How to Make an App User Friendly

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Mobile applications continue to be critical tools for our everyday lives. Many factors must be considered when creating an app including; services provided, layout, design, features, and user experience.

Development of mobile apps requires a lot of effort and ingenuity with each app designed to solve a particular problem. However, what makes an app stand out is the user experience which can make a significant difference in making an app successful and stand out from the rest.

There is growing competition for app developers to create quality popular apps. With so many apps out there, users have a wide array to choose from. This makes app retention crucial by not only making the experience awesome but also being functional by solving the user’s problem.

So how do you make your app user-friendly in a highly saturated space? Well, making an app user-friendly requires some elements to collectively work together to achieve this goal.

1. Keep it Simple

The most important tip for making an app user-friendly is simply making it simple. The end user is likely to stay on an app that is simple and easy to navigate. Instagram and Tik Tok are some of the most popular apps which is because of the basic functionality that makes them easy to use.

A basic design must hook users who are not particularly tech-savvy and appeal to those with short attention spans. The average user is usually not interested in all the features of an app. Most users are focused on functionality and convenience when using the app.

They want to navigate the app seamlessly without feeling overwhelmed with information or complex features. An easy-to-use app means a new user can jump straight into the app with zero familiarity yet be able to navigate with ease.

Keeping it simple with an easy-to-understand layout and design creates a pleasant experience.

2. Understand the Target Market

The user interface and experience are based on user demands and behavior. User demands are typically the issues, difficulties, or obstacles that users are trying to address with the app.

User behavior on the other hand is the general pattern of characteristics that the target market shows while attempting to solve the issues.

For instance, younger users heavily rely on apps for on-demand services, whereas elderly users enjoy the personal touch of phone conversations. To make an app user-friendly, it is essential to comprehend the subtleties of user wants and behavior.

Making an app with the preferences of your target users as the top priority will ensure that you are creating something they will enjoy and use repeatedly.

3. Make it Safe and Secure

People are becoming more aware of the threat of hackers and the potential dangers of information getting leaked to the wrong hands. Users want the assurance that the data shared on apps are secure and will not be accessed or used illegally. This is especially true for apps that collect sensitive data like credit card information, medical data, or bank details.

For such apps, the consideration of security cannot be overlooked. Any app with security breaches is going to have a negative outlook with users who will avoid it completely.

Therefore, you should take all necessary steps to ensure that users of your application do not suffer any security breaches. Many apps employ a Facebook or Google sign-in as a method of contracting out their security procedures to a trusted vendor.

The first thing users notice once they launch an app is a design, color, and layout. A basic color scheme is appealing and user-friendly as opposed to a clash of various bright colors. The design should be attractive yet simple without being overbearing for the users.

The layout should be clean without too much going on to convey an application with extraordinary visual appeal. All in all, the design and layout should be simple with icons and paths that make it easy for users to navigate the app.

NS804 – Making Your App User-Friendly

NS804 is a trusted provider of superior mobile app solutions. We help individual businesses and large companies navigate the difficult process of developing an intuitive and user-friendly app. At NS804, we work together with clients to identify their different business needs and deliver mobile app solutions that address these issues.

Contact NS804 for superior, user-friendly mobile apps.

What is an App Implementation Plan?

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An implementation plan gives an outline of the specific steps needed to go through in order to end up with a well-performing app. The implementation plan ensures that resources are well utilized and that indeed there is a business case for building and implementing the app. A plan for an app treats the whole process as a project with clear targets and performance indicators.

Here is what a typical implementation plan entails.

Making the Business Case

The start of any app implementation has to be the making of a business case for building it. There has to be a target audience and a quantifiable return on investment. Whether the business is building an app to push sales or one to help field employees collect data more easily, there is a need to show that the return outweighs the investment going to be put in.

The expected return is what will guide the business in deciding the budget limits for building and maintaining the app. Most times, companies will call in a business analyst to provide an assessment of the idea from a value perspective.

Vendor Selection

The next step in the app implementation plan is choosing a software development partner to build it. The criteria for choosing the vendor should include their industry expertise, proof of past satisfied clients, their charges, and the level of support they are willing to provide post-launch. Normally, once you pick a vendor, you are likely to work with them for years as they help with maintenance and improvement. There should be a cultural fit between your two companies.

Actual Build

The most critical part of the implementation plan is the actual building of the app. The development team will first build mock-ups of the app’s UI for approval before coming up with a working prototype. If your company does not have the right expertise to oversee the project, you can hire a project manager and a quality assurance consultant. These two will ensure everything is running on time and that the final output fits the initial specifications.

The app has to go through the testing phase, with proper documentation of fixed errors. This is where your quality assurance consultant earns their money.

Going Live

If you are building an app for the mass market, your implementation plan should include a strategy for generating enough buzz about the app. For internal apps, you’ll need to get the buy-in of the relevant stakeholders. You should have involved them in discussions about the business case for the app and in test runs.

Feedback and Iterations

After the app is live, you will need to continuously collect feedback and user experience. This feedback will guide tell you whether there are bugs that need fixing. The norm today is to continuously improve the app, fix bugs immediately, and release newer versions several times in a year. The goal is often to make incremental improvements on the app.

NS804 is the right Partner for You

When looking for an app development partner, you want a company with wide industry knowledge and thousands of projects completed. Reach out to NS804 for your business app implementation needs. Schedule a free consultation session with us.

Cost of Developing a Fitness App

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A fitness app is a mobile, desktop, or web application that lets users track their health and fitness activities or workouts.

A fitness app meets your health and fitness activities. Fitness apps mainly consist of features for tracking workouts, monitoring physiological body rates, and logging exercises.

Fitness apps share one or more features with health and wellness apps. Some popular fitness apps include Fooducate, MyFitnessPal, Glo, Zones for Training, and Sworkit.

What’s the Typical Cost of Building a Fitness App?

