Can You Get Professional Results With App Design Templates?

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Making apps is a costly endeavor, causing developers to seek ways to make their production processes more efficient. And given the increased competition, it seems challenging to stick to the planned mobile app budget. After all, users desire more features and slicker design, whereas innovative competitors push the envelope even further. While it’s tempting to cut corners to stay on budget, this move would be detrimental to the success of your app.

Keep in mind that there’s no need to reskin existing apps or source low-quality assets to bring costs down. Users have become seasoned in spotting asset flips, reskinned apps, and generic GUI icons sourced from the web. Fortunately, there are ways to make impressive-looking apps without resorting to these questionable methods. A custom app developed by an experienced developer, such as NS804, will provide the best results.

An alternative way to make your app look professional is by utilizing app design templates, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.

1. Why You May Want To Use App Design Templates

Every developer wants to reduce their time to market (TTM) significantly. That’s why many teams use existing frameworks instead of building everything from scratch. Furthermore, most experienced developers are capable of crafting unique apps instead of cookie-cutter apps using these frameworks. Since they no longer have to worry about boilerplate code, they can now focus on creating compelling apps that excite users.

However, you can go beyond frameworks to reduce cost and time to develop your upcoming app. After bouncing some app design ideas with the relevant team members, it’s time to consider using customizable or pre-made templates for your project.

We recommend that you stay away from cheap templates, as they’ll make your app look dated, low-effort, or unpolished. Many talented designers work on custom templates and ensure that they meet the criteria set out by platform holders such as Apple and Google. Do keep in mind that a North American designer may set you back between $ 45-250 per hour depending on experience and project complexity.

Your project’s requirements will largely determine whether you’ll opt for a custom solution or templates. But if you don’t want to skimp on quality, then nothing holds up to a custom-designed app.

2. Are Custom-Made Apps Really That Different?

Well, that depends if these custom-made apps have enough unique elements to make them stand out. And since the attention span of users is less than 8 seconds, developers should get their ideas across quickly. Furthermore, most successful apps always strive to provide users the instant gratification that they crave. But to make these types of apps, it’s vital to understand the entire process.

It all begins with a rock-solid idea that has been conceived after planning your app on paper. Team members should be encouraged to share their app design ideas, which should include ‘must-have’ and ‘nice-to-have’ features. Then, you should create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that’s a stripped-down version of the final product. Moreover, you can create a prototype that lacks all the bells and whistles but showcases basic functionality.

Once you have a functioning app up and running, you’ll want to focus on its visual elements. The work you put into your User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) will go a long way in differentiating your app. If you’re fortunate enough to have talented designers on your team, then they can create stunning icons, menus, and screens. Also, they can alter existing templates and recompose them so that they seem custom-made.

If you don’t have designers on hand or aren’t confident in making a compelling app, then we recommend hiring an experienced developer. NS804 can help to make all your ideas come to life while also assisting in other key areas. Don’t forget to do market research before launching. By knowing what users want, you can add those unique features that differentiate your app from the competition.

Lastly, you should always study user feedback and make changes, whenever necessary, to keep them engaged. Several good ways to gain user insight is through interviews and surveys. Then, update your app regularly and ensure that you’re delivering the changes and features that they want.

3. The Right Template Is Already Professional

App builders have become commonplace in recent years. They make it easy to build apps for small businesses and other organizations using drag-and-drop wizards and templates. However, they’re not always the ideal solution, especially in light of Apple’s 2017 ban on low-quality templates. Ensure that all your cool app design ideas don’t go to waste by meeting the requirements set forth by the platform holders.

Apart from not being spammy, your app’s built-in features and UX design should serve specific businesses or needs. If you’ve sourced high-quality templates that scale perfectly to different screen sizes, then you’re on the right track. But it’s also necessary to consider the use cases of various templates as well. For example, it’s never a good idea to use a template meant for restaurant apps when you’re making a fitness studio app.

Users and platform holders prefer a clean and uncluttered look for the current generation of apps. Not only does this enhance usability, but it’s also more aesthetically pleasing. The good news is that it’s reasonably easy to find pre-made templates that comply with this minimalist design language. Moreover, it’s possible for any experienced designer to alter these templates to better fit your app and UX design.

4. Use Templates To Get App Design Ideas

Coming up with the latest great idea for your upcoming app may seem difficult. Fortunately, there are several handy tools to help you draw up and visualize your app in record time. Microsoft’s Web and Mobile Wireframe Templates make it possible to design your next app with a few mouse clicks. These templates are generic so that it’s easy to implement changes without much guesswork.

A few of the starter templates include Company Wireframe Diagram, E-Commerce Wireframe Diagram, List Wireframe Diagram, Media Wireframe Diagram, User Profile Wireframe Diagram, Wireframe – Mobile App, and Wireframe – Website. These will help you get started quickly, as they cover the most common use cases for mobile and web apps.

One of the tool’s most useful features is its ability to display templates on different web browsers and devices. Without a doubt, this allows you and your team to conceive app ideas while having a clear picture of what they’ll look like on the target platform. Even if you can’t come up with ideas at first, manipulating these templates will help you get your creative juices flowing.  

