Not considering the user when developing the app or, creating an app that is irrelevant for the target audience can cause fewer downloads, and greater attrition. It is important for you to consider, not just the audience you are targeting at present, but also the audience you will get when you scale your app.
You need to design an app that is flexible and can match the growth that your business attains.
Despite the importance of user research, which takes into account user behavior and their app usage, a lot of companies don’t really invest in it.
Usability and accessibility are the two main aspects of the mobile app design that you cannot ignore. That’s precisely why you need user research. It will help understand the accessible areas as well as what type of apps they prefer, and how they use it.
Each user looks for different things in the mobile app. If you don’t cater to them, then you might fail, even before you begin the journey.
Here, we will talk about Apple Music, the app that fell even before it could rise in the eyes of the audience.
Apple Music was launched without a premise. People were not aware of how it was different from the already prevalent iTunes, which made the awareness and reach for the app less.
A few of them who downloaded the app started facing glitches, which made them uninstall the same immediately.
What was the big mistake that Apple made here?
It did not educate the people about the app, which means the audience had little to no information about the app and its usage. Apart from that, the users did not get what they were looking for, in the app.
Let’s take a quick and deep look into why user research is important before you begin with the mobile app development.
#1 Helps with Design Relevancy
designing a mobile app is the most difficult part, as you need to make it usable and ensure you have incorporated all the latest trends.
When designing the mobile app, you need to design it for the user.
- It helps understand how the user will use the mobile app. Will they be using it in a landscape mode or portrait mode, for most of the time spent on the app? Will they use the app with their left or right hand? Do they use it with their thumb or in a cuddled manner? Answering these questions will help you develop a certain understanding of the mobile app user, and what kind of design they are most comfortable with
- You also need to set the expectations from the mobile app clear, right at the start. If you are a plain dating app, then say so, before people start expecting you to deliver other features.
- Apart from establishing the expectations, you ought to set the communication standards for the users
- When you research the user, you need to understand them from multiple perspectives, which will help you calculate the short and long term impacts for the mobile app
#2 Introduce Easy-to-use Features
When developing an app for the users, make sure you introduce features that are usable. The learning curve should be small for users.
Before you start introducing the features to the mobile apps, you need to ask a few questions that will help you define the requirements.
- Who are the ultimate users of the apps? You will get the target market for the application as a result of this answer. It will also help understand what they look for in your apps, and how they use the apps.
- Understand the social, cultural and educational background of the users to define the features.
- What kind of apps they are already using, and how often?
- Are you planning an app that can support their work environment? Is their work environment supportive of these apps?
#3 Helps Understand the ROI
Thorough user research will help you define the ROI for the mobile app you are planning to release to the market.
You will know if the app will be downloaded by the users. Thorough research will also help understand the usability of the app, and whether it will be used by your audience.
If you know your users, you will also know whether they are interested in a paid, free or freemium type of app, thus enabling the business model for the app.
The research will enable you to understand how to promote your app, get customers, and drive retention, which impacts ROI in many ways.
Things to Consider for User Research
- The users are all different and each one uses the mobile app differently. However, they may all belong to the same target niche. If you want to deliver an app that can be used by all in the user group, then make sure you remember that all users are different. Their level of expertise is different, and so is their learning curve. Keeping this in mind will help you deliver an app for the user
- You need to have a unique value proposition for the users. It should be different every single time. if you are developing a clone, don’t get it to the market if you have some unique features associated with it. if you have exhausted all options, you need to keep the fluidity of the user in mind. If you cannot offer anything unique, scrap the idea, and move on to the next one.
Summing up
When you are developing a mobile app,
- Make sure you offer an excellent and unique user experience that makes it usable and functional
- Take into consideration the user’s app behavior and design is accordingly
- Make it relevant to the user in every way, so that they consider downloading it
You might want to hire a good android app development company for the purpose, as they will understand user behavior and the need for good user experience.
About the Guest Author
Atman Rathod is the Co-founder at CMARIX TechnoLabs Pvt. Ltd., a leading web and mobile app development company with 13+ years of experience. He loves to write about technology, startups, entrepreneurship, and business. His creative abilities, academic track record and leadership skills made him one of the key industry influencers as well.