It should come as no surprise that mobile is the present and future of technology. According to ComScore, 4 out of every 5 mobile users in Canada has access to a smartphone. More than 80% of time on any mobile device is spent on apps, rather than browsers. The number of users who access content exclusively on mobile increased by 16% in 2014. According to the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), Canadian enterprise apps generated $1.7 billion in annual revenue in 2014 and this total is projected to grow to $5.2 billion annually by 2019. The statistics are clear, and any company that doesn’t have a mobile strategy is behind the eight ball. These five rules will help ensure the successful development of your company’s enterprise app:
Focus on the Human Element
Enterprise apps should always be developed with the end user in mind. Though computers have tremendous power and intelligence, humans work and think differently. Your enterprise app should be created to complement human behaviour. Start by thinking about the needs of your customers and employees. What problems are they looking to solve? What are their pain points? Solving these issues should always be at the forefront of your development strategy.
Be Flexible
With resources like the Force.com point-and-click suite for creating employee-facing apps and Salesforce’s Heroku development platform for customer apps, apps can be created quickly and customized in a snap to match your needs. With the assistance of an enterprise app developer like mBlazonry, you are able to be the perfect mix of proactive and reactive. First, you anticipate the needs of your customers and employees. After launch, you are able to continually adapt the app to match the evolving interests of your customers or needs of your staff. Flexibility is integral to adoption.
Focus on Solving Problems, Not Writing Code
When you work with an enterprise app developer like mBlazonry, brainpower and budget alike can be primarily devoted to solving user problems, not writing and troubleshooting code. For every business, time and money are limited resources. When you follow this rule and allocate your resources judiciously, you will end up with a much more successful enterprise app that fills a need.
Be User-Friendly
This about a lot more than creating a great logo and using an attractive colour scheme. You need to foster an intuitive and engaging user interface. Remember, your goal should always be to design an interface that fits the user, not vice versa. Killer UX is what separates successful enterprise apps from the pretenders.
Involve The User
Unfortunately, a “build it and they will come” strategy does not apply to enterprise apps. It doesn’t matter how practical, visually appealing, or problem-solving an app is – if you don’t teach the users to use it, they won’t. Therefore your enterprise app development strategy should also include a detailed launch plan with time devoted to educating and empowering the users. Solicit feedback from your users with a beta testing feedback phase, and be willing to make changes on the fly after launch.
For more information about building a successful enterprise app, contact mBlazonry.