Final Thoughts

App design templates can help reduce the cost and time it takes to produce apps. But these must be professionally made templates that will look good on various devices and display sizes. Furthermore, they must comply with the requirements set out by platform holders to avoid bans. With our many years of experience in app development, NS804 can help you achieve professional results for your next mobile app.

How to Properly Execute a Mobile App Launch for Results

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Successfully launching a mobile app is challenging, but not impossible if you know what the process entails. But be aware that it’s a long and difficult process that often trips up novice app developers. NS804 specializes in mobile app development in Virginia, and we always try to demystify the craft of making engaging apps. Below, we’re providing several handy tips that are in line with current trends in mobile app development. 

1. Do Your Homework

Launching a mobile app is a lot more involved than one would think. It’s simply not about developing an app and then releasing it out in the wild, hoping that it will miraculously succeed. Only half the battle involves designing and developing a compelling application that will keep users engaged. The other half of the battle involves marketing, which may sound scary but is absolutely necessary.

Take the time to do extensive market research. And we do need to stress that there’s no such thing as too much market research. After all, you don’t want to waste time and money working on an app that users will ignore or won’t find appealing. Furthermore, investors and other stakeholders won’t be pleased if company resources are funneled into a project that will likely fail. 

It’s vital to understand your Product Market Fit (PMF) and subsequently develop the right product for the right market. Current trends in mobile app development include several handy tactics in regards to PMF. These include keyword search volume, which is a list of commonly searched words in the app store, conversion metrics that track user acquisition and other data points, and retention metrics that measure user retention after the mobile app launch.

Of course, your marketing efforts shouldn’t end there. Research your closest competitors, blog regularly, create engaging video content, share content on social media, and even set up a landing page for your upcoming app. Also, diligently measure all your marketing endeavors and audience engagement.

2. Discuss the importance of defining success for the app

Many individuals and companies want to put out an app. But many don’t have a clear picture of what they’re trying to achieve or have an end goal in mind. If you’re finding yourself in a similar situation, then we recommend you ask an important question: “What problem should my app solve?”

After launching a mobile app, it will either gain traction or languish in obscurity. Apps that solve particular problems or improve on existing solutions tend to do well. And some apps find an audience by dealing exclusively with customer pain points. Other more niche apps solve specific business needs or improve upon existing processes. After carefully conducting a PMF survey and doing extensive market research, you should have a good idea of what problems your app is trying to solve.

Furthermore, you’ll need to set specific goals that your app will have to achieve and that you can measure. These goals can include the number of users that you’ll reach, the number of active users, the retention rate, and lifetime value.

3. Testing & Feedback

Current trends in mobile app development include leveraging BETA test groups and focus groups. These groups will make up the initial audience that sees your app, apart from your internal development teams. Why BETA testers are so important is that they’ll rigorously test your app and then provide you with valuable feedback. This feedback will consist of bug reports, issues with the UI/UX, and performance issues, to name a few. 

Focus groups can help you to further refine your product before that crucial mobile app launch. Perhaps your target audience consists of medical professionals, but you’re unsure if your app’s color scheme and visual design will meet their expectations. However, a focus group that includes such professionals will be able to tell you immediately if they find your app’s aesthetics appealing. 

Prepare a roadmap that informs your development teams and testers about important milestones. If possible, make your roadmap as visual as possible, as this makes it easier for most people to comprehend and internalize. Ideally, you want your developers and testers to work in tandem and deal with issues early on.

4. Data Collection & Results

Launching a mobile app is both exciting and scary. Exciting because you’re finally releasing your masterpiece after months of hard work. But scary, because you don’t know how well it will do. While there’s no guarantee that your app will succeed in an increasingly competitive market, this shouldn’t deter you from moving forward. Moreover, every mobile app launch presents a golden opportunity for collecting data that will become invaluable for your current and future development endeavors. 

You can collect a wide variety of data, which may include device information and compatibility, functionality, location data, performance metrics, and user behavior patterns. Ensure that you’re only collecting data that’s necessary to the smooth functioning of your app and not intruding on user privacy. This data will show you whether your app is achieving the desired results or if you need to implement changes.

5. Be flexible in adapting and perfecting the app

You may think that you’ve released the perfect app, but it’s the users who ultimately decide that. The data you’ve collected and the reviews that users leave will give you a good idea if your app is meeting expectations. But regardless of your app’s overall performance, be flexible in adapting and perfecting your app. After all, current trends in mobile app development include the regular updating of apps to enhance their features and security.

But view this matter from the users’ perspective. Not only have users become accustomed to receiving regular updates, but they also expect them. Users tend to remain engaged if they’re receiving regular updates that enhance existing features or introduce new features. And they also feel more confident in using your app if they know that you’re regularly fixing bugs and issue security fixes.

6. Partner with an expert

Another vital part of your app that you shouldn’t skimp on is in regards to its Call to Action (CTA). Creating a CTA that converts prospects into long-term users of your app is a skill that you’ll need to master. However, we recommend partnering with an expert, such as NS804 that has plenty of experience in creating powerful CTAs that convert.

CTAs can be implemented in an ad, app, blog, digital platform, download, free trial, landing page, newsletter, and social media. Effective CTAs target the user, create a sense of urgency and are simple and straightforward. Furthermore, the effectiveness of CTAs are determined via A/B testing, and these tests need to be conducted regularly.

