The importance of Market research for App Development

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Mobile app research helps to understand the target market, competition, and expected trends in the industry. There are important statistics that explain why this analysis is crucial before any app development starts.

Only 0.5% of all apps published on online stores are successful. Two-thirds of all apps do not get more than 1000 downloads. A further 18% do not manage to maintain at least 1000 active users. 71% of all apps churn customers within three months. Therefore, getting traction and attaining profitability is a serious challenge for app developers.

Ironically, the mobile app market is growing, based on revenue earned in the past five years and projections into the next five. Statista puts the size of the global app market revenue at $475 billion with a projected CAGR of 19%. Clearly, the pie is big and revenue opportunities exist but only for the most well-executed mobile app projects.

In this article, we will explore specific reasons why you need to spend sufficient time on market research for your next app.

Securing Funding for Your App Development Project

The average mobile business app will cost at least $10000. The costs can go up to $300000 depending on the level of complexity and the time it takes to complete. The main cost will involve hiring developers who can charge over $100 per hour in North America.

Proponents of a mobile app need to conduct in-depth research on the likelihood of success of the app in order to convince the board to make budgetary allocations for the project. Some of the questions likely to come up are:

  • How much time will the app take to build?
  • How much will the development cost?
  • What are the annual maintenance costs?
  • Are there auxiliary costs such as marketing and publicity involved?
  • What are the revenue projections or operational cost savings arising from the app?

A comprehensive report not only sends the right signal to the budget team but it gives them the opportunity to interrogate assumptions and projections made.

Reducing the Risk of Failure in App Development

Conducting market research prior to starting a development project highly reduces the risk of failure due to blind spots. Proper research would involve tapping into the wealth of knowledge of experts in the industry as well as analysts. Therefore, nothing is left to chance, and mitigating actions are taken in advance.

For instance, it is important to establish the size of the market that an app will target, and the current market share held by each existing player. It is then important to establish whether the market size is growing or shrinking. A growing market would be seen a favorable but a shrinking one would be seen as risky. Some geographical markets may be seen as too saturated prompting the business to pivot to a different country.

Another common blind spot for apps is the regulatory landscape especially when an app is launching in many countries. Different laws on revenue taxation and data privacy mean that a business has to incur costs in ensuring compliance. If these costs are not factored in the budgetary phase, they may cripple business operations short before or after launch.

New Revenue Opportunities

Ideas that have not been subjected to research are just that. Ideas. However, when you analyze the viability of an app, you are likely to uncover revenue opportunities that you had not thought of. Researching customer needs and comparing them with what existing apps are offering reveals opportunities in the market.

Successful apps are more than just a collection of features put together. With limited resources, you have to prioritize features that provide the most utility to the target market while differentiating the app from the competition. Through research, the app promoter picks the right mix of features to integrate into the app.

In addition, some features may not be included in the first iteration of the app but are included in the product roadmap. This ensures that users keep getting more value and find reasons to continue using it. A majority of apps are free and rely on ad revenue for sustenance. By adding premium features, businesses can justify adding a premium tier to their offerings.

Besides just features, opportunities also lie in untapped markets, whether geographically or demographically. This informs both current and future decisions on the direction of the mobile app development project.

Strategies for Conducting Mobile App Research

Businesses intending to carry out research on the viability of an app development idea will normally use both primary and secondary research.

Primary research would involve a fresh collection of data for analysis. The main advantages of primary research are that it provides current data, and you get to choose the number of questions to include in the questionnaire. However, primary research takes time and significant resources.

In some cases, primary research is inevitable when you need to find information with the currently available solutions for them. Besides customers, primary research may involve interviewing industry experts and even testing out prototypes with real users.

Secondary research relies on existing studies done by reputable sources. Typically, secondary research is useful in providing a high level of information on a sector or industry. However, secondary research alone cannot form the basis for the validation of an app idea.

Here are some steps to follow during the research.

Target Audience Identification

Every business must come up with demographic features that identify who their target audience is. The persona of the target audience helps to develop a mix of features that will appeal to them. The marketing communication (both the channels and marketing copy) will also be tailored to that particular audience.

The risk of not identifying a target audience is the likelihood of the app lacking focus. It may attempt to serve many demographics but not serve any well enough.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis paints a picture of where you stand currently, where the market is, and what you need to do to create a successful app.

You may conduct a SWOT analysis of your own idea or that of existing players in the market.  Your strengths might include a good development team and a robust budget that can finance a powerful app. Threats may include the likelihood of competitors reacting to your entry into the market through pricing, advertising, and rolling out new features. Opportunities may exist in underserved markets and a continued growth in revenues in your target market.

