Tips for Creating Awesome Apps #1

Tips for Creating Awesome Apps for Your Business – Number 1: Keep it Simple

The first of the tips for creating an awesome apps for business is to Keep it Simple.  I know that goes for so many things in business and marketing but it is especially true when it comes to app design.

Keep it simple.  Keep the concept simple and keep the design simple.  This is not as easy as it seems.

Think of your app as a single, simple machine that does one useful thing well.  It shows you what’s on TV today.  Or, it tells you about train timetables.  Or, it’s a simple, repeatable quiz game, like quiz-up for instance.

And, although a nice simple, awesome app often does more than one thing, the secondary things that it does should follow very naturally from the first, primary purpose of the app.  So as an exxample  The Trainline app lets you look up the train times, and then it also lets you buy a ticket, and now you can download an e-ticket too.

Very often, an app is simply a simple, easy to use way into a much more complex thing.  For instance, there are mobile apps for Facebook, or Amazon, or TripAdvisor.  All of these big websites are just that – big website systems.  Their apps are not necessarily any easier to use that the websites.  In the case of Amazon and TripAdvisor that is definitely true.  So what simple thing does an app accomplish for Amazon or TripAdvisor?

In both those cases, the app is simply a great way to Amazon or TripAdvisor onto that valuable piece of real estate that is your phone screen.

So, the first of the tips for creating awesome apps is – think of one thing you want that app to do for you, and what interaction you want from your users.

In a restaurant – you might want more takeaway orders, or you might more restaurant bookings.  In this case, focus on what you want and then think how that app will achieve that for you.

You might even decide that your one simple purpose is to use push notifications to tell people about your special offers.  That’s great.  It does mean that you’ll have to make a very compelling reason for people to download your app, and to keep it, but the focus is there.