The cost of a fitness app will vary depending on depth, scope, and target users. In addition, app development costs will vary from one app development partner to another.

However, although there are variations in the cost of fitness apps, most vendors or designers will charge an average of $15,000 to develop a solid fitness app. However, this cost is variable. A fitness app can range from as high as $30,000 to as low as $5,000.

In addition, an app with a limited number of features, also called a minimum viable product MVP, will be more affordable and easy to test than an app with extended functionality.

So, it’s advisable to weigh your options before settling for a fitness app.

Factors Affecting the Cost of a Fitness App

Many factors affect the cost of a fitness app. It’s crucial to understand the average hours and total costs (or individual costs) incurred in developing a fitness app to account for the total costs.

Building an efficient and fully scalable fitness app demands an end-to-end understanding of individual material costs as well as the hours of labor. Here are additional factors that will ultimately affect your fitness app development cost.

1. Platform choice

The platform where you’ll launch your app – whether Android or Ios is a defining factor in estimating the cost of your fitness app. Android and IOS are two leading platforms dominating the mobile app marketplace.

Creating an app for each version will take double the time and cost. That’s because you need specific programming languages for the web, mobile, and desktop computers. It’s advisable to choose cross-platform development solutions unless your project is large-scale or whether it targets specific Android and IOS users.

Fitness App Development Costs – Cross-Platform vs. Native
Platform Cross Platform Native
Development Hours Development Costs Development Hours Development Costs
Android + IOS + Web 600 – 800 $150,000 – $250,000 750 – 1000 $200,000 to $300,000 (and $20,000 extra for additional platforms).

 

2. Type of fitness app

You can also calculate the cost of your fitness app based on fitness category levels. Knowing the fitness app type you want to develop can substantially improve your expenditure throughout the project.

Here are some popular fitness app categories and their average costs.

Fitness app category Fitness app sub-category Average cost
Wearable apps Heart monitoring $15,000 – $50,000
Oxygen monitoring
Pulse monitoring
Fitness activity tracking apps Run tracking apps $30,000 – $125,000
Cycling tracking apps
Gym tracking apps
Workout and fitness apps Personal training apps $50,000 – $100,000
Exercise apps
Gym workout apps
Nutrition and diet apps Diet apps $15,000 – $90,000
Food intake app
Nutrition app
Yoga apps Mixed yoga apps $10,000 – $25,000
Yoga workouts
Yoga for beginners
Meditation apps For breathing $20,000 – $100,000
For sleep
For mindfulness

 

3. Location of the developer

Finally, the location of your fitness app developer will affect your app development costs. Developers from different regions tend to have different hourly rates.

Generally, countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia tend to charge on the higher end, while developers from India and Ukraine charge relatively lower.

Always work with trusted experts for the best possible solution for your fitness app.

Launching a New Product? 11 Reasons to Have a Mobile App

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The product life cycle stages provide a benchmark for understanding the product development process. The product life cycle stages include a market introduction, market growth, market maturity, and market decline.

The different stages of a product’s lifecycle pose discrete challenges. The commonly cited challenges with launching a new product include ideation, product roadmap problems, market viability, workflow management, product engineering issues, and the pace of innovation.

So, when launching a new product, you want to be careful not to miss out on any vital points that may affect its adoption. A mobile app is critical for launching a new product, be it software, hardware, consumer electronics, or merchandise.

Mobile apps allow brands and business leaders to actively connect and engage with their target audiences, building the base for future business. Mobile apps provide an interaction platform, connecting prospective customers (and markets) with brand owners.

So, here are eleven reasons to have a mobile app when launching a new product:

1. Customer loyalty

Enterprises operating in competitive market landscapes must go an extra mile to remain visible and competitively positioned. For brands starting in fresh markets, it’s important to think of something to stand out: a gem that distinguishes you from the rest.

Mobile apps can offer start-ups and brands leverage when launching a new product. For instance, apps can lead to repeat business and bolster referrals. In addition, apps can foster new product and service adoption, especially when users share promotions, new products, and new deals.

There’s no doubt that your brand can accurately forecast long-term business outcomes when it has a loyal customer base. So, aim for a well-designed and customized app for your target customers. When launching products, this app may make a difference between a successful product launch and a failure!

2. Improved communication

Mobile apps act as crucial avenues for marketing communication. With mobile apps, you don’t have to overburden your email support because you have an extra communication channel.

In essence, mobile apps can communicate to a wide range of stakeholders, internal and external. With tailored communication and strategic response forums, mobile apps provide the convenience and flexibility of responding on the go. So, regardless of whether you’re catching a flight or traveling by train, you can always follow up on crucial office proceedings with a mobile app.

3. Marketing outreach

Mobile apps are indisputably the best single source of marketing truth. With mobile apps, you don’t have to worry about reaching hundreds, maybe thousands of potential customers, brands, partners, and suppliers. You can do that at a go.

Mobile apps afford enterprises and brands the flexibility, convenience, and agility of connecting with markets and other brands. It’s through mobile apps that you can foster your marketing outreach. Today, most consumers are connected to digital mobile platforms, making mobile a frontier in marketing communications.

4. Online shopping

When launching a new product, brands specify authorized suppliers, including stores, malls, shops, and hypermarkets that stock these specific products. Unfortunately, traditional product launches relied on complex supply chain lines.

The unpredictability and uncertainty of global supply chains continue to impede successful product marketing and distribution. Mobile apps are bridging this gap by offering online shopping options. So, when launching a new product (or service), your mobile app can be utilized as a distribution frontier.

The digitization of supply chain downstream activities has made it easier for brands to connect with customers. Digitizing distribution, sourcing, and supply continue to close gaps between production and consumption, making production and manufacturing seamless and surprisingly rewarding.

5. Brand image

Mobile apps improve brand image by offering interactive and intuitive interfaces to display products. In addition, mobile apps encompass diverse audiences and outreach, enabling emerging brands to reach a diverse audience. Product launches that use mobile apps experience better brand images because of accessibility, outreach, and product scope.