In Conclusion

Developing mobile apps that find and retain their audience in today’s competitive market is not easy. But if you do extensive market research, define what makes your app successful, test and receive feedback, collect data, and are willing to adapt your app, then you’ve got a shot at success. If you’re seeking mobile app development in Virginia and beyond, then contact NS804 today.

Tips For Higher App Store Ratings

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Improving Your App Store Rating

To this day word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tactics available. This is because it offers the new potential customer an immediate sense of trust. Since the suggestion comes from a fellow customer, who gains no benefit from your business, it’s safe to assume there’s no ulterior motive. While the world is swiftly transitioning to work-from-home environments and remote operations, it may seem like word-of-mouth marketing is disappearing. However, it’s quite the contrary. Even in a virtual world, elements like app store ratings and yelp reviews serve as the vehicle for word-of-mouth marketing.

In viewing app store ratings as a version of word-of-mouth marketing, the value of a strong app store rating becomes apparent. Mobile app developers and producers understand that driving a strong app store rating yields a myriad of benefits. These benefits range from a larger and more loyal user-base to longer log-times, and even higher in-app purchase rates. Prioritizing a high app store rating is quickly becoming recognized as more and more vital to an applications long term success.

Tips To Improve App Store Ratings

Mobile app developers often create store-rating strategies before the onset of a mobile app project. This allows the team to focus on developing a unique application with a unique interface while still delivering undeniable value.

Market Analysis

Firstly, in approaching the release of any mobile app the first step is to conduct a market-analysis. Through this analysis the mobile app producer takes note of the competitors living within the same sub-markets that they’re targeting. Beyond the initial market-analysis, the mobile app producer looks at the specifics of each of the competitors already in the space.

This is where the developer can put their app-theory to the test. If the ideation of the new application is too similar to any of its existing competition, adjustments need to be made. This is the point in the process where a developer is able to pinpoint the value-proposition of their mobile-application. Additionally, this is also the stage that reveals the main differences between the new app and competitors solutions.

Prioritize User Experience

Prioritizing the user experience is a multi-faceted chore. Firstly, this means delivering undeniable value to the user. This goes back to the idea of a value-proposition. However, beyond offering users some type of solution; mobile app developers need to be prepared for iterations and updates.

In other words, consumers aren’t going to stay quiet about issues or unpleasantries they experience. Therefore, paying attention to user feedback, and especially negative user feedback, will help your developers address major issues with the application. Addressing user issues swiftly and confidently is a sure way to push your app store ratings higher.

Beyond that, build a feedback prompt into your mobile application, and solicit users to leave your team a rating and feedback.

Final Thoughts

The app store is a vicious place. Users are as fast to delete applications as they are to download them in the first place. For more information on achieving a higher app store rating, and how to drive user-loyalty, visit NS804.

NS804 is the premiere knowledge source for everything mobile app development.

How To Improve User Retention By Studying The Competition

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It’s tough out there. The app marketplace isn’t what it used to be due to incredibly high competition. Considering that there are over 2.8 million apps on Google’s Play Store and around 2.2 million apps on Apple’s App Store, app developers and publishers have their work cut out for them. And the same old strategies that worked in the past seldom work in today’s digital marketplaces. 

However, it’s not all doom and gloom if you adopt the right strategies for pushing forward the next generation of engaging apps. Firstly, you’ll need to accept that an app building competition isn’t a bad thing, as this creates new opportunities. Secondly, implement a solid ‘update app‘ strategy that causes the user to follow through. Thirdly, think about how to improve user retention since this will help in increasing your ROI.

Finally, never fear competition, as there are several effective ways to develop successful apps in the current climate. Below, we provide a few handy tips about studying the competition and using that to your advantage.

1. Better Understand Your Audience’s Needs

It’s no secret that you can’t tailor a user-centric experience if you don’t know your target audience. Thus, take the time to learn as much as possible about your current and future users. Find out their age, gender, language, location, occupation, devices, interests, and marital status. 

Of course, you can delve deeper by finding out more about their behavior, habits, personality, and values. All this data will help you compile accurate user personas, which will give you a clear understanding of your audience’s needs.

2. Improve Upon Features Users Don’t Like

Even your most well-made app won’t please all your users. You may have released a messaging app that runs smoothly and boasts a ton of handy features. However, some of your users may find the available emojis unappealing and start looking for alternative messaging apps. Check out what your competitors are doing, and implement the necessary improvements when your users click the update app button.

3. Improve Overall UI/UX Design

Your production values make a massive difference in how users perceive your app. The quality of all your assets and overall UI/UX design will make or break the final product. All your visual elements, which may include menu icons, fonts, and the update app button, to name a few, are vital to your app’s success.

Furthermore, you should implement these five key elements for your UX design: information architecture, interaction design, usability, prototyping, and visual design.

4. Release More Purposeful Updates

Always delve deeper into how to improve user retention. It’s common for many developers to focus primarily on bug fixes for their update cycles. While this is good for app stability, many users may grow tired of using apps that don’t offer significant feature upgrades. With these regular updates, you ensure that your app remains modern and secure and that you care for your users.

