time is 10 working days.
13. LAUNCH
There’s a reason app stores have an ‘Update’ option. App development is an exercise in iteration. Trying to pack every feature into a first release is unrealistic and unnecessary. So, we'll release your app with the minimum it needs to be successful, then listen to what users love, hate and long for. Using this feedback, we'll improve the app and release updates.
14. GUARANTEE
RoqSTA stands behind its product. We remove bugs free of charge for the first 30 days after launch. Beyond 30 days, we can customise a maintenance plan to fit your app.
For a free quote, please Get in Touch.
Read More +Hybrid Apps: A Winning Mobile Strategy
As smart phones continue their exponential growth and consumers get increasingly comfortable with using them to book travel, conduct research and make purchases, it’s essential for organizations to leverage next-generation mobile technologies into their overall marketing efforts. A comprehensive mobile app development strategy that incorporates advanced HTML5 mobile web capabilities, while simultaneously maximizing their reach with a native application strategy, is essential for companies hoping to secure brand loyalty. That’s a tall order, but it’s one that will help brands win in the mobile field, which is increasingly becoming crucial to businesses.
Up first: Leveraging HTML5 to reach users. The advancements of HTML5 mobile app development provides businesses with a reliable mobile web platform that delivers faster speeds and more flexibility on next-generation broadband networks. By leveraging advanced features supported by HTML5, you can deliver an app-like experience, without forcing people to hunt through an app store, then download the software. Further, HTML5 sites are search engine friendly, potentially increasing your exposure.
There are a few key HTML5-enabled features you’ll need to leverage during mobile application development to enhance the consumer browsing experience:
- ★ Dynamic scrolling banners provide brands with the ability to further target mobile users with the latest products, special offers, and relevant promotions on the mobile homepage.
- ★ Expanding navigation, collapsible menus and pop-up windows can improve site navigation, and allow more content to be incorporated, maximizing the smart phone’s small screen design without sacrificing crucial page download time.
- ★ High-resolution image galleries display multiple, high quality product images in a gallery format, and allows users to scroll, swipe, and zoom in on a selected image.
- ★ Advanced GPS functionality can customize the mobile site experience to where the user is located. A great example is Expedia, a company that delivers mobile search results and hotel room availability based on the user’s location.
- ★ Predictive Search can cut down the time it takes for users to access search results on a branded mobile page, similar to the way Google delivers its search results.
- ★ Mini-carts on transactional mobile sites allows users to easily call up their shopping cart at any time to see what’s in their basket, without having to navigate away from the page that they’re on.
Using HTML5 doesn’t mean you should ignore traditional mobile phone applications, though. These can offer consumers a more personalised mobile experience. Because there is a customer discovery element, though, it’s best to view them as a tool to more deeply engage your most faithful customers. By complementing your mobile web strategy with native mobile apps, you can encourage customers to become evangelists for your brand. Since mobile apps provide the ability to leverage smart phones’ unique capabilities, they are able to deliver unique interactive features. Examples include:
- ★ Leveraging the Smartphone's camera: the smart phone’s camera, say on an iPhone, or an Android phone, can be used in-app to deliver experiences not available in the mobile browser, like providing the ability to read QR and other bar codes. Integrating QR Codes into a mobile app strategy allows brands to implement innovative new marketing, and advertising options, and deliver unique, exclusive content to consumers.
- ★ Push notifications: this ensures you remain in direct contact with your most loyal customers through an open line of communication. In addition, push notifications provide another unique broadcast platform to disseminate targeted promotions, and other branded news.
- ★ Deliver unique, brand-appropriate experiences: the mobile application format presents brands with the opportunity to deliver unique, engaging features to their most loyal customers that are not available in the mobile web experience.
As mobile, and marketing experts continue to debate the advantages of HTML5 mobile web versus the mobile app, it is time for brands to view these mobile tools not as competing entities, but rather as complimentary pieces to develop the most comprehensive, and effective mobile strategy possible. By leveraging both, you’ll more effectively engage with your consumers.
RoqSTA Developers specialise in mobile app development for all smart phone and tablet devices, including: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android. We build mobile phone applications for all platforms, including: iOS (Apple), Rim (Blackberry), Google (Android), Windows, and Web (HTML5). We also build hybrid apps. Our offices are based in Leeds, West Yorkshire.