4 Golden Rules for Creating Award-winning Apps

All successful apps of today have one thing in common – they employ various techniques and rules to deliver an experience as close to perfection as currently possible.

Why?

This is because of the sheer competitiveness that exists in the app industry. To put things into perspective, as per eMarketer, 90 percent of internet consumption on mobile phones constitutes app usage. And while as per Statista, there are over 3.1 million apps available on Google Play and 2.0 million on Apple Store.

4 Rules for Creating an Award-winning App

To make sure that your app doesn’t end up being lost among the thousands of options available to users, it is imperative to beat all the prevailing apps in their game. And there is no better way to do it than via creating an award-winning app yourself. To do so, here are four rules that will come in handy.

1. Understand your users

While as a developer, you might be tempted to get right into the development process, you must first take a step back to the boardroom and map out your ideal app users and use it to sketch user requirements, and hence specifications.

A. Who are your users?

First, begin by identifying exactly who your users are. Find who your users are by conducting surveys and focus groups. Find out their interests, attributes and personalities. Don’t rely on stereotypes.

For instance, you might expect young boys to saturate the mobile gaming market. But, a study by RealityMine illustrates otherwise! According to it, compared to 66 percent of men, 70 percent of women play mobile games. And adults (45-year-olds) make up one-third of the user base.

B. What do they want?

Once you know exactly who you are creating an app for, dig deeper to find what they require. Rather than answering it for yourself, ask them about what constitutes a perfect app experience. This will allow you to find the point of contentions users have with current solutions and what they seek from their ideal apps.

C. How can you satisfy their needs?

This is where the fun starts. Start brainstorming ideas for the development of prototypes. Combine your understanding of user behavior along with their overt need to develop an idea that is best suited to their needs.

2. Keep in mind the three essentials

Every product development process has certain steps that all gurus swear by. In the world of app designing, providing flawless user interaction by incorporating the three essential elements can be viewed as gospel. Here are the questions you must ponder over:

A. What is your app trying to achieve?

Your app needs to have a clear goal from the get-go. Identifying this goal will allow you to design an interface that is best suited for the achievement of this goal. For instance, the goal of Uber is to allow users to hail rides. Therefore, the app is designed around streamlining the ride-hailing process right from the start.

B. Is your app accessible to all users?

Did you know, according to Statista, in 2019, over 25 percent of apps were abandoned after just one use? One of the biggest causes of the abandonment rate in apps, as well as websites, is poor usability. Make sure that your app is easy to use for both novice and experienced users.

This includes delivering simple navigation and design. You can take inspiration from Duolingo offers a smooth experience via the use of symbols, simple questions and a clear goal-setting process.

C. Does your app harness the power of familiarity?

Every interaction experienced by humans tends to leave behind mental models of what we deem to be appropriate. For instance, when you see the right light, you know you have to stop.

An award-winning app knows how to moderate between highlighting the uniqueness and leveraging familiarity. Don’t deviate too much from the normal to make sure that users are able to use your app without hiccups.

3. Map out a user flow

Once you have identified and understood your users, it is time to map out their user journey on your app. At this stage, the idea is not to create a fancy prototype. Instead, you must first write down a hierarchy of all app functions.

This user flow will act as a guide in your eventual app development process and ensures that you create an app where each action has been optimized in terms of the number of steps required. Be warned; this is quite a tedious process!

You can easily map out the content of this process as well. In fact, this is a result of a content flow made during the prototype process! It is quite remarkable how every minute details of the app development process are reflected in your final product.

4. Create a clutter-free and accessible app

There are two parts to this rule. The first is to minimize clutter. Simplicity is one design trend that is likely to stay for a long time due to the various benefits it leads to.

For instance, it makes sure that the user doesn’t get distracted by the fluff and completes the required action. Additionally, it improves app load time and reduces instances of lags. It also avoids overwhelming users with information.

Try to reduce the number of taps required to reach from one action point to the next. While the 3-tap rule has since been discarded, weeding out clutter and excessive steps will never hurt your case.

Clutter-free apps automatically gave way to the second part of the rule – facilitating fat fingers! When was the last time you interacted with an app whose buttons were just too small for you? We are sure you would never want to go back to such an app. Such is the case with all users.

In fact, to combat with iPhone’s small keyboard, ThickButtons’ came up with an alternative keyboard that is usable by all.

The best way to allow finger-friendliness is to design your app buttons and functions for fat fingers. Leave enough space between every button to prevent erroneous presses.

Ending Remarks

With these four golden rules under your belt and a winning app idea, there is nothing to stop you from creating the next trending application!

Make sure to hire the best mobile app development company for the task. After all, the technical expertise and intricacies also make a huge difference. Regardless of who creates the app for you, just make sure that your vision and your users’ needs are realized by the final product. Good luck!