5. Study User Feedback For New Ideas

Any app building competition can be a game-changer. Your users aren’t just using your apps, but also those released by competitors. That’s why it’s important to gather user feedback and study it carefully. Find out what they’re saying about your apps and those made by the competition. After gaining this valuable insight, discuss it with your team, and plan your upcoming updates accordingly.

In Conclusion

Learning how to improve user retention by studying the competition is a step in the right direction. You’ll need to follow a few important steps, such as understanding your audience’s needs, improving features users don’t like, improving UI/UX design, release purposeful updates, and study user feedback.

The result is an app building competition while engaging users. With years of experience in app development, NS804 can help you achieve your business goals with professionally made apps.

Key Features of Enterprise Productivity Apps

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The Key Features of Enterprise Apps Focused On Productivity

Competitive companies constantly search for new avenues through which to conduct business activities. Additionally, executives, business owners, and decision-makers are always looking for new ways to save time in their days and weeks. The age old adage that time is money is still very true today. One of the main ways to go about saving time is through implementing business tech. Countless corporations today rely on the assistance of enterprise productivity apps, and other sophisticated tech, to operate their organizations.

Before going much further, let’s look at what enterprise productivity apps are. Firstly, it’s crucial to recognize that there is a huge spectrum of enterprise productivity applications. On top of that, different organizations simply have different needs. Therefore, many enterprise productivity applications are unique to the organizations that build them.

Another reason the individuality of enterprise productivity apps is important to note is because it speaks to a truth across all industries and markets. The idea that every organization will face slightly unique struggles, roadblocks, and set-backs. As such, this leads to the development of unique solutions and company-specific workflows or operations.

Enterprise Productivity Apps

The marketplace for enterprise productivity applications is roaring right now. With the current state of the world as it is, and many organizations transitioning to a work-from-home environment, the application market has been booming. While organizations continue shifting into fully remote-operations, companies are facing issues that they never have before.

In fact, this trend extends well beyond the business-application-segment, and is indicative of the entire mobile and web application market. As the regional shut-downs rolled out domestically and globally, more and more people were spending the majority of their days inside, isolated with their families or by themselves, and suddenly separated from the rest of the world.

From supply-chains collapsing all around the world, to major companies shutting their doors, and skyrocketing unemployment rates, the world-economy is in a state of disarray unlike we’ve ever seen it. As such, the companies that managed to keep their doors open and have already successfully transitioned into a work-from-home model have, in most cases, made use of a enterprise productivity application.

Enterprise productivity applications fall into a wide variety of categories. One of the most popular types of enterprise productivity applications, however, is project management software such as Asana, Basecamp, or Monday.com. These applications help companies, and managers, gain a more comprehensive picture of any ongoing project within the organization. This includes information on the initial timeline, the actual timeline, missed deadlines, current tasks, upcoming meetings, and much more.

Additionally, these softwares allow managers to track and record their employee progress. This additional oversight that enterprise productivity applications brings to your organization enables your management team to lead more effectively and drive impactful business metrics.

Addressing Employee Needs

When assessing your company and its need for enterprise productivity applications there are a few questions to start with. One of the most influential determinants in creating your enterprise productivity solution are the daily struggles that challenge your staff. Understanding what obstacles your employees are facing on a daily basis provides invaluable insight. This insight helps lead the direction of the enterprise application solutions, and should inform decision makers within your organization.

The logic behind gaining insight into employee obstacles is rather simple. Without this understanding, managers and business leaders would essentially be completely guessing at what solutions will benefit the company. On top of conducting their due diligence in order to invest in creating comprehensive and successful solutions, the information garnered from employees will prevent managers from investing in poorly-thought-out solutions that don’t address employee needs.

In addition, a poor investment in the wrong type of enterprise productivity application can actually have the opposite impact that choosing wisely does. In other words, the wrong enterprise productivity application will add bulky and inefficient redundancy into your operations. Ultimately, this makes it more difficult for the employees to conduct their daily activities. On top of that, it also drives unnecessary costs upward, and dismantles cost-saving techniques. Avoid a poor investment in the wrong enterprise solution. Conduct employee interviews to get to the root of the obstacles your staff faces on a daily basis.

An enterprise productivity application should aim to ease the daily burden of every employee in the company.

Automation In Enterprise Applications

As was just mentioned, the purpose of an enterprise productivity application is to ease the collective burden of operations on the business. One of the core functionalities in many enterprise productivity applications is the ability to automate menial tasks. Delegating daily activities to the software that would normally fall to a member of the staff, frees up additional labor and time that can then be reallocated.

For example, there are many instances in which an employee will spend their first hour of work scheduling their day. They’ll make adjustments to their plan based on shifting priorities and any new information gathered. However, with a sophisticated enterprise solution, all of this information is instantly available to the user. Since the platform offers anyone with the proper credentials to make updates on the project, tasks, deadlines, or anything else, all of that data is streamlined directly to the user who needs it most. Not only is the data accessible by the employees that need it, but it’s also available when they need it.

This is just one of many examples of how enterprise productivity applications can facilitate a streamlined workflow through automation.