6. Customer visibility

Mobile apps are critical tools for obtaining insightful and actionable feedback, including customer behavioral patterns. Evaluating customer feedback and use patterns is a primary part of launching a new product. However, few brands and enterprises can successfully collect, collate, and report customer behavior to improve product launches and adoption levels.

Mobile apps allow you to collect insightful metrics: customer use patterns, pricing options, user behavior, market adoption, and competition levels. With mobile apps, you can gather and record customer responses, and obtain nifty product usage metrics, including product defects, failures, and inefficiencies.

7. Employee loyalty

There’s no doubt that workplaces are evolving with new technologies – blockchain, virtualization, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics. The desire for employees to learn, adapt and evolve with time is propelled by new technologies that help organizations automate their workplaces.

Unfortunately, not all organizations are undertaking improvements in technology adoption. Published research shows that employees exposed to new, exciting technologies are more loyal and committed. In addition, the study shows that workplaces that adopt modern equipment, technology, and processes enjoy better employee loyalty.

8. Omnichannel shopping approach

Brands and enterprises are using the omnichannel shopping approach to give customers a seamless shopping experience across all their devices – smartphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and smart TVs.

Omnichannel access lets customers shop remotely. This is because customers can access products on-the-go through smartphone devices. With omnichannel access, customers can shop for products online using their mobile phones. Mobile apps reinforce omnichannel shopping, helping customers access products without visiting stores.

9. Customer relationship management

The customer relationship management domain is forever changing. The emergence of technical support software and remote helpdesk support has changed the face of traditional CRM.

However, the most disruptive technology in the customer relationship management domain is the mobile app. The mobile app connects people, places, and platforms. Its interoperability with other channels, including digital social channels, volatility, and versatility make mobile apps critical for connecting customers with technical support teams.

So, when launching a new product, you must view an app as a strategic tool for managing your customer relationships. Brands and organizations are leveraging mobile apps to foster their approach to customer relations. Mobile apps help CRM personnel handle inquiries, process complaints, report issues, and provide timely resolutions.

10. Employee training

Human resources face the challenge of providing upgraded training and learning materials to employees, especially when introducing them to new products, technology, or markets.

However, you can eliminate these challenges by using e-learning apps that allow employees to learn about new products, new work models, and methodologies.

E-learning mobile apps like Huddle, Udemy, Skill Pill, and BoostHQ ensure that employees have access to similar learning materials, regardless of where they’re. So, when launching a new product, a mobile app can streamline the process of educating your workforce on the ins and outs of the product.

11. Fostering employee commitment

The Technology Acceptance Model TAM terms usefulness and ease of use as the two most important factors for successful tech adoption. Your employees or customers will uptake your new product if it’s easy to use and functional or practical to them.

When launching a new product, foster your workforce’s commitment with a mobile app. By deploying a mobile app, you show your employees that you care about modernizing your workplace.

Improving your employee commitment will go a long way in accelerating the adoption and use of a new product. As a result, it’s advisable not to decouple employee engagement from the product initiation and adoption processes.

NS804 – Transforming Enterprises with Mobile Apps

NS804 provides custom-built mobile apps. NS804 designs and deploys functional, easy-to-use mobile apps that answer the trickiest question your business has to ask.

So, if you’re looking to create your first mobile app, don’t hesitate.

Contact NS804 for quotations and inquiries about your next project.

Could Your Teams Really Be More Productive with an App?

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The mobile app revolution has taken the world by storm. Organizations, institutions, governments, and businesses have been forced to adapt to this shift to meet ever-changing productivity needs.

Internet penetration rates coupled with an accelerated uptake of smartphone technologies are some of the forces that have propelled the accelerated adoption of mobile apps. Organizations are shifting their focus to target online consumers.

Brands and business leaders view mobile apps as a new frontier of customer engagement and brand loyalty. However, a key highlight of mobile apps has been their ability to improve customer engagement, leading to improved employee productivity.

Today, more than ever, teams are viewing mobile apps as productivity machines.

Here are some of the ways mobile apps are helping employees and teams work more productively:

1. Mobile apps improve employee engagement

Employees are likely to be engaged when they’re immersed in evolving workplaces that use modern tools to simplify and automate processes. New software, new systems, and hardware upgrades help employees be more engaged with the brand and the workplace, boosting performance and productivity.

Similarly, mobile apps help employees be more engaged by providing new communication avenues. When employees communicate via mobile channels, they feel connected and lively. This ignites them and motivates them to contribute the best and grow with the company.

Mobile app adoption is a clear sign that an organization is growing; this is surely an incentive for employee motivation and engagement.

2. Mobile apps improve efficiency

There’s no doubt that mobile apps improve efficiency by eliminating recurring, mundane tasks. Traditional systems took hours to process documents. Machines took hours to process workloads and handle workflows.

However, today, with mobile apps, manufacturing shop floors are improving their efficiency. Programmed instructions are controlled by mobile apps, helping shop floors become more efficient in handling and processing workloads.

Improved efficiency leads to employee motivation and engagement. Eliminating repetitive and mundane tasks helps employees to focus on other value-adding activities. So, the infusion of mobile apps improves operational efficiency, strengthening bonds between employees and their workplaces.

3. Remote accessibility

Mobile apps enable employees to collaborate on shared tasks and projects, regardless of where they’re. Cloud computing enables easy storage and sharing of files and documents remotely, helping teams to be more agile and efficient. The accessibility achieved by cloud technology enables teams to be more progressive, especially when working on field projects.

So, in industries like research, anthropology, metrology, medicine, and even health sciences, remote data collection and data analysis are made possible and more efficient by the cloud.

The presence of cloud storage and computing technologies streamlines the end-to-end process of collecting and processing field data. These and many other capabilities define new productivity trends in contemporary industries.

