The way we consume media like TV shows, movies, and even music, has changed drastically over the last several years.

Video rental stores like Blockbuster have gone the way of the dinosaur, and streaming media has risen to take their place. As a matter of fact, an incredible 85% of US households have at least one video streaming service. Furthermore, the streaming industry is expected to be worth $330 billion by 2030. With the growing popularity of Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming media services, it’s no surprise the streaming app market is highly competitive. But with so much competition, how do you make your streaming service stand out?

Start with the right features.

Must Have Streaming App Features

Eye Catching/User-Friendly Interface Design

Creating a unique interface design works in your favor because it will help grab your users’ attention. Furthermore, it helps your streaming app stand out in a somewhat crowded and established market.

But more than simply creating a unique design, your interface needs to be user-friendly as well. In today’s saturated streaming media app market, users don’t want to spend time learning an overly complicated interface. Users want easy access to their favorite content. Making them navigate through confusing buttons, tabs, and screens will only drive them to your competitors.

Original Content

When you think about the big streaming apps, like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+, what is it about them that keeps bringing viewers back?

The short answer is: original content.

In fact, according to Cloudwards, 32% of streaming app users say they would subscribe to a new service for original shows or movies produced by the streaming service. That means quality content, coupled with strong marketing and promotion will bring in a significant number of new subscribers.

Global Content

With access to a huge variety of media, global content is gaining popularity among streaming app users. This sort of media is an easy way for people to explore new cultures and languages, and experience people, traditions, and points of view from around the world.

That means including TV shows and movies from a wide library of global genres can be a powerful draw for viewers.

Customization Options

In today’s world of personalization and customization, giving your users more control over the platform is a must.

Some of the most popular customization options user look for include:

• General account settings, like privacy, ad options, theme, layout, etc;
• Playback speed;
• Control over language dubbing and subtitles;
• Changing resolution;
• Personalized playlists;
• Smart recommendations.

Recommendation Algorithm

Did you know that 80% of Netflix viewer activity is driven by the streaming service’s recommendation engine? That translates into real world savings for the media giant. In fact, it’s estimated that the Netflix Recommendation Engine (NRE) saves the company over $1 billion every year.

Netflix uses user viewing behavior to make these recommendations, which means it engages with users in a personalized way. Therefore, adding one to your own streaming app should be a no brainer, and could be a game changer for your budding service.

Parental Controls

Chances are a significant portion of your actual viewers will be children. And unless your aim is to create a streaming app specifically for children’s content, you’re likely to have media that is not appropriate for all ages. For this reason, parental controls are a must. With this basic feature, parents can control the content their children see.

Social Media Shareability

With social media now one of the principal ways people interact with one another online, your streaming app should offer some sort of shareable content. Even if all that is being shared is that users are watching a certain TV show or movie, it will still help generate buzz; for both your platform and the actual content. That makes social media shareability an excellent way to reach new audiences.

Offline Mode/Local Storage

One feature that allows your users more flexibility is an offline mode. With streaming media, success is often dependent on network access and quality. But when people are traveling, or know they will be in an area without a good network, they may still want to access your content.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to give your users the ability to store videos locally on their device. That way the user can download their favorite media and watch it whenever they want, regardless of network access or quality.

Security/Privacy

Now, access to content of all kinds is easy and nearly unlimited. But hand-in-hand with this incredible level of access is a heightened threat of external security breaches.

To safeguard your users’ privacy and data, you’ll need to invest in high-level security measures. This begins with your server of choice. You’ll want one that is safe, stable, and scalable. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure you have strong encryption standards, certificates, and security protocols. All of this is of critical importance to secure your users’ data against unforeseen cyber attacks or data breaches.

Systematic Updates

To offer the very best user experience, you can’t simply build your streaming app and then sit back and relax. Instead, you’ve got to keep up with trends and adjust your app to user and technology changes.

One way to achieve this is to keep a keen eye on your competition. What are they offering that you don’t? Is there something you can offer that they can’t?

You might also consider directly asking your users for their opinions, ask for beta testers of new features, create user-friendly forms for suggestions, and keep an eye on users’ viewing behavior.

Wrapping Up

When it comes to building a streaming app, offering the right mix of features is a must. It’s features like these that ensure your service looks professional, is user-oriented, and proves that you care about the user experience. In the end, there is no rule guaranteeing success in the highly competitive OTT and streaming media market. The only guiding principle is to make your platform as user-centric as possible. That means you need to make sure your strategy aligns strongly with your audience’s demands and expectations.

Keep Reading:

• • • 3 OTT App Monetization Strategies to Grow Revenue and Retain viewers
    • Why is OTT Authentication Important for Security and Conversion?
    • What Is SVOD: A Guide To Subscription Video On Demand

Building a mobile app has become a top priority for many companies. However, it’s often difficult to choose a development approach as the lines between the various options are becoming increasingly blurred. In our recent post, A Guide to Mobile

 App Development: Web vs Native vs Hybrid, we broke down the three options and outlined the pros and cons for each. This article will dive deeper into Native Mobile App Development and the benefits of choosing this particular development approach.

What is Native Mobile App Development?

Native mobile app development involves building apps for specific mobile operating systems. Users can then access them from dedicated app stores (such as the App Store or Google Play). If you intend to build an application for iOS, app developers will use programming languages Objective-C or Swift. In contrast, developing for Android calls for the programming languages Java or Kotlin.

Both Apple and Google provide app developers with their own development tools, interface elements, and software development kits (SDKs). Most companies will invest in native mobile app development because of the benefits offered in comparison to other types of apps such as hybrid or web. As mobile software is becoming a necessity, it’s important for companies to be well-informed about the pros and cons of each app development approach. Here are the key benefits of native mobile app development:

5 Benefits of Native Mobile App Development

1. Native Apps Have The Best Performance

With native mobile app development, the app is created and optimized for a specific platform. As a result, the app demonstrates an extremely high level of performance. Native apps are very fast and responsive because they are built for a specific operating system and are compiled using the platform’s core programming language and APIs. As a result, the app is much more efficient. The device stores the app which allows the software to leverage the device’s processing speed. As users navigate through a native mobile app, the contents and visual elements are already stored on their phone. This results in quick load times.

2. Native Apps Are More Secure

Web apps rely on different browsers and underlying technologies such as JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS. Developing a native mobile app is a great way to guarantee your users reliable data protection.

3. Native Apps Are More Interactive And Intuitive

Native mobile apps run more smoothly, especially when it comes to user input and output. These types of apps inherit their devices’ OS interfaces, which makes them look and feel like an integrated part of the device.

The biggest benefit to native mobile apps is the superior user experience. Because native apps are created for a specific operating system, they can stick to guidelines that enhance and align the user experience with the operating system. As a result, the flow of the app is more natural. Adhering to specific guidelines eliminates the learning curve and allows users to interact with apps using actions and gestures they’re already familiar with. 

4. Native Apps Allow Developers to Access the Full Feature Set of Devices

Since native apps are developed for their particular platform, they take full advantage of the software and the operating systems’ features. These apps can directly access the hardware of the device, such as the GPS, camera, microphone, etc. That means they offer faster execution, which ultimately results in better user experience.

Push notifications are another huge advantage to choosing native app development. Push notifications go through the iOS server (APNS) which means you need your app bundle ID. The same goes for Google’s Cloud Messaging (GCM).

5. Native App Development Tends to Have Fewer Bugs During Development

It’s much more difficult to maintain two different applications in one codebase than it is two applications in two codebases. With native app development, you have fewer dependencies for bugs to occur. This is because you’re not relying on a cross-platform tool such as Xamarin or Cordova. Hybrid apps access hardware through a bridge which often slows development down and can amount to a frustrating user experience.

This problem is prominent when new versions of Android and iOS are released. Native app developers have access to new SDKs. This means they can start building their applications with the most recent features. Because of this lead time, users of native applications have access to new platform features the moment they update the operating system. 

With hybrid app development, developers are dependent on a cross-platform development tool such as Xamarin or Cordova. Every time new features are released in the UI kit, you need to wait for the tool to support it. When you develop a hybrid app, there’s an added layer that you don’t have control over which can increase the chances of bugs occurring. Bugs are a huge concern for hybrid app development when working with the latest features that have been released for a particular operating system. This is an essential and often overlooked part of generating loyalty among users.

Other Native Mobile App Development Considerations

Although the initial cost may be higher with native mobile app development, you’ll save time and money in the long run by doing it well the first time. With a great user experience, better performance, and the ability to leverage device features, you’re able to offer your users a more personalized and rewarding experience in the long-term. The combination of native mobile app advantages will result in higher conversion rates and will ultimately boost customer loyalty.

