Four Big Challenges of Designing Apps
Application development is a hot field. The explosion in mobile devices has turned a monolithic process dominated by a few big players into something everyone seems to be doing.
And you could do it too, right?
Maybe. Or maybe not.
Even if you’re a crackerjack website developer, your skills – and tolerance for frustration – won’t necessarily translate into app development. There are a few things that make this process distinctive, and not a good fit for everyone.
- Complexity. Even a simple app has multiple components, and each one has to interact with the other smoothly and successfully. That makes the development process taxing. You need to be able to keep a lot of information running in your brain simultaneously, and be able to see how changes in a small part of your app might have a big affect on other areas. It’s kind of like playing a game of chess nonstop for weeks on end. You can never really relax while it’s going on, lest you forget something critical.
- Coding time. Think of a seemingly simple application – Slickplan, for example. Guess how many screens you’d have to code for that site. Now multiply that by 10. If you’re interested in app development, you need to be ready for a massive amount of work, even for very streamlined sites. The number of PSDs I have to build for a single app always surprises me, even though I should know better by now.
- Awareness. You also can’t get caught up in your own development process and block out the rest of the world. Chances are, the success of your app will depend heavily on how well it reflects current usability standards and the way that other, even dissimilar apps are being designed. So you can’t ever stick your head in the sand. You have to know how your users expect their screen to behave. And what they expect today is likely very different from what they expected six months ago.
- A never-ending story. You may be used to designing websites and purging them from your brain the day they go live. It doesn’t work that way with apps. Instead, expect a never-ending process of debugging and incremental improvement. And don’t be surprised when your users come back at you with an insane number of ideas and suggestions – everything from basic stuff you can’t believe you missed, to sophisticated ideas that knock your socks off.
You can get frustrated with that, or you can sit back and realize how amazing it is that your users care enough to click that little “feedback” button and tell you what they think. If you think you can do the latter – and do it with a smile on your face – you just might be ready for the world of application development.
Great Sitemaps = Great Websites
Everyone gets excited about building a website.
Why not? Creating a new site for your firm is a big deal. Often, the effort combines new branding, new functionality, and new ways of interacting with your clients.
Unfortunately, in all the excitement, some people rush the process. And the part they often gloss over is putting together a sitemap.
A sitemap looks like no big deal. It’s just an outline of your website – an “org chart” showing where each page on your site will fall.
But in reality, your sitemap is critical. It’s the foundation on which your entire website is built. It defines how your content is organized, what’s included, and what’s left out. A good sitemap also facilitates your sales process, laying out intuitive pathways for clients to follow through your site.
When folks rush a sitemap, a number of problems can occur.
Sometimes, critical content gets left out. Or the content is there, but buried in such a strange place that no one can find it.
Other times, the sitemap has to be heavily revised. And if we’ve begun design and development, that means work must be redone. On a simple site, that could mean an hour or two of extra labor. On a complex site, that could mean days.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to avoid these problems. Spend adequate time on your sitemap.
In other words,
- Think carefully about the goals of your website before you start work. Your navigational structure should facilitate your sales process, not represent any random old organization.
- Get third-party input. Talk to colleagues or trusted customers about how they approach your current site. What do they expect to find? What do they most often look for on your site? What do they have trouble finding?
- Make organization a top concern. Think carefully about what your customers need to know, then decide how that information should be organized. Make detailed notes about what content should go on each page of your site, so nothing gets left out.
- Finally, talk with us. It often helps to have one of our project managers put together a draft sitemap for you, based on your input and ideas. Because we’re not as close to your content as you are, we can often see it more clearly, and help you organize it in a logical, intuitive fashion.
And remember, take the web development process one step at a time. When you’re working on your sitemap, stay focused. Don’t get distracted by what photos might go on each page or what colors your site will be. Nail your content first, and everything else will fall into place.