THE STARTUP GUIDE

TO MOBILE APP
DEVELOPMENT
How to Build a Successful Tech
Startup in the Mobile Space
 Congratulations for
grabbing this free guide!
OVERVIEW

My name’s Logan Merrick. I’m

the author of this book and the
co-founder of Buzinga.
Having had the opportunity to work with literally hundreds
of Startups I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. In
fact, Buzinga was a Startup once upon a time, and to
date this is my most successful and exciting venture.

We get to help entrepreneurs build Startups from scratch which is

the best job I could imagine. Having said that, you know that the
following pages are packed with pure value from real experience.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 3

OVERVIEW

HOW TO BUILD A KICK-ASS MOBILE-STARTUP

I’ll keep the introduction brief so that we can get into the
guts of it but let’s first look at the content of this guide.

BUSINESS-CONCEPT VALIDATION – don’t DEFINING A TARGET AUDIENCE – by

spend too much time/cash on an idea until establishing a key target audience we make
you’re at least 70% certain that it will work. sure that we’re not shooting blindly.

IDENTIFYING A VIABLE REVENUE MODEL ENSURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

– what revenue models will work for – if there’s anything I’ve learnt it’s
your app idea? There’s no size fits all. that it is all about the experience.

CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT – In this guide we’re going to

Your job is never done. Constant
improvement will ensure you stay look at each one of these
ahead of the game, post launch.
steps in depth to give you a
clean cut process for building
a successful Startup.
One
Validating App Idea
and Launch Quickly
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 5

VALIDATING APP IDEA AND LAUNCH QUICKLY

FIVE TIPS FOR VALIDATING YOUR

APP IDEA AND LAUNCH QUICKLY

Do you have a great idea for an app but want to test it The framework is broken down into 3 parts:
first to get some validation before pouring your funds PART 1 – CUSTOMER DISCOVERY
into it? Mobile app development isn’t cheap, so maybe
PART 2 – CUSTOMER VALIDATION
you just want to check that your idea is viable first?
PART 3 – CUSTOMER CREATION & BUILDING
In other words, you want to know if
you’re on the right track. Correct? And include some pro tips, so that you
have a useful guide to get started on your
Here’s a framework we recommend to new mobile
mobile app development journey!
app developers to help them validate their app ideas
and launch quickly before someone else does. Let’s begin…

We wanted to fail
fast and often
- STEVE BLANK, THE STARTUP OWNERS MANUAL
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 6

VALIDATING APP IDEA AND LAUNCH QUICKLY

PART 1
CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

PRO-TIP 1

Don't be afraid to Asking people is probably the quickest, and easiest way to see if you’re
onto a really good idea. Stick to what you know. Many people start with a
speak to people hobby, or even a field of work they’ve been involved in for many years.
about your idea Go to networking events. Local entrepreneurs live and breath ideas, and will
normally be happy to give you advice, and lessons learned along the way.

Remember, other peoples ideas are just a starting point. They aren’t
everything. As Henry Ford said; “If I had asked people what they wanted, they
would have said faster horses.” Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box.

““If I had asked people what they wanted,

they would have said faster horses.”
- HENRY FORD

PRO-TIP 2

Check the App Store The app store is an obvious place to get an idea of apps that really spark
people’s interest. Think about the juggernauts of apps — clash of clans,
candy crush saga, snapchat, tinder. Learn lessons from the best.

Use sensor tower to find popular keyword that people are searching
for. The easiest way to build a business in mobile app development is
to find a ‘need’ and then fill it. Identifying what people are searching
for is a great way to find an unfilled need in the market.

Or if there’s an app that you think has some potential shortfall, don’t be
afraid to exploit those weakness and create something that’s better.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 7

VALIDATING APP IDEA AND LAUNCH QUICKLY

PART 2
CUSTOMER VALIDATION

PRO-TIP 3

Landing page - A landing page is a way to test the viability of your idea.

to see if you can How many leads/clicks are you capturing on your page? If you’re getting
some interest, you might be onto something! Likewise, a Facebook page
get some traffic may be used, with ‘Likes’ being the metric to measure whether there is
demand for your product/service.

Does your message resonate with your audience?

Launchrock is a quick way to start a page and see who is interested in your
product. Unbounce is another option for more customisable options, and
testing capabilities.