Integration

Arguably one of the most important aspects of the enterprise productivity application is it’s integration capability. Pairing your enterprise productivity application with your enterprise software solutions leads to a robust and comprehensive solution. However, in the instance that your software and your productivity applications are incompatible, then we run into the same issue as outlined above; higher costs, lower savings, and a lower rate of operational efficiency.

In successfully pairing an enterprise productivity application with your additional enterprise software, the entire organization is improved throughout the entirety of the vertical. In other words, everyone should see the benefit; from executive management to the c-suite employees, down to the frontline workers and even the manual laborers.

Communication

Communication is one of the keys to a successful relationship. No matter the context of that relationship. This is true when it comes to business partnerships, intimate relationships, friendships, and everything in between. As such, enterprise productivity applications emphasize streamlined and widely accessible communication channels. This ties back into automation, as some internal team communications can be automated by the enterprise solution.

Additionally, however, most enterprise productivity applications include some level of communication platform. Whether this is in the form of an instant messenger or an email-substitute; it keeps team members looped in, and offers a single platform for project work and team-communication.

A Final Word

In our new world, communication and team collaboration has become absolutely invaluable. With the majority of businesses and organizations transitioning into a work-from-home and remote-work environment, our ability to maintain open and clear channels of communication is more vital than ever before.

Keep your teams on track, measure project progress, and open up the lines of communication by investing in a enterprise productivity solution that meets the unique challenges of your business. Visit NS804 today for more information on where to start.

Mobile App Usage During COVID-19: Mobile Apps Seeing a Surge in User Base

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COVID-19 And The Surge In Mobile App Usage

In March of 2020 the world began a period of rapid change. The COVID-19 pandemic swept over the globe, and society all over the world felt its impact. Not only that, but shortly after the onset of the pandemic, domestic turmoil erupted as well. With COVID-19 running rampant through cities and states all over the country, things shut down quickly. Additionally, unemployment rates began to skyrocket as businesses shut their doors to customers. Others still would transition to a fully-remote work environment. With businesses shut down, and the majority of people stuck inside, mobile app usage saw a massive surge.

The huge surge in work-from-home positions was just one of the significant shifts that the pandemic began. As companies realized it was no longer safe for employees to come into the office, those same businesses had to make adjustments to stay afloat in our new society. In order to keep operations running, many businesses got creative and found ways to serve their customers remotely.

Mobile App Usage Stats

In fact, in the second quarter of 2020 business app usage saw a massive increase of 220% compared to quarter four of 2019 in the United States. India, however, saw an even greater increase of 450% over the same time period. The significant increase in businesses app usage points toward a general trend in the way that businesses will be operating for the foreseeable future.

Businesses aren’t the only ones to see a huge increase in mobile app usage, however. In the last three months, July, August, and September, mobile app users spent 180 million hours on apps. The huge surge in mobile app usage is universal. In other words, it isn’t just businesses, or customers in a certain demographic that are spending more time on mobile apps.

Rather, it seems that the entirety of the mobile app market is experiencing one of the greatest volume-increases in history. Certainly, while some trends are just that, a trending phase or fad, the increase in the mobile app market seems like it’s going to be more sustainable than other phases.

This is because of two main reasons. The first is that the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to stretch far into the future. The second is simply the versatility of the market. From enterprise level apps that businesses use to conduct operations, to educational apps that are powering remote learning, and of course, even the silly mobile-app games that provide people with a sense of community in these dismal times.

Capitalize On The Surge

While the onset of the mobile-app surge has already come and gone, the massive uptick in mobile app usage is here to stay. Now is a better time than ever to start taking your ideas for a mobile app from concept to reality.

NS804 is the mobile app developer of the ever day person. As such, we’re dedicated to making mobile app development services more accessible than ever before. Visit NS804 today and get in touch with the mobile app developer of tomorrow.

COVID-19 Team Building Ideas

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It’s no secret that COVID-19 has radically transformed the work environment faster than we could ever imagine. Many companies embraced the new normal by allowing their staff to work remotely. Ultimately, they had to take remote team building far more seriously than before the arrival of the global pandemic to continue operating. And this trend will continue for the foreseeable future, as companies comprehend the benefits of work-from-home initiatives.

For many business leaders, remote team communication will inevitably become part of their strategic decision-making process. Furthermore, they’ll need to foster a team-centric environment despite remote working conditions while overcoming roadblocks whenever they appear. It’s also important to schedule regular video conferences to discuss the progress projects and ascertain that team members are attaining set goals.

Now, we understand that all this may overwhelm business leaders unfamiliar with dealing with remote teams. But it doesn’t have to be this way, and it can become a fun and meaningful experience with the right ideas and strategies. By incorporating D&D team building experiences, it’s possible to increase staff morale and productivity levels. Moreover, younger staff who enjoy role-playing games will appreciate the inclusion of corporate D&D, making them look forward to upcoming team meetings.

We’ll discuss these matters in more detail below and provide several ideas to ignite communication between team members.

Why Remote Team Building Is A Game Changer

The success of your company largely depends on how well your staff communicates and collaborates as a team. That’s why it’s essential to maintain a team-centric environment that’s robust enough to cope with massive changes. And if there’s one thing the recent COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, is that change happens when we least expect it.