Related: The Definitive Guide to Mobile App Development Costs [Infographic]

The Ultimate User Experience

Technical and functionality shortcomings aside, non-native apps cannot compete with the responsiveness and user experience of the native approach. If a business intends their app to be a central tool for interacting with customers and stakeholders, it must deliver an excellent user experience that supports mobile app retention. Dissatisfaction, even in the slightest, can lead to poor retention rates and high uninstallation.

Native app development gives developers considerably more control over the user experience. What’s more, it allows them to design their apps for easy support. We believe it’s best to stick with native and not sacrifice the design elements that are unique to each platform.

Final Thoughts

While the discussion to differentiate the three mobile app development approaches will continue, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t choose an approach for the technology, but rather, choose based on your app’s functionality. If you choose an approach that doesn’t allow your app to utilize device features, for example, then you’ll end up wasting a lot of time and money when you decide to add these features later. To decide which development approach to take, ask yourself these key questions:

1. How important is the performance of your app?
2. Does your app need to include any device-specific features?
3. Do you want your app to support multiple platforms and devices?
4. What is your mobile app development budget?

Keep Reading:

• 4 Essential Success Criteria For  Mobile Product Development
• Mobile App Design: Designing For A Web App Vs. Native App
• [Infographic] A Guide to Mobile App Development: Web vs Native vs Hybrid

A Design and Discovery session adheres to a design thinking framework and helps businesses: 

• Determine the purpose of the mobile product and how it aligns with business goals;
• Define business outcomes;
• Identify market viability through competitive research; 
• Create user personas rooted in extensive user research;
• Communicate and justify a product’s concept with user journeys, wireframes, and mockups;
• Create and prioritize a scalable product roadmap;
• Enter the market quickly with the most impactful and useful features. 

Typically, Design and Discovery sessions fully define the scope of a brand new mobile app; however, practicing design thinking also carries many benefits for reimagining, rebuilding, and expanding existing mobile apps. In some cases (and for many reasons), mobile apps don’t always perform as expected and businesses need to revisit mobile strategies to effectively reach product goals. In these cases, Design and Discovery helps businesses: 

• Reorganize existing mobile product strategies to better align with business goals;
• Outline a clear vision of how the product will scale;
• Develop an app analytics strategy;
• Validate market opportunities;
• Realign product features with user needs based on research rather than assumptions;
• Further define a user retention strategy and opportunities for long-term growth.

A Design and Discovery session works through four high-priority areas of product management: product strategy, product definition, visualization, and presentation. This article will expand on each of these areas, as well as the steps within each stage.

Design and Discovery

1. Product Strategy 

The first phase of a Design and Discovery workshop involves fully understanding the requirements and expectations of the mobile product. This helps to properly define a product strategy. This phase aligns with the Empathize and Define stages in the design thinking framework. 

By using strategic empathy, product teams can adopt a similar perspective to the customer or end-user of the product. Empathy also helps product teams think more broadly about personal assumptions and recognize that users have individual needs and expectations. Adopting the perspective of the end-user allows product teams to extrapolate customer needs more accurately. 

The steps involved in the Product Strategy phase culminate to define: 

1. The purpose and goal of the mobile product;
2. The business case the product serves;
3. Challenges the product intends to solve;
4. The target audience’s needs.

Furthermore, it produces the following deliverables: 

1. A project timeline;
2. Documented product requirements;
3. A product vision statement;
4. User personas;
5. A list of marketable features.

Creating a Product Vision Statement 

A product vision statement creates a definite sense of direction towards the end goal of the application. What’s more, a vision statement defines the solution to the problem end-users are facing. A concentrated product vision statement: 

1. Explicitly defines who will be using the product;
2. Expresses the solution to the problem those users are facing;
3. Differentiates the product from what currently exists in the market. 

A product vision statement establishes a concrete area of focus for the mobile product. Consequently, this helps businesses set specific success criteria and clear objectives to determine what features the product needs to be successful. This process of defining a product vision statement allows all of the project stakeholders to visualize the product in context, rather than as a catalog of features and design efforts. 

Creating User Personas 

User personas shape the foundation of user experience (UX) design. The practice of UX design hinges on the idea that frequently used and well-liked mobile apps are designed for people using empathy and known patterns of human-machine interaction. 

A user persona is a tool that transforms data into a realistic character with wants, needs, motivations, and frustrations. That means that user personas help product teams understand and empathize with people who will use the product. They can then create a solution that fits the context of the user’s goals.

Identifying Marketable Features 

It’s essential to identify what features will make the product both usable and useful. This means that choosing the most impactful features for a mobile app is a planning process that requires product teams to fully define the product vision, objectives, and success criteria. The best features for your mobile app will become apparent naturally as the team thoroughly maps out how to achieve both business and product goals. 

2. Product Definition

The Product Definition phase of Design and Discovery directly relates to the Ideation stage of design thinking. Accordingly, during this phase product teams generate, capture, and prioritize the core features of a minimum viable product (MVP). Moreover, for existing apps this phase revisits features to ensure they’re properly aligned with user needs. 

The process begins by creating a master list of all the features to include in the product. Next, using this list, product teams start organizing and cutting features to keep the product useful, lean, and user-friendly. A common tactic for selecting essential product features is a prioritization matrix, which is included in our downloadable MVP template.

This method helps determine which features are mandatory, which features will come later, and which features to eliminate entirely. Remember, it’s not feasible to implement every feature in the first version of your mobile app. Therefore it’s essential to eliminate any features from existing products that are not supporting the product’s success criteria. 

The steps involved in the Product Definition help product teams: 

1. Ask the right questions and innovate;
2. Create quantity and variety in product features;
3. Identify feature solutions that are not immediately apparent;
4. Combine multiple perspectives, strengths, and experiences in a team setting.

They also produce the following deliverables: 

1. A prioritized list of product features;
2. User journeys.

Prioritizing Mobile App Features

While companies typically have a long wish list of features to include in a mobile product, it’s critical to limit the number and focus on only what’s necessary to achieve the product’s success criteria. As a means of identifying product features, it’s important to focus on the following questions: 

1. What is the number one problem users are experiencing? 
2. How will the functionality of the product solve that problem? 

Creating User Journeys

User journeys are another core element of UX design. A user journey is a series of actions a user performs to achieve a particular goal within the mobile product. Therefore user journeys are how a product will provide user value by creating an intuitive direction towards solving a pain point. At the same time, a user journey delivers business value by guiding users to the desired conversion point. 

3. Visualization 

The third stage of Design and Discovery focuses on creating a visual solution that details the product’s UX and user interface (UI) design. 

The steps involved in the Visualization phase define: 

1. The visual representation of the finalized user journeys;
2. Capture user value in the product’s UX and UI design.

Additionally, they produce an important deliverable: 

1. Product wireframes.

The Importance of Wireframes

Once you establish the goal and audience for your mobile product, you need to record the exact actions a user must take to complete the product goal. Not only does Design and Discovery provide you with a prioritized list of product features, the process also provides wireframed maps of how those features come together to create the entire user experience. Thus, wireframes outline step-by-step how a user will move through the app. 

It can be very tempting to skip wireframing and move right into prototyping a mobile product; however, wireframing is a crucial step in the process. Wireframing is another testing step in the build-measure-learn process of mobile app development. A few of the core benefits of wireframing include: 

1. Defining information architecture and content;
2. Reducing rework and revisions;
3. Encouraging client and stakeholder feedback.

What’s the difference between wireframing and prototyping? 

At a high-level, mobile app wireframes are low-fidelity, basic layout, and structural guidelines whereas prototypes are advanced representations with more visual detail and interaction. 

4. Presentation

The Presentation phase of Design and Discovery is the final phase of the workshop when all the deliverables come together to create a clickable app prototype. Prototyping allows enough time to make changes to critical design issues before the product reaches development, and it becomes too late (and too expensive) to make major changes to the UX.

The mobile app prototyping stage helps product teams learn how users interact with the “rough draft” of a product to uncover new solutions or determine whether the existing solution is successful. What is learned from a prototype allows the product team to reframe one or several of the problems identified from the previous Design and Discovery stages. As a result, every stakeholder on the project has a more accurate understanding of the challenges users face when they use the product in the context of their life. 

The Benefits of Design and Discovery 

Beginning mobile app development properly helps establish business outcomes and an overall product vision to maximize your return on investment. A Design and Discovery session gives you time with mobile subject matter experts who can help you understand mobile-first best practices. As a result, you improve your chances of winning investor buy-in.