Don’t give up on your landing page too soon. It may not be seductive
enough. Try Offering something for free as an incentive in return for an
email. For example, a career coach would offer a free resume evaluation.
What is your call to action? Does your message resonate with your
audience?

Your aim is to build user engagement and even anticipation for pre-launch.

PRO-TIP 4

Ad Campaign An ad campaign is a really quick way to test your assumptions and it

doesn’t have to cost you an arm or a leg.

The Google Keyword Planner is a great way to test the keywords you
collected earlier. You want to go for words that are highly searched,
yet aren’t super competitive. Other sites include [Link] and
[Link]

You can direct people to the landing page you created earlier. In my
experience, it’s best to pick 3-5 keywords or phrases and use them on
your ads/landing pages.

Just keep testing until you find something that sparks your intended
audiences interest!
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 8

PART 3
CUSTOMER CREATION & BUILDING

PRO-TIP 5

Learn from Once you’ve done your research, and validated your idea
place an emphasis on customer development. Don’t fall
the Masters into the trap of being solely product focused.

According to Steve Blank, most startups fail from a lack of

customers and not from product development failure.

Watch the video on Customer Development by Steve

Blank. It will give you an in depth understanding for
validating your app idea and launching quickly.

The Startup Owners Manual by Steve Blank and The Lean

Startup by Eric Reis are also classic resources for entrepreneurs
looking to validate and launch with minimal costs.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 9

RECAP:

5 STEPS TO VALIDATE MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT

IDEAS AND LAUNCH QUICKLY?

Don’t be afraid to speak to people about your idea –

maybe don’t tell them the whole story…

Check the App Store.

Use a landing page to see if you can rustle up some interest.

Test your idea with an ad campaign.

Learn from the masters – dig deeper.

click here

3 STEPS FOR
ENSURING YOUR
APP IDEA IS UNIQUE
Two
Identifying Your
Target User
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 12

TWO: IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET USER

IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET USER

Most Entrepreneurs and Startups fall-flat-on-their-faces when developing mobile
applications because they’re not absolutely set on who it’s for.

Sure, they build a stunning app with a great purpose but because they lack a vision
for their ideal user, they don’t know How To Build The Perfect Solution. As a result the
app is built for a mixed audience which dilutes the value they aimed to deliver.

Just as this article is written for a particular reader, your app needs to be built for a particular user.

By finding your perfect user we’re able to tailor a journey with their objective in mind. This creates
an unmatched mobile experience that integrates with their natural behaviour and reduces the
need for cognitive thought – which tires your mind and makes for an exhasting experience.

In other words, we’re designing a software around them, not

trying to bend their habits around our solution.

Now it may seem like you’re target isn’t broad enough to be commercially viable,
however our aim is to cultivate a large group of raving fans. This crowd will become
your lead-marketing-engine who promote your app to the broader community.

Besides, there are 1 BILLION smartphones in the world! In many cases you only
need 0.0005 % of these people to use your app in order to prove viability.

What we’re about to do is create a User Persona to help you kick-ass in the mobile space.

Let’s get to work…

In many cases you only need 0.0005 % of these

people to use your app in order to prove viability.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 13

TWO: IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET USER

PERSONA’S

What are user personas?

A user persona is a fictional representations of
your Perfect User. They’re based on real data about
real users and their behavior, along with educated
speculation about their personal histories, goals/
motivations, and pains.

Basically, your app solves a problem, and your User

Persona is an interpretation of the person who best
benefits from your application.

How are user personas created?

A user persona is created through research, surveys, and persona to your team:
interviews of your perfect user. That includes a mix of • Business analyst
users – both “good-fits” and “bad-fits” for your app to make
• User experience designer
sure you know who to target, and who NOT to target.
• Graphic designer
Look for people in your network (and outside of your
network) to get a good range of opinion. You’ll collect • Programmers
data that is both qualitative and quantitative to paint a • Testers
picture of who your ideal user is, what they value, and
• Marketers
how your mobile application fits into their routines.
In some cases you’ll wear the hat for a few of these
HOW DO YOU USE THIS INFORMATION?
roles, but in the case that you’re working with an app
So you’ve done your research and found your user development company you’ll want to ensure that
persona… now what? everyone is on the same page.
You need to be able to integrate your new-found It will also help you form the message you use for
understanding of your user persona’s motivations, reaching out and attracting your perfect users.
characteristics, mood, etc. into the user-experience
design of your application.

