The following is a roadmap to help IT leaders successfully design, deploy, and analyze their apps to create a sound mobile strategy.
1. Be real
Before starting any mobile application project, there must be specific plans and goals in place. More importantly, there should be a way to measure the success of a mobile app, and how end users will benefit from the new functionality.
Because there are numerous substitutes to an app (web, mobile web), and there is limited shelf space on a phone, the functionality of the mobile app must be that much more valuable to unseat incumbent technology.
Goals, however, must be realistic; trying to do much without first vetting the possibilities and constraints is always a recipe for disaster. Similarly, doing very little innovation can lead to low adoption.
2. Watch and act fast
Mobile projects go through continuous release and integration cycles. Tracing performance problems to individual builds, files and even the specific line of code allows developers and enterprise operations teams pinpoint an issue. This not only shortens the time to fix a problem, but also allows the organization to proactively seek solutions so that errors don’t occur again.
3. Don’t look for bargains - it costs a lot
According to Forrester, design and development costs, on average, range from $200,000 to $350,000, so each dollar needs to be carefully spent.
Additionally, planning for activities to take longer than you think will help with scheduling; in short, build padding into your timeline expectations. There will always be issues to address, but prioritizing those that will give you the most return on your investments is key.
4. Ask for feedback
Ask questions because you will learn from your employees and users. If all the feedback isn’t incorporated into a single document or source, though, it will be difficult to iterate accordingly for the next round.
Many challenges exist when developing, deploying, and testing a mobile app but taking proactive steps to make certain errors and other malfunctions don’t happen to the mobile app is key. The race is on for enterprises to fully reap the potential benefits of mobility.
Jeannie Liou is Marketing Manager at Crittercism.