ERP Insights >> Magazine  >> January - 2018 issue

Sky Rocketing Expectations from Mobile Apps

Author : Deepak Panda, Head IT, Century Plyboards (I) Limited
Monday, January 29, 2018

Deepak Panda, Head IT, Century Plyboards (I) Limited

With the passage of time, the demand for mobile apps has been growing exponentially.
As per survey, by the end of 2019, the number of mobile users will reach 3 billion. In future, there would be a rapid demand for mobile apps not only for enterprise segment but also for the private and domestic segment. Therefore, a lot of opportunities are open for all those start-ups who are into mobile application development. However, they have to rigorously work on the innovations and out-of-box thinking to fulfil the customer's requirements. The competition is high and there is a major transformation happening in the entire gamut of information system. Currently, virtual reality and artificial intelligence is serving as mirror depicting the future of the IT industry. Executives wants technology to work as brain load balancer for them, simultaneously they want technology to behave as a mentor, assistant, trainer or a guide for them as well. The mobile applications are assisting the human mind in decreasing the load of mundane activities.

The users can be business users as well as consumers. A lot of tools and technologies available in the market mobile app development, however it is important for a mobile app start-up to select the right tools, technologies, and processes to develop such products.

Some of the fundamental guidelines to become a successful mobile app development company are:

Updated with Emerging Technologies: A business should keep track of new trends and have the scale up option looking at customer's future needs while keeping the product up to date. Such companies should be ready to switch/fit-in to all kind of platform as and when comes in, never know what would be the next on demand.

Mobile app development start-ups should develop cross-platform support apps that can be deployed to smart phones, notebooks, tablets, wearable devices and any other handheld device; moreover, it should be scalable enough to fit into changing technologies.

Clarity on Goals: There should be a clarity on the purpose of the application development, the targeted customers and its benefit for the customers. A complete study from the end user's prospective needs to be done prior to product development. The entrepreneur should know what he is investing into and the development team should plan a complete roadmap.

Innovation: Out of box thinking while simultaneously considering the customer's need and pocket. The ROI factor should be the most priority. There should be consistency in the approach and should not make frequent changes in the look and feel. A single box with lot's benefits to the end user always creates priority and value for the product. The mobile app start-up needs to strategize the plan to use correct tools, techniques, resources and the allocated budget.

Scalable and Bug Free Application Development:Technology changes in lightning speed, hence if the scalable options not taken care of then the market survival becomes challenging.

Moreover, the current mobile user is more concerned about their information security, privacy and ease of access. So bugs are unacceptable. Take an example of payment gateways used for online transaction through mobile apps. It is highly recommended to use best security practices to ensure the information security.

Product testing and pilot version launching: In depth testing of the fully loaded application, to make the same crash proof and bug free before a launch is vital. Also, a pilot version launching for a certain period is recommended within own network to find out all the loopholes and rectify it before final the launch. Some of the pitfalls to avoid:

1. You application should not be an energy hungry app. Burning too much of battery may lead to deletion of your app by the user to conserver precious battery power. No user wants to run out of battery while on the go.

2. Not testing your product on different screen size hand held devices including tablets can be a major pitfall for the app failure.

3. Using third party tools for cross platform support mobile app development may create a lot of dependence on the tool and its update to keep the app up with OS upgrades.

4. Using a synchronous design can be a setback as we cannot expect the user to be connected to the web always. Avoid hang-up when user is in Async mode.

Facebook