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November 12, 2024
Table of Content
Mobile apps are not just the digital tools of a business but are a core strategy of a business that engages customers and streamlines their operations by providing innovative products or solutions.
Having covered everything from ideation and design to the powers that fuel apps, we discuss advanced strategies, industry-specific use cases, and future-shaping technologies in developing mobile apps for today's deep-dive expanded version.
Custom mobile application development refers to the process of building applications that are specially tailored to a company's specific business needs, goals, and user requirements. Applications are built from scratch or customized to meet unique organizational needs, offering bespoke solutions that off-the-shelf software simply cannot match.
Flexibility and Scalability: Custom apps offer you solutions that will be scalable in your business since you can add features on the fly.
Competitive Advantage: Custom apps differentiate your business from competitors by providing features that cannot be perfectly duplicated using generic software.
Full Control: You have complete control over design, functionality, and user experience to deliver a more customized and efficient product.
The more businesses grow, the more demanding their technology needs are, and therefore, the demand to create in-house mobile apps grows. Usually, commercial solutions have limited features, customization, and scaling abilities. Custom apps are far more freeing because they unlock the possibilities of doing what your business has aimed at.
Tailored Experience for Your Users
Unlike generic applications, the specific mobile application is designed keeping in mind the definite needs of your audience. Be it a streamlined e-commerce experience or a mobile dashboard for real-time data insights, the functionality of the app is customized to meet the requirements of its users.
Example:
Fitbit's mobile app is designed for its users to track workouts, set fitness goals, and even provide personal health advice based on the user's data.
Custom mobile applications open opportunities for innovation and integrating new-fangled technologies that can give your business a more significant edge in the market.
Example:
ModiFace, an AR-powered experience by L'Oreal is an example of such a custom mobile app. Through this, a consumer can virtually try on makeup using his or her phone camera and experience an enhanced journey of customer engagement within the beauty industry.
A customized mobile application provides push notifications, in-app messages, and personalized offers that can help stimulate repeated usage and get customers to come back to your site.
Example:
Starbucks' mobile application gives users the capability to earn rewards, order, and pay right from their cell phones. Furthermore, the inclusion of loyalty rewards and easy payment enables it to be a leader in retaining customers.
It involves all proper planning, execution, and ongoing support for the custom mobile application development process. So, let's dive in, step by step.
The discovery phase is all about understanding what kind of problem you want to solve with your app. It is important involvement from stakeholders owners, developers, and designers towards the creation of a shared understanding of what the app should deliver.
Key Activities
Define what the App is to Do: What do you want your app to do? Sketch out your goals, whether it's more engagement with the customer base, better automation of internal operations, or something else to improve the journey of your customers.
Know your Target Audience: Identify your users' pain points, preferences, and expectations. This means that knowing your users will let you design a product that fits their needs.
Feature Prioritization: Outline all the features of your app and prioritize them. For instance, if you develop an e-commerce app, features like product search and checkout would be high-priority features while wishlist or customer reviews would be secondary.
Outcome: A detailed document of the project scope as well as a user journey map which explains the critical steps involved in the app interaction process.
UI (User Interface) Design and UX (User Experience) Design are important in providing an app that is not only functional but also attractive-looking.
Key Activities
Wireframing: This is a simple layout design, indicating where elements such as buttons, menus, or the various features of the app will be placed on each screen.
User Flows: The user flows define the routes that the users will engage within the app, which helps identify usability problems on the go.
Prototyping: High-fidelity prototypes allow you to interact with the app before development begins. Prototyping is critical for gathering stakeholder and user feedback early in the process.
Outcome: Clickable prototypes and a full UI/UX design that can be tested with users before development begins.
At this point, the development team starts building the app according to the design and functionalities decided. Here, one would be focused on backend and front-end development along with the technology stack.
Key Activities
Backend Development This involves all types of data management concerning the app server management, database setting, and API developments.
Example: For Uber, there is a need for a complex system of backends for ride-hailing algorithms, tracking driver location, and processing payments.
Frontend Development This refers to the section of the application where users will use design, navigation, and responsive layout. It may depend on the platform, either native development such as Swift for iOS or cross-platform tools like React Native or Flutter.
For example, Instagram uses React Native for cross-platform app development so that they can maintain a single code base while still delivering a seamless experience for both iOS and Android users.
