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5 Must-Have Features for Your Mobile Business App

As a business owner, you see the benefits of having a mobile application to help create efficiencies, cut operation costs and increase mobility.

Before you rush into the development stage, you should clearly identify your primary goals for your mobile solution and secondly, understand the features that you may want to be included in the app.

While most app features are discovered during initial conversations with the developer and discussed throughout the development process, it is still important to know and understand the elements of an effective mobile app.

To help you get started, we’ve put together the top five features of good mobile apps:

1. An Attractive User Interface

Visual design is not only about selecting the perfect images, colors, icons, fonts, but also determining how the appearance of the application impacts the user experience. The architecture and design phase is typically the first phase of every app development process, as it lays the foundation for the look and feel of the app.

2. Ease of Use

Eliminating any barriers to entry when using the app is another important element in creating an effective workplace application. You may lose users if they find your app difficult to navigate. In order to create the best user experience, it’s important to test your app with different user groups to find out how comfortable they feel while interacting with the app’s content across different platforms and environments. The journey throughout each section of the app should be smooth and seamless.

3. Fast and Reliable Performance

Have you ever used an app that loads slowly, crashes or completely shuts down while running? Understandably, most users have little patience for poor functionality and end up uninstalling or abandoning the problematic app. The most successful apps have fast response times and run continuously in the background. This is generally tested during the quality assurance phase in the app development process.

4. Simplicity

While it’s tempting to throw in fancy features on your mobile app, you lose your user when there are too many buttons and clicks in the app journey. Sometimes a simple, templated app, such as FUSION OF IDEAS’ Dynamic Content System (DCS), can be the best choice to meet your business needs.

5. Updated Content

When you have a system for pushing new or updated content and features to your app, you can continue to improve the reliability of the software. For businesses, it’s important to keep policies, sales messages and security issues up to date.

 

While understanding these qualities and features is essential to creating an effective mobile app for your business, it’s even more important to find the right partner to build your software.

The FUSION OF IDEAS dedicated in-house app development team follows a rigorous nine-step process when designing and executing a mobile application. Our number one priority is to create a custom mobile software solution that is tailored to your organization, and we are proud to have developed more than 300 mobile applications for companies of all sizes and budgets.

Contact our app development team to start a conversation about the possibilities of using technology to take your business to the next level.

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DCS Promotion Ends Jan. 31

Do any of these apply to you or your business?

*You have field employees and need a mobile solution that offers real-time, two-way communications.

*You have an e-commerce company and want to boost your online presence.

*A trade show or special event is coming up and you are seeking a user-friendly mobile application to share relevant content with attendees.

*Your business needs an app solution for information sharing that doesn’t break the bank.

 

If you said yes to any of the questions above, our Dynamic Content System (DCS) is for you. Take advantage of our half-off promotion for DCS application development. We proudly build all of our applications in-house at our Lake Forest headquarters, and when you work with us, there are never hidden charges. Contact us today to find out how this content delivery solution can enhance your business. Special pricing ends Jan. 31.

Contact us today to get started or email our app development team for a live demo.

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These iPads Transform Lives

“My daughter is nonverbal and she finally has a device where we can download the app that helps her communicate with us at home. It’s the biggest blessing and an amazing gift! People take their spoken language for granted and do not realize just how hard it is for a nonverbal child. This iPad can break those verbal barriers for our family!”

These were the words from a family member of one of 57 kids who went on the Kidd’s Kids 2018 trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Founded by late radio host and television personality, Kidd Kraddick, Kidd’s Kids provides hope and happiness by creating beautiful memories for families of children with life-altering and life-threatening conditions.

Every November, the organization sponsors a group of children and their families on an all-expense paid trip to “The Happiest Place on Earth,” where they can forget about doctor appointments and their illnesses, and enjoy a magical day with their families.
At the start of this once-in-a-lifetime trip, the kids were gifted with a personalized Apple iPad that is preloaded with all relevant and contact information for their trip.

Here are the words from another family:

“We were so grateful to have the iPad for my son’s 11-day hospital stay. He loves being able to keep in touch with family and friends using the FB Kids Messenger app. He also likes it for drawing, watching shows and playing games.”

This is the eighth year that FUSION OF IDEAS has gratefully donated our app development and customization services to this amazing cause. Together with Best Buy, we were onsite to help hand out the iPads to the kids, and see the delight on their faces when they were presented with the customized devices.
“The donation of the iPads from Best Buy and completely personalized by FUSION OF IDEAS provides entertainment, educational tools and memory-making apps the Kidd’s Kids otherwise would not have,” said Kelly Kemp, executive director of Kidd’s Kids. “We know how grateful all the kids are especially when they are back in the hospitals for days or weeks at a time. It’s a blessing and a partnership we are so very grateful to have for our Kidd’s Kids.”
For more photos from this year’s Kidd’s Kids trip, check out their album on Facebook.

Best Buy and FUSION OF IDEAS help hand out iPads at the Kidd’s Kids trip in Walt Disney World. Photo source: Kidd’s Kids
Fifty-seven Kidd’s Kids got their own customized iPads on this year’s trip. Photo source: Kidd’s Kids
The iPads are used by families after the trip for learning, therapy and communications. Photo source: Kidd’s Kids
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La Prairie Turns to DCS for Employee Training

La Prairie, a luxury skincare and cosmetic brand best known for its iconic Skin Caviar, was seeking a solution that would provide a cost-effective way to educate and train its retail beauty advisors nationwide. The Swiss company turned to an easy-to-use mobile app that allows for content to be updated regularly and pushed out to the remote team. The app model, Dynamic Content System (DCS), has become an invaluable resource for La Prairie’s education team to cut costs on travel for training.

DCS is FUSION OF IDEAS’ version of Content Management System (CMS). Essentially a templated mobile application, DCS is much like CMS in that you can easily create, display and manage content. Think of it like an user-friendly app that is customizable, yet simple.

In the case with La Prairie, the DCS app features a product catalog and embedded videos, current promotions, tutorials and the company’s history. Because La Prairie’s products are typically sold at department store cosmetic counters, its reps are on the sales floor and not behind a desk. It is important for the app to be accessible on a mobile device, such as an iPad. New content is updated and pushed out on a regular basis so La Prairie’s beauty advisors are always equipped with up-to-date information.

Limited-Time Promotion

DCS is an easy and more moderately priced app solution for e-commerce, information sharing, trade show or events, or employee onboarding and training. For the first time, FUSION OF IDEAS is offering half off the regular price of our DCS application development. This promotion will only be offered for a limited time so contact us today to see how DCS can enhance your business. Check out the La Prairie video below or email our app development team for a personal demo.

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In the News: AGC’s Constructor Magazine

There are three main factors that drive the demand for mobile technology in the construction industry: leadership request, an increasingly mobile workforce and the growing need for real-time information. According to a recent study, more than 80 percent of construction professionals surveyed said that mobile capabilities are “very important” in improving their workflows.

Read on to get insight from our CEO, Russ Taylor, in AGC’s Constructor Magazine on how the construction industry is maximizing mobile technology to create efficiencies in the workplace, and how they are integrating technology into existing processes.  

Read full article here: Tech Brief: The iPad is the New Hammer