Using this approach to product management allows product teams to focus on both the utility of the app (is it really solving a problem and adding value?) and the usability (what is the user’s experience with the product?). This provides the foundation necessary to begin developing a product that will truly add value for your users and have a much greater chance of success in the market. Accordingly, a concrete list of benefits includes: 

1. Maximizing return on investment (ROI);
2. Establishing business outcomes and a product vision;
3. Identifying and prioritizing product features;
4. Gaining access to mobile subject matter experts;
5. Understanding mobile-first best practices;
6. Determining app metrics and success criteria;
7. Validating product ideas before investing in development services;
8. Achieving stakeholder and investor buy-in.

Design and Discovery is also notably valuable for managing scope creep, which occurs when a project grows far beyond its original size. If you haven’t properly defined the product, scope creep will likely occur, often deviating from the initial agreement of the product. Changes during product development are likely to happen; however, it’s easy to let scope creep take control of your original vision and strategy. Once you establish product definition, your team must carefully consider changes in the plan if they arise. Design and Discovery ensures that the project remains focused on a goal, saving money and time in the long run.

View Our Case Studies 

• The Dynacare Plus app 
• ParticipACTION
• McMaster University’s JoyPop

Many companies struggle to decide if creating a proof of concept (POC), a prototype, a minimum viable product (MVP), or a combination, is the right way to approachmobile app development. Understanding and carrying out these three methods of mobile product validation properly can significantly improve the chances of winning investor buy-in and acquiring funding, reducing project costs, and establishing longevity in the mobile app market.

The first step in the mobile app development process is to understand what you’re building. When it comes to POC vs prototype vs MVP, all three methods of product validation set a mobile app up for success by challenging assumptions, revealing user needs, and defining an explicit direction for product growth. With a proper validation strategy, you can be sure the proposal you take to investors and stakeholders makes a strong business case with several clear return on investment (ROI) opportunities.

POC vs Prototype vs MVP

Proof of Concept (POC)

Approach: Is the idea feasible? 

Implementation: Developing a POC is the quickest and most accurate way to validate or invalidate assumptions about your target users and app concept. 

Mobile App Prototype

Approach: How will this product function? 

Implementation: Mobile app prototyping is a form of user research to validate the strategic design direction of a product. A prototype is a preliminary visualization of a working product. Prototypes build an understanding of the mobile app’s look and feel. This, in turn, helps test how customers use and react to the overall user experience (UX) design. Using a prototype for usability testing gives you enough time to make changes to critical design issues before the product reaches development and it’s too late (and too expensive) to make major changes to the UX.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Approach: What are the product’s core functionalities and value proposition? 

Implementation: A mobile app MVP is a minimal and usable form of your complete product to release and test in the app market. The MVP development method allows your team to learn how the product’s target users experience and respond to the app’s core business purpose. Using the insight and learnings from real users, you can allocate your time, effort, and budget to areas that best satisfy your overall business objectives. Building an MVP is an iterative process designed to identify user pain points and determine the proper functionality to address those needs over time.

What is a POC?

“A POC will provide a definitive “yes” or “no” answer; either the concept is viable or it’s not.” 

A mobile app POC is typically a small, internal validation project. The POC approach to product validation is about demonstrating functionality and verifying whether a particular idea is feasible for development. Using a POC is also an excellent method for sharing knowledge internally about a product’s core functionality. Decisions about usability and UX are not considered for a POC. This is because mapping out UX is not only time-consuming, but UX design can also interfere with proving viability. A POC will provide a definitive “yes” or “no” answer; either the concept is viable or it’s not. Even if a POC proves the concept won’t work, it’s possible to find other solutions from the same starting point. 

A POC is particularly important if the concept doesn’t exist in the market; or to differentiate your concept from competitor products. There are certain types of mobile apps that already dominate the app market – messaging apps, for example. Developing an app with heavy competition doesn’t require proof that the idea is feasible, but to build a user base the product needs to include a unique feature-set to stand apart from similar concepts, which requires a POC. 

What are the benefits of a Proof of Concept?

Even though a POC is only meant to be used internally, there are several benefits associated with it.

Ensures Feasibility Before Launch

As discussed, the purpose of a POC is to demonstrate that the idea is even feasible and buildable in the first place. Additionally, a POC can help direct you towards the right technical direction so your app does what you want it to do. Furthermore it can help you analyze external dependencies and assess any need for third-party products.

Mitigate Risk

At its core, a POC serves as an experimental exercise to help you understand the project. Therefore, if you have a clearly defined objective from the onset, it can help you find the limitations, advantages, and disadvantages of your solution. From there, you can prioritize the functionality of your app more appropriately.

Convince Your Investors

The road from concept to product is long. A proof of concept acts as a pre-test, which can demonstrate that you’ve made grounded decisions and understand your solutions and budget. This proves to investors that you are on the right track.

What is a Mobile App Prototype? 

While a POC shows a product concept can be done, a mobile app prototype shows how it will be done. There are countless methods for prototyping, but in mobile app development a prototype typically starts with sketches or paper interface. This evolves into an interactive model that resembles the final product. The purpose of a prototype is to communicate a product’s design and navigation flow to maximize the efficiency of development. Prototyping is a valuable exercise which results in visualization of how the app will function. It does this by demonstrating user flows and depicting a working design and layout. Naturally, there will be errors in a prototype, but discovering these errors during the early stages of a project is one of the purposes of a prototype. 

Testing a mobile product with a prototype is essential for user-centric design and development. Prototyping is a central part of the design thinking research process and uses rapid iteration to arrive at a product that offers maximum user value. Often the prototyping process will expose new ideas and confirm the best direction to take during development.

Developing a prototype is a cyclical activity. That means product teams continually review and refine the product concept, returning to the beginning of the process several times until the concept meets business objectives and user needs. Overall, the process helps identify and fix problems early on in the process when it’s far less expensive to make changes. 

What are the Benefits of Mobile App Prototyping?

“Conduct prototyping research early and iteratively to ensure your mobile design is easy and enjoyable to use, as well as to align all strategic design decisions to user needs and safeguard the project’s ROI.” 

There are many benefits of working with an interactive model before reaching the final product. Mobile app prototyping keeps the user at the forefront of the design process and involves stakeholders when exploring new ideas for development. 

Let’s go over a few of the benefits in more detail. 

Exploring New Ideas and Identifying Product Improvements

Mobile app prototyping validates an early concept and provides opportunities for the exploration of new ideas early on in development. During this phase of the design thinking process, user testing can help identify possible improvements before the product is complete. A prototype is the product foundation that is continually improved until the mobile app meets business goals and is marketable. Testing a mobile app prototype will uncover new ideas and confirm the most profitable direction for the product roadmap. 

Cost-Efficiency 

Starting a project with a mobile app prototype saves costs in the long run. It’s far less expensive to solve problems at the beginning of the process rather than towards the end. 

Source: Interaction Design Foundation

Consider the image above; if you only start testing on an “almost-finished” product, you run the risk of finding serious issues too late to make changes. Prototype research is the mitigator – you’ll spend less if you do upfront research. The closer you get to launch the more expensive changes are. Conduct prototyping research early and iteratively to ensure the design is easy and enjoyable to use, as well as to align all strategic design decisions to user needs and safeguard the project’s ROI. 

Client and Stakeholder Involvement 

During the prototyping phase, it’s beneficial to involve the most important stakeholders in the planning process. As much as possible, stakeholders need to have co-ownership of the project’s design ideas and decisions. For example, developers might think a particular design decision is appealing. However, the concept is technically difficult and time constraints prevent them from experimenting with alternate solutions. At the same time, other stakeholders might want to implement other components first which align more closely with the long-term strategy of the project. Or maybe the marketing department already did market research on an entirely different set of users. When the most relevant stakeholders are involved in the prototyping phase of a project, it creates a broader perspective and you can be sure you’re making the most efficient use of your time. 

To summarize, it’s important to involve stakeholders for several key reasons: 

• Stakeholders can help collect all the information about the project’s strategic direction; 
• Involving stakeholders can help ensure research makes the most impact;
• Working with the right people establishes support and secures funding for the time and resources for each necessary design iteration;
• You’ll know you haven’t done the same research twice. 

Approaching prototyping collectively helps ensure the final product closely embodies the company’s ideas and features. Furthermore, it ensures you ultimately meet specific project goals. Involving everyone – upper management, product managers, marketing, developers, designers, stakeholders, and clients – will help examine problems in greater detail from several perspectives and backgrounds. Encouraging feedback and discussion goes a long way towards creating a product that solves user pain points well. 

UX Validation 

Creating a mobile product that results in deep user engagement is a difficult task to accomplish. Running a prototype through a user test is one of the most effective ways to validate usability and UX. 

