Enterprise apps are business-wide solutions that are designed to alleviate pain points, make employees more productive or help the organization achieve its goals in a variety of ways. Mobile enterprise apps bring the benefits of traditional enterprise apps to mobile users, removing the limitations that previously kept users tied to a desktop or specific location. Unfortunately, many companies have developed enterprise mobile apps that failed to garner widespread support or adoption. Although there can be several issues that can lead to a “failure to launch,” one of the most common is a failure to adapt the development process, including the need to make the app user-centric.
- An app that is difficult to navigate, fails to display properly across a wide range of devices, loads slowly or requires excessive scrolling can cause users to abandon it in droves.
- Apps that are not adopted and supported by users are a waste of money. The reason for developing enterprise mobile apps is almost always tied to improving the company’s profitability. Spending to have an app developed that never gets used will not help you achieve that goal.
- In many ways, developing a poor enterprise mobile app is worse than not having one at all. A negative experience can make users more reluctant to take a chance on another app. They may refuse to give the replacement app a fair chance as they have a preconceived idea that it will not serve them any better than the last one.
- Without proper adoption, you are losing the benefits that the data collected and analytics could provide. The less you know, the harder it is to make informed, sound decisions.
Here are some tips for developing user-centric enterprise mobile apps.
- Put yourself in the user’s shoes. Ask yourself how users will want to use the app. Seek input from users regarding what they hope the new app will do for them.
- Define the what, where and how of the app. What problems should the app solve? What devices will be using to access the app? Where will your users be interacting with the app? How should the work flow? How will the app interface with the back-end?
- Test your app thoroughly. Secure an extensive collection of various devices running on different platforms. After running simulations, test the app on each of the devices you collected.
Mobile enterprise apps have much to offer, but only if you put the user first when developing them. If you are not certain how to do this, contact the professionals at PhaseAlpha. Our team provides outstanding custom enterprise software development for clients in virtually all industries. We can be reached at 913.648.9200, or you can send an email to info@PhaseAlpha.com.