The Solution for Low-Risk App Development

In a world full of apps, one must be at the forefront of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design to remain competitive. Without quality UI, your audience will get lost, confused, and frustrated—all of which leads to an incredibly negatively UX. Unfortunately, good designers can be expensive, and executives with the right capabilities are hard to find. The result has been a push toward tools that have a built-in, proven foundation for developing new applications.

Think Before Designing from Scratch

The obvious key to a successful app is widespread acceptance. What is sometimes less obvious is how to attain this. UX and UI design are at the top of the list. Though often lumped together as one concept, these two aspects of design differ greatly from one another. UX is the overall experience an individual has with an application, including ease of navigation, comprehensiveness, appeal of inherent functionality, responsiveness, and glitch management. UI is one element within UX and represents an app’s design, including the display, appearance, and overall feel for users. If either UI or UX fails to please users, they’ll be on to the next app.

While many businesses are attempting to cut costs by creating apps on their own, this isn’t always advisable. A few risks to consider prior to designing an app’s UX and UI include:

• Integration: A novice designer may not understand how to navigate integration. Even the most beautiful app can cause problems when it can’t seamlessly integrate with other software and an overarching platform.

• Subjectivity: Many forms of design are inherently subjective. The goal of a solid UX is to make users feel good about their experience. New designers may not be able to distinguish between their own desires and their target user’s patterns. Even the best intentions can lead to a UX that a broader audience won’t enjoy.

• Shadow IT: Many apps are easy-to-use tool sets. Poorly designed apps inspire others to create their own versions or use alternative methods. Shadow IT will hurt apps rather than propel them forward, so bringing together employees and clients alike with a solid UX is vital to success.

• Adoption: UX design is critical. If users don’t enjoy the experience, they won’t use the app.

• Brand loyalty: Even established clients will hesitate if an app doesn’t have a desirable UX. To attain (and maintain) brand loyalty, it’s important to implement strong design foundations.

• Time: Developing an app from scratch—especially for the first time—is extremely time-consuming. Time is money.

Consider the Tools at Your Disposal

Many people think their only options are to design apps themselves or hire an expensive team. That’s no longer the case. There are now tools on the market that help companies create their own apps. User experience as a service for SAP represents a combination of knowledge and flexibility. It accelerates development while scaling and personalizing a solid UX. With a built-in knowledge base, non-designers can learn about end user needs, which will help streamline the design strategy.

This cloud-based solution allows for a variety of people in any organization to collaborate on designs. Another benefit of the cloud component is an assurance of easy integration and consistency across platforms. Without any coding required, companies can smoothly design and deploy apps.

Launch with Confidence

I believe that businesses will come to rely on these tools more and more. Rather than trying to find and fund talent, this solution presents a time and cost-effective alternative. With low risk for the organization, this is a tool set destined for widespread adoption.

This article has been brought to you in part by the SAP HANA cloud platform. Please visit the SAP HANA cloud platform to find the latest in software and services to power your business.

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