According to Localytics, only 32 percent of users continue to use an app after three months and 21 percent of users abandon an app after one use. It’s vital to have a goal that goes beyond the mere number of downloads. Retaining users by providing continual value is an essential goal of UX design and a prototype will test the product’s potential for app engagement, longevity and lifetime value. Again, saving on costs before proceeding with further development.

What is an MVP? 

Prototypes often influence an MVP and the two work together to create a successful end product. An MVP is a minimal form of your complete product that is tested in the market. This approach to development allows you to learn how your users will react to your product before you waste a lot of money and resources building something. While prototypes solve problems during the early stages of development, an MVP’s iterative process is designed to identify users’ pain points when the product is actually tested in the market. 

The risk of developing more (or less) than you need is why validating your product assumptions with an MVP is so important. Starting with a core feature, learning how users react to that feature, and building in accordance with user feedback is essential for determining the appropriate amount of functionality your product needs to acquire and retain users. Over time, the learnings that come from an MVP define your product roadmap and guide the evolution of your app. 

Remember, an MVP is a version of a product that includes only the features it needs to be marketable. With the MVP process, you can verify the following: 

• Product viability 
• Product assumptions 
• Usability 
• Market demand 

MVPs provide immediate value while minimizing development costs. Ultimately, an MVP allows you to build a product with minimal features and iteratively build it out to create a better, more polished product, while leveraging user intelligence to make the best decisions possible. With every release version, the product evolves to maximize ROI and move towards a fully mature application. 

What are the benefits of a Minimum Viable Product? 

Today’s most successful apps all started as something much simpler than they are today. Apps like Uber, Instagram, and Spotify, for example, are all mature apps; they’re the result of years of development and large amounts of capital. Developing an app of a similar scope requires a lot of time and a large investment. 

This is where an MVP comes into play. An MVP provides immediate value, quickly, while minimizing development costs and revealing the most suitable direction for further development. 

What an MVP entails can be very subjective, differing from organization to organization based on business needs, industry, and competition. In some verticals the minimal feature set for an app could be quite complex, as it is the industry standard. Nonetheless, there are major benefits to choosing an iterative, agile process over the all or nothing approach to app development. 

A Core Set of Functionalities to Test Business Concepts Early On

An MVP allows you to get a version of your product to market early to test your business concept. By offering a core set of features, rather than a full-blown, feature-heavy product, you can test key hypotheses, gather user information and intelligence, go-to-market quickly, and keep costs down. 

Cost-Efficiency 

As mentioned above, mature products are the result of years of development, with the price tag to match. However, these apps were created iteratively over a longer period of time. As a result, the cost is spread over time, often with reinvestment of the revenue generated from earlier versions. 

Iterative Process Drives Product Evolution

An MVP allows you to begin building up a user base to gain insight into what works and what does not. This is vital information; it allows product teams to use data to make decisions on future iterations of the product. This might include what other features to add, what aspects will increase sales, and exactly where to allocate budget.

Which Method is Best?

These three methods are quick and cost-efficient ways to validate a mobile app idea; however, they have many additional benefits. Benefits like eliciting new ideas and areas for improvement, client and stakeholder involvement, and making sure the entire team is on the same page throughout the project lifecycle. If you want to enhance your product launch and increase the likelihood of success, one or all of these techniques will help you avoid common product mistakes, from faulty features to a product that has no place in the market at all. Each method is individually advantageous when used properly whether testing key business concepts early, winning over stakeholders, or validating marketability.

Keep Reading:

• 7 Mobile App Prototyping Best Practices
• An Introductory Guide to Customer Journey Mapping
• How to Create User Personas for Your App

Low cost, easy to use and install, and incredibly effective, beacon technology has become a popular way to engage with customers – especially in retail and marketing.

Picture this: you step into a store to look at their shoe display, and suddenly you get a notification on your smartphone. You check it and discover a 20% off coupon for those brand-name sneakers you’ve had your eye on, just for you! That’s just one example of the power of beacon technology.

Beacons aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been around since 2013, when Apple released their iBeacon. While usage has grown slowly, demand has reached record levels. Indeed, according to reporting from Allied Market Research, the global beacon market generated $3 billion in 2020, and is expected to top out at $103.94 billion by 2030.

But what is beacon technology? How does it work? And what benefits are driving this rise in demand? Let’s discuss.

What is Bluetooth Beacon Technology?

Put simply, a Bluetooth beacon is a tiny, wireless, battery-powered radio transmitter. This minuscule radio transmitter can be “discovered” by mobile devices within a certain distance. The beacon, however, cannot “see” the devices in return.

One of the advantages of beacon technology is that it doesn’t require an internet connection, yet broadcasts within a short radius. Receiving devices, like smartphones, can then act as something of a middle-man that uses the information transmitted by the beacon to perform some task.

The distance beacons can transmit is usually between ten and thirty meters of indoor space, and creates a connection between the physical and digital worlds. This is achieved by forming a communication bridge between the device, a user’s smartphone, and the user themselves.

The goal of beacon technology is to allow businesses to automate some processes, and, more importantly, improve user experience and interactions. This is thanks to the fact that beacons are a part of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is the connection between enabled devices and machines to gather and transmit data without the need for a human-to-human, or even human-to-computer interaction.

How Does Beacon Technology Work?

Beacons transmit data packets which are then picked up by compatible devices, like smartphones. These data packets can be either self-contained, or act as triggers for events on the receiving device. These events might include push notifications, app actions, prompts, etc.

Many beacons utilize Low-Energy Bluetooth, or BLE, as their transmission protocol. BLE uses the same radio spectrum as Bluetooth Classic (2.400 – 2.4835 GHz ISM band), but uses different channels. In fact, BLE utilizes three primary advertising channels, which help make it faster for devices to connect, and reduces the time a listening device scans for the signal.

In theory, a Bluetooth beacon works at a maximum distance of less than 100 meters. What’s more, the latency can be up to 6 milliseconds from a non-connected state. The actual range and response time in real life depends on a variety of factors, including the beacon itself, and what process it has been programmed to achieve. Most beacons can reliably transit to about thirty meters, provided no physical obstacles lie in the path of the signal. In real-world usage, you can expect a reliable range of between two and five meters. Of course, the higher the range, the faster the battery dies.

Some beacons work with Wi-Fi, which may offer a wider range depending on where the emitter is located.

The Benefits of Beacons

Beacon technology offers an impressive range of applications, especially when it comes to retail. Let’s take a look at some of the most prominent.

Track In-Store Movement

One of beacon technology’s most incredible applications is its ability to create a united online and in-store experience. Beacons can be used to track customers’ in-store movements, which allows you to send them targeted information and discounts based on the products they are near – and presumably browsing.

This can help improve conversion rates, and it’s not hard to understand why; a customer is more likely to use a discount for an item if they are in that item’s section of the store.

A prime example of this is Macy’s. The department store has been using beacon technology since 2016. When a customer visits the store and opens the Macy’s app on their smartphone, the app connects to the nearest beacon and recognizes where the smartphone is in the store. If the customer is in the shoe department, for example, the app will remind them of the shoe brands they have already liked online. This targeted information, provided at just the right time, can help convince the customer to make a purchase.

In-Store Navigation

Speaking of department stores, many are so large they can be overwhelming. How often have you spent time wandering aimlessly around a store looking for what you came in for, only to get frustrated and leave without it? Beacon technology is an ideal solution for this common problem! With the combination of a mobile app and strategically placed beacons, you can provide customers with a real-time indoor map of the store.

A real-world example of this comes from Target. Back in 2017 the big box retailer began using beacon technology to provide a “GPS for your shopping cart” function. In practice, this means in-store customers can use the Target app to create a shopping list. From there, the app lets them see where their items are located, and where they are in relation to them. As they move about the store, their position in the app changes in real-time, helping them hone in on what they want.

While the most obvious application of this is for retail, it can also be applied to any large venue. Imagine how much easier it could be to find your way around hospitals, stadiums, or airports.

Proximity (or Out-of-Store) Marketing

Another benefit of beacon technology that is widely used is proximity marketing. Beacons installed in shops, event venues, or even public places can allow businesses to track the location of their customers. With this real-time information in hand, it’s easier to notify users that they are near your shop, or provide a targeted deal to bring them in. Additionally, this offers the chance to do something more complicated, like send messages related to sales, discounts, loyalty programs, and competitions. Even brands that you carry in-store can themselves push product discounts to draw customers in.

By using beacon technology, you have the ability to personalize your out-of-store marketing, and improve your potential foot-traffic. Now, with smartphones in virtually every pocket, proximity marketing will undoubtedly continue to grow.

