DETROIT – Let’s go back to 1991. ?The Silence of the Lambs? won best picture, Nirvana was atop the music scene and, to what I’m sure was very little fanfare, a new concept was introduced to the world: the website.
Fast forward to 1997. ?Titanic? was best picture, The Spice Girls were on top and I was working at a small software development company where I was to design and implement the company’s first website.
The point? It was six years after the first website before small companies were beginning to see that they shouldn’t just want a website, but that they needed one.
Today it’s website first. If you were to start a new company, wouldn’t your first step be to check for your domain name? And if it were taken, wouldn’t you consider changing your company name? Let’s face it, without a website, are you really in business? I recently searched for a lawn service on Google Maps. When I clicked on the map markers I found they all listed a phone number and an address, but only a few listed a website. Do you think I called those without a website?
No chance. And that was just for lawn service.
Why the focus on websites when we’re talking mobile trends? Because, A.) It’s just over six years since Apple introduced us to the App Store, B.) Apps are taking the same trajectory that websites once took, and C.) We’re now trending toward mobile first.
Think about this: your next employee may have been using a smartphone since they were sixteen. What will they think if you don’t provide them with apps?
Still, not every company needs an app, right? Not necessarily, but then again, not necessarily is what I would have said about every company needing a website in 1997.
So then, an app that does what? Well, that’s up to you, but let’s look at the trends to see what’s happening out there.
Trend #1: Convenience Trumps All
We’re in a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) world. Employees bring their own devices inside company walls, both virtual and physically, and they expect the time entry app will be as simple to use as Angry Birds.
If your apps are not simple to use, they simply won’t get used.
Achieving simplicity can be difficult. Often companies want to build apps to match their legacy applications or websites, including every function it took them years, if not decades, to discover and build. If this way of thinking wins, have faith that their app will end up in a pile of apps never used.
The best route to convenience is to focus on one function, maybe two?the MVP or Most Valuable Product. Take the Swiss Army knife. Many of us have them, but why don’t we use them daily? Because, while it contains many tools, each one is a lesser version of that individual tool. Would you rather chop onions with an eight-inch chef’s knife or a Swiss Army knife?
Trend #2: App Evolution
Base functionality is great, but what’s perceived as base functionality is bound to grow. The idea behind the first car was to get you from point A to B. At that time, what we’d consider base functionality to be was that the car drives, but what would we consider a car’s MVP today? Let’s just say that if I tried to sell you a car without door locks or seatbelts I hope you wouldn’t buy a car from me.
Apps must evolve. Your MVP tomorrow will not be your MVP today. Users expect improvements. They expect that when they ditch their iPhone for an Android, or vice-versa, their apps will be readily available, and that they’ll work flawlessly.
Still, how does a company navigate app evolution?
Trend #3: Monitoring
Monitoring provides insight into user needs. For example, we once built an app for a radio station. The MVP of the app was simply to stream music. However, the station insisted on filling the app up with “fun stuff.” They invested heavy resources into this non-MVP functionality, assuming it would be worth the cost.
Turned out it wasn’t, but how did we prove it?
Monitoring. We programmed the app to provide analytics. We found less than one percent of users accessed Fun Stuff, while 100 percent streamed music. Now, wouldn’t it have served this company better to release their app with only their MVP plus small features, and then monitor to determine what’s preferred?
Ultimately we should start by building the MVP, prepare ourselves for evolution, and monitor to ensure we’re wisely investing our resources. These are more than just trends for 2015, they’re time-tested and trusted guidelines for sound app development.
About the Author:
Scott Holliday, Mobile Software Architect, C/D/H. Holliday is the lead mobile software developer at C/D/H, a Michigan-based IT solutions and software development firm. He has developed several hundred iOS and Android applications for organizations in automotive, media, entertainment, energy, transportation and public sector. Scott is an experienced software architect, interface designer, product manager and quality analyst. Outside of C/D/H, Scott writes fiction. He has written over a hundred short stories and several novels.