Quality assurance ascertains the fact that the developed application works fine and fulfils business needs as well as those of users. Here, the following types of testing are performed
Key Activities
Unit Testing: It is applied to test each component of the application individually for its functionality.
Integration Testing: This type makes sure that various components of the application get well integrated with each other. For example, APIs or any third-party integration.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): This is testing done on the application with real users in order for it to meet the needs and expectations of users before the launching of the app.
Output: Bug-free, secure, and fully functional application.
Launch deployment involves the launching of an application both on the App Store for iOS and on the Google Play Store for Android. This includes
ASO - App Store Optimization To ensure the app gets discovered, keywords, descriptions, and screenshots are appropriately optimized to support better visibility.
App Launch Strategy: Engaging Marketing campaigns and third-party influencer PR efforts to raise awareness and download count.
Output: The app is live and is accessible to the targeted audience
Thus, monitoring of performance after launch and rectification of problems ensures the smooth flow of the app. An updated software application that follows feedback from users and advancements in technology also keeps the app alive and running.
Performance Monitoring: Monitor Server load, crash reports and User behaviour to find potential problems.
New Features: With your user base growing, you'll probably want to include new features or integrate new technologies as needed to keep the app fresh and on the competitive edge.
Mobile app development has a bright future led by emerging technologies. Among the most impactful are these:
AI and ML have impacted how apps interact with their users; hence, changing the experience to be personal, predictive, and automated.
Example: How Spotify uses ML algorithms for song recommendations based on listening habits about a user and the way Google Assistant relies on AI to give an answer relevantly in context with actions.
AR and VR are fast taking mobile applications, particularly retail, real estate, and gaming industries, by storm. They provide an immersive experience that in a way engages the user differently.
Example: Pokémon GO used a combination of AR and gaming to create an immersive in situ play experience whereby users caught virtual Pokémon in their real world.
Blockchain technology is rapidly being integrated into mobile apps, especially in sectors such as financial, health care, and supply chain. Blockchain provides better security, more transparency, and decentralization.
Example: Brave Browser uses blockchain for a private-focused browsing experience that pays the user in cryptocurrency to view ads.
It connects devices so that they can interact with each other, and mobile apps integrated with IoT can monitor and control from smart homes to industrial equipment.
Example: Nest allows users to control their smart thermostats and security systems remotely using a custom app.
The rollout of 5G will change the game when it comes to the performance of mobile apps, enabling faster speeds, lower latency, and improved connectivity for real-time applications like gaming, AR, and remote health care.
Example: The Nokia 5G-enabled app platform enhances connectivity for smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and remote operations.
Challenge: Being a leading global pizza delivery and carryout chain, they faced several challenges with customer expectations, ordering efficiency, and remain competitive.
Solution: They introduced user-friendly mobile apps that helped customers to place orders, keep track of them, and pay hassle-free. It also incorporated voice ordering functionality to make the process more smooth.
Outcome: Enhanced user experience, improved operational efficiencies, global reach and competitiveness, increased sales and orders.
Challenge: Being a leading global pizza delivery and carryout chain, they faced several challenges with customer expectations, ordering efficiency, and remain competitive.
Solution: They introduced user-friendly mobile apps that helped customers to place orders, keep track of them, and pay hassle-free. It also incorporated voice ordering functionality to make the process more smooth.
Outcome: Enhanced user experience, improved operational efficiencies, global reach and competitiveness, increased sales and orders.
Challenge: Simplify customer service and enhance travel experience during flight. Solution: Lufthansa customizes an app that allows passengers to check in, track the flight, select seats, and enjoy in-flight entertainment all from their mobile phones.
Solution: Improved Customer Satisfaction and efficiency in operations, more retention of the customer and brand loyalty.
Outcome: Enhanced customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, with improved customer retention and brand loyalty.
As the face of mobile app development moves fast to emerging technology and also with higher expectations for usage, creating a custom app is distinctly different from how business approaches such a practice.
Companies can get ahead by embracing disruptive solutions like AI, AR/VR, and blockchain to deliver powerful applications that focus on the needs of the user in an increasingly competitive market.
Custom mobile application development is a good and efficient investment where tangible business value lies, be it through customer experience improvement, process optimization within the company, or innovation. It takes the right planning, execution, and after-launch management to make a custom mobile app change the game for your business.
If you are a business looking to create intuitive and user-friendly apps, Fourchain is here to help you! Get in touch with our experts and we make it into a reality!
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