That means you need to effectively communicate your

THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 14

TWO: IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET USER

PERSONA’S

Creating your user persona

The first step (and this is important) is to format the information into an easy-to-
read document to share it with your team. At the end of this post you’ll be able to
download our ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ template for creating your own customer personas.

For now, let’s go through the 5 easy steps of creating your user persona:

STEP 1: A) Give your persona a name that you feel represents

your persona’s character. What’s the first name
CREATING YOUR
that comes to mind when you think of this person?
PERSONA'S IDENTITY
Anthony, Tom, Jimbo… Also fill in some basic details
about their background/hobbies, education, etc.

B) Fill in their demographical details

• Gender
• Age range
• House-hold Income (helps to identify
monetisation strategy)
• Residential (homeowner) and where?
• Children?
• Marital status

C) Words that represent your persona.

Charismatic, quirky, energetic, etc

STEP 2: A) Primary goal for using your application.

Secondary goal (if there is one).
WHAT ARE YOUR
PERSONA’S B) Challenges, pain points, disturbances.

C) How your mobile app solves these challenges,

eases their pains and removes their disturbances.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 15

TWO: IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET USER

PERSONA’S

STEP 3: A) What are some real quotes in this person’s

life (take during interviews). E.g. I just wish I had
GIVE YOUR PERSONA
an app that would __fill in the blank__ for me.
SOME LIFE
B) What would be their biggest reason
for not downloading your app?

STEP 4: A) Put together a Unique Selling

roposition.
YOUR MARKETING
A one-liner that describes in simple terms
MESSAGE
the underpinning value of your mobile
solution.

B) Elevator pitch: A 15 second escription

of the benefit that your user persona
delivers for your user persona.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 16

TWO: IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGET USER

STEP 5:
HOW DO THEY FIND YOU?

How do they normally find out about new apps?

Recommendations, App Store search, PPC ads, etc.

Basically, it’s as easy as that.

The most important thing is to make sure that

you’re not blindly guessing. Remember, we’re
solving problems for real people so you want to
ensure that you’re working with real data.

Grab our template by clicking here

I’m inspired by questions, so if there’s anything else

you would like to know, related to this subject or not,
please send me an email: logan@[Link].
Three
Revenue model:
Growth First,
Revenue Later
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 18

THREE: REVENUE MODEL: GROWTH FIRST, REVENUE LATER

WHY TECH-STARTUPS ARE FOCUSING ON

GROWTH FIRST AND REVENUE LATER

Most mobile app development start-ups direct majority of their focus on ‘revenue generation’.

Which is insane because the reason they went into business in the first place
is to produce and promote an incredible mobile application…

So then in fact shouldn’t they spend more time focusing on the product and how it facilitates the needs of the user?

And more importantly, how to get people using their app?

Perhaps this is the core to one of the biggest reasons why most app developers fail…

There’s an forever-on-going debate about whether startups should focus on Growth

first…or revenue. And in my opinion there simply is no one-size fits all.

Sometimes it’s good to focus on revenue. But let’s look at why some of the world’s most successful tech
startups in app development (like Instagram and Waze) are focusing on Growth First and Revenue Later.

spend more time

focusing on the
product
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 19

THREE: REVENUE MODEL: GROWTH FIRST, REVENUE LATER

PRO GROWTH FIRST

Reading an essay by one of my favourite Silicon Valley

bloggers Andrew Chen, it becomes quite apparent that
focusing on revenue first is one of the biggest killers of “Its very smart and rational
new tech startups.

Andrew who works as an advisor (among other roles) in

to focus on getting
a number of tech-startups, big and small, firmly believes millions of users first.”
in Growth First as the #1 option for new startups. -ANDREW CHEN
startups in app development (like Instagram and Waze)
are focusing on Growth First and Revenue Later.

The idea is to focus your attention on building an app

first that attracts people and makes them want to stick
around. Once you’ve got that then you can introduce a
monetisation system.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 20

THREE: REVENUE MODEL: GROWTH FIRST, REVENUE LATER

HARMFUL MONETISATION
“When we announced the
paid versions of UserVoice
Monetisation can be harmful
back in 2008 (previously
There doesn’t seem to be a rule for how much
monetisation hinders the uptake of new mobile
it had been completely
applications because the results vary tremendously free) it immediately cut
from app to app. But I’ve never heard of monetisation
having a direct effect on the increase in growth of daily sign-ups in HALF.”
an apps’ user base. Especially when your revenue
– RICHARD WHITE - USERVOICE
generation is derived from charging the users directly.