4. Connected data

Previously, organizations, institutions, and governments banked on different software solutions to store and manage data on many business functions: payroll, customer transactions, security, inventory, supply chain, and accounting.

However, today, the emergence of custom apps enables organizations to integrate their varied data into a single-source platform. Employees can access different information and data from a single interface, improving their productivity and performance on multiple fronts.

So, the easy accessibility of information and data has eliminated siloed departments. The interoperability of information systems afforded by mobile apps continues to free departments and workforces from siloed systems. This form of liberation has helped teams be more productive and efficient in their routine undertakings.

5. Processing complex workflows

The emergence of mobile apps has helped organizations handle complex workflows. For instance, Huddle mobile app enables your workforce to manage and be in control of all the workflows.

Huddle helps employees understand what tasks are in demand, which projects need to be delegated, which tasks need to be reviewed, and what workflows need to be managed. Mobile apps like Huddle enable business leaders to remain in control of complex workflows without going to their office desks.

6. Work-life balance

Social life plays an important role in keeping people connected. Most importantly, your social life detaches you from everyday work or routine. For employees, working from Monday to Friday can be a pain in the rear, especially when the job involves doing routine tasks.

Mobile apps help employees reignite touches with reality. It helps employees detach from that monotonous cycle of work and connect with the social world. This momentary detachment can prove worthwhile when handling complex projects.

So, mobile apps like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest can enhance workplace productivity by enhancing employees’ moods and feelings.

7. Education and training

Designing, deploying, monitoring, and measuring the performance of an employee training program is time-consuming and costly. Human resources spend countless hours strategizing on employee training and education programs.

Luckily, employees can tap into mobile apps as potential learning avenues. Mobile apps such as Skill Pill, Udemy, Boost HQ, and Design Jot are all classic e-learning apps your employees can use.

Honing your workforce’s skills through readily available tools gives you competitive positioning in a dynamically changing environment. In addition, using mobile apps for knowledge acquisition and skill development may prove advantageous for gaining a strategic competitive advantage.

8. Reduce errors and improve product quality

It’s time to consider upgrading to an automated processing system if your organization still relies on a manual paper-filing system. Organizations are adopting mobile apps to gain visibility into performance metrics, eliminate errors, and improve product quality.

Mobile apps provide transparency helping to identify problems before they occur. In what is known as predictive maintenance, the existence of smart tools that detect inefficiencies, lags, and inaccuracies in machine parts, has helped production workflows be more accurate. So, mobile apps are the new frontier for eliminating errors and improving product quality.

9. Metrics monitoring

There’s a popular saying that states you cannot improve or manage what you cannot measure. This saying is true for most things, business performance, growth, and productivity included.

Business leaders cannot evaluate the progress of their returns, turnovers, and performance without clear and actionable data. In addition, organizations cannot know where to improve without actionable metrics.

Mobile apps collect, collate, process, and report consumer and market data. Some of the datasets that mobile apps can collect and process include but are not limited to: consumer behavior, adoption rates, pricing options, market strategies, and customer and product categorization.

10. Decision-making

Big data has brought intelligence to business decision-making. Organizations are using data to make informed decisions that drive critical business processes.

Case in point, customer behavioral patterns can be used to improve product design processes, especially in clothing, merchandise, and consumer electronics. In addition, procurement patterns drive supply chain decisions, especially on supplier selection and contract management processes.

Mobile apps provide insightful feedback on business processes, helping employees make informed business decisions. Middle-level employees like managers can use mobile app data to obtain meaningful insight into the performance of lower-level employees. So, mobile apps are instrumental in management decision-making.

11. Productivity gains

In a study to analyze the strength of productivity apps, the results showed that mobile apps help improve productivity by helping employees know where they spend their time.

The study notes that recently, productivity apps have become the norm. And while some may feel that these apps work from the placebo effect, productivity apps have three impacts on employees: accountability, improvement, and assessment.

The study found that mobile apps reduced stress and anxiety. In addition, reported evidence has shown that app-based remediation and mindfulness help foster better performance and productivity improvements in employees. This study is evidence that mobile apps provide newer and fresh solutions to performance and productivity in workforces.

You can contact NS804 for mobile app design and development solutions.

Transitioning to Apps? Tips for Training Employees

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The Technology Adoption Model TAM answers perhaps the trickiest question about tech adoption: why are employees reluctant to adopt technology or unwilling to partake in new technologies?

Based on documented research and empirical evidence, two factors propel people to adopt new technology: perceived usefulness and ease of use. People adopt technologies if they perceive them as handy and easy to use. Your employees are likely to adopt mobile apps if they perceive them as useful or easy-to-use.

So, when deploying a new technology that’s complex or sophisticated, you’ll find that your employees are somewhat reluctant to adapt or learn. While the ever-evolving and improving access to new technology, including mobile apps, is critical for businesses, it’s frustrating for employees.

The key is knowing how to train and equip your employees with the right skills. So, if you’re transitioning to mobile apps, here are some tips for training your employees.

Tips for training employees:

1. Trainers need to know the mobile apps themselves

A vital part of successful change management training is equipping trainers with the relevant skills, knowledge, and proficiency. Your employees cannot excel in mobile app training if the trainers are not competent in handling this transition.

So, in conducting an organizational-wide overhaul of mobile app training, ensure that your trainers are competent professionals proficient in high-end software and best-in-class hardware.

2. Make training a priority

A majority of organizations assume that by asking their employees to reserve time off and learn new software, the employees will automatically alter their schedule in favor of education or learning.

The truth is that employees will forgo learning in favor of their daily work. To succeed in a solid change management training plan, you must allocate the resources and time required for employees to learn.

Make learning a priority by ensuring that the training program is carefully packaged, well-designed and comprehensive in its reach and scope. In addition, offer incentives for the training by conducting tests and rewarding the winners. Incentives will encourage active learning and training.