A SWOT analysis is a powerful framework to help you decide what information to gather during research.

Reliance on Big Data

Big data is the secret sauce to making objective decisions on user needs. If you can find access to data on your target user behavior, you are likely to uncover user needs and preferences that even the customer is unaware of. In fact, the establishment of a data-gathering strategy ought to be a big part of any app improvement efforts after launch.

Businesses that launch beta versions of their apps often do so in order to collect real-time data that then inform later versions of the app.

Social Media Listening

Social media listening tools are critical when building apps for the mass market or the consumer market in general. It involves tracking of conversations to find out what users think of existing products or pain points that have not been addressed by any product so far.

Social media listening tools such as BuzzSumo are great for following conversations on multiple social media platforms. You will get insights on what the demographic is talking about. This may include the pain points you are addressing, the nature of the language they are using (formal vs informal), influencers they are engaging with, where they are going for opinions, and so forth. It really helps in establishing a communication strategy for brands.

Even after launching your app, social media listening tools are a must-have in order to draw a candid analysis of user experiences. It may also help you get ahead of issues by addressing problems identified by users quickly before they evolve into crises.

Understanding the Competition

One of the most important things to establish is the business model of your competition. The context in which they operate may help you determine what their future actions are likely to be. For instance, a cash-rich business may be able to respond to new competition with pricing incentives and advertising. A publicly owned company publishes its finances and that may help you understand their financing position.

Once you figure out their business model, you must break down their app according to features. What purpose does each serve? What gaps exist there? What technologies have they used? How secure is the app? How much revenue are they making? How many active users do they have? What percentage of users are on a paid tier?

A detailed breakdown establishes what you are up against and what you must beat.

Examples of Well-Researched Apps

It is possible to find numerous well-documented app development proposals that indicate the importance of market research prior to development.

Alma- The Document Scanner App

The creators of this app were working for a client who owns an app publishing firm. The idea was to create a document-scanning app that scans an image and converts it to PDF format.  Users can export the document or store it within the app. However, there already exists solutions in the market that do this. What differentiates the proposed app is the use of optical recognition technology to enable text translation in more than 18 different languages.

The app would use existing technologies such as WeTransfer for scanning and Google Firebase ML Kit for optical character recognition. The app would also provide the option to add watermarks to documents and e-signature. Customers can also lock documents using a password on the app. The app would allow customers to pick the orientation in which to export or print documents with sizes such as A3, A4, A5, Business Cards and Legal included.

The project team expected most customers to use the basic free version of the app, but a few features would be only available for premium users. Such features include email scanning and being able to scan documents in batches.

The project was solely focused on building an iOS version of the app. The preferred development language was Swift while the Database would be built using Core data-iOS and MySQL.

School Bus Tracking App

Another well-documented project is one that aimed to solve the problem of parents being worried about their children’s whereabouts after school. The project team built a solution that used GPS tracking to help both parents and schools.

The project involved building several apps and admin panels. There would a parent’s app, a driver app, a school admin app, and a super admin to manage all schools that would get on the project.

Some of the most important features for parents would include a payment gateway for parents, real-time tracking of buses, and push notifications for when new trips begin and end, as well as when there have been delays or reroutes.

For schools, the app would help them manage their fleets better through real-time tracking as well as data on trips made, time taken, stops made, and much more.

The project’s proposal was crystal clear on the target audience, benefits to each stakeholder, revenue model, and technology stack to use to build.

Let NS804 Handle Your App Development

As seen, conducting proper research is key to avoiding committing resources to any app development project. The odds are often stacked against you owing to competition and quality expectations from target customers. An underwhelming experience often leads to app installations within a few days. Retention relies heavily on the ability to deliver real utility to target users. Therefore, a clear focus on customer needs is paramount and this can only happen through a thorough dive into customer pain points.

A combination of primary and secondary research is your best bet for determining the best mix of features. In addition, you need information on what the competition is doing well, what they have missed, and where differentiation opportunities exist.

At NS804, we take great pride in helping businesses ideate and build successful apps. Prior to any development work, we help clients conduct a thorough analysis of their intended projects in order to validate the ideas. We help them gather the necessary information to come up with a target audience persona, analyze competitors, find gaps, and list all the features to include in the MVP.

After the building and deployment of apps, we also take part in the maintenance and building of future iterations of projects.

If would like to talk to us about conducting market research for your app development project, reach out to us through our website. Our team will be in touch to discuss how best to bring your idea to life successfully.

