Apple’s App Store attracted more than 650 million average weekly visitors worldwide in 2022, with users downloading and re-downloading apps billions of times a week.
Yet 77 percent of mobile apps are abandoned within three days of download.
4 Steps for a Successful App Building Collaboration
- Discovery: Conduct research to pinpoint the target audience.
- Definition: Define what you want the app to do for its users.
- Design: Meet with product teams during the design phase. Test and test and test again.
- Delivery and beyond: Keep talking with end users to refine the app, with additional testing as needed.
In our three decades of developing digital products, we have found that highly rated and widely used apps all have one thing in common: incredible user experiences. Ninety percent of users report exiting an app due to poor user experiences (UX), according to the 2023 State of Mobile report.
A user-experience-led approach to designing digital products is only possible when the development team is 100 percent aligned with the product owners. Being in lockstep on every aspect of the build and buying into a co-creation strategy is critical to developing delightful digital user experiences.
Co-innovation was the topic of a recent webinar I participated in, along with product design and engineering leaders from Orion Innovation and Rheem, a maker of water heaters and HVACR products. The discussion focused on how working collaboratively can fast-track product innovation. Our talk covered the four phases of development, with specific examples of our partnership in developing Rheem’s award-winning contractor app. Here are the key takeaways.
Discovery Phase
The discovery phase involves thorough research to understand the challenges and needs of the target audience. Without proper market research, there’s a high risk of failure.
Developers and product owners should share knowledge and research on existing solutions and partner in conducting interviews with their users. We took that approach when we met with dozens of Rheem’s main customers — contractors, plumbers and distributors — at its plant. Interacting and engaging in a one-on-one environment helped us pinpoint common pain points together.
During these interviews and workshops, we learned about different users and their unique needs and challenges, which in this case revolved around optimizing equipment and needing assistance with installations, diagnostics and repairs.
We use these insights to create user personas and map user journeys, driving new features and capabilities in the application.
Definition Phase
In the definition phase, we developed the baseline of what we wanted in the application. We started by defining the technical requirements with the Rheem product team and reprioritizing them collectively. We then established a cadence for learning and adjusting the app’s features based on the user personas. Once we had the requirements and capabilities in place, we mapped user journeys to guide our design and establish the experience design strategy.
Design Phase
Knowing our goal was to provide a guided experience for contractors by taking the guesswork out of their processes and improving their workflow, we started mocking up concepts and developing prototypes. We continuously met with the product team to validate our design execution and collaborate on new ideas.
Once we arrived at a workable version, we repeatedly tested it with contractors and identified any challenges or features they felt might be missing. Over four days at a major Las Vegas industry conference, we engaged with more than 100 contractors to test the working Figma prototype. We set up surveys and conducted interviews to gauge their reactions, their excitement about the app’s potential, and their honest feedback about what was working and what wasn’t.
Delivery Phase and Beyond
We took the feedback and made the necessary adjustments. We refined the design and functionality based on what we heard from those who would use the app for their daily work. We focused on key questions such as whether the app would help users do their jobs better, whether it was purposeful and if it would make their work more efficient.That direct interaction with the end users makes a massive difference in any project’s success.
Additional testing continues to produce new features, challenges and knowledge. This is also the phase where we can start to see the app’s future state and upcoming features. For example, because we can track installations, we can offer incentives or other products based on the work being performed.
The app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times over the last year. It has a 4.5-star rating in the Apple App Store, one of the highest ratings in this segment. The app is 54 percent faster than other brands and 62 percent faster for diagnostics and troubleshooting than the other brands using this.
Successful digital product development requires a partnership with product owners and developers. Having boots on the ground to work together and strong synergy and alignment between the teams allows you to create products that deliver exceptional user experiences that affect your customers’ daily lives.
