Do I need an app for my business or organization?
One of the many services we offer here at Pleth is mobile application development. The world of mobile applications, or "apps," is a fairly new one to most businesses and it can be difficult to decide if it is something you could benefit from. The first place to start is to see who's using apps and see if those people are within your target demographic.
Did you know mobile apps are becoming more and more prevalent every day? Check out these stats:
- 31% of mobile phone users have a smartphone capable of running apps, and by 2015, this number is expected to be in excess of 43%
- 69% of these smartphone users have downloaded apps
- 67% of app users are men
- the 35 to 44 age group is most likely to download apps
- people ages 18 to 24 is the next largest group of app users
- over 350,000 apps are available in the iTunes App Store
- over 200,000 apps are available in the Android Market
- the fastest growing app category is social networking
Ok, I want an app. Where do I start?
Once you've decided an app is appropriate for you, the next step is to work with your creative agency to decide the best use of the application and communicate what you'd like to see in your app. This can be a difficult task if you aren't familiar with the capabilities of apps.
We've found it's best to start out with a wish list of features and then weigh these by both cost and priority within your current marketing goals. This will allow you to build what we call a project scope. An app's scope will include items such as: which smartphone platforms to publish your app to, an outline of the user experience, special functionality and features.
How do I communicate my needs?
One of the ways we help our clients build this wishlist is to provide them with a DIY App Builder kit. This kit includes a mobile phone sketchpad for both drawing and note taking, several pages of cutout interface elements and a glue stick. Using the kit, you can literally build each screen of your app in a way that is easily communicated and shared. Even if you aren't familiar with what an app should look like or how it should function, you can put together a series of screens in no time at all.
This kit allows you to brainstorm on your own, or with your staff, in a way that will allow you to work through possible ideas, set a list of priorities and define what you do and do not want to see within your app. You can then share the final packet with your designer and developer, which can be used to define the scope of your project.
What's the next step?
Along with other tools and processes built just for this purpose, we can easily take you from wishlist to functional app in the most efficient, and cost-effective, way possible. Once the project scope has been defined, a proposal can be built so that the cost of the app can be discussed and then the design and development phases start. After a functional preview of the app is approved by the client, the app is then submitted to the appropriate app marketplace for approval by either Google, Apple, RIM or Microsoft. This process is different for each vendor and can take anywhere from two days to four weeks.
I'm ready!
If you'd like to explore the possibility of developing an app for your business or organization, contact our team today to schedule a consultation and we'll send over your very own DIY App Builder kit.