Creating a functioning health app is quite an achievement. But that’s just the beginning. The next step is to make sure that it’s user-friendly.
The harsh reality is that customers are spoiled for choice. Open the app store and you’ll find dozens of healthcare products. If you aren’t creating a pleasant experience, they’ll simply move on to something else.
Thankfully, designing a user-friendly health app isn’t as difficult as it sounds. You just need to keep a few basic principles in mind.
Get To Know Your Audience
The best place to start is by getting to know more about the people who will be using your app. Do a deep dive to learn what they are looking for. Interviews and surveys can give you some good insights. Try asking users if you can shadow them for a day, getting some first-hand experience about the challenges they face. Then you can brainstorm some innovative ways your apps can overcome these problems.
Know Your Competition
The best place to start this step is by looking at the broader market. Find which apps are the most popular. Learn whether the marketplace is crowded or limited. Do some research to find out how much people are willing to spend on a health app in your niche. This will help you choose an appropriate budget when developing your own product.
By now, you should have an idea of who your main competitors are. Take a closer look at their apps. The aim isn’t to copy them. You should be looking at what works. Try to find a unique way to incorporate the things they do well into your app. You can also use this research to determine which features you want to focus your attention on.
Equally important is trying to discover the things they are doing wrong. Once you’ve spotted the chink in the armor, your app can take advantage. For example, you might find that your main competitor’s app is slow to run. Focus on speeding up your app.
Develop A Prototype
By now, you should know what your audience is looking for. Now you can start work on developing a prototype. This should be a functional product that your customers can test. But it doesn’t need to be perfect just yet.
During this stage, it’s time to start developing a clear vision for your app. Narrow down the kind of aesthetic you want. Pick the perfect color palette. Select which icons you want to use. Choose which fonts you want. I know these can seem trivial, but they are big decisions. A distinctive aesthetic will set your product apart from your competitors while setting the tone for the user experience.
You will also need to think about how you are going to format the app. Remember, to consider how people will interact with the app. Features should be easy to find. Offer personalization to allow people to save their most-used features. Don’t forget to set up support documents, going into more depth about how to use your app.
Seek Feedback
Once you have your prototype, it’s time to get it into the hands of your users. Ask them to provide honest feedback. You’ll learn the things that are working. More importantly, though, you’ll be able to spot the problems that you need to fix.
If users find an issue, make sure that they don’t hold back their critique to spare your feelings. I know that reading negative comments can be tough. But it needs to be done. Once you know the problems, you can work to fix them. Allowing you to build a better app.
Re-Develop Your Prototype
This is an opportunity to fix the issues that people had with your app. You should also put the finishing touches on your prototype. Double-check that everything is working properly.
No app will ever be perfect. But by the end of this step, your app should be as close as possible.
Launch And Continue To Grow
This is the most exciting and nerve-wracking step of the process. You will need to launch your app onto the market. With any luck, thousands of strangers will download it.
A successful launch is hard. Take a moment to bask in your success. But your work isn’t over yet. Remember, the health app space is competitive. Other apps are vying to take your spot on the top.
You should continue to make gradual improvements to the app. This can mean continuing to upgrade the interface or adding new features.
Conclusion
Designing a user-friendly health app won’t be easy. I know the hours of hard work it will take. But it will be necessary. Once you’ve finished, your app will have the ingredients to take over the app store. Allowing you to create a loyal, and lucrative, fanbase.