Asset Tracking

Asset tracking, sometimes called asset management or asset visibility, is a core component of any Real-Time Location System (RTLS). It allows you to know the exact location and condition of your assets. This, in turn, lets you locate them quickly on site, keep track of their flow and usage, and make better, data-driven decisions regarding replenishment, purchases, or efficiency.

Of course, when it comes to asset tracking a long battery life and strong signal stability are critical. The signal performance in particular will have a big impact on the accuracy of your tracking efforts. Furthermore, you’ll need to prioritize the lifespan of your hardware. This will save you the time and effort of replacing them more often than is necessary.

Additional Beacon Technology Benefits and Uses

• Contact tracing.
• Occupancy monitoring.
• Loyalty programs.
• Mobile ticketing.
• Advanced data gathering.

Final Thoughts on Beacon Technology

It’s difficult to predict just how popular beacon technology will become. The technology itself isn’t exactly new, and has experienced some setbacks. That said, the recent rise in its popularity is undeniable.

However, one indisputable advantage beacons offer is their relatively inexpensive price tag, especially when compared to other technologies. That means any business of any size can adopt – and adapt – the technology with very little risk.

In the end, beacon technology can help you gain a better understanding of your audience, while also supporting and complementing your existing marketing. In other words, beacons help you find new, exciting, and targeted ways to communicate with your mobile app users.

Keep Reading:

• Mobile Commerce: Definition, Advantages & Disadvantages
• Why You Should Add Voice Search to Your App
• 9 Amazing Trends in Wearable Apps

A Minimum Viable Product is a version of the product which includes only the features that solve a core problem.  The goal of an MVP is to provide immediate value, minimize development costs, and gather data and feedback that can be applied to improve future iterations.  

Here are seven major benefits to choosing this iterative, agile process over an all or nothing approach.

Iterative Development and the Build-Measure-Learn Process

When an organization decides to develop a product, they make certain assumptions. These assumptions might include:

• what users to target;
• how the design should work;
• what marketing strategy to use;
• what architecture will work most efficiently; and
• which monetization strategy will make the product sustainable.

However, no matter how certain a business is of their assumptions, a product can’t succeed unless those assumptions are validated.  

Through the iterative, “build-measure-learn” process of Minimum Viable Product development, you can validate – or invalidate – your assumptions with little risk. Iterative development is designed to identify user pain points and determine the proper functionality to address those needs over time. This is done by continually testing assumptions against user feedback, and making fast product changes as new information presents itself. Following the “build-measure-learn” process you begin by building an MVP to test an assumption. You launch the product, allow users to test it, and then collect feedback to guide decisions on future iterations, including; what features to add, what aspects will help increase sales/ROI, and exactly where you should allocate budget.

The Benefits of a Minimum Viable Product

Winning Stakeholder/Investor Buy-In

In many cases, businesses rely on stakeholder or investor buy-in to secure funding and start a mobile project. The key to receiving this buy-in is to build confidence in the product you’re pitching and its ability to achieve the desired outcome (i.e. increase revenue, reduce check-out times, etc.). Developing an MVP is an effective method to securing this buy-in as it allows you to test your idea – before going to investors. This ensures that when you do, you’ll have a solid case that demonstrates the market validity of the product.

Ultimately, stakeholders want to invest in products that will be successful. This key advantage to an MVP is that it not only proves the merits of a product, it provides a physical product stakeholders can see and use. Furthermore, and if investors buy in, the product can launch without stakeholders having to wait months for a return on their investment. 

Testing Business Concepts

The biggest benefit of developing an MVP is that it allows you to test your business concepts. By offering the core set of features rather than a full-blown, feature-heavy product, you can verify that your product concept resonates with your target audience. This provides an opportunity to change a product’s direction based on your findings.

When the product is launched, you can identify the most active users, and how they interact with the app. This information can be used to tailor app functionality to suit these users more. With a feature-heavy product it would be much harder to change anything – you may even need to rebuild the entire app.

Instagram is an example of a brand that used its MVP to do this. Originally, Instagram’s core idea involved a GPS feature. But after launch, leaders decided to change the concept based on insights gleaned from user feedback. 

Verifying Market Demand

A Minimum Viable Product is all about testing; seeing what works and what doesn’t. In some ways, an MVP is more about trying to achieve an understanding of the market demand than it is about trying to sell or acquire customers.

Often, organizations assume their product fulfills a specific user-need. However, this may not be true; either because the need doesn’t exist, or there are already solutions in the market. For an app to be successful, it’s critical to conduct user research to ensure your product provides a solution that your customers have expressed a need for. An MVP allows you to do just that. You can determine if potential users need and will use your product, without making a large investment. Then, based on your findings, you can either re-work your product to create more market differentiation, or come up with a new concept altogether.

Developing a Monetization Strategy

Products need to be profitable. When it comes to mobile applications, building a sustainable stream of income involves defining a mobile app monetization strategy. However, as numerous app monetization strategies have been proven to be successful, deciding which is best can sometimes be difficult.

With so many considerations to keep in mind, it’s possible to believe one strategy will work, and be wrong. Again, the best thing to do is test your assumptions with an MVP.  If, for example, your app monetization strategy is based on in-app purchases, you can use an MVP to test your users’ willingness to pay for upgrades and add-ons. If results show users aren’t purchasing as much as you had hoped, this is an indication that you’ll need a different monetization strategy.

Testing UX and Usability 

Creating a mobile product that results in deep user engagement is difficult. According to AppFlyer, 50% of apps are uninstalled within a month of being downloaded. On the other hand, 90% of users that engage with an app – even only once a week – keep the app around.

Retaining users by providing continuous value is an essential goal of user experience design. An MVP will test the product’s potential for this through app engagement, longevity and lifetime value. With a Minimum Viable Product, you can gather data and insights on how users interact with your product to assess how quickly they understand its purpose and flow. Based on this, you can identify new opportunities to expand functionality and provide a better user experience.

Cost-Efficiency

As previously mentioned, mature products are the result of years of development – with a price tag to match. But because they are created iteratively, over a longer period, the cost is spread out – often with reinvestment of the revenue generated from earlier versions. The MVP approach also helps to keep the product from becoming over complicated and requiring more sophisticated coding and solutions. As you gain more users and gather more information to inform the direction of the product from the MVP, you can begin to invest more, and more intelligently.

Key Takeaway 

The MVP app development process relies on testing. In this process, businesses identify their riskiest assumptions, find the smallest possible experiment to test those assumptions, and use the results of the experiment to guide development. The key takeaway is that a Minimum Viable Product allows you to start smaller and iteratively build up to produce a better, more polished product – all in a way that allows you to leverage user intelligence to make the best product decisions. With every release version, the app evolves to maximize ROI and move towards a fully mature application.

Keep Reading:

• 3 Examples of Mobile App MVPs That Are Now Massive Successes
• How to Plan a Minimum Viable Product: a Step-by-Step Guide
• 10 Best Practices to Enhance Your Mobile App User Experience

Now, smartwatches, belts, clothing, eyewear, and even implantables are beginning to saturate the market. Indeed, the wearable technology market is predicted to reach $380.5 billion by 2028.

With so much potential in the wearable technology market, the challenge for developers of wearable apps is to stay ahead of the trends, and deliver the best experience possible. With that in mind, let’s take a look at nine of the key trends that are driving wearable app innovation today.

IoT Integration Goes Mainstream

The Internet of Things, or IoT, is fundamental to interconnected devices like wearables. The IoT is what connects devices and allows for the free flowing exchange of data we use for smart living. But IoT does much more than connect wearable devices. From oil companies to retail and transportation, IoT is slowly permeating industries of all kinds.

This mainstreaming of the integration of IoT devices offers an incredible range of opportunities for wearable apps – especially when it comes to healthcare. Some recently released healthcare IoT devices include:

• Wearable glucose trackers.
• Remote asthma monitors.
• Bluetooth equipped tracking apps for cancer patients.
• Wearable defibrillators.

Fitness tracking and home automation are also areas seeing an explosion of IoT devices. Tech giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon have weighed in with smartwatches and -speakers.

In order to capitalize on these opportunities, developers of wearable apps need to integrate IoT into their products.

Sensor Technology Improvements

Wearable apps rely on sensor technology for a variety of tasks. From allowing certain functionalities, to aiding in data collection and personalization, sensor technology is a critical aspect of wearable devices. Once again, the healthcare industry is a great place to look for examples of this. Today, sensor technology is used in heartbeat monitors, blood pressure measurements, and even calorie counting. Similarly, fitness wearables use sensors to track users’ pulse and how many steps they take in a day.

