Image created by Viananda Andrias

Once upon a time, I installed a mobile application, used it once and then deleted it. Why, you ask? Because the app displayed a red screen, and I had no idea how to use that. To be honest, something like this has happened to me several times. Sometimes I still try to use an app that has frustrated me, but most of the time I just give up and delete it. It’s not a nice experience. When I look for a mobile application, I install it because I need it, and therefore I want it to work the way it’s intended. How do you feel when your apps don’t work as you would expect them to?

The mobile application provider probably didn’t make a faulty app on purpose. So, what happened? What went wrong? In this post I will talk about some causes I found for which users might uninstall a bad app. I will then discuss how a mobile enterprise application platform can help companies to manage their applications and keep users satisfied—so they don’t use your app just “once upon a time.”

First, let’s look at some of the most common challenges for mobile app users:

The user interface is not working

In the example I gave above, as soon as I opened the application, I saw only a red page. I swiped and tapped it repeatedly to see if it worked, but it didn’t. In another case, I installed a pretty application with a very attractive user interface, but I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Do I need to tap here and there? Do I have to shake it or something? In both cases, the user interface led to confusion and frustration for me as a user. It was not intuitive or easy to navigate.

The application works too slowly

Like other mobile users, I have a lot of mobile applications on my device. There are times when a mobile application performs so slowly that I have to close all of my applications, clear the cache and restart the application. What an effort, right? That gets me thinking. Is it me? Is it my device? What do you have against me, dear mobile application? Apps that perform too slowly are highly likely to exasperate users.

There are failed transactions over and over again

I have a little bit of a trust issue with a mobile application that handles my money, like mobile banking apps, shopping apps or booking apps. It’s really frustrating if these kinds of applications give you an error message with no further explanation since they can involve personal information. What I need to know is whether my money is safe. Failed transactions in a bank app make me lose my trust in the security of my personal data. Why start going mobile or start doing my banking online if it doesn’t work? It’s better for me to go to the bank and meet someone that can help me. I personally prefer the mobile application for its convenience—it would save me time and effort—but I need to be able to trust it, and it has to work.

I’m sure you can relate to these stories. We need to get our mobile applications right. Correct? Because in spite of these problems, companies want to put out quality applications that serve their purpose and satisfy users. And users want applications that work!

Avoid becoming a once-upon-a-time app

Let’s look at how you can develop better mobile applications and avoid the above app failures.

Developing and deploying better mobile applications 

Developing a mobile application can be tricky. Knowing how to develop it is one thing, but understanding what users want is a little bit more challenging. To make sure that your company has the right ingredients to make an app work, you must first have your mobile enterprise application platform (MEAP) ready.

Yes, I did write platform. Why platform? Having an application ready is just the tip of the iceberg of a mobile application’s lifecycle. In a mobile enterprise, there are a lot of things that haven’t been covered if you focus exclusively on app development. How are you going to make your application secure? What are you going to prepare to make sure you can manage the application? What do you have to monitor the application? These are key points you might want to consider in order to do it right, and a MEAP can help.

Monitor the app to improve it once it has been released

If something does go wrong with your app, I believe that you can get a second chance to make things right. If there is something wrong with your mobile application, you need to know before your clients start complaining to their friends and talking about it in social media. How can you do that? A mobile application development platform can help you to monitor the application usage. And even more, it can allow you to recreate the problem in order to find a solution.

Mobile is evolving, and we are getting more and more dependent on our smartphones and tablets. As a result, mobile is becoming an important channel for companies to enter the market. You can get a lot from this channel, but you can also lose a lot if you don’t do it right. So after we learn our lesson, let’s hope we don’t hear that fairy tale of “once upon a time, they used my mobile application” anymore. Because, a better foundation can help your mobile application to stand out in the marketplace, don’t you think?

Connect with me on Twitter @jengririz to share your thoughts, and if you want more customers to keep and use your mobile apps, register for the upcoming webinar covering strategies and solution options for consistently delivering good apps quickly.

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