Once you have a great idea for an app, it’s hard to get it out of your head. In all the excitement to put your app together, you may be thinking about the logo that people will see on the App Store or the user interface that users will swipe across day after day, this would be getting ahead of yourself. App design is important, but there are many things you need to examine about the functionality of your app before you begin to focus on design. Keep reading below for four considerations to make before you partner with a designer in order to bring your mobile app design to life.
Is this App Necessary to Design?
The first thing you want to consider before you get to work on app design is whether or not your particular app idea is necessary. This isn’t to say that some apps are inherently worthy of design and some are not. We say this in order to highlight the importance of doing market research in preparation for creating an app.
Market research is the difference between having an app that surpasses your goals for installs and downloads, and an app that collects dust on the proverbial shelf. It involves taking stock of the niche you’re looking to create in and paying attention to the needs of the audience you hope to reach. Essentially, market research is the pre-planning stage you go through in order to set your app up for success. Before you even begin to think about app design, you should assemble a team or variety of tools to research the market and figure out where your app fits in or what you should add or change in order to make it worthwhile. For more information about the details of conducting market research, check out our blog post on the subject.
Are You Interested in an App Design for Native Apps or Hybrid Apps?
What even is a native app or hybrid app? In short, a native app is one that has been created for a specific OS (operating system). In other words, the app is built specifically for Apple iOS or Android OS. A hybrid app, in contrast, is built on a 3rd party platform and is easily able to run on any OS. Developing a hybrid app allows you to put your app in the App Store or Google Play Store without major redevelopment.
The question of how you’ll develop your mobile app is important for two reasons. The first is that in order to begin app development with a mobile app developer, you need to be able to explain to them precisely what you want them to do. Or if you want to build an app yourself, you should know your options before you begin in order to avoid wasting time and energy. If you begin with iOS app development in mind and then realize you actually need to engage in hybrid app development before wireframes are even made, you’ll be less stressed and even likely save money on that stage of the process. The second reason is that this will determine which store your app will appear on. The platform your app is available on will affect how you optimize the app and how you employ the use of ASO. While it may not be vital at the start, it’s worth it to note whether you’ll be working to get your app onto just one app store or two once it’s been designed.
What Will Your Timeline Look Like?
An essential part of app design is accounting for the timeline of the building process. Jumping in with no plan or with an unrealistic one will cost you many wasted hours and dollars as you move forward. In order to avoid this, you’ll want to consider all the stages that will go into creating the end product. How long will it take to complete the design, build the wireframe, test the beta version, and pass the app through review in the app store or stores?
The reality is that at each stage, you will more than likely need to make edits and revisions. That’s okay, you’re making your app the best it can be and you don’t want to rush through the essentials just to get to the “fun part”. You may be thinking in depth about the logo design and the colors or fonts that will make up your app design, but none of that matters if the functionality and UX design of your app is off.
Additionally, if you’ve never created a mobile app before, you might be waiting a while for the App Store and/or Google Play Store to approve your app. There are basic tenants of an eligible app, but there are also small things you might miss, such as stringent guidelines around privacy policies and data collection. You’ll need to take the time to do plenty of research beforehand and possibly make revisions based on any hangups with approval so that you can get your app out to the public.
Can You Go it Alone or Do You Need An App Developer?
This is an important question to ask yourself, especially if you are working alone or your team is particularly small. Even if you’re an app development wizard, actually putting together an app can be very time consuming and you might have other considerations, such as getting investors onboard. If you have the time and resources to do it all yourself, then you’ll be good to go. If not, you may want to consider partnering with an app development company.
A mobile app development company will know all the ins and outs of putting an app together, eliminating a lot of the trial and error that you would deal with independently. Additionally, a company that does app development all day knows how to work efficiently, turning around a product that meets your wants and needs in record time. On top of that, you may also find a company that does both development and marketing, giving you the opportunity to take care of both aspects with one organization without having to explain your app in depth to multiple groups and hoping that they will see your vision in the same way.
There are clearly many considerations to make before you begin designing your mobile app’s aesthetics. But the hard work you put in ahead of time in order to make the foundation of your app strong will only help you when you go to meet with a designer in order to finish bringing your app to life. The two of you will be thrilled when your aesthetic app design is able to complement your app functionality, rather than covering up parts that haven’t been developed or don’t work.