As this technology continues to improve, developers will be able to use them, and the data they gather, to improve user engagement and enhance their app’s user interface and experience.

GPS Gets a Boost

GPS and other location-based services have become a critical element of wearable apps and devices. Devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers already collect and utilize location data. Additionally, as GPS improves, more and more industries have incorporated the technology. One example is courier and logistical services. Now when you order dinner through a delivery app you can track its path to you in real time.

Another exciting example of where GPS and wearable apps are heading is retail. As GPS technology improves and is integrated into more wearable devices, expect retailers to attract customers by implementing location-based marketing techniques.

Introduction of Beacon Tech

While we’re on the topic of location-based technology, beacon technology has helped improve the user experience of many wearable apps. Basically, beacons are low-cost, low-energy Bluetooth transmitters. These tiny gadgets broadcast signals to nearby devices. Beacons offer the advantage of effective and easy connectivity with electronic devices close in proximity. Through this connection they can share information and aid in location-based searching.

While this technology is already widely used in smartwatches, the number of devices utilizing it is expanding. That’s because beacons provide more robust and precise location data when compared to GPS. As a result, mobile app development companies would be wise to emphasize the use of beacon technology in their wearable apps.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has made a name for itself across app development and corporate industries in recent years. By aiding in automation, interactivity, and personalization, AI has changed the way users interact with their devices, conduct business, and even go about their lives.

Now, AI has the potential to offer this kind of fast-paced, automated, and personalized solutions to wearable apps. Through the elimination of errors and bugs, and by providing time-efficient and effective services, AI will continue to improve the quality of wearable apps.

Customized Functions

When compared to smartphone apps, wearable apps need far fewer resources. It’s not difficult to understand why; smartphones have powerful hardware and lots of memory. This means smartphone apps can have a lot of bells and whistles – in other words, extra functionality. However, since a wearable app must rely on far less memory and processing power, it must be restricted to its core purpose.

For this reason, customized app functions will give users more freedom, while allowing developers to stay laser focused.

Incorporating Contactless Payment

Another opportunity wearable app developers have is the incorporation of contactless payment. With the growing use of Google Wallet and Apple Pay, wearable apps can provide a new way to make online payments.

The incorporation of contactless payment methods into wearable apps could have a major impact on a variety of industries, especially mobile- and eCommerce, and banking. Indeed, the global contactless payment market is expected to reach nearly $18 billion by 2025.

Powerful Data Collection

It’s no secret that wearable technology has made it easy to collect the most relevant data regarding users’ shopping experience and overall customer behavior. Now, wearable apps have the power to target specific audiences and gather pertinent data quickly. Application development companies can then use this data to provide a more customized or personalized experience.

As wearables like fitness trackers, smart eyewear, and other body-mounted gear become more and more prominent, they will generate mountains of useful data. With more to analyze and learn from, data collection and usage will become more robust and more refined. This in turn will create new opportunities for both developers and businesses.

Data Security

With all this data, security concerns are sure to follow. In fact, users are far less likely to trust a company twice if the handling of their data even looks suspicious the first time. So, as the threat of cyber attacks and data breaches grows, wearable app developers need to implement – and continuously improve – data security measures. This reassures users while providing an extra layer of protection for your business interests.

The Future of Wearable Apps

These are just some of the most popular trends we expect to see in the world of wearable application development. The potential of wearable apps and devices is undeniable. As the technology matures and grows into new industries more trends and opportunities are sure to arise. But knowledgeable and experienced wearable app developers are ready to handle the challenges with creative and unique solutions.

What’s Causing the Shift Towards Voice?

The main driver for this shift towards voice user interfaces is changing user demands. There is an increased overall awareness and a higher level of comfort, demonstrated specifically by Millennial consumers. 

The mass adoption of artificial intelligence in users’ everyday lives is also fuelling the shift towards voice applications. The number of IoT (Internet of Things) devices – such as smart thermostats, appliances, and speakers – have given voice assistants more utility in a connected user’s life. Smart speakers have become the number one way voice is used, but they’re only the beginning.

Applications of this technology are everywhere, so where will it take us through 2022 and beyond? Let’s take a look at a few predictions.

7 Key Predictions for Voice Assistants

Mobile App Integration

Integrating voice-tech into mobile apps has become a hot trend. Voice-powered apps increase functionality and save users from complicated app navigation. Furthermore, voice-activated apps make it easier for the end-user to navigate in general. This is even true if they don’t know the exact name of the item they’re looking for or where to find it in the app’s menu.

Voice-tech in Healthcare

In 2020, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants played a vital role in the fight against COVID-19. Chatbots helped screen and triage patients. Apple’s Siri can even now walk users through CDC COVID-19 assessment questions and then recommends telehealth apps. Voice and conversational AI made health services more accessible to those unable to leave their home during COVID-19.

Now that patients have a taste for what is possible with voice and healthcare, behaviors are not likely to go back to re-pandemic norms. Expect more investment in voice-tech integration in the healthcare industry over the years to come. 

Search Behaviors Will Change

Voice search has been a hot topic of discussion. Visibility of voice will undoubtedly be a challenge. This is because the visual interface with voice assistants is missing. Users simply cannot see or touch a voice interface unless it is connected to the Alexa or Google Assistant app. Search behaviors, in turn, will see a big change. In fact, if Statista’s predictions are correct, the global speech recognition market should reach nearly $30 billion by 2026.

Brands have experienced a shift in which touchpoints have transformed into listening points, and organic search will be the main way in which brands have visibility. As voice search grows in popularity, advertising agencies and marketers expect Google and Amazon to open their platforms to additional forms of paid messages.

Individualized Experiences

Voice assistants will also continue to offer more individualized experiences as they get better at differentiating between voices.

Google Home is able to support up to six user accounts and detect unique voices. This allows Google Home users to customize many features. Users can ask “What’s on my calendar today?” or “Tell me about my day?” and the assistant will dictate commute times, weather, and news information for individual users. It also includes features such as nicknames, work locations, payment information, and linked accounts such as Google Play, Spotify, and Netflix.

Similarly, for those using Alexa, simply saying “learn my voice” will allow users to create separate voice profiles. That way the technology can detect who is speaking for a more individualized experience. 

Voice Cloning

Machine learning tech and GPU power development commoditize custom voice creation and make the speech more emotional. This, in turn, makes computer-generated voices that are indistinguishable from the real thing. You just use a recorded speech and then a voice conversion technology transforms your voice into another. Voice cloning becomes an indispensable tool for advertisers, filmmakers, game developers, and other content creators.

Smart displays

In recent years, smart displays are on the rise as they expanded voice-tech’s functionality. Now, the demand for these devices is even higher, with consumers showing a preference for smart displays over regular smart speakers.

In the third quarter of 2020, the sales of smart displays rose year-on-year by 21 percent to 9.5 million units, while basic smart speakers fell by three percent.  By 2023, we expect a lot of innovation in the world of smart displays, especially the integration of more advanced technology and more customization. Smart displays, like the Russian Sber portal or the Chinese smart screen Xiaodu, for example, are already equipped with a suite of upgraded AI-powered functions, including far-field voice interaction, facial recognition, hand gesture control, and eye gesture detection.

Voice in the Gaming Industry

It takes a lot of time and effort to record spoken dialogue for every character in a game. Now, developers can use sophisticated neural networks to mimic human voices. In fact, looking ahead, neural networks will even be able to create appropriate non-playable character (NPC) responses. Some game design studios and developers are working hard to create and embed this dialogue block into their tools, so seeing games include dynamic dialogue isn’t too far off. 

Why Adopt A Mobile Voice Strategy?

Mobile phones are already personalized, more so than any website. Additionally, there is very little screen space on mobile, making it more difficult for users to search or navigate. With larger product directories and more information, voice applications allow consumers to use natural language. This eliminates or reduces manual effort, and makes accomplishing tasks much faster. 

Rogers has introduced voice commands to their remotes, allowing customers to quickly browse and find their favorite shows or the latest movies with certain keywords; an actor’s name, for example. Brands need to focus on better mobile experiences for their consumers and voice is the way to do so. Users want quicker and more efficient ways of accomplishing tasks, and voice is quickly becoming the ideal channel for this. 

Whether it’s finding out information, making a purchase, or achieving a task, voice is the new mobile experience.

Voice User Interface (VUI) Will Continue to Advance

With just these simple scenarios it’s easy to see why voice assistants are becoming the hubs of our connected homes.

Voice technology is becoming increasingly accessible to developers. For example, Amazon offers Transcribe, an automatic speech recognition (ASR) service that allows developers to add speech-to-text capability to their applications. Once voice capability is integrated, users can analyze audio files and receive a text file of the transcribed speech.