Fortunately, it’s never been easier to move forward with your remote team building initiatives due to the emergence of enterprise apps built for communication. Most, if not all, of your systems, should integrate with your apps meant for internal and external communications. Furthermore, these apps should allow the relevant staff members to respond to queries regardless of their location or current working conditions.

Let’s not forget that humans are both emotional and social, so remote team communication allows them to fulfill these needs, albeit in a professional manner. Staff members will feel engaged and valued, instead of cogs in the corporate machine only meant to serve specific operational requirements.

Enhancing Remote Team Communication

It’s never too late to look at your current communication apps and strategies and make a few changes and integrations. Your ultimate goal is to ensure that staff members have the best tools available to complete tasks on time. But you want to ensure that they remain motivated, especially when working from home, where it’s all-too-common for them to lose focus and become disengaged.

We recommend enabling or integrating employee recognition functionality within your company communication apps. Not only will this enhance the overall company culture, but it also helps increase morale and productivity among staff members. By integrating well-known employee recognition apps such as Bonusly, Kudos, and TapmyBack, your staff will receive the feedback they need to grow and further contribute to the company’s success.

Also, it’s possible to make remote team building activities fun, which can ultimately strengthen online team relationships. A few of these activities include virtual happy hours that closely emulates a bar experience, creative brainstorms via videoconferencing that keep the conversation rolling, and check-in meetings that allow staff to express themselves honestly.

Making Online Interactions Fun And Meaningful

Whether your company is a new startup or an established market leader, you’re likely looking at ways to elevate the company brand. How clients and staff perceive your brand makes a massive difference in how they value and engage with your company. While slick marketing, great products, and positive company culture can elevate a brand’s prestige – you may need to do more to keep your remote staff members engaged.

The hard truth is that it’s often difficult to keep staff excited about the next virtual meeting or Zoom call. And introverted employees may find it difficult to communicate effectively when thrown in the deep end of any online interaction. However, it’s possible to turn the tables by introducing several fun team building activities. But do keep in mind that these remote team communication initiatives should always engage and surprise the intended audience.

Most of your staff are either young or young at heart, so introducing a few entertaining games is something that they’ll likely appreciate. Moreover, you can insert these games into your virtual icebreakers and recognition apps to overcome those awkward moments and get the conversation rolling.These games can introduce all kinds of unique themes such as critical thinking, dance party, game show, murder mystery, online quiz, snapshot sharing, and team sharing, to name a few.

Games should only last for a few minutes and help increase your remote staff’s engagement and excitement levels while reducing their sense of isolation. Quiz games that focus on staff members’ hobbies and interests increase team-bonding while adding a leaderboard makes everyone more competitive. And with the growing adoption of VR and AR devices, it’s also possible to make these games run on these platforms.

D&D Team Building Experiences

With the growing popularity of role-playing games based on the Dungeon and Dragons formula, it’s worth considering how this improves team building. Since D&D relies heavily on teamwork to complete campaigns successfully, this can incentivize your remote staff teams to partake in a bit of corporate D&D. Furthermore, these D&D team building experiences provide the perfect setting for staff members to socialize and bond while solving problems as a team.

Staff members will use their cunning, intellect, and skills to solve problems and ensure that the most suitable team member is assigned tasks that only they can handle. And given the dynamic nature of a D&D role-playing session, it’s always possible to throw unique curveballs that nobody expected. Therefore, team members will need to regularly switch up their strategies in order to complete campaigns.

Your staff will gain many valuable insights about each other and gain a clearer understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. They’ll come to appreciate how each staff member adds value to the team with the skills and capabilities that they bring to the table. And since practice makes perfect, it’s a good idea to hold these corporate D&D sessions on a regular basis. Also, don’t forget to introduce new themes to keep your D&D team building experiences exciting, as the same-old fantasy settings can get tiring.

Final Thoughts

When your remote staff members collaborate and communicate effectively, important projects are completed on time. Thus, establishing and maintaining a team-centric environment makes all the difference in the world. Take your team building initiatives to the next level by integrating employee recognition functionality in your communication apps, introduce unique games to keep staff engaged, and hold corporate D&D sessions regularly.

With years of experience in developing enterprise apps that help enterprises meet their goals, feel free to contact NS804 today about all your team building needs.

“After” COVID-19 – Preparing My Company for The Next Pandemic

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Learning From COVID-19

2020, if nothing else, has been a year full of change and lessons. Additionally, 2020 brought about a ton pof changes. Changes that businesses and consumers had to adapt to. Shortly after the onset of the pandemic many companies closed their doors. Other businesses still reduced their capacity significantly. However, the largest trend to emerge from 2020 is the move toward a remote working environment. Some organizations were ahead of the curve with their pandemic prep.

Companies need to prepare for the rest of the pandemic. Not only that, organizations also need to look ahead toward the next pandemic. Taking from the lessons learned from COVID-19.

Looking Beyond The COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. Companies are still trying to recover from broken supply chains amongst other things. Not only that, but the global market is under an incredible amount of stress. Simultaneously, companies are still coping and managing social distancing practices. Ultimately, that limits the amount of business they can serve at any given time.

However, it’s never too late to prepare for the next storm.

