APP ROADMAP
This section talks about having a Strategic Roadmap For Developing and Designing Your Application – How to get maximum benefit end user adoption.
Ok so you have an idea but that is just the first stage of a long journey which if you get wrong will cost you sales, money reputation and could lead to failure. Properly laying out a design roadmap is the first stage in producing your app. It formulates a build blueprint for the various phases including the planning, building, testing, publishing and maintaining.
You need to know and understand what the business goal is and make so its realised in the planning stage so as to ensure your goals are hit. Therefore a Roadmap takes idea and clearly outlines al the required steps and without a proper roadmap you are at risk of getting led off course and lose a lot of time and eventually not hit the strategic deadlines.
Specify Your Objective
So before you start you need to evaluate the following…
- What is the USP (Unique Selling Point) of the app
- What value does this app add
- Am I solving any problems with this App
- Is an App absolutely necessary
- What will make this app stand out in a crowd
What is the SOW (Scope Of Work), the budget and time frame?
Always being cognisant of the Scope, budget and time constraints ensures that you create a Roadmap with realistic expectations.
Each of these factors is as important as the other and can determine the MVP (minimal viable product) greatly. For example if you want a lot of complex features then this will influence the time frame and then have a knock on effect to the cost. The way to avoid mistakes in this areas is to plan exactly what is needed for the initial launch and then plan to add the other ‘nice to have’ features at a later date in the Roadmap. Remember – TIME, SCOPE, BUDGET.
When you have to consider all of these factors and what is realistically achievable then you SHOULD always speak with someone from our team first. Without the knowledge and experience you cannot make these agile decisions.
Know your Competitors and by Totally familiar with the market
Before you engage on building your idea then you should be knowledgeable about the market you are going to compete in.
- What is the price point of the product(s)?
- What is the USP?
- How will you engage the user?
- What are the demographics of the users?
- Any trends in the market?
Put Yourself in the Shoes of the User
A lot of new app ideas only concentrate on the features of the app and forget the fact that if you do not have any downloads, users, then retention then you don’t have a success with your product.
Think about usability and also about how the app can be as simple and as intuitive as possible when it comes to the reason you are developing it in the first place.
User interaction with your App
Ok so you want it to be an intuitive as possible but how does a user actually use it and get from A to B. Actually visualising what features you will include and how someone will physically use their device helps to realise what’s essential for MVP1. You should go back to the mission statement for the app to clearly achieve this.
Flow using wireframes
So taking the last stage a step further then to actually get it right the best thing to do at this point id to wireframe it. Which basically means to have the flow produced in a visual format. This will then later form the design prototype for the UI/UX and also make sure that you avoid having to recode which is BAD AND COSTLY!
Also know as mockups the wireframes really help you get familiar with the app like a user would and you will be able to change a lot about the overall flow here. Again producing a wireframe is part of the service we offer so you should always speak to one of our representatives to confirm.
Remember user navigation is key!
Prototype UI/UX
Prototypes take the wireframes to the next level and overlay a design that enables you to show potential users what they would be using and get valuable feedback.
We use the most up to date software and the best designers to create a UI/UX prototype that will really make your app stand out form the crowd. These prototypes can be made to be interactive meaning you can actually click and navigate through the app and this is as real as the final version as you can get. This is perfect for UAT (user acceptance testing), Beta Testing.
The Graphic Design
You need to move with the times when it comes to design so you need to ensure your team employs all the latest acceptable methods to give your app the best look it can.
People can make their mind up to whether they like an app if they like the look of the design so make a great first impression! The colours, fonts, consistency, dimension and images are all as important as each other in this stage of the development process.
Any Other questions then get in contact today.