Google has made moves in making Assistant more ubiquitous by opening the software development kit through Actions, which allows developers to build voice into their own products that support artificial intelligence. Another of Google’s speech-recognition products is the AI-driven Cloud Speech-to-Text tool which enables developers to convert audio to text through deep learning neural network algorithms.

The Future of VUI

This is only the beginning of voice technology; we expect to see major developments in the user interface in the years to come. With the advancements in VUI, companies need to start educating themselves on how they can best leverage voice to better interact with their customers. It’s important to ask what the value of adding voice will be; it doesn’t necessarily make sense for every brand to adopt it. How can you provide value to your customers? How are you solving their pain points with voice? Will voice enhance the user experience or frustrate the user?

Every day, voice-enabled apps get better at not only understanding what we say, but how we say it, and most importantly, what we mean.

However, there are still a number of barriers to overcome before voice applications will see mass adoption. Technological advances are making voice assistants more capable, particularly in AI, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning. To build a robust speech recognition experience, the artificial intelligence behind it must become better at handling challenges such as accents and background noise. And, as consumers are becoming increasingly more comfortable and reliant upon using voice to talk to their phones, cars, smart home devices, etc., voice technology will become a primary interface to the digital world and with it, expertise for voice interface design and voice app development will be in greater demand.

Voice Is the Future of Brand Interaction and Customer Experience

Advancements in a number of industries have helped digital voice assistants become more sophisticated and useful. Voice has now established itself as the ultimate mobile experience. However, a lack of skill and knowledge make it particularly hard for companies to adopt a voice strategy. There is a lot of opportunity for much deeper and much more conversational experiences with customers. The question is, is your brand willing to jump on this opportunity?

Keep Reading:

• Why You Should Add Voice Search to Your App
• Hottest Trends in Mobile App Development for 2022
• Five Emerging Mobile Trends in a Post-COVID-19 World

Web App Development

How are web apps different from websites? Typically, a website offers more information than a web app can display, so web apps condense website content to improve functionality. A web app loads in browsers like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, and doesn’t need to be downloaded from app stores like native mobile apps. Furthermore, web apps don’t take up storage on the user’s device.

If your goal is to offer mobile-friendly content to a wide range of users, a web app might be the appropriate development path. Web apps are a cost-effective way to put your product in the hands of a lot of users. However, you should keep in mind that users have incredibly high user experience and functionality standards that web apps sometimes can’t deliver. Performance and usability issues like load times, small images, and network availability frustrate users and can lead to the abandonment of your app.

How Do You Build a Web App?

Web apps are usually built using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5 and run inside a web browser. There is no software development kit for developers to use; however, there are templates to work with. If you choose to develop a web app, it can be straightforward and quick to build. That said, web apps are often overly simple and don’t offer the same features or functionality a native app can deliver.

Advantages of Web Apps

• Web apps are relatively easy to maintain because they use a common code base across multiple mobile platforms.
• Ability to build for all platforms as long as they run in an appropriate web browser.
• Compared to native apps, web apps are less expensive upfront.
• Web apps don’t adhere to standard operating system protocols and don’t require approval from the app marketplace; this allows for release at any time and in any format.
• Updates to web apps don’t need to go through an app store, meaning the user doesn’t have to manage updates manually. The newest version always loads when a user opens a web app.

Disadvantages of Web Apps

• Web apps have a much smaller scope when it comes to leveraging device features and hardware.
• A web app requires a browser to run. Users have to take more steps to use a web app, whether that’s searching for the page or typing in a URL. Either way, more effort complicates the user experience.
• Users interact with different web browsers and as a result, the usage patterns and performance metrics used to create a product roadmap are more difficult to collect.
• Unless marketed well, a web app will have poor discoverability due to not appearing in the app store.
• Web apps are slower and much less responsive than native apps.
• Web apps are less interactive and intuitive compared to native apps.
• There are fewer branding opportunities with web apps. An app store listing presents an invaluable opportunity to convey an app’s unique value proposition.

Other Types of Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are hybrids of regular web pages and native apps. Overall, web apps lack the functionality of native apps, such as sending push notifications or working offline. Browsers and web apps, however, are becoming more advanced. Now, PWAs can leverage features similar to native apps to improve their functionalities. This may include:

• Push notifications;
• Access to device hardware like vibration;
• Improved touch gestures.

Despite these improvements, PWAs are only compatible with a limited number of browsers. This includes Chromium-based browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, as well as Safari for iOS 11.3 and later.

Cloud-Based Web Apps

Despite the fact that cloud-based apps are web apps, the data for cloud apps is sorted and at least partially processed in the cloud. This is the main difference between web apps and cloud apps.

Modern email services are an example of a cloud-based app. Users interact with the app using web browsers or a mobile gadget. The app’s data is processed on the devices and on the cloud, which allows for both offline and online access. Furthermore, cloud apps allow users to quickly and easily share info, providing an opportunity for smooth collaboration. However, data must be accessed through an internet connection. This means users may have difficulty if their internet connection is poor or non-existent.

Native App Development

Native mobile apps are the most common development path. These apps are built for specific platforms and are written in specific languages that the platform accepts. For example, Swift and Objective-C for native iOS apps and Java or Kotlin for native Android apps. Additionally, native apps are built using the specific Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the selected operating systems.

Both Apple and Google provide app developers with their own development tools, interface elements, and SDKs. Most companies will invest in native mobile app development because of the multitude of benefits offered in comparison to other types of apps.

Advantages of Native Apps

• Native apps deliver the best performance of all three development approaches.
• Native apps receive complete support from app stores and the overall app marketplace. Distribution in app stores helps with discoverability.
• Native apps are interactive, intuitive, and run more smoothly in terms of user input and output.
• Native development allows developers to access the full feature set of the selected operating system.
• The user experience of native apps is far superior to web apps or hybrid apps. To the user, the flow is more natural because of each mobile operating system’s specific UI guidelines and standards.
• A native app must be approved by its respective operating system. This assures quality, security, and device compatibility.

Disadvantages of Native Apps

• Native apps use difficult programming languages which requires experienced developers.
• More cost upfront when compared to web or hybrid development.
• Native apps are not the best option for simple applications.

While the initial cost of native mobile app development may be higher than other options, this development approach will save money over time. By offering a great user experience, better performance, and accessibility, native apps are able to offer users a more personalized product. The multiple advantages of native apps result in higher conversion rates and long-term customer loyalty.

Other Native Development Paths

With native app development, you must build different apps for different operating systems; however, developers have new technologies for programming. Two platforms, in particular, Xamarin and React Native, can sometimes be classified as other types of native app development.

Xamarin App Development

Xamarin lets developers build one app that runs on many platforms using C#. With C#-shared codebase, developers can use Xamarin tools to write native iOS, Android, and Windows applications with native user interfaces and share code across multiple platforms.

React Native App Development

React Native also allows developers to build authentic native iOS and Android apps with one codebase. With React Native, developers can create a mobile app that’s identical to a product developed using either Objective-C or Java. React Native, however, is written in JavaScript and React.

In mobile app development, the term native is defined as an ecosystem that Apple or Google, for example, chooses for developing apps for their operating systems. Xamarin and React Native technology is very complex and can be classified as either native or hybrid. Xamarin can be considered a native and a hybrid development platform, as it builds native Android, iOS, and Windows apps in C#, with either Visual Studio or Xamarin Studio. It also creates hybrid applications for multiple operating systems using C# codebase, IDE, language, and APIs. However, since there is another layer between the code and the platform, many people consider it hybrid development.

Hybrid App Development

Hybrid apps work across multiple platforms and behave like native apps. A hybrid app is essentially a combination of a native app and a web app. Although this type of app can be installed on a device like a native app, it is technically a web app. In fact, these types of apps are built with HTML, CSS, or JavaScript and run in a webview.

Hybrid app development is essentially a web app that incorporates additional native features. Including native features is possible when you deploy a wrapper to act as a bridge between platforms. A hybrid app consists of two parts:

1. The backend code, written in languages like HTML, CSS, or JavaScript;
2. A native shell. This shell is downloadable and loads the code using a webview.

Advantages of Hybrid App Development

• Hybrid apps don’t need a web browser like web apps.
• Apps have access to a device’s internal APIs and device hardware.
• Hybrid apps require only one codebase.

Disadvantages of Hybrid App Development

• Hybrid apps are much slower than native apps.
• With hybrid app development, you’re dependent on a third-party platform to deploy the app’s wrapper.
• The customization the app requires takes away from hybrid development, which costs more money that can be saved with native app development.