How Clients Benefit From Android Mobile App Developers In Denver

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The bustling capital of Colorado, Denver, has so much to offer out-of-town visitors and those looking for Android mobile app developers. Owing much to its phenomenal museums and historical landmarks, it’s a city that showcases its rich culture and heritage with panache. And it’s also home to some incredibly talented app development studios.

One of these studios is NS804, which also ranks as one of the most reviewed developers in Denver, according to the Manifest. Furthermore, we’re renowned for developing quality apps for our clients and have earned several accolades over the years. We’re Gold Verified on Clutch and have a comprehensive portfolio and many happy clients that back up the quality of our work.

But what makes us better than our peers, and what can you expect from NS804? We’re a full-service mobile app developer specializing in native Android and iOS development. That means we’ve amassed a team of specialists in all areas of app creation. 

We have designers, project managers, programmers, testers, writers, and even app store optimizers. So, our clients benefit immensely by having access to a ‘one-stop-shop’ instead of dealing with disparate entities, which only complicates the app development journey. But clients can enjoy further benefits, which we’ll explain in more detail below.

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A Team Of Android Mobile App Developers Utilizing Design

Design plays a fundamental role in the app development process. We start by designing a wireframe of the user interface (UI) and may even create a prototype. And we do this to show clients how their app will look, feel, and function. 

If they’re happy with the results, we’ll proceed with a minimum viable product (MVP) or a full-fledged product. But if they’re not, we’ll listen to their concerns, feedback, and suggestions before going back to the drawing board. And once we return with satisfying results, our clients will be eager to move forward. 

Since we’re one of the leading native Android mobile app developers in Denver, we’re inclined to use the latest best-in-class tools. And that means we’ll use Jetpack Compose to create beautiful and modern native UIs. These UIs will delight Android users and keep them engaged, especially those that have purchased the latest smartphones and tablets.

Android Mobile App Developers Demystify The Development Process 

Many clients are new to app development and have many questions. We’re always available to answer their questions and demystify the development process as best we can. After all, it’s not uncommon for clients to have questions about the following:

  • Notable similarities and differences between Android and iOS
  • Required tools for Android app development
  • Game engines and tools required for making Android mobile games
  • Ways to optimize an Android app or game
  • How to succeed on Google Play and other Android app stores
  • How to build a backend and implement analytics

Building Android Apps That Succeed

App projects are always risky, even on popular platforms such as Android. That’s why we always strive to keep clients informed about the progress of their projects and any issues or upcoming roadblocks that may hinder progression.   

And since we know the Android landscape so well, we’re aware of the various factors that could sink even the most promising projects. These may include a lack of a clear objective, an unintuitive UI, failure to iterate, poor marketing, or a disappointing user experience. However, we work closely with clients to ensure none of these materialize.

The Bottom Line

As one of the leading Android mobile app developers in Denver, we use our vast experience to create phenomenal apps according to spec. And since we know all of the ins and outs of the Android platform, we’re well-positioned to tackle the most demanding projects and to support these in the long term. Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you create the most engaging Android apps today! 

USE OUR APP COST CALCULATOR TO ESTIMATE THE COST TO BUILD YOUR APP!

 

7 MVP (Minimum Viable Product) App Development Questions, Answered

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The concept of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) comes from learnings in the book titled The Lean Startup and the movement that stemmed from the book’s success. The concept insists on the value of learning while still developing new products. By definition, the MVP is the first iteration of a product that can allow the development team to gather sufficient validated learning about customers with the least effort. It is a stripped-down version of a product that is testable in the market.

Describing an MVP?

When many potential entrepreneurs describe new ideas, they use existing products as a reference. For instance, one might say they want to build an IKEA, but for something else. Or Uber, but for something else. While this may help to visualize it to the person listening, such a description is not very helpful to the developer the entrepreneur intends to hire.

Coming up with a detailed enough MVP requires certain boxes to be ticked. First, it must be very clear the minimum features one intends to give customers. An MVP is not just a collection of features without utility for users. An MVP must be capable of solving an existing problem for users. In addition, the promoter of the MVP must know which features they can give up without sacrificing utility. Lastly, the promoter of the MVP must list down what questions they seek to answer by testing the MVP in the market. Is it the business case? Is it the utility for users? Scalability of the idea?

Import Questions to Ask

While still deciding on what to include in your MVP, some other questions may also arise. Building an MVP is a resource-consuming process. You may need to question whether the MVP is necessary at all. The developers are only supposed to build what you ask them to. Your input and supervisory skills are important in delivering the product. If you cannot make the time commitment, you may be better off shelving the MVP altogether.

