There exist direct connections between your service’s parameters and the overall popularity of a program. Thus, by picking up the “right” features you stimulate your application to succeed. Wondering how to select what you need among numerous functions? Prioritizing procedures are at your service.
Reasons to prioritize your app functionalities
Let us tell you more on what one gets by prioritizing solution’s parameters to convince you of such step importance and efficiency.
# The right coherence of activities While the prioritizing process you review every single parameter individually. You also would better devote enough attention to examine different features’ compatibility, since eventually they are supposed to turn into a single unified system to operate smoothly.
# Cost efficiencies. If designing a service having tight budget, app owners take advantage of every possibility to save, and functionalities’ prioritizing is one of them. You select the key characteristics for your program, so it’s essential.
# Thoughts for upcoming upgrades. Use this occasion to plan next releases with the purpose to refine your application from the get-go. Why not take advantage of the situation to please users who enjoy useful service upgrading?
# Time saving. When installing only the most critical parameters, you’ll save some resources, including the time ones. Thus, you’ll start to see the results much faster.
# Improving users’ experience. It’s pretty simple: people get happier and more content, since they have a chance to enjoy features they require the most.
# Smarter decision making. You take specific assessment criteria to decide what actions to perform. It’s not about intuition, but about particular facts to establish your strategy.
# Greater team engagement. The prioritizing process helps every team member to realize why certain real-time features shall be installed in the app.
# Tracking your present status. You’ll obtain your strategic performance figures to see your current situation and how you progress towards where you’d like to be.
# Improving parameters. While prioritizing functionalities you’ll identify features which only seem to be valuable and in reality they don’t make much sense. So, you will know what to get rid of.
Techniques to prioritize your service characteristics
There exist a good number of various approaches for prioritizing. We’d like to distinguish the most efficient. Here’s our listing.
Significance prioritization
The process could be launched by dividing all characteristics into important and unimportant ones. Actually, it’s harder than it may seem. You could apply the Kano Model to make it all simpler.
Kano Model
Noriaki Kano, a scientist from Japan, is the author of such a technique. He made the research to examine users’ emotional perceptions of specific features. Those are the types he managed to distinguish:
- Indispensable features represent parameters the lack of which makes no point in specific solution development.
- Satisfying functions can respond to clients’ needs only if implemented with maximum effectiveness. Every parameter has to be something to be proud of, otherwise, users won’t avoid disappointment.
- Attractive functionalities serve to create the audience’s sympathy, so people want to apply for the program again and again. Still, the absence of such features won’t make customers get frustrated or upset.
- Indifferent functions could be pretty interesting, though, not boosting the app success. In fact, users don’t like to care deeply about them.
You could come up with your very own importance criteria. There’s enough space for your creativity. The objective here is to distribute all parameters appropriately as to their prospective relevance and significance. Let’s learn more about it.
Top priority features
This group represents characteristics that put sense into your solution. For instance, who would use WhatsApp without its possibilities to send and receive texts?
To make such prioritization you have to determine the primary purpose of a service you design. Which users’ issues will it resolve? Moreover, you need to define what specific features can solve those issues. It’s critical to get a clear understanding of those functions before you move on with your application.
Vital, but not critical parameters
Those functionalities might be also significant or even fascinating, nevertheless, they’re hardly mandatory to launch the program. Speaking of Viber and similar solutions, that would be conference call possibilities and voice type functions.
To determine the given functionalities, you’ll need to figure out which of them are important but have no direct influence on the launch of your application. Considering the budget you have to give an honest answer, whether those parameters are actually affordable. In case they are, you’ll need to carry out the prioritizing procedures one more time, then characteristics that manage to join the very first group have to become a part of your program.
Great in general, but not required functions
There exists something called “nice-to-install parameters”, and as per the Kano model, they belong to the attractive group. Meaning, clients would appreciate enjoying them, however, it won’t be a big deal, if an application doesn’t provide those.
How to define them? First, figure out in what way your users could be pleased. Those functionalities have to somehow be connected to your app main purpose. Then, the list obtained is a great source of ideas for the solution upgrades, whenever there’s such a financial possibility.
Exclusive features to apply for future monetizing
And here’s one more group to discuss.
Freemium approach implies that primary functions are free for every service user, and there are also premium program possibilities available for an additional fee. The examples are Viber selling shining stickers, and Skype imposing fees to call to cell phones.
You’ll be able to add those functionalities later, starting with ads as a monetizing tool.
Other prioritizing methods
In addition to significance prioritizing there exist more techniques to apply. We’re presenting you with a few of them.
The RICE Score
The approach implies four aspects to prioritize parameters:
- REACH estimates the quantity of users a specific feature will engage and interact within a certain time interval;
- IMPACT assesses the way a certain function fosters an application;
- CONFIDENCE comes to the rescue when being sure that a specified parameter is supercritical, but have no info on REACH or IMPACT. Such opinions are important to be considered during prioritization activities;
- EFFORTS determines costs for the labor required, and in each specific case, it varies.
The RICE score calculation is simple:
The ICE Score
Established by Sean Ellis, the methodology covers the following variables:
- IMPACT is to show the influence a functionality could possibly make on an app;
- EASE presents efforts and resources needed;
- CONFIDENCE describes if you’re confident of the first two points.
The ICE scoring could be calculated in such a way:
The