Mobile applications are a hot topic, but for yours to be successful, it must meet a specific need and offer a good user experience.

A recent article from Biz Report features an in-depth interview with Josh Shea, the lead developer at New York-based digital marketing agency Overit. The point of the conversation was to discuss mobile application development. With over 9 years of high end programming experience, he is qualified to speak on how this market was created and why organizations need to jump on board now.

His first point is that mobile devices have moved far beyond the "nice to have" stage and have outgrown the gimmick phase. Now, mobile applications offer a number of key benefits to companies and their customers that can make them a necessity.

"The big thing about a business app - especially retail - is that you can augment or continue the in-store experience on a mobile device," the article reads. "You can allow your users to constantly see your logo on their personal device, and you can maintain communications in a way that the user already trusts. You can extend their 'in-store' experience to their everyday lives by making the application useful to them, and bring the user into a place of thinking of you first when they require services that you cater to."

He added that many businesses outside of the retail world have found ways to adopt the latest technology and improve operations in a few different methods. There are some companies that believe having a mobile-enabled website is enough, and while it is a step in the right direction, a custom application developer can help a business take things to a new level by creating an app that offers the best possible user experience.

Shea also spoke about the specific areas of development that organizations need focus on when creating an application that users will find effective. First off, the application needs to focus on solving a specific problem or provide functionality that makes people's lives easier. Without a clear goal, developers may try to incorporate multiple avenues, only to find that the program doesn't meet any specific needs. This means there needs to be a focus on the user interface to make sure it is usable.

When it comes to which platform organizations should develop for, that is really a choice that needs to be made on a case-by-case basis for each business and even each application. If the plan is to reach the largest number of consumers or employees, an organization will be best served by working with a software development firm that can create for multiple platforms.

In today's increasingly tech-centered business climate, you would be hard pressed to find many companies that have not at least considered deploying a mobile application. If your organization is thinking about starting a development project, consider reaching out to CollectivePoint. We have the hands-on experience needed to create applications that are powerful enough to meet your business needs and offer an intuitive interface for users.