Let's Have an App for That
Have you downloaded the new COVID-19 Track & Trace app onto your Android or App-le? The UK government's T&T app has been relaunched six months late to a lot of app-athy, and more bugs than it's likely to catch. I suspect we would be better off sending everyone a “Scratch ‘n’ Sniff” card to see if they’ve lost their sense of smell as well as their will to live.
Given that smartphones have only been in general use for about 12 years, it’s been amazing to see the incredible growth in valuable uses that people have found for these pocket computers, such as:
- Gambling (loot box) apps for kids
- Food delivery apps to save the lockdown lardies from waddling to the takeaway
- Personal data-extracting systems under the guise of social media
- Obsessively stalking your ‘loved ones’ by enabling tracking on their phones without them knowing
- Apps requiring expensive subscriptions just to remove ads (Yes, you Scopely, ruining Scrabble for millions of people)
How did we manage beforehand? We’ve gone from porn and pussies on your desktop to in-app purchases and 24x7 surveillance from, well, anyone who wants to snoop on us. Of course, we have also gained convenience in some areas, such as calling a cab, contacting emergency services when out and about, and sending curated humblebrag photos from our luxury holidays in real time to infuriate our friends and neighbours.
Every organisation now has a Chief Digital Officer, whose job it is to parrot the title of this blog – Let’s Have an App for That – whenever a senior manager wants some help to achieve their goals. Of course, there will be some business problems for which an app is great, particularly delivery of digital services to replace physical channels or manual interaction. Others, not so much – such as static brochureware, apps that still make you phone the company, or forcing your customers to enter 40 pages of data on a 4-inch screen.
So how do you actually build a useful app that won’t just accumulate embarrassing 1-star reviews? Here’s my handful of helpful hints to avoid the crap app trap:
- Keep it Simple, Stupes. If they have to RTFM, you’ve failed
- Lean, clean, and mean. Less is more(ish). White spaces, clear layout, no animation
- Make it quick. Your users have shorter attention spans than goldfish
- Make it phat. For the fat fingered & thumbed, so big up the buttons please
- Get personal. Give users as much (apparent) control as possible, ‘cause they want to be the boss
- Easy input. Less data entry, more contextual defaults, and autocomplete
- Test, test, test. Preferably before you release, or your customers will crucify you
I know that there’s also a lot of guff about Customer Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX), but it’s mostly common sense – the best CX/UX is when it just works.
John ‘App-alled’ Moe
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