3. Set realistic deadlines and roll-outs

It’s crucial to set clear and realistic deadlines on project deliverables. Ensure that your employees understand the training aims and goals and meet the underlying course objectives.

For instance, if you’re training them on mobile app security, ensure they can spell out mobile security measures and implement security practices around mobile app use.

Engaging your employees to gauge their understanding of mobile apps is crucial in evaluating the impact of the training. In addition, when rolling out a new mobile app, ask your employees to download it and interact with it days before launching it.

4. Improve learner engagement

Last but not least, improve your learner engagement. That will help your employees appreciate your mobile app transition. Your employees don’t want to be stuck for hours learning how to download, deploy, or manage mobile apps.

Instead, they’re interested in what the mobile app can do in real-time. So, request your employees under training to order product(s) from the app directly and schedule deliveries. You can use these deliveries as incentives to reinforce the learning and training. You can introduce creative and exciting ways to learn, including active demonstrations.

NS804 – Transforming Your Mobile App Experience

NS804 offers custom-built mobile apps for businesses of all sizes and sophistication. Inquire from NS804 the solutions and offers they provide if you’re embarking on your next mobile app design project.

NS804 guides clients, organizations, institutions, governments, and businesses on mobile app design and development. We help clients curate the best-of-breed apps for their establishments, regardless of purpose, sector, or size.

And if you’re transitioning to mobile apps, we advise that you equip your workforce with the relevant mobile app training and education. The forever-changing mobile landscape demands that employees remain proactive to new solutions.

Contact NS804 for inquiries and solutions on mobile app design and development.

How Today’s Manufacturers Are Leveraging Mobile Apps

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The fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 has transformed the otherwise legacy, archaic manufacturing environment. Today, mobile app development in manufacturing is making things easier, especially with the uptake of mobile technologies and faster internet infiltration rates.

The fact that consumers, markets, and supply chains are all connected using digital networks means that mobile apps will continue to be a priority in the manufacturing sector. Today, more than ever, the manufacturing sector is experiencing the benefits of mobile apps in driving productivity and optimization. In addition, mobile apps have reduced operating costs, improved efficiency, and enabled better field service.

Indeed, compared to other sectors, enterprise mobility is gradually becoming a top priority for manufacturing leaders. Regardless of the huge potential of Industry 4.0 to transform the traditional manufacturing set-up, few organizations are upscaling their efforts towards tech adoption.

Below we discuss how today’s manufacturing leaders are using mobile apps:

1. Integration with CRM software

Integrating your customer relationship management software with a mobile app helps you mobilize your interaction and communication with clients. This integration makes it possible to communicate with customers on the go. Communication is a major advantage since many manufacturing facilities and shop floors are large, and they require bikes and golf carts to navigate. Mobile apps promise new solutions and fresh capabilities in integrating with CRM software for streamlined communication.

2. Order fulfillment through real-time inventory

For time immemorial, manufacturers and shop floor workers have used hand-held devices to manage inventory. But today, tablet and smartphone technology let users, especially manufacturing leaders, use a single device to manage inventory, perform order fulfillment, send emails and attend virtual meetings.

The use of a single device for multiple tasks helps save on hardware and software costs. The real-time inventory and order fulfillment mobile app lets your procurement teams perform their tasks while automatically updating the database. In addition, it allows for order tracking capabilities and website updates.

3. Energy efficiency

One of the uses for low-code manufacturing is monitoring. In manufacturing, energy usage is a critical expenditure that affects time, resources, and throughput. Leveraging mobile apps is mostly used by manufacturers who are concerned with their energy consumption. These companies use these apps for the following purposes:

  • Monitoring regular energy consumption
  • Monitoring energy utilization
  • Plant, asset, and line analysis
  • Data collection and meter inspection

So, mobile apps are helping manufacturing leaders monitor their utilities.

4. Quality management

Industry 4.0 has ushered in exciting developments in manufacturing and beyond. For instance, low-code QMS apps manage quality in production floors. Low-code platforms and applications have unique flexibility. Low-code platforms help to incorporate tasks that are required to remain compliant with the changing laws.

In addition, QMS low-code applications can be integrated into content management systems. This integration helps track workflows and find documents for internal inspections and external audits. Thus, mobile apps are changing the face of manufacturing by helping manufacturing leaders track down their workflows and identify documentation for internal audits.

5. Production monitoring and management

Imagine you can program your manufacturing line or plant using a remotely located tablet or computer. With Industry 4.0, that’s possible. Manufacturing leaders must work with trusted partners to design automated workflows. New developments in machine metrics have shaped production shop floors, helping organizations leverage programmed instructions to control complex machine parts.

For instance, in computer numerical control CNC, programmed instructions run machine parts using the MTConnect language protocol. On the same note, mobile apps are being used to monitor manufacturing shop floors.

Indeed, if you’re meeting with a client to review and approve a manufacturing project, you can enter your product(s) specs and print-ready documentation and files on your device. Once you key in, the system beams the entered data to your IoT-enabled manufacturing equipment. By keying in this data, the manufacturing project can even be completed before you arrive at the manufacturing headquarters.

6. Real-time machine monitoring

Your manufacturing facility performance and productivity can be affected by a slight downtime. Therefore, your technicians must be quickly alerted when a piece of machinery or equipment goes down. In addition, mobile apps give you the ability to optimize the sensors you’ve installed as part of your IoT interface. By installing sensors and collecting insight and feedback using mobile apps, you can identify machines that require maintenance and repairs.

7. Increasing visibility

One way to increase the productivity of your shop floor workers is to obtain accurate information about their day-to-day activities. GPS technology enables manufacturing leaders to find employees and workers wherever they’re on the shop floor. Most importantly, you can ensure whether safety personnel are available in the manufacturing environment. The GPS technology further provides a detailed and accurate account of your inventory, enabling you to track product usage.

