Creating a mobile app: Step no 6 – POLISH & RECTIFICATION

Blog no 1 of this series showed how research was the first step to determine the direction in which one should proceed with regards to getting the right app for their business. Step no 2 was to anticipate what users would want, and step no 3 to ensure versatility and ethos in design and application, and step no 4 was the choice of platform. Step no 5 was to know what features customers expected apart from the ones they anticipated.

You might have come to the decision that having a mobile app for your business is of strategic importance to your sales and for the general reinforcement of your brand’s name. So now to the business of choosing the right kind of app that doesn’t end up being a disservice to you, in this 7-blog series we have listed some of the cardinal questions you need to be asking yourself in order to make well-informed choices.

Step n°6 is polish and rectification. While this may seem frivolous at the beginning, it is a measure that demands attention. You need to be able to test the app before launching it on your customers. This helps you take stock of bugs and glitches and what is working well. Once this beta version looks steady for release, then you can blast off with confidence.

While there may be much that you can calculate or anticipate, your app should allow for consistent changes that will occur in gracious plenty based on use and feedback. This point reiterates the necessity for real-time design updates (link to real-time design in blog 5 Functions), which allows you to make changes without the user having to manually update it in their app each time. When you have this feature, it allows you to diligently progress without frustrating your patrons to the point of them uninstalling it.

Some of the basic things that could require rectification would include glitches in regular route patterns customers make. For instance, during the checkout process, or issues when viewing details of a product, to name a few very basic problems.

Polish entails more than just making an app work correctly. It’s the glitz and sparkle that you keep adding to the app to surprise customers while also making their experience easier and fun. Let’s use the example of the big Indian online optician. Their app allows customers to virtually try out spectacle frames and lens colours. This is an advantage that sends them sailing ahead of their competition! This caters to the whimsical need of patrons to try on as many specimens as they please, and actually get a clear understanding of what it will look like. This additionally negates the number of spectacles returned because it seems different in reality and I don’t like the way it looks on me.

You need to figure out what’s best for your product and who can do it for you. The technology is there; what creative ways you can come up with to get people hooked? At the end of the day, when it helps your customer as well as you, everyone goes to bed hugely satisfied!