Another important consideration is whether you need an app or an MVP. This may be determined by both the resources available and expected user behavior. A mobile app is more expensive to build and promote, especially when you want to build native apps for iOS and Android platforms. The stores (Apple and Google) may also charge a fee or take a percentage of revenue from the app. In other cases, a web app may be preferred if users are expected to be mostly on their computers. Browsers are becoming more powerful and the user experience of web apps may be just as smooth as a mobile app.

Therefore, you may find it better sometimes to give up building a mobile app for a web app instead.

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Why Build an MVP?

A common question is why it is prudent to build an MVP instead of going all out to build a fully-kitted product and launch it. Several reasons.

Most app development projects face resource constraints both in terms of time and finances. Whether an entrepreneur is doing all the technical work themselves or hiring a team, they need to make the most of their resources. A bulk of the resources should only go to building features with the most impact on the product. The MVP embraces the Pareto principle.

Further, by starting out with an MVP, it becomes possible to validate the business idea. Based on the feedback, the business may decide to continue with the business idea as it is, or pivot to something different. This greatly reduces the business risk involved.

What’s the Value of Feedback?

User feedback is the essence of building an MVP. As stated, you must know beforehand what the MVP is meant to communicate to the development team. There are two types of feedback: quantitative and qualitative. Qualitative feedback comes from customer surveys and comments on social media and on app stores. Quantitative data is collected passively as users interact with your product. You may collect data such as downloads, usage times, pages visited, bounce rates, and so on.

Feedback is essential in determining the roadmap for a product. There must be a concrete plan to collect, analyze, and act on user feedback. App development should be seen as an ongoing process of producing better iterations of the MVP.

How Do You Determine the Success of the MVP?

Objective feedback should be the yardstick for determining the success of the MVP. Sometimes there is dissonance between what people say and how they interact with the product. Therefore, some features that were popular during the research phase may prove unpopular in the MVP. Quantitative data, therefore, is the best way to determine whether to build upon, fix or scrap features from the MVP.

What are Some Common Mistakes Businesses Make with their MVPs?

Perhaps the most common problem in building MVPs is the failure to properly limit the scope of the project. The resultant problem is that the project depletes available resources while the product is still not ready for the market. This is why product managers need to have project management skills to ensure that the development process does not veer off track.

Next, there may be a lack of proper structures to incorporate user feedback. It’s important to bring on board the thoughts of intended users by showing them mock-ups of the finished product and explaining how it solves their problems. Most projects have early adopters who have an existing problem and are willing to pay for a solution. These should be your target and the MVP should attempt to solve their problem. Their input is invaluable.

Lastly, the lack of enough testing is a big problem. While rushing to get the product into the market, the development team must conduct thorough functionality, usability, security, and robustness checks on the product. Putting out an unstable product will result in a negative impression of the product, which inhibits prospects of future growth.

What are Some Recommended Best Practices when Building an MVP?

These practices are common with MVPs that end up as commercially successful products.

First, the development teams have a deep commitment to fulfilling the customers’ needs. The entire process is customer-centric. The features in the MVP must a result of customer research and so will be those features added later on.

Next, it’s important to have the plan to market the MVP before and after it reaches the market. For niche products, you may find ways to get enthusiast groups talking about the product. Landing pages help a product gain visibility through search engines. You could also reach out to influencers and thought leaders in your industry to have the product reviewed.

 

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Examples of MVPs

There are numerous great examples of big apps that started out as simple MVPs. When Twitter started in 2006, it was a simple website where people posted messages (micro-blog/tweets) and followed other people. Now, it’s possible to post videos, voice notes, and even hold live events (Twitter Spaces). The platform is continually adding features and trying out different interfaces.

Spotify began as a desktop app that allowed users to stream music. They used ads to generate revenue but also gave users the option of paying for an ad-free experience. Spotify has grown steadily by adding more features and content to become a multi-billion dollar company and an important stakeholder in the music streaming industry.

Let Us Build your MVP

If your company is looking to build a new product, you must decide on the most important features for the MVP. This will help to focus your efforts and get the product into the market quickly to get user feedback. The right app development partner makes the development journey smoother. For a world-class app development experience, reach out to us at NS804. We have delivered hundreds of applications to businesses in multiple industries. Talk to us about your MVP today.

Your App Development Partner in Denver

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Denver has differentiated itself as a tech hub offering friendly legislation for businesses, thus attracting high-profile tech companies to set up regional offices there. Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA all have a presence in Denver.