8. Equipment inspection

Ensuring that all your machines are inspected and checked is a sure-fire way of avoiding costly repairs and damages. It has become an issue that most manufacturers are investing in predictive maintenance. Predictive maintenance essentially uses condition-monitoring tools and sensors to observe and report on the nature and structure of a piece of equipment during its operation. Equipment inspection is becoming a reality with advanced monitoring tools that provide real-time reporting.

9. Employee productivity

Mobile apps make it easier for manufacturing shop floor leaders to monitor employee behavior and make modifications as needed. By using an app, you can track all employee movements and behavior and evaluate whether the employee’s conduct conforms to the company’s policy. Managers have remote, real-time access to everything, which is beneficial for occupational safety during plant emergencies. These statistics provide insight into how much time was spent on a single task and how many jobs were closed.

10. Resource utilization

By using mobile apps, managers can see everything going in and around the plant. Manufacturers have real-time access to sitting and moving inventory. This means that they can evaluate resource utilization and therefore make informed ordering decisions. In addition, better insight improves resource utilization. Managers can reconcile product orders and supplies and resource consumption or utilization.

11. Decision-making

Mobile apps offer faster, real-time access to accurate and reliable data. Faster access to verified information means that decisions can be made faster to improve the overall manufacturing process. And because mobile apps are easy and faster to use, they can improve the decision-making process. It’s important to note that utilizing customized mobile apps for manufacturing requires an initial investment. However, you must look at the long-term return on investment. Mobile apps foster efficiency and productivity, leading to creativity, innovation, and faster turnovers.

12. Automation

Automation streamlines workflows, especially in contemporary manufacturing environments. Automation software provides time and cost savings, eliminating human errors and improving overall productivity. Automation is becoming a critical element of the modern supply chain. Indeed, manufacturers are using low-code technology to automate process workflows and improve overall productivity gains.

The growth of modern manufacturing platforms has been facilitated by the rise of IoT technology like smart devices and interconnected networks. This automatically means more data streams in contemporary workplaces courtesy of interconnected IoTs. And to effectively tap into this data, low-code is being used to channel data and automate workflows to a central data repository. The repository is an enterprise resource planning system to perform data analysis and obtain actionable insights.

NS808 – Propelling Manufacturing Towards Digital Transformation

Manufacturers are endorsing digital transformation. For instance, 80% of manufacturers said they were ready to invest in new technology to improve their productivity gains. In addition, 91% of manufacturing leaders believe that data from people and machines will reduce costs and improve decision-making. And finally, 20% of manufacturers don’t share data either internally or externally, creating siloed manufacturing floors. Manufacturers must optimize mobile apps to streamline workflows and improve efficiency and productivity.

Contact NS804 to leverage mobile apps on your manufacturing shop floor.

What Makes a Good UI Design

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The user experience is the most common front-end, interactive feature in any app, website, or dashboard. The user interface supports all human-computer interactions.

The user interface provides a navigational platform to control software. Think of a user interface as an application programming interface that links users and a computing system, the back-end.

Although a user interface can take many forms, it accomplishes two fundamental purposes:

  • conveying information from users to machines
  • conveying data from machines to users.

The most important features of a great user interface design are:

1. Simplicity

Simplicity is the centerpiece of any navigation. Easy navigation depends on a highly simplistic user interface. So, the user interface design must be succinct: it must communicate the most with the least. The designer must ensure less navigation and fewer mouse clicks to accomplish any app or website task. It’s important to add new features only if they’re essential and bring substantial value to the application.

2. Consistency

Your user interface must deliver consistent browsing and search results. Consistency achieves stability and eliminates ambiguity and information chaos. Designers should apply size, typeface, and style conventions to screen components to improve readability and learning.

3. Intuitiveness

Intuitiveness is the most important detail of a great UI design. Intuitiveness means that users can easily learn your interface and quickly pick it up. Intuitiveness implies the ability to get accustomed to your app’s interface, element spacing, and overall layout. Intuitiveness means something that can be understood easily and applied with ease.

4. Familiarity

Familiarity is a critical feature of a great UI design. While many designers aim to create intuitive designs, few stop to ask themselves what does an intuitive design mean? Well, intuitiveness means making things understandable and easy to remember. Creating a great user interface concerns familiarity. Designers must aim to create apps that deliver personalized user experiences. Aiming for familiarity will reinforce your app design.

5. Responsiveness

A great user experience must be responsive to users’ needs. Today, most website visits come from mobile endpoints, which is surprising given that it’s convenient to leverage an Android or an iPhone. You encourage users to visit your website frequently and stay longer by having a mobile-responsive interface. Responsiveness is about reducing the latency time and offering a rewarding experience.

6. Clarity

Clarity is an important element in the user interface design process. Clarity signifies that you know what you’re doing and that the interface or platform your users leverage is trustworthy. Achieving clarity in user interface design involves consistency, truth, and simplicity in your messaging. If you aim for consistency, it’ll be simple for users. In addition, if you eliminate ambiguity and incorporate only relevant elements, your interface will be rewarding.

7. Attractiveness

Attraction is about aesthetic appeal. Attraction concerns making elements and layout appealing for prospective and existing users. Attractiveness aims to make the site enjoyable and thrilling to navigate. You can make your site or app efficient, simple, easy to use, and concise – but it will only do well by making it attractive. Your clients or prospective users will not only use a stirring interface; they will look forward to using it once again.

Contact NS804 to achieve a great UI design.

4 Things You Can Learn About Your Clients From Their App Use

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Every savvy appreneur should monitor app use to gauge whether an application meets your desired goals and expectations. And that’s easy to do due to the many excellent analytics and monitoring tools available today. Of course, users and various governing bodies, such as the EU, have expressed concern about how companies handle user data and privacy.

As someone that releases or plans to release apps, it’s your job to ensure that you comply with all regulations applicable to the target territory. But the good news is that you don’t need to harvest an extraordinary amount of data to gain a clear picture of app use. After all, you primarily care about your app’s performance and whether users easily complete tasks available to them. 

