Most businesses today that want an app have an app. But having one is not the entire process. The app maker and the business behind the mobile application still need to get it to actually work effectively.
Because more people are using apps, many businesses are focusing on the bells and whistles to help them stand out — instead of designing the apps to reach optimal efficiency. Often, the app maker is more focused on monetizing a greater share from app users than seeing the third-party entity gain a hefty revenue slice.
Often stuck in the middle are the consumers who download and install the mobile apps, then contend with a less-than-pleasant user experience. They also have to tolerate shoddy — and even potentially dangerous — app performance.
This is a problem for both the business and the app developer. Flashy apps only enhance the user experience when the app is fully capable of doing what it needs to. Making sure an app works on both ends, even for the simplest tasks, is crucial to producing a high-quality application that all parties involved in the business process find valuable.
Misdirected Efforts
A big part of this functionality problem is that developers can miss the points that are important to the business behind the mobile app. This is where the theory of silent utility comes into play. That happens when, for example, the retailer behind the app misses the app developer’s focus on the features the retailer did not care about. This can involve the retail experience and selling their goods or services.
What they often skip is that consumers only use 20 percent of the app’s functionality anyway. Developers do not spend any energy on making the onboarding and the cart checkout experiences.
The app developers scatter across a landscape of different features and functions that users do not use. So the retailer’s sales efforts are going to fall flat despite having spent time, money, and energy on features that are never going to get used and in fact become a risk in the app store.
Consistency Is Essential
The challenge is for the retailer or website owner to identify and then solve customer experience problems. The trick is research, not data or surveys that nobody fills out that are self-selecting anyway. The solution lies with using actual real research into that behavior.
Retailers and app developers need to be on the same page for what the app must accomplish. Both need to know the driver for actually having an app. The purpose of having an app developer is usually trying to get in on the purchase for the revenue. In that case, the app developer is going to strip away all the things that get in the way of revenue development.
If you are a retailer who has a digital channel set up, inclusive of an app, a website, retail store, and physical locations, you need to have consistency across those property.