Mobile App Development - Case Study Example

Case Study Name: Course: Instructor: Institution: Date of Submission: Mobile App Development While assisting John to develop an App, the first step would be defining the purpose of the App. In the case of John, the purpose of the Mobile App is to expand his target market and allow customers from any location to shop in his store through the mobile phones. The aim of all this is to increase the overall profit of his shop. Getting started to develop the App is the most important aspect that John and the mobile developers have to start. As stipulated above, the first step involves getting the idea or problem that needs the App. For John, the idea is to expand his territories with the purpose of increasing customers and profits as well. To build a mobile App for John, it is important to list down his problems/needs to ensure the idea of the App meets all his needs. To solve his needs, his idea is to develop an App that the customers can download from his website. The mobile App will allow the customers from other locations far-away to shop in his store, view specific products they want, including their features and prices among other characteristics (Joorabchi, Ali, & Philippe, 2013). Consequently, the idea for the App is ready. The step that follows involves ensuring that the market demands or will need the App. Thus, a market research is conducted to ensure the App will be successful regarding the target market John has chosen. Given the business scenario of John, he has a high target market linked to the success his online business gained. The corporate allowed customers from all of the Australia to purchase easily from his store. The success stipulates that there is a demand for his products in the market. Having a Mobile App for his business would trigger it to go global. There is a high probability that his business will succeed and gain more profits and recognition with the mobile App. The third step involves laying out the features and flow that the customers want to see. In this case, it includes having pictures of the toys he has in his shop. Clicking on any picture should lead the user to further information such as the features of the product including price. The App has to be developed in a way that it is easy for the users to detect and navigate the App and the features projected on the products (Vos & Pieter, 2001). The process ensures that the developers meet John’s requirement to the latter. Therefore, John has to sketch everything on paper to be used as a prototype for developing the mobile business app. The next step involves eliminating those features that do not influence the buying decision of the customers. That is; the features that the products should include are only the important features. It is important to consider that the App is not an expensive version to leave room for updates later after it has successively entered the market. The following step involves putting the design down before hiring the developers. Design concerns how the App should appear to the consumers, and the friendliness of the App with the users (Xia, Mattias, & Lars, 2010). The user experience and graphics used in the App must be inviting to the users to enjoy constant usage and purchase of items through the App. Once all the steps above have been completed, John should now hire a Mobile App Developer/ Designer. When hiring a Mobile App developer, it is important to search for a company that has great talent in developing the Apps. It includes evaluating the credibility of the firm, researching on some of the Apps they have developed to determine their effectiveness and user experience based on the remarks of the users. Once one is satisfied with the firm they have chosen, the start on developing the financial statement needed to complete the development of the App. John will be assisted on the accounts process based on the firm he has chosen to develop his mobile business App. The firm chosen will also help John on how to keep track of analytics by checking how many downloads have occurred, how many users use the App and how many retain the App in their phones. The information will be used as feedback, which allows the company to enhance and improve the app (Joorabchi, Ali, & Philippe, 2013). With time, since version one of the App was created with only the key features of the products presented, the second App is more modernized with more features, including all the features that were eliminated from the first version. The analytics will inform John of the important features to determine the ones to include in the advanced App. Consequently, the App will have been developed and presented to the online business website of Jonh. The challenge is ensuring that the customers use the App and purchase using it. App The App that one chooses to uses is influenced by the budget set aside for the App, the complexity of the features to be developed or used in the App and the quality of the experience the users should have with the App. Native App is written in the programming language set for a specific platform. Native Apps prove the best quality experience with the users on mobile devices. The app requires a high budget for constant updating and its development across other networks. The hybrid App is best identified for translating native codes on other platforms like Android. It is good for Apps that require multiple Apps quickly (Budiu, 2013). Hybrid Apps are developed faster and are less expensive. A web App is a written web code that almost resembles a website. It is, however, more interactive and provides users with a remarkable mobile device interaction feeling. Since John’s business already has an online website, the Web App is not best suited for his business. The native App based on its basic information is not the right App for Johns business to meet the identified requirements as the main requirement of John is building multiple platforms across the app chosen. Native App The Native App