I’d even go as far as to say that banner ads

can tax your growth by making your app look
cluttered and thereby less attractive.

By cluttering the user interface (app design)

you’re also weakening the User Experience which
can turn people off from using your app. Read Free apps spread like wild fire
our post on User Experience – App Design.
For obvious reasons, a free app will get more
There are case-studies and stories of mobile app downloads than an app with a price-per-download
developers who’ve lost potential users even by scheme. It’s worthwhile thinking about that as an
making a ‘paid version’ of their app available. acquisitions strategy to grow your userbase.

It pays to be smart with monetisation, rather 99c is not a lot to spend…but on the App Store we void
than assuming that your users will pay the all rationale… Especially when an app like Clash Of Clans
price. Because it may be you who end up can make over $2.4m per day from in-app purchases,
paying the price… (love cheesy one-liners) of which carry and instrumental value of literally zilch…
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 21

THREE: REVENUE MODEL: GROWTH FIRST, REVENUE LATER

GROWTH & TIMING

FOCUS ON GROWTH TIMING IS KING

In most cases, your focus should be on growing your Timing can sky-rocket the growth of your app. Pivoting
user base. There are a number of reasons for this but your mobile app against the release of another product
the main two are: is a great way to get some well deserved limelight.
• You need to grab as much market share as For example, Instagram released at a time when
possible before your competitors do; there were fewer iPhone on the market and managed
• There is huge value in an active user-base. to scoop up 1 million users in 3 months.

The value in most technologies is not in how how much To date, Instagram has never made a dollar from its
money they make, but in how many people are actively active user base of individuals and businesses. Yet
using it. Facebook saw the value in the asset and famously
bought the company for $1 billion back in 2012.
Instagram, Firefox and Reddit are all great examples of
this. They have no way of monetising their user-base
but their intrinsic value is enormous.

“It was just a whirlwind ride.

Instagram had nailed the timing.
The iPhone 4 was just arriving
and its camera was finally good
enough to cannibalize point-and-
shoot cameras. Apple also had
an installed base of iOS devices
that was now large enough to
produce the network effects that
Instagram needed to take off.”
-MIKE KRIEGER, INSTAGRAM
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 22

THREE: REVENUE MODEL: GROWTH FIRST, REVENUE LATER

PUT THE USER FIRST

Develop a product that gives the user an experience that’s worth paying for.
Then you can confidently charge for it. Not the other way around.

If you’ve run enough user experience testing to prove to stakeholders that the app is ‘all-of-that-
and-a-bag-of-chips’ then feel free to launch your app onto the app marketplace to see how it fares
against a live audience. However, it may still be worthwhile considering a free-trial option.

For example, online-based brain training company Lumosity originally launched with a fully-
fletched priced product, and later released a free trial with limited capability which has helped
them acquire an extraordinary 35 million users and a 150% growth year-on-year.

The idea is simple: Put the user first…and revenue later…

There’s more ways than one

As I mentioned earlier, this isn’t the best strategy for everyone and it’s not even the model
I follow in my own tech-startup. But it’s a strategy that has served (and continues to
serve) some of the most fruitful results for ambitious tech-startups worldwide.

Look at your own app concept and consider if this strategy could work for you.

“You first invent a cure

for cancer and then
figure out where to put
the bags of money.”
-STEVE BLANK, CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
click here

8 BEST WAYS TO
MAKE MONEY
FROM MOBILE
APPS
Four
Ensuring User
Enjoyment Through
User Experience Design
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 25

FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

IMPORTANCE OF USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

SIX HOT TIPS FOR DESIGNING A MAGNIFICENT USER EXPERIENCE

Have you ever downloaded an app and found it “too hard to

use”? For most smartphone users the answer is yes.

Interestingly 1-in-4 apps are downloaded and never used again.

If someone’s motivated enough to download an app, then open it, BUT

never use it again, you can almost assume that either the app wasn’t
really what they were looking for…or it was just too hard to use.

The first reason is generally caused by the lead-up to getting the

download, e.g. app description, marketing collateral, etc.