You don’t want to know users’ home addresses or pet names unless that’s necessary for the functionality of your app. But even for such cases, you’ll need to gain user consent via a mobile opt-in option. Ultimately, you want to operate under an ethical and legal framework that fosters trust with all your users.

We also understand that it’s not always clear what you must look for when monitoring app use. So, we’ve compiled this handy list to help you laser focus on the key indicators that will reveal more about your clients and users.

1. Does Your App Use Data Reveal A Distracted User Base?

Unfortunately, in our information-rich world, attention spans have declined significantly. Digital and social media have played a significant role in reducing attention spans, and so has a constantly online way of life.

But what does this mean for your upcoming app project? Your app should have an easy-to-understand and easy-to-navigate user interface (UI). And keep it simple by making it easy for users to complete tasks quickly. Once you launch your app and monitor app usage, you should achieve favorable results by keeping users engaged.

If that’s not happening, you may have added features and UI elements that cause confusion or distraction. Users will often leave an app and even delete it altogether if they don’t understand how to use it or are not presented with the most crucial information as early as possible.

You’ll also want to know whether your app’s response times lag longer than usual. Therefore, you should monitor all response and system feedback times. If these exceed 50ms for response times and 400ms for web-based system feedback, you need to patch up your app immediately, as most users won’t put up with any application that seems slow and clunky or hinders productivity.

2. Where Are Your Clients Spending Most Of Their Time? 

It’s essential to track the time users spend on your app. And not only that, but you should also track how much time they spend on each page of your app.

For example, you may have created a food delivery app that promises users a one-click checkout experience. Now, users are excited about the prospect of quickly and conveniently ordering their food, so they flock to your app. But then, you notice that few users are completing orders timeously, and many abandon products in their virtual carts.

So you decide to check your analytics to determine what’s causing the bottleneck. You start by analyzing how much time users spend on the homepage of your app and right through to the checkout page. And the data reveals that users quickly find the products they want. Also, they don’t experience any noticeable problems when adding products to their carts. 

Everything seems good so far, but then you get to the data regarding your checkout page. Surprisingly, users spend three times longer on the checkout page than on the rest of your app. And this is not good because it negates the whole purpose of your app, which is to provide a hassle-free checkout.

However, you still don’t have enough information, so you decide to drill down to a more granular view of your data. And doing so reveals information that you didn’t expect, which shows that users spend an excessive amount of time filling in their payment information. Thus, you decide to improve the payment form and enhance its format by refreshing its credit card and other payment method icons.

3. Are Your Users Cheating And Ruining The Experience For Everyone?

If you’re a mobile game developer or creating a competitive and interactive app, you should care whether users cheat. Yes, you heard correctly; users will act in bad faith and cheat in mobile games. And that’s especially true for games that offer money prizes, gems, and in-app purchases. Furthermore, Android games are particularly vulnerable to cheating and game modification apps, such as Creehack, Game Killer, and SB Game Hacker APK, to name a few.

And while it’s common practice to hack and modify PC games, we should bear in mind that the PC is a fairly open platform. On top of that, some PC game developers encourage mods and even provide their own modification tools. And the reason they do this is that it helps extend the longevity of their games, as users will create and share additional content that’s mostly free. 

But even on the PC, hacking a game for the purpose of cheating is unacceptable, causing developers and publishers to ban users that attempt such an action. Therefore, mobile game developers should never take cheaters lightly, as they can cause monetary loss and reputational damage.

You should implement a pattern detection system that analyzes users’ device memory and storage for any cheat apps. Also, some popular cheat apps attach their debugger to a process, so make sure that you’re scanning for these. And if you’re creating a multiplayer game using the Unity engine, then use Guardsquare’s DexGuard and iXGuard to harden the security of your Android and iOS games.

4. Do Your Users Face Too Many Choices? 

The best apps often have a simple UI and are designed to serve a singular purpose. Therefore, you never want to create an app that tries to do too many things. Or it does one thing well but presents users with a plethora of features and options.

Ideally, your app should focus on a singular purpose and its features pared down to the bare minimum. And that’s because users struggle to navigate apps that offer them too many options. They may feel anxious when facing too many options, many of which may be unnecessary or be too complex. 

Furthermore, when users face too many choices, they’re forced to spend more time thinking before coming to a decision. But if they have less choice, users feel less burdened to engage in a complex decision-making process. And navigating the app feels like a more fluid and natural experience, especially if they can complete the most crucial tasks in a short amount of time.

And if users use your app to complete a complex task, then break it down into several smaller and manageable tasks. Always offer an enjoyable and straightforward user experience, as many users may not have the required technical skills.

The Bottom Line 

As we’ve seen, app use can reveal much about your clients, provided you’re using the correct monitoring and detection systems. And this information provides you with greater insight into what you’re doing right or wrong with your apps. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you create phenomenal apps that will amaze even the most demanding users!

Ecommerce and Apps: Should You Consider It?

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A critical facet for any e-commerce business is a well-designed and optimized online store. Nevertheless, despite the emergence of mobile applications in modern-day digital retail, most retailers still wonder whether they need to adopt a mobile app to accompany their online stores.

Google published research showing that 56% of smartphone users were highly involved in online retail. According to Google, 58% of smartphone users check prices, monitor trends, view customer responses, and evaluate client feedback. Most smartphone users were also involved in product and review comparisons and even buying products.

Further statistics revealed that 66% of smartphone users made online purchases once a week. For most smartphone users, online purchases were made by phone as opposed to desktop devices. The prevalence of mobile apps is driven by the accelerated adoption of smartphone devices, alongside higher internet penetration rates.

Therefore, although retailers are wondering whether to uptake mobile apps to complement their digital retail efforts, it’s important to remember that users first view products on their smartphone devices before making purchases on desktop PCs. Most importantly, with the emergence of highly optimized apps, making online purchases via apps is becoming more streamlined, making mobile apps the go-to option in the e-commerce marketplace.