has been chosen for John’s business due to experience it will provide the users and increased efficiency. The design will be equaled with the with the native app experience that increases the satisfaction of the consumers. It is based on the scenario of Jonh’s business; it has been a success. Therefore, there is a high budget set for the app development. John wants the app to meet different needs of users while including complex objects for the consumers to view. The Native app is better since it will provide the consumers with a distinguishable user-friendly experience. The app has been chosen based on the priorities of John’s requirements. That is; according to John, he will upload pictures for each product. Thus, to offer the users a friendlier and a remarkable experience the Native App will allow easy navigation for the consumers and include all the pictures with their features that he intends to include. The Native app is perceived as an app that exposes the content in a website in the format of a mobile app (Budiu, 2013). Thus, it will create almost similar feedbacks as perceived from the online website operations. The Native app is the best for penetrating the market since it is the first mobile app for John’s business. It will be easy to use, easily downloadable; many phones use the app as compared to hybrid apps and more developers focus on it. Thus, it will be easier to penetrate the market much faster, and effectively. The App creates a presence of the business in the market (Vos & Pieter, 2001). Once the Native app proves successful in the market, the next version the business develops should use the more advanced native App while including other features. However, when penetrating a market, it is important to use the most cost-effective method with the intention of advancing the methods and versions when the first process is successful. Native App will provide the users with the easy navigation they expect and that increases their user friendliness with the app. The easy usability of the Native app meets the needs of John’s business such as reading the reviews of the selected product easily. The App will also be providing most of the products on the online website to the app, which links the customers to the business of John. More importantly, the app must have the personal/ business information of John on the App to ensure the customers can easily and directly contact him if they need to reach him. The app ensures that the users can click on different products and easily attain all the information they need such as price, product code, quantity, and product among others. Templates (Sketch) reflecting the Kids-Heaven Mobile App 1. Kids-Heaven Play Store (clicking on the icon directs you the following page) 2. By pressing the pink button, the customer is directed to the girls side of the store, while the blue button leads to the boys side of the store. The following will be visible on the phone: Girls Boys Filter By Age Price Brand Toy Type 0-6 months 6 – 12 months I year–11/2 Years 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years 9 Years 10 Years 12 Years 14 Years 16 Years $ 3- $ 10 $ 10 -$ 20 $ 20 - $ 50 $ 50 - $ 100 $ 100 + Barbie X-box Pc games Windows games Windows Phone games Bikes & Scooters Children’s Books House of Marbles Nikko Rainbow Designs Money Toys Tobar Star Wars Photo booth academy Treasure hunt Fashion Games Puzzle games Dolls & Doll Houses Arts and crafts Pretend Play Outdoor play Building sets Learning tools Pre-school toys Cars and Boats Planes and Trains Music Boxes Final Product Sample When you click on the Play store, it provides the Following options The App navigation process is easy. The user can start by filtering on whether they are interested in toys for girls or boys. If that selection is too limited, they have the option of filtering through the usage of age, price, brand, and toy type. When one clicks on age, the only visible brands, prices and toy types that will be left visible include those within the age bracket chosen. The user can then select toys from the options available. However, when searching for a specific brand, at a specific price, the users will have the opportunity to choose the selected choice. The Mobile App will be easy to use for the users as the navigation to any option is easy. Once the users select the toy type they want, they will view the different toys in the same type. For each toy, the price, characteristics, and brand will be visible. The features will assist and influence the buying decisions of the users. The business of John needs a mobile App that provides the users with distinguishable experiences. To achieve the needs and necessities of his work, the native app style best meets his needs. It will provide the consumers with anticipated user friendliness experience while ensuring their navigation within the app is easy and directs them to where they want to go and can view any information they need regarding the toy. The diagrams provided above present the navigation system of the app, as it will be developed by the chosen developers. The development of this app is highly reliant on the needs and scenario of John’s business. The needs of the consumers and need to expand the target market influence the development of the App. John has been advised on the steps to take before hiring a mobile app developer to help develop his store’s mobile app. References Budiu, R. (2013). Mobile: Native apps, web apps, and hybrid apps. Nielsen Norman Group, 49 - 53. Joorabchi, M. E., Ali, M., & Philippe, K. (2013). Real challenges in mobile app development." Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement. ACM/IEEE International Symposium on. IEEE. Vos, I., & Pieter, d. K. (2001). The essential guide to mobile business. New York: Prentice Hall PTR. Xia, R., Mattias, R., & Lars, E. H. (2010). Business models in the mobile ecosystem." Mobile Business and 2010 Ninth Global Mobility Roundtable (ICMB-GMR). Ninth International Conference on. IEEE, 1-8. Read More