The business world is competitive and to stay in the game, you need to use all of the resources at your disposal. In the modern age, this means using things like websites, social media campaigns and mobile apps. These technologies allow the business to provide information to the consumer and engage them in a way that wasn’t possible in the past. While these can be effective tools for driving the consumer experience and winning new customers, they won’t have a significant impact if they are poorly designed.
An effective consumer app will do a lot more than provide information. It will offer an interactive experience that gets the consumer thinking about your business. It should give them access to information about what you do in a way that is convenient and it should have features that allow the user to customize their experience with the app and the business, but above all, it should inspire the consumer to want to visit your establishment or use your services.
The initial steps of designing an app for a business involve coming up with a variety potential mock-ups for how the app should work. In this part of the process, the team gets together and they determine what will make an effective app for the given business. They discuss the features and functions and how the app should operate to deliver the best possible consumer experience. Through this process, they will narrow it down to maybe a few ideas for the direction of design.
The process of making a good app also needs to involve collaboration between the design team and the developers. Once the design team has a few ideas nailed down, they can bring them to the development team to discuss how the different features will work and whether all of the ideas are practical. The collaboration between design and development is fundamental to making an app that will serve the consumer well. If the development team needs to change features of the app or remove something from the initial design, the design team can be there to provide input and possibly tweak certain aspects to help maintain the integrity of the initial concept.
For an app to drive the consumer experience and deliver the necessary message, the team will also need to collaborate with the business that is going to use the app. After the design team has their feedback from the developers, you can pitch a few of the concepts to the client or business that is purchasing the app. Explaining the features and functions of the app and giving a tour of how it will bring consumers to their business. Talk about how it can be used through social media to raise awareness of the business and highlight interactive features of the different concept apps. Once you have feedback from the people that are paying for the app, you can move on to the final development stages that will turn the concept into a reality.
The problem with so many of the unsuccessful consumer apps is that the development company didn’t take the time to design an app that would suit the end user. In short, they simply designed an app because they were paid to. If you want to make an app that will really drive business and bring consumers in, the design process needs to be highly collaborative between all of the parties involved. An app that is designed hastily and with no clear purpose, will be ineffective and a waste of money.
