Mobile Business App - Essay Example

Introduction to App Design Name Course Tutor Institution City, State Date A mobile application is a software that is created to be used on phones or tablets to help in increasing sales of businesses, increase interaction with customers, enhance service delivery and enable easy access to products by customers. Due to the change in technology, use of mobile applications has been the most convenient and efficient method of connecting with clients and marketing the business. In designing and developing a mobile application, a series of steps need to be considered and followed to come up with a useful application that will suit the business needs. First one should find a reason why the application is required in the firm, thus a primary goal of the application. Is it a problem encountered that can be solved by the use of the application? Is it because it’s the trending way of conducting business by other people and one wants to join in? Or is it a way of expanding the business to reach a bigger customer base? This questions are important and will help provide an overview of the application you need and also assist in determining if the application will assist in the business or not. After evaluating why the application is required, one then has to develop a rough idea of how the application should be. Indeed, this refers to the features that are to be in the application which users will use to navigate and explore the various things they can do in the application, how the different screens will be displayed when customers navigate using the buttons, and how the images showed help the user follow instructions provided. The appearance of the application is also useful as users are drawn to attractive operations that are colorful or look entertaining rather than dull applications. After an idea of the application has been developed an in-depth market research is needed to give insights of the various available applications that are already in the market and the type that competitors are using. Hence, it enables you to develop better applications that will beat the current ones by focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the current ones.One can do this by conducting research on customers about the current application and reviewing comments made by customers on platforms such as social media. Therefore, this helps you to avoid making errors made by the other business in developing their applications. Then after conducting the research one is now fully equipped to design and develop a request that will be effective. There are a lot of mobile apps in the market used by businesses, and one has to develop a better one to beat the stiff competition. It may be achieved by considering the following in preparing the application. The target market of the users of the application. Since the application is targeted for marketing toys to children, it should have animated features that are attractive to kids and should have sound effects that kids like. The application should also be easy to use and navigate for kids to understand and be able to use, the language used should be straightforward and clear, and it should also have diagrams to help the children navigate easily within the application. The platform on which the application can be used is also important; it should be compatible with simple mobile phones that kids can acquire and not high-end sophisticated and expensive mobiles that kids cannot have or are unable to operate properly. Another factor is the cost of the application; many kids wouldn’t be able to acquire a pricey application and parents may find it unworthy buying, it’s, therefore, important that the developer prices the application reasonably considering the target audience and if possible make the application freely downloadable without a purchase price. After all, considerations have been included in developing the application; it can finally be tested to see if it works well and if it serves the intended purpose. The application is compared to the initial rough idea, does the look like it was designed, is it appealing to the users, does it have all the components and do they appear and work as expected. The functionality should be tested to see if it works correctly and the kids will be able to navigate quickly and understand how it works and if there are any malfunctions. Everything about the application should be tested, and kids and parents should check the application and provide feedback. The testing process is not a one-time thing but should be repeated over and over until the app is perfect. After testing the application the errors made are corrected, and any enhancements also put in place to ensure it works efficiently, and the users can utilize if fully. After successful testing and correction of the application, it can then be released into the market and make it available for use by the public. Therefore, this is done by putting the app in marketplaces where users can download them. If Android users can utilize the application, it can be made available in Google play store, and if it is used by Blackberry phone users, it can be provided in the blackberry world where users can download it from. Lastly, the application should be marketed to the users to raise their awareness of it. Nobody will use the application if they are not aware it is available. Marketing strategies should be adopted to market the application to users in the fastest way possible. Promotions would be an idle way, for example, offering discounts to the first customers to purchase toys via the application. One should also encourage users to give feedback, rate and share the application over platforms especially social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where potential customers will be made aware of the product. There is a challenge of whether to develop a native, hybrid or mobile application, which all have disadvantages and advantages, and a developer should take the time to analyze the one suitable. Mostly the target market is considered in choosing the application because the users determine the platforms where the application can be accessed easily. Native apps are apps that are apps that are designed for a particular function and developed for a specific kind of device on which can operate on .for example Android devices use apps that run on the Java platform and cannot work on iPhones or blackberries as they use a different platform for their apps. Native apps can use operating system features and software’s that are on the platform they use. They are usually installed directly on a mobile phone but cannot work on different mobile devices that use different operating systems and developers have to develop different versions that can run on different mobile operating systems such as Java for Android devices and IOS for iPhone devices. Native apps have access to phone apps such as the camera and contacts list. Native apps have advantages in that they are faster in performance because it is made for particular operation systems, which provide easy access to functions since the use of applications such as cameras and calendars in the operating system, and they do not always need internet connectivity to work. A highbred app combines features of both the native and mobile applications. They are like websites but display in an application format. They use both HTML CSS and Javascript and are integrated into native applications to provide access to native platforms. While native apps are installed directly on the device, HTML apps used in a hybrid are installed in web servers due to this hybrid apps can package both the javascript and HTML code inside mobile phones or get the full web application from the server. Hybrid apps are slower that the native app but can use different mobile applications such as contacts and calendars as well. A disadvantage of the hybrid app is that they are slower and require an internet connection to perform. Mobile web applications are websites that are like native applications. They use HTML to run on browsers whether they are accessed like web pages and one enters the URL and can install them by creating bookmarks. They have no buttons or bars. Mobile web apps are the most used since most phones with internet connectivity can enable access to web pages easily. Mobile web apps do not have features that are available to hybrid and native apps such as access to files and resource.it does not have access to camera and contacts, they are however fast and do not always require internet connectivity to work. They are not distributed via the play store but instead through the web and are best used for apps that have less performance. A native app would be best suitable for Johns needs as it fast and would allow him to upload images of the products he is selling and the details of products. The native app can work on different platforms provided he develops a different version of the application to run on the different platforms. Many phones have the app that can easily be downloaded from the play store at an affordable price. The native apps provide a section where users can read reviews of the app in the play store and provide comments and rate the application. It is easy for users to look for products in the search area and check on the features. The native app provides continuous connection and interaction between the customers and Johns business in that they can view products via the app and order them anytime from any place and do not have to go personally to the shop. The app is easy to navigate and operate since after downloading it, a single press on the app icon on the phone home screen takes you directly to the app where one can browse quickly. It provides for the provision of contacts such as phone number, email address and social media details which the customers can use to contacts and communicate with John anytime. kids heaven mobile app SALZ, P. A., & MORANZ, J. (2013). The everything guide to mobile apps: a practical guide to affordable mobile app development for your business. Avon, Mass, Adams Media PELLETIER, J. (2013). Mobile App Manual How to Start Creating Mobile Apps Using jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap Build. Cork, BookBaby. SHEEHAN, M. (2015). Developing mobile web ArcGIS applications: learn to build your own engaging and immersive geographic applications with ArcGIS. http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/?fpi=9781784395797. MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, I. R. (2013). Software Design and Development Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. IGI Global. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=499674. . Read More