Many companies have had to find new ways to operate. In many instances this has included shifting toward a remote-working environment. Working remotely has become the norm of 2020. As such, companies need to prioritize the various aspects that make it possible for businesses to function remotely.

One of the ways to do this is to equip employees with the proper software and hardware. This allows employees to run modern software and applications. Another vital element is communication. Robust communication channels empower staff members.

Without proper internal communication deadlines are missed, projects fall off track, and collaboration collapses. The result is subpar performance, and a culture that allows for miscommunications regularly.

Other Solutions

Beyond shifting to a virtual environment and a remote-working world, companies have continued to be creative in finding new solutions. In a time where companies are facing many unique and specific challenges, custom applications have started to emerge as source of many solutions.

Now more than ever before, companies are turning to AI and custom enterprise applications in order to collect and manage data on a larger scale. Not only will data related activities happen on a larger scale, but they will also occur in a more efficient manner. Bringing your business into the modern world means adjusting to the new playing field.

Understanding that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, and that another pandemic could very well hit us down the road, now is the time to start preparing for an entirely digital experience.

Going Totally Digital For The Next Pandemic

The customer experience of tomorrow is completely digital. With more businesses transitioning into remote working environments, and turning to custom mobile apps, and AI based solutions for data management and collection, the economy is recognizing the reality of this pandemic, and the next one.

NS804 is the mobile app developer of the everyday person, and is dedicated to making mobile app development services more accessible than ever before. Visit NS804 today to get in touch with a mobile app developer and start turning your idea into reality.

How Many Enterprise Apps Does Your Company Need?

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While apps have become ambiguous in today’s digital landscape, this doesn’t mean that business leaders should become complacent. After all, every well-conceived enterprise app boosts productivity, creates new opportunities, empowers employees, improves customer satisfaction, and increases competitiveness. And these are only a few of the benefits that apply to companies, big and small, in general.

But as we all know, every company is unique with specific requirements that can’t always be fulfilled by general-purpose solutions. Quite often, it’s necessary to develop custom apps that match a company’s needs, goals, and growth trajectory.

However, it can be tricky to determine the exact number of apps required to achieve the desired outcome. That’s why we’re providing these handy pointers to take away some of the guesswork and help you make an informed decision.

1. Consider Your Enterprise Mobile App Strategy

Most, if not all, your clients, business partners, and employees own or have access to smartphones. In many cases, the smartphone is their primary or even sole communication device. Therefore, it’s essential to determine the best way to connect with them by planning out your enterprise mobile app strategy carefully.

Always take into account what type of app will be useful for a particular target audience. Your sales staff may require a robust CRM, whereas your management team welcomes a handy analytics app to view KPIs on the go.

2. Why A General Enterprise App May Not Be Enough

Apps such as Microsoft’s Office 365 handle many essential business functions effortlessly. Staff can easily author and share Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents quickly while working on various devices at multiple locations due to its cloud service. It’s also capable of further functionality, which largely depends on the preferred price plan and add-ins installed.

But should your logistics staff need an efficient, precise, and streamlined solution that monitors inventory throughout the entire supply chain, then a custom app is the more suitable choice.

3. Think About Individual Department Needs

Your enterprise mobile app strategy relies heavily on what each department of your company needs. Prepare to expend time and effort to determine what type of app will benefit individual departments, especially if current solutions aren’t addressing business problems adequately.

Are your HR managers satisfied with the company’s recruiting and onboarding apps? How are your customer service apps performing under heavy load? And are your financial apps compliant with the latest legislation in your region? These are just a few of the questions you should be asking before forging ahead.

4. Using Company-Wide Plus General Employee Apps

Speed, scalability, and easy integration with a company’s ecosystem are what makes for an ideal enterprise app. And like a well-oiled machine, your company-wide apps should work flawlessly with your general employee apps. Your company may hire both desktop and non-desktop bound employees. Thus, your apps should be useful to all employees, regardless of their screen time and choice of device.

5. Investing In Multiple Apps May Increase Productivity

To boost productivity, you’ll need to empower your employees by providing them with the right tools. And with the growing importance of mobile apps, there’s never been a better time to consider investing in multiple apps.

These apps should augment existing business processes by ensuring that employees always have access to the necessary functionality to complete their work on time. Furthermore, these should engage employees and offer a positive user experience that it inevitably elevates the company’s brand.

Conclusion

Companies are constantly evolving, and so are their technology needs. A well designed and developed enterprise app can be a game-changer. And a carefully orchestrated enterprise mobile app strategy can radically transform individual departments for the better. With our years of experience in developing apps that improve business processes, NS804 is ready to help fulfill all your development needs.

Understanding The Application Lifecycle

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Application Lifecycle Management 

There is a beginning to everything. In fact, nothing comes into existence out of nothingness. The universe, for instance, as we understand, came to be through a massive eruption of energy known to science as the big-bang. While the creation of an application may not begin with a universal eruption, its conception is thrilling all the same. Whether this is your first-ever application, or your thousandth, understanding application lifecycle management will boost your workflow and elevate your efficiency from the start. 

