Chris Beaman outlines some of the keys to creating a fantastic mobile application experience. He discusses wireframes, creating something different, making conversion as simple as possible and more.

1. How to Create a Great Mobile
App Experience

2. It’s no secret that people are
using their mobile devices more
and more.

3. Walking down the street, nearly
everyone has their head buried
in their smartphone.

4. With the increase in smartphone
use comes the increase in
mobile engagement, making
mobile applications a necessity
to your business.

5. A recent article featured on The
Washington Post notes that
some companies are
abandoning websites altogether.

6. The number of companies
developing mobile-only
strategies is constantly
increasing as it makes more
sense financially.

7. The number of users on mobile
vs. desktop is nearly identical,
but the trend shows that mobile
will far surpass desktop web
surfing in the coming years.

8. While I wouldn’t recommend
getting rid of your website just
yet, it is important to start
looking at the feasibility of
developing a mobile application.

9. Below I’ve included some tips
that will help you get your mobile
application off the ground.

10. Wireframes help visualize
everything.

11. Your wireframe should be your
best friend.

12. Wireframes allow you to test the
workflow of your mobile
application.

13. Going through the wireframe
allows you to visualize how your
users will behave when using
the application.

14. Quickly, you can identify which
steps could use improvement.

15. Create something different and
figure out what is important.

16. You don’t want your application
to mirror your website.

17. Make sure that you are creating
something original that still
reflects your brand but is not a
clone of your website.

18. Applications are build to do
things similar to your website but
in a simplistic way.

19. Include only the most important
functions and perfect these.

20. Make conversion as simple as
possible.

21. Mobile users do not want to read
blocks of text.

22. They also don’t want to take 10
clicks to purchase something.

23. Streamline your content so that
a user can go from finding a
product to purchasing it as
quickly as possible.

24. Also, make sure that your
application is easily searchable
so that it becomes an
indispensible tool for the user.

25. Your grandma should be able to
navigate the app.

26. Be sure to test your application
thoroughly before exposing it to
your end users.

27. The engineers shouldn’t only do
this testing – you should have
people that have very little
experience with smartphones
using it as well.

28. Consider having your parents or
an elder with little application
experience try it out.

29. This will show you just how
simple your product really is.