So, here are the top reasons you should consider e-commerce and mobile apps.

1. Loyal audiences

One of the greatest benefits of an app is the ability to build loyalty with the targeted audience. 67% of online buyers prefer apps offered by their brands and companies according to data by Adobe. These statistics clearly show the impact of digital platforms in reinforcing customer and brand relationships. But how do you encourage your targeted audience to download and install your app? Well, focus more on the user interface and user experience and offer better discounts and more attractive deals.

2. Faster buying process

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have longer queues that point to a slow check-out process. Traditional check-out processes in brick-and-mortar stores are responsible for higher customer service costs, delayed check-out processes, and may inhibit customer retention. Luckily, the emergence of mobile apps has simplified the purchase and check-out process. Ecommerce mobile apps come with a payment gateway functionality that allows app users to purchase products and services from authorized vendors. That ultimately facilitates a faster buying and a timely check-out process.

3. Product listing

Product listing is a critical aspect of any e-commerce process. A product listing is what the customer sees when they search for a product online. For sellers, product categorization is one of the greatest benefits of e-commerce. Sellers can use categories to streamline the ordering and purchase process, allowing fewer errors in procurement and supply chain processes. One advantage of e-commerce is that customers can add products, product categories, product descriptions, images, pricing, and delivery date. Product categorization allows vendors to inform customers more about the product, allowing buyers to know what retailers have.

Product listing best practices:

The following are the tips and tricks of product listing and categorization:

  • Maintain image dimensions
  • Use a high-quality image resolution
  • Provide multiple viewing angles for your products
  • Use lipsticks when displaying or showing multiple product views
  • Consider UX-design and UI-design that facilitate a 360-degree product view.

Customizing your product listings makes them appealing and attractive, enhancing your chances of online retail success.

4. Improved marketing communication

Marketing is principally about communicating and educating prospective clients. Marketing outreach targets educating users and prospective customers about the benefits and drawbacks of products or services, including the drawbacks of competitor products. Mobile apps and eCommerce platforms act as central communication platforms, providing insight and knowledge to customer and client groups.

An e-commerce mobile application provides a communication channel for different stakeholders, including clients, prospective customers, and brands. This communication acts as an avenue for brand positioning and marketing excellence. So, complementing a mobile app with an intuitive online store helps deliver superior marking and outreach.

5. Efficiency

The intuitiveness, user-friendliness, and accessibility of mobile apps render them ideal for many customers. Today, online shoppers are leveraging mobile apps to streamline their purchase and procurement processes. And even though you might incur a substantial sum developing a solid app, be assured that it will generate incomparable value within a short period. A well-designed app with superior functionality has unmatched potential for long-term value. Apps’ overall functionality delivers superior performance, enabling businesses to be more agile and efficient in their routine business processes.

6. Reduced response time

Vendors and customers want a rapid, time-to-value service. A mobile app is smooth and streamlines the purchase process, saving time and money in routine check-out processes. The response time for mobile apps is considerably less than for web platforms or websites that retrieve data quickly. So, e-commerce stores with mobile apps are well-positioned to serve customers faster than online stores without complementary apps.

7. Personalization

E-commerce platforms and mobile apps have many opportunities for personalization. That’s because retailers can understand and use customer shopping patterns to build more personalized retail experiences. If personalization is well-planned and combined with push notifications, it can deliver superior marketing campaigns that touch the hearts of shoppers. E-commerce platforms and mobile apps provide retailers with countless opportunities for shoppers to connect with brands. Customer connection is reinforced through a solid personalization approach, providing retailers with fresh opportunities to revamp their revenues.

8. Multiple payment options

The emergence of the fourth industrial revolution has transformed the online shopping experience. The emergence of IoT, artificial intelligence, data analytics, big data, and blockchain has helped transform the digital marketplace. Nowadays, with digitally secured cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doge, Binance, or XRP coin, you can access limitless retailers. Cryptocurrency provides shoppers with numerous payment getaways, streamlining the online shopping experiences for millions, if not billions of online customers.

9. Customer relationship management

Customer relationship management is an evolving field of marketing. Customer relationship management is concerned primarily with building lasting relationships with customers by understanding their changing needs and responding accordingly to these shifting priorities. Long ago, brands and organizations approached customer relationship management by obtaining written feedback and evaluating based on demand shifts.

However, nowadays, mobile apps have overhauled the entire CRM practice, with advances in chatbots and online communication portals that collect information and feedback at-a-go. E-commerce platforms first ushered in a new, innovative way for customers and brands to interact and share problems. Mobile apps reinforce this relationship, allowing brands to mine insightful, statistical shopping trends. Consumer insight drives better customer relationships, especially regarding customer inquiries, refunds, and payment errors.

10. Competitive positioning

The Covid-19 pandemic signaled the start of a new dawn. The announcement of the Covid-19 outbreak was accompanied by stringent social distancing measures, an effort to prevent the spread of a global virus. Unfortunately, new social distancing measures discouraged conventional physical meet-ups as shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, and public transport systems set measures to curtail physical contact.

These developments affected traditional shopping avenues and disrupted the office workplace. Businesses suffered blows due to shrinking purchases, and supply chains sustained bruises due to the collapse of the global market. Luckily, mobile apps defied the anecdotal narrative of an economic decline and beat the odds to become an alternative solution for retailers. Adopting mobile apps and e-commerce solutions provides a competitive advantage, allowing enterprises to respond to changing customer preferences.

Reach Us Today!

Therefore, as enterprises wade off this pandemic, it’s only wise to adopt with time by accelerating app adoption. For enterprises recovering from the pandemic, mobile apps offer an innovative way to ignite touches with prospective customers. There’s no doubt that mobile apps give a competitive positioning to enterprises adjusting to the post-covid digital marketplace.

Contact NS804 to optimize mobile apps and e-commerce solutions.