With hybrid app development, you have to contend with issues that stem from both native systems and hybrid systems, which makes bug fixing more difficult. Performance is also a disadvantage because hybrid apps load in a webview. The user experience is often sacrificed with a hybrid app as you cannot customize the app based on the platform.

Customizability is a significant disadvantage to hybrid apps. The more customization you do, the more you’re steering toward a native solution. If customization is important to you, taking the native approach to development will be more beneficial. In fact, the more customization you want in your hybrid app, the more expensive the project will be, and therefore a native solution will end up being more cost-effective.

Web vs Native vs Hybrid: Which Approach is Best?

The decision of building a web vs native vs hybrid app should be based on your business objectives. Before jumping into development, you should consider the following factors:

• How fast you need the app;
• The quality of the user experience you want your app to have;
• The complexity of features you need for your app to work.

Whichever approach you choose should, above all, be quick, responsive, and reliable. As users are demanding more from mobile experiences, it’s important to keep up with their changing demands. Whichever app you decide to build, remember the following:

• Your API infrastructure should have reliable and easy access to your content and services;
• A mobile app should not be a replication of your website, rather an extension of your brand;
• Always have an understanding of your users’ expectations and behaviors and adapt as market demands change.

Finally, it’s important to work with an app development company that specializes in platform-specific design and development.

Should Cost Decide Your Development Approach?

In short, choosing a development method should not be determined solely by cost. The user experience should be the primary factor that helps you decide whether to build a web, native, or hybrid app.

While a hybrid app may have lower upfront costs, they are more prone to bugs which can end up costing you more money. Not to mention losing frustrated users to subpar user experience. When working with the latest features released for a particular operating system, bugs become a huge concern for hybrid app development. This carries cost implications and can extend the timeline for development.

Similarly, web apps may not be as expensive as native apps, but depending on your business goals and required functionality, a web app also might not meet user expectations for experience.

Web vs Native vs Hybrid Infographic

The debate surrounding which app type is best remains relevant today as the lines between the three approaches are becoming increasingly blurred. While the discussion to differentiate the three mobile apps continues, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t choose an approach for the technology. Instead, choose based on what you want your app to do. If you choose an approach that doesn’t allow your app to utilize device features, for example, then you’ll end up wasting a lot of time and money when you decide to add features.

The choice of web vs native vs hybrid development is dependent on a number of factors, including business needs, app requirements, developer skill, and timelines. The bottom line is that each type of app offers an entirely different experience and it’s important to know the strengths and weaknesses of each before jumping into development.

To stay ahead of your competitors, and keep up with your users’ expectations, now is the time to add ML and AI to your mobile apps. Here’s what you’ll need to know for a successful implementation.

The Difference Between AI & ML

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a general term for any technology that uses logic, “if-then” rules, decision trees, and machine learning to give the appearance of human intelligence.

Machine Learning

Machine Learning, or ML, is a single aspect of AI. ML is a set of methods that allow for automatic identification of patterns in data. Those patterns are then used to predict future data or to help perform further decision-making.

Data, in the form of images, text, or voice, allows ML to answer questions. The data is provided to the ML system first, and then answers, called “labels,” are provided from the system. The algorithm then “learns” from each data set to make predictions, also called inferences.

Benefits of ML & AI Mobile Apps

There are many reasons to implement ML and AI technologies into your mobile apps. Here are some of the most common.

Reasoning

AI and ML are powerful tools that add the ability to reason to your mobile app. Consider apps that provide driving directions, like Google Maps. If you’ve used apps like this to travel to the same location more than once, you’ve likely noticed that it provides different routes based on traffic conditions. This is the essence of how AI works: it uses basic reasoning skills powered by real-time data to provide the best solutions.

Improved Personalization

The strength of AI is its ability to evaluate data from a wide range of sources. This includes, for example, data sources like social media, search terms, and credit ratings. This data can then be used to provide tailor-made recommendations to each user’s device.

ML provides answers to questions the AI needs to offer those recommendations, like:

• Who is the user?
• What are their preferences?
• How much money do they have?
• What vernacular do they use to describe products?

Advanced Search

All user data, including typical, routine actions, can be accessed through search algorithms. This, combined with behavioral data, can be used to enhance the search function within your app. This provides better and more contextual results, while making searching easier and less time-consuming for users. Furthermore AI and ML can aid in the implementation of gesture search or voice search to improve your app’s performance even more.

Data Mining

One of the key advantages of ML is that, in general, the algorithms it provides get better over time. This ability to learn and improve allows for the effortless gathering of data, and the identification of connections within those data sets.

Improved Security

ML powered AI mobile apps provide more efficient and secure app verification. Furthermore, this enhanced security acts as a powerful marketing tool. Users have the opportunity to use biometric data as a verification step. Recently, facial recognition has seen a jump in popularity. And for good reason: it improves security while also speeding up the login process. Additionally, it helps protect data from other, unknown sources.

Fraud Prevention

Fraud is a concern shared by all industries, but it is of particular interest to banking and finance professionals. Machine learning is especially useful here, where it can reduce loan defaults, fraud checks, credit card fraud, and more. Moreover, it provides the ability to analyze an individual’s risk, as well as their ability to repay a loan.

Additional Benefits

In addition to all these benefits, adding AI and ML to your mobile app also provides:

• Faster completion of repetitive tasks;
• Enhanced accuracy and completeness;
• Improved client experiences;
• More intelligent interactions with users;
• Better retention of users.

How to Integrate ML & AI into Your Mobile App

Integrating AI and ML into an existing app is a major change. As such, it requires a massive shift in the way the application functions. Here’s how to update your app.

Identify the Kinds of Problems ML/AI Mobile Apps Can Solve

Before you invest in ML/AI mobile apps, you must first understand what these systems can do. Both ML and AI are potent tools and are capable of supercharging your existing solutions, but only if you understand them first.

To better grasp the efficacy of AI mobile apps:

• Consult with AI experts, online resources, and other information;
• Improve your knowledge by exploring existing tools and technology.
• Explore case studies from your industry to see how others have successfully implemented AI and ML into their products.

Know Where AI & ML May Improve Your App

Once you have a better understanding of what ML and AI mobile apps can do, it’s time to identify the key problems in your app that need to be solved. Different industries – indeed, different businesses within the same industry – face different and unique problems. That said, some of the most common problems that arise are data-based insights, customer service, recommendation systems, and security systems.

Once you feel you’ve identified areas where ML and AI can improve your app, consider running a market analysis and see if similar applications have worked – or not.

Map Out Your Plan & Budget

Your next step is to roll out your plan for ML/AI implementation. A key aspect of this implementation is deciding how much you want to pay for it. Your budget will impact how much can be done. If you have no financial constraints, you may be free to completely revamp your app all at once. However, regardless of your budget, it’s best to formulate a staged plan for your ML/AI integration. That’s because once you have your problem areas identified, and your budget worked out, you will be able to prioritize your changes.

Data Integration & Security

At this point you should have a better understanding of how AI mobile apps work, have identified where they can improve your app, and have a plan and a budget for implementation. But it’s not time to start just yet. Instead, you now must consider your data.

For machine learning to operate at its best, it requires well organized data. Old data, which may be organized differently, can have a negative impact on the efficiency of your ML/AI mobile app. For this reason, once you have your plan in place, you’ll need to focus on your database. Ensuring your data is well-organized will help keep your app performing at its peak in the long-term.

This step is also the perfect time to consider security for your ML/AI mobile apps. In order to maintain the integrity of your user’s data, you’ll need to integrate security measures.

Implementation

Finally, now that all your budgeting, planning, and pre-processing is complete, it’s time to begin your implementation and deployment. Your team will need to take extra care during this step to test all your changes before they go live to your users.

Additionally, it’s recommended that you consider adding a strong analytics system during your deployment. This can help you analyze the impact adding ML and AI to your app has, and provide insights for future updates.

Supporting Aids

Lastly, it’s wise to choose robust supporting technologies and digital solutions to back your app. This means data storage aids, security tools, backup software, optimization solutions, and more. Ensure that each is future-proof to keep your app working consistently. Without proper supporting aids, it’s possible for your app’s performance to decline significantly over time.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence and machine learning are the future of mobile app development. This is because AI mobile apps offer a more personalized user experience, more advanced services, and more revenue for your company. Furthermore, implementing ML and AI solutions now, while the technology is still young, will put you on the cutting edge and ahead of your competitors.

Keep Reading:

Artificial Intelligence in Mobile Banking: Reshaping The Customer Experience

How 5G Apps are Changing Mobile Application Development

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