If you are seeking app development services in Denver, hundreds of companies offer programming services. However, finding the right partner to work with on long-term projects is not always straightforward. Finding a development partner with the right mix of skills, work ethic, enough developers, experience, proper communication, and reasonable pricing is a tough balancing act.

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NS804 App Development

At NS804, we pride ourselves in offering world-class app development services to startups, scale-ups, and mature businesses. Whether you need iOS, Android, or cross-platform apps, our teams will deliver a robust application for your business. Our UI/UX design teams believe in simple and intuitive interfaces that will guarantee easy familiarity for intended users. Using cutting-edge techniques, we guarantee a maximized user experience that raise user retention rates for our clients.

You can speak to us no matter the stage of app development you currently are in. We have helped hundreds of clients right from the conceptualization of app ideas to building to the minimum viable product (MVP). We are pragmatic about clients’ budgets, helping them figure out the most important features and ship their products to the market within the shortest time possible.

Our team helps companies in Denver test out early versions of their apps using early adopters and using feedback data to improve later versions. Clients retain NS804 for ongoing improvement in order to boost growth and ensure user retention. On marketing, NS804 assists clients with app store optimization to maximize app visibility on both Google Play and the iOS store.

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For more information on app development for businesses in Denver, schedule a call with NS804 here.

IOS Development Denver

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IOS app development is a complicated and sophisticated exercise. However, an IOS app provides many enterprise benefits that a typical Android app cannot. Indeed, published statistics show that 80% of all households in the United States have an Apple device. That means IOS apps have a better chance of adoption than Android apps and are thus well-positioned for adoption by enterprises and organizations.

IOS Development Denver

So, if you’re looking for IOS development solutions in Denver, here are some of the benefits you’ll enjoy:

1. Higher app revenues

IOS apps have a better return on investment than Android apps. That’s because IOS apps have to meet stringent design criteria and fulfill a larger market need than Android apps. However, it’s important to note that to optimize app revenue generation opportunities in IOS, you must keep an eye on the tips, mistakes and tricks of designing IOS apps.

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2. Security of enterprise data

Intruding and compromising on enterprise data is common in Android apps. However, IOS provides stringent technical standards for app design and implementation. When comparing IOS vs. Android on the basis of app security, IOS provides a far better security infrastructure than Android apps.

IOS apps protect enterprise data using numerous security procedures:

  • Measures to prevent data duplication
  • Integrated data handling methods
  • Preventing data encryption

In addition, iPhone users are cushioned against ransomware and malware because users can only download and install verified apps that pass stringent security requirements.

3. Quality standards

IOS app development remains incomplete until it passes the high-quality standards in Apple’s Play Store. You’re assured of superior performance and a flawless browsing experience when downloading IOS apps.

The trust and goodwill bestowed into Apple’s legacy assure customers of a superior browsing experience and quality performance. On the other hand, Android app users dig into public libraries and often follow a non-standardized development approach.

So, when comparing Android and IOS, the latter has indisputably higher levels of quality and performance.

4. Versatility

Businesses of all sizes and scales recognize the significance of a mobile app for business. From manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and hospitality, enterprises require an app that can respond to different customer needs.

Customers further expect responsiveness and mobility in every app they interact with. Responsiveness and mobility are something that is attached to every IOS app. IOS users have superior usability and performance courtesy of the high-operating standards embedded in IOS apps.

IPhone apps, whether off-the-shelf or custom-built, will suit different business needs. So, whether you’re looking for a messaging app, a shopping app, or a marketing app, IOS apps are well-suited to cover these diverse business needs.

Although iPhones are more expensive than Android devices, iPhone apps are more lucrative because of their well-paying customers and their wider market reach.

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5. Tech-readiness

Apple is well-known for its innovation and constant growth. The brand is open-minded to innovation, making IOS apps well-positioned for tech-ready consumers. In addition, iPhone devices are perhaps the edgiest in user experience, making them adaptable for tech-savvy consumers.

NS804 – Improving Your IOS App Development Experience

IPhones have a rich history and a superior user experience, thanks to Apple’s constant innovation and adaptability. In addition, IOS apps are lucrative because they target a higher-spending demographic of consumers.

So, if you want to develop a scalable and superior app for your Denver business, do not worry. Denver’s diversified economy is one of the advantages of living there. The leading sectors in Denver include healthcare and fitness, aerospace, financial services, and energy. IOS development Denver allows you to enjoy superior app development solutions for your Denver business.

Regardless of the sector – healthcare, aerospace, telecommunication, and energy – having a mobile app for your Denver enterprise will provide numerous benefits.

You can contact NS804 for superior mobile app development solutions in Denver.