Why Most Successful Apps Started From Prototyping?
Mobile App Development: What Do Figures say?
It may seem that building apps are a quick, cheap and easy matter, but it’s even harder than any web-based app. Why?
In general, 80% of mobile apps face troubles*. These troubles appear after release stage when investors realise this app doesn’t earn money. Just imagine: you plan to spend XXX for your app. When the app is 99% completed you realise that it’s not like you wished to get (or your customer says he doesn’t really like it) - design, navigation, concept finally. So you have to spend extra money to rebuild some features and the sum of XXX becomes something like XXXX. Happened to such situation? We bet you did!
Did you know that 59%** of apps released on iOS actually lose money and make no profit? 29% of developers doubt their apps would bring any revenue at all! And a vast majority (63%) face troubles at the stage of discovering their app.
Moreover, 58%* of apps have user interface issues, 52% have performance issues, almost 30% miss some functionality and finally, every second bug or fail is found by a user! So why should you neglect an opportunity to ask users for help at an early stage and create an app that would definitely stand out?
Read also: 6 Tips to Avoid Time Overspent on Your Projects
*Figures by Perfecto Mobile 2014 Report
** Figures by App Promo’s “First Annual Developer Survey”
Prototyping: A Trend or Necessity?
Let’s start by saying that prototype is a version of your app that gives a chance to experience all major interactions and get an impression of the design. The idea is very close to recently popular Minimum Viable Product (MVP) concept, proposed by Eric Ries in his “Lean Startup” approach.
But a prototype doesn’t perform like a real app. It can only give a general impression via the ability to click, navigate between the screens and experience overall design.
We bet you’ll fail to name any mobile app that was successfully released from the first try. Since customers always wish to bring changes or add new features, that instantly increase coding costs.
It goes without saying that every mobile development company dreams of building an app that will top iStore/Google play right away. But let’s consider which steps they usually take and how the development process looks like:
• customer describes the idea to the development team;
• paper mockup creation;
• screens design;
• coding;
• testing;
• bug-fixing;
• release to the users;
• receiving feedbacks and updating the app.
That’s how mobile development process looks like in real life. And though this scheme is commonly accepted one, it definitely has its disadvantages. End users get the app too late after a great amount of work has been done and money spent. So, how can you get your users’ feedbacks or get a clear vision of an app BEFORE you have run out of money?
Read also: Cost to develop an app
Here mobile app prototyping steps into the bridge. If we speak about web-development, visual illustrations of web-pages (wireframes) are meant to outline the concept of a future product, illustrating its features, showing its content and links that would need to appear. Having this information in mind, your designers will be able to create a mockup for a visual interface, and programmers will know how each feature is supposed to work. Being a full-functional working model of the end product, a prototype of a web application or a website allows eliminating mistakes at early stages and make the overall UX design more user-friendly. Besides, a good prototype will reduce the creation of piles of project documentation to a minimum, thus making it more flexible while cost is cut as well.
So, how the process will look like provided your first step is a prototype?
• idea description;
• clickable prototype creation;
• receive feedbacks from users and improve UX;
• coding;
• testing;
• release.
In this case, you get a chance to learn what people think of your idea. It’s obvious that you can avoid extra coding expenses and get the valuable product faster.
Also, remember that nobody’s perfect in this world, and so the applications are not as well. Yeah, there is a very small chance that the project, in which you invested a huge amount of inspiration, time and money, stages a strike… However, sometimes undesired things may happen and the app may stop working. A catastrophe? No, if you are armed with a mobile app prototype.
Read also: 5 Tips for Creating Great Mobile App Design
If you wonder what particular tools you may use for your mobile app prototyping, we suggest you take a closer look at InVision and Marvel. These are online instruments for the creation of highly interactive mockups for both web and mobile applications. Both of these tools are popular among designers and provide great options, however, each one has its peculiarities. Marvel has been meant for creation of prototypes in its wide possibilities, and InVision also provides possibilities of collaboration and workflow of design presentations.
What do investors say?
Very often a customer is not a particular person, but a group of investors, or a whole company. Before they have a prototype it’s impossible to work out any common feedback. But after they get their prototype and have an opportunity to try it, click, interact with it, they get to agree on how the app should look like and are able to approve its main functions at a basic level.
So why do most progressive customers choose to make prototyping a basic step in the development process?
• save time;
• cut coding costs;
• test UI/UX and general app appearance;
• reveal main pitfalls in advance;
• test general concept.
These are the main benefits of mobile app prototype, and this is why the game is worth the candle. Every person who participates in the project at both sides would most likely like to adopt this optional, but such an essential stage of working at the project.
Remember that behind every successful app stands strategy. By developing a high fidelity prototype you can be on a safe side and create an app that will definitely stand out.
That’s how up-to-date mobile development approach looks like. It’s no longer reasonable to put a blind eye to the necessity of getting a prototype for your app since it’s an essential step for a successful app! Get to know more about possible prototyping solutions to be aware when you need it.
By creating a prototype, a mobile app for your iOS or Android pet project is insured against unreasonably high price, thieves of time and cunningly hiding bugs. So would you like to launch your idea asap by getting a prototype in 1 week? Just leave a quote and we’ll contact you back since we can’t wait to get excited about your idea!