1-in-4 apps are downloaded and never used again.

Which may need to be tweaked if you’re sending off the wrong signals.

The second reason comes down to the User Experience…

THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 26

FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

WHAT IS USER EXPERIENCE

So let's talk about user experience design Designing smart mobile apps
What is user experience and how do we improve it to Today, app developers need to focus on a heck of a
increase user retention and drive higher revenue? lot more than just download numbers. Downloads
are important but they’re not the be-all-and-end-all.
There are a number of factors that determine
a user’s interest in your app. You can track the user experience within your app using
a range of mobile app analytics tools. It’s suggested
Let’s start off by talking about…
that you set that up properly before you launch your
app to the app store. We wrote up a comparison
of the 10 Most Popular App Analytics Tools.

The other article I would recommend is one in

relation to Mobile App Optimisation. It’s about
making ‘micro-improvements’ to your screen
design through A/B split testing to increase your
apps profitability (or user engagement).

Tracking downloads is often a first

step to gauging an app's success,
but download stats often provide
an incomplete and inflated view.
High download numbers always
feel great, but if those customers
never open the app or abandon
it after just a few uses, those
high download numbers are
really part of a high churn rate.”
- LOCALYTICS STUDY
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FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

USER INTERFACE & USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

The difference between User Interface & User Experience design?
Even to date most app developers don’t really understand the difference
between User Interface Design and User Experience design, and so
they tend to mixed them up or turn them into one process.

It’s important to understand the differences as they each contribute

to the development process in their own unique way.

If the processes aren’t separated then the result is often a poor

User Experience which tends to yield lower returns.

Essentially speaking, UI (short for User Interface) is the way

that the user interacts with the application/software.

For example, when you look at the images (pictures, text, buttons, etc.)
on your smartphone screen you’re staring at the User Interface.

The UI is designed to include all the possible options and features so

that the user can interact with the software in its full extent. But this in
itself isn’t the complete science of intuitive designing. Simply sticking
all the possible features of your app into the screens doesn’t make for
a very promising experience. That’s where UX design comes in.

UX (User Experience) is an extension of UI. This is the art and science of

designing the screens to make them easy to use and totally engaging.

Simply sticking all the possible features of your app

into the screens doesn’t make for a very promising
experience. That’s where UX design comes in.
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FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

WHAT MAKES AN APP INTUITIVE?

DIRECTIVE DESIGN: FAMILIARITY:

There’s a series of elements that make an Another important element is ‘familiarity’. Using
app intuitive. An important one is Directive icons, words, button shapes that people are
Design – and the name says it all. familiar with will boost the user experience
by removing some of the guess-work.
An app can be directive by any of the elements
or words that are used. Even something as Fancy uses many of the same features
simple as using the word ‘comment’ instead of that most people are familiar with.
‘post’ could make a massive difference to the
It’s designed this way to remove any confusion.
users engagement with that particular text.
At the end of the day, navigation really doesn’t
With the use of different colours, shapes, need to be overly unique. It just has to be clear.
texts, buttons, call-to-actions, etc. we aim
to create an experience that guides the user
to the actions we want them to take.

When opening the app for the first time, your

users aren’t just immediately unaware of
how to use your app, but they’re also unsure
of whether they need your app or not.

So your job is to ensure that your app is designed

in a way that guides and directs through the use of
colour, text and icons, and to make it abundantly
obvious how the app can benefit them.

Top dogs of app development like Instagram

design beautiful, intuitive experiences. So “We’ve always been
feel free to copy ideas from apps like these or
use them as guides for good practices.
shameless about
stealing great ideas.”
-STEVE JOBS
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FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

WHAT MAKES AN APP INTUITIVE?

BEAUTIFUL DESIGN: MINIMALISTIC DESIGN:

Using the right colours/graphics in your A cluttered workspace

design can also have a big impact on
the users experience of your app. makes for a cluttered mind.
A beautiful design will usually get a This can be a very powerful technique to use.
much higher engagement than…an ugly
Effectively speaking, minimalistic design is all about
app (for the lack of a better word).
simplicity and removing distractions. By removing
Just watch out that you don’t sacrifice directive options, texts and other elements that clutter the
design and intuitivity for elegance. screens we can create a clean, easy to use design.
For example, Audible is a ‘beautifully’ designed
app. I downloaded this the other day from a
recommendation. After opening the app my experience
was that I couldn’t find anything I was looking for.

