Apps account for a whopping 80% of the time that users spend on their mobile devices. In short, apps are popular, and popular things make money. With the right expertise (or help from an expert), anybody can create their own app to make money from – and it doesn’t have to cost loads, either.
If you’re interested in tapping into this lucrative market, here are six things you need to know about how to create a successful app.
- Keep Track of Trends
The first thing every app needs to do is serve a purpose. If people aren’t searching for apps that solve the problem your app solves, it’s unlikely to be successful. Conduct market research to see what’s popular in the world of apps and base your idea on this research.
Popular types of app include sustainability, fitness, finances, and mental health. If you’re interested in creating a mental health app that supports breathwork, productivity, or sleep, for example, try reading a mental health app development guide, first.
- Make Text Legible
If consumers can’t read your text, there’s no point in including it in your app. Many older adults struggle to read small text, so if they open your app and it isn’t legible, they’ll simply delete it.
Make sure your text is legible, and if you want to add extra functionality, offer a text enlarger for users, so they can customize the font size until it works for them.
- Prioritize Intuitive Navigation
Users don’t want an app that they have to use upwards of five times just to understand how it works. The easier your app is to navigate, the more likely users are to use it.
Make sure the user journey is logical and requires as few steps as possible to reach the eventual goal. Avoid making users have to switch between apps or pages to get a task done.
- Give the User Control
People like to feel like they have as much control as possible of the world around them – that includes their mobile apps. Hand over control to your users by offering demos and making your app as customizable as possible.
- Minimize Friction
If there’s one word that sums up the key principles of UX design, it’s friction. When making an app, you want to remove as much friction as possible from the user experience.
Consider the sign-up, for example. If a customer has to give all sorts of relevant details to sign up for the app, they likely won’t bother. Remove as much need for data input as possible to avoid your users logging off.
- Test Your Design
Often, when we’ve created something ourselves, we’re unable to see any errors or issues. With that in mind, one of the best ways to test an app you’ve created is to ask others to test it on your behalf and report any issues.
Friends and family are fine, but if you know somebody who fits the target audience for your app, that’s even better.
