3 Things Professional Apps Do
In this post we will be covering things that professional apps do (that you’re probably not doing). If you want to learn how to make better apps and make them look more professional instead of ametuer read on!
1. Professional apps use A/B tests
When you have an app and you make a change. How would you know if the change is effective or not? You use an A/B test.
What’s an A/B test?
An A/B test is a test you do to your app where half your users see one version of your app and another half sees a different version. Then you compare the results of each version and stick to the one with better results.
This may seem minor but let’s take a hypothetical example: You redesigned your app. How would you know if the redesign is good or not? You could eyeball it and see if it looks good, But nothing is better than cold hard data. If you’re users say they love the redesign but are spending 10% less time on the app then you have a problem.
That summarizes the power of data pretty nicely.
bottom line: Use A/B tests to figure out what works and what doesn’t users are a flimsy source of information if you can use data.
… And speaking of data.
2. Professional apps use analytics
This ties into the above really nicely. If you don’t have a good analytics program you will have problems figuring out what works and what doesn’t. If your only source of data is your users then you know why that’s a bad source of data already.
It also helps you realize what experiments work on your app for example: Let’s say you write a blog post on your website (i use app and website and web app interchangeably since all these rules apply to all of them) and that post does really badly. Now let’s say that you contrasted it with a post that did really well. Now you can understand why that post did badly and won’t repeat that mistake.
Ray Dalio’s book Principles explains the idea of extracting a lesson from every experience you get. It’s a great read and it’s lessons can be applied to app development. In a nutshell: If something sucks then stop doing it.
Things to consider when you use tools like these.
There are two main things you need to keep in mind: First that you may need to modify your privacy policy so that you don’t end up violating the law. (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer). Secondly: If you overuse data you won’t be creative and will fall into the habit of small thinking with small gains. Never stop experimenting with something if you think you can make it better.
3. Consistency consistency consistency
(see what i did there it’s point no. 3 so may as well repeat it 3 times ;) )
Alright imagine you download an app with a top bar that’s blue on the main page. Then when you enter the settings page it’s red. And on the contact page it’s green. What do you think people will think about this ap. They will think it’s weird at best. And that it’s completely horrible at worst.
This highlights the value of consistency with your design. Pick a theme and stick to it. (unless you’re doing an A/B test ;) ). If you want to get more information on consistent design then i would recommend you keep the following points in mind:
- Use the same amount of spacing for similar components on your app.
- Pick 4–5 colors in a color palette and never deviate from them.
- Make a design document where you document these sorts of things so you can refer to them later when you need to.
Originally published at https://valuegrammer.tech.