I couldn’t find the sign-up section because it

was hidden in the settings page. I couldn’t find
my existing audio books because they didn’t
sync properly. I couldn’t even find where to
search for additional audio books online.

In other words, I was confused…

I spent 15 minutes (on my way to work) trying to

figure it out and nearly gave up. And this is coming
from a guy who’s pretty clued on with apps.

A couple of minor tweaks here and there could

drastically improve the user experience.
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FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

WHAT MAKES AN APP INTUITIVE?

The process for developing an

intuitive app design?
The first thing you want to look at when Keep the core functionality (1) at the front of mind
designing screens is your target audience. and make them very accessible and easy to find. Then
design the other popular options (2) around that.
An app designed for a demographic who’s totally non-
tech-savvy generally requires a bit more ‘directiveness’. It’s always good to use a popular navigation framework
from other apps that people are familiar with (like
The same thing goes if you’re developing
Instagram) to make your app easier to use.
an app for a wide audience – expect a
lot of non-techies to be using it. After that, make your goals (3) available around the
core functionality. Rarely will a user go looking for
Group your apps functionalities/features
the Facebook share button or an in-app store so you
into the following categories:
need to make them very convenient and accessible.
• Core functionality
Lastly, implement your less popular options
• Other popular options
(4) in places where they don’t get in the
• Your goals (in-app purchases, way of the more important features.
Facebook sharing, etc.)
• Less popular options (privacy settings, etc.)
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 31

FOUR: ENSURING USER ENJOYMENT THROUGH USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

USER SCENARIOS & USER TESTING

User Testing…a MUST for every app developer User Scenarios

At this point we implement what’s often referred to as ‘A When putting the screens together it’s always
Ridiculous and Extraordinary Amount of User Testing‘. good practice to run some user scenarios.
This exercise is meant to put your app
Get testers of different age groups, sex, interests,
design into a scenario of practical use.
etc. to test the app for you. This can be 10 of your
closest mates/girlfriends/family members, etc. For example, if you’re developing a type of
camera application then taking photos is
Get them to send you ALL their thoughts and feedback.
likely to be one of the core functions (1).
Everything that’s negative is [Link]’re not
So a particular user scenario could be of how a user
looking for “oh, what a wonderful little idea”
goes from (a) opening the app all the way through
from an overgenerous aunt. You’re looking for
to (b) taking a photo, and every step in between.
“YOUR APP SUCKS BECAUSE OF X Y Z.”
When you have all the scenarios laid out like this it
The frustrations of your users can be turned
becomes easier to identify less important functions that
around and made into a really positive experience.
can be removed, or simply relocated to a less valuable
So make it abundantly clear to your testers that
part of the screen real estate. Or even to another screen!
you want lots and lots of negative feedback.

Design your app with the user in

mind. Not just to be beautiful

“Good design is design that’s

in service of the experience.”
-APPLE, IOS7
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10 STUNNING HOW TO
APPS FOR GAMIFY
APP DESIGN YOUR APP
INSPIRATION
Five
Constant Improvement:
Mobile App Optimisation
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 34

FIVE: CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT: MOBILE APP OPTIMISATION

CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT: MOBILE APP OPTIMISATION

App Optimisation: Three Quick A/B Split-Tests to Double User Engagement

What is Mobile App Optimisation and Not to be confused with App Store Optimisation. Mobile
how does it work? app optimisation is a strategy for increasing your apps
profitability by making incremental changes to the user
Most app developer launch their app on to the App Store
interface – the user interface is the screen display and
with dreams of making millions in just a few months…
how the user interacts with your app.
And when the app doesn’t perform to their expectations,
they give up. The reality is that most apps aren’t Just like you can optimise a website (A/B split testing)
immediately profitable, and just like a new business, an to increase click-through rates on buttons or other
app takes a lot of work until it’s driving profit. elements, you can now do the same with your app. The
problem in the past with apps is that the app developer
Luckily with an app there are softwares and techniques
uploads the application to the App Store where there’s a
you can use to increase your profits almost instantly.
2 week review period until it’s approved. And if you want
In this post I’ll go over the key tactic that you can
to make any additional changes you have to re-submit
employ in your app marketing strategy to push your
a new version of the code, which will cost you another
app’s profitability to the limit. Introducing, Mobile App
two weeks.
Optimisation.
Not only that, but the user would then have to download
Before optimising your app for profit, you want to make
the new version before the changes are effective for
sure that you’ve got a decent amount of daily users.
them. And not everyone updates their apps regularly.
Anywhere between 100 – 500 minimum. Read this post
about How To Drive Thousands Of Users Into Your App Today, we can make changes to our apps quickly and
to get the scoop on how to build up your daily user- easily.
base. When you’ve read this, make sure to check out
our App Development Resources too which gives you
another insight into app marketing.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 35