There are three main aspects of application lifecycle management (ALM). Those three aspects are: 

  • Governance
  • Development and Deployment
  • Maintenance

These are the different phases of an application from start to finish. The first two phases are definite, while the last is ongoing. In other words, once the app is live – there will always be ongoing maintenance activities to perform. 

Having a strong grasp of application lifecycle management builds innate value into the business. This value emerges in the workflow, processes, and procedures all associated with application development. By understanding the application lifecycle, developers implement best-practices and industry standards into their design process, therefore boosting efficiency, and resulting in higher quality applications. 

Governance

Governance is the very first phase that begins the journey of an application. As soon as the app is conceptualized, the governance phase has begun. Governance, in this context, isn’t referring to the laws and rules of a nation. In a similar sense, however, governance in the context of app development refers to defining core aspects of the application. 

The elements that need to be defined in the governance phase of the application lifecycle management include a spectrum from function, to logic, and framework. In other words, this is the phase in which designers are able to verbally identify the various pathways, functions, and workflows. 

Having an idea of how the application is going to flow and function is crucial to entering the next phase of ALM. A good way to think about the governance phase of the application lifecycle is to imagine it as a blueprint. The blueprint informs the construction crew on how to actually raise the structure, the dimensions of the individual pieces, and how they all fit together. 

In the same vein, the governance phase of the application lifecycle should result in an easy-to-follow development roadmap. 

Development & Deployment in the Application Lifecycle

This is the phase following governance. Development and deployment are actually two halves to the whole. Development is the first piece in this phase. The development phase is where the application is actually built.

Additionally, there is a third aspect to development and deployment that impacts both phases: consumer and market testing. Testing is a not a formal phase of the application lifecycle management however, it is nonetheless critical to delivering applications that are of value and that consumers desire.

Delving Into Development

There are many aspects of the development phase. As such, this is arguably the most crucial phase in ALM. Since the development phase is equivalent to the actual construction phase in real estate development. In other words, developers are laying the foundation for the app. A strong foundation provides the platform for a well-designed and successful app. 

Developers have more on their plate than mere function however. App development teams task themselves with the visual design and work-flow of the application in addition to the functionality and usability. Once developers reach a certain level of baseline functionality, the application starts to enter the next half of this phase: testing and deployment. 

Testing

The first round of development yields an MVP: minimum viable product. Firms and developers use MVP’s as samples of the end-product in order to gain additional consumer insight. Companies use this insight to make important decisions on how to finish the development phase. 

In market-testing, consumers are asked about multiple aspects of the app. These aspects range from the aesthetic and color-scheme, to the actual function and usability of the app. 

After the focus groups and market-testing, the MVP returns to the developers with loads of notes, comments, and real consumer input. Developers use this invaluable insight in order to finish the build of the application and deliver a functional app that solves real consumer issues.

While it’s unwise to spend too long on any single phase of the application lifecycle, testing is certainly not an area to start cutting corners. Using focus groups and market-testing delivers immense value to the final development of the application. As such, these activities should actually be supplemented, if anything, in order to test the MVP on multiple demographics. 

Deployment

At this point, the application, its function and workflow, and its usability have been defined. The core build is tested, and the final development, influenced by consumer input and marketing test-groups, is complete. Finally, the sweet fruit of the labor is in reach, and the application lifecycle nears its final stage. 

The deployment of an application upon its completion is certainly not the most laborious of the phases, however it is very fickle. Firms need to start developing their deployment strategy in the early steps of the governance phase. This is because the governance phase will help dictate and define the proper channels of deployment to utilize. 

The testing phases will also contribute to developing the deployment strategy, as it will offer real insight into where consumers want to find the application, and how they will use it. Speaking to the core values of your main target-demographics, and ensuring that they have easy access to your application are crucial to releasing a successful application that draws consumers inward. 

Ongoing Maintenance

Ongoing application maintenance is crucial to user-retention and future user-acquisition. The application marketplace is already supersaturated with options for the consumer. As such, user-acquisition and user-retention are already hyper-competitive areas. User retention is especially important because it forms the regular user-base for the application. 

Since a robust regular user-base is one of the most valuable commodities in the application market, maintaining this user-base is critical to longevity. This is, in part, due to how fickle user-ship is in the application market. Users are prone to jump to a competitor with a stronger user-experience after a single negative interaction with an application. 

This type of rapid turn-over puts a strong emphasis on user-loyalty. Beyond that, if applications are left unmaintained and unattended to, their functionality will deteriorate, their security protocols will begin to weaken, and users will swiftly abandon ship. 

The Benefits of Application Lifecycle Management

The application lifecycle begins with ideation and governance, moves through development, testing and deployment, and ends with on-going maintenance. Developing applications by putting them through these different phases occurs naturally. However, identifying the phases and understanding how they relate to one another allows companies to build stronger and more efficient workflows. 

Firms can customize the workflow to fit their specific needs, while still adhering to best-practices and industry-recognized standards. Following through on the phases and their associated actions ensures that released applications are thoroughly vetted, and ready for mass use.

Look no further than NS804 for help developing and supplementing your firm’s ALM practices. NS804 is the mobile app developer of the everyday person. As such, NS804 commits to making mobile app development services more accessible than ever before. For anything related to mobile app development, visit NS804 today.