Understand App Goals
Why It Matters
Understanding the app's scope, goals, and constraints lays the foundation for successful app development. It ensures alignment between stakeholders and helps avoid scope creep, delays, or costly rework. Without this clarity, teams may misinterpret priorities, overlook key requirements, or fail to meet user expectations.
Sample use-case
A local health department planned a mobile app to track maternal health visits. At first, all field workers were treated as one group. But after building detailed personas for outreach workers vs. nurses, the team found each had unique workflows. Customizing features for each saved redesign time and improved app adoption.
Define the Objective
Clearly articulate the core problem the app aims to solve.
Identify the primary user group and their specific pain points.
Use guiding questions:
Who are the users?
What tasks do they need to accomplish?
What value or transformation will the app provide?
Stakeholder Alignment
Conduct kickoff meetings and discovery sessions.
Involve stakeholders early to set goals, KPIs, and constraints.
Document decisions and revisit them at key project milestones.
Maintain open channels (Slack, email, dashboards) for regular feedback.
Develop User Personas
Create personas that capture demographics, roles, goals, and tech proficiency.
Base personas on:
Interviews and focus groups
Usage analytics
Existing documentation or workflows
Tailor design and functionality to persona-specific needs.
Requirements Gathering
Use user stories to map functionality from the user's perspective (e.g., “As a nurse, I want to schedule patient visits…”).
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