FIVE: CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT: MOBILE APP OPTIMISATION

THREE FUNDAMENTAL STEPS

1) AIM, THEN SHOOT

What are your goals? Write down 3 actions you want the user to take. I.e. make an
in-app purchase, share something on Facebook/Twitter, or click on a banner ad.

Whatever it is that you want your users to do, make sure that it’s noted because
these are the actions you will optimise to get more of.

2) THE FUNNEL
What are the steps the user will take within your app (from starting the app) to taking taking
the actions you wrote down in step 1. This is called your funnel. An app can have a number
of funnels and at the end of the day your aim is to get users into your funnel and drive them
towards taking the actions.

Identify the elements like buttons, text, etc. (see below for more examples) on the screens
within your funnel that you can change to increase the volume of users moving towards your
actions. Each screen needs to be looked at separately and are defined as steps in the funnel.

Each of these elements need to be made dynamic and connected to the mobile app
optimisation software you’ve chosen to use. This will need to be done by your app developer
(programmer).

3) WATCH, LEARN AND IMPLEMENT

Provided that the app is complete you can upload it to the App Store. Once the app is
approved and you’re driving traffic into your app you’ll start seeing some analytical data
on the app optimisation dashboard (which comes with the software).

I found it difficult to read data when I first started but after a while it becomes like
second nature. It’s definitely a ‘musthave’ skill in app development. You’ll find yourself
using it in a tonne of areas, because all of your marketing needs to be optimised. And
that’s all determined through the use of data analysis. Not super exciting… But it’s
important nevertheless.
THE STARTUP GUIDE TO MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT 36

FIVE: CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT: MOBILE APP OPTIMISATION

THREE FUNDAMENTAL STEPS

INCREASE ENGAGEMENT
Even if your goals are not directly money related, say if
you’re app is designed as a marketing tool for your business,
there are still benefits in using this strategy for driving more
targeted users into your business’s app. This results in higher
engagement which turns into more leads and higher revenue.

THINGS YOU CAN CHANGE

You wouldn’t change a whole page or mess around with the
screen flow of your app but there are elements that you can
tweak to increase ‘tap-through-rates’ (I think I just pioneered
that term…). Here are some elements that can be changed:
• Buttons,
• Text, formatting, etc.
• Colours,
• Words,
• In-app purchases,
• Almost anything really…

THE WRAP
Just because an app hasn’t made millions in it’s first week
doesn’t mean that it can’t be profitable. In fact, chances are
that it can be very profitable, but you have to understand
what your users want and make those changes quickly.

That’s why this is such a vital tactic and

should be deployed in almost all apps.
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Do you want an expert
opinion on your idea?
WE WORK WITH SMART STARTUPS TO
DEVELOP WORLD CLASS MOBILE APPS
Maybe you need a quote, or maybe you just want an opinion to know if your idea is any good.

We work with companies and individuals every day to help them identify the direction of their
mobile/web application.

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU RIGHT NOW:

Let’s have a casual chat about your idea to firstly work out if it has market viability.

Then we’ll look at what can be added to improve your concept?

More importantly, what can be removed to give your idea more focus?

Have you heard about growth hacking? This is good stuff!

What are some viable roll-out strategies for getting it into peoples hands?

At the end of a session we can give you a quote for how much your app would cost to build and
how long will it take. If you see value in our service then maybe we can work together. If not,
there’s no obligations, no costs and absolutely no strings attached.

Sound Good?
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Co-founder/Strategic Director UX / Graphic Design

Logan’s been personally involved in the Pasquale is a marketing/advertising

development of 100+ mobile apps. He fanatic and after seeing the strong

directs the Marketing & User Experience correlation between User Experience

departments and works closely with our design and marketing he immediately

clients on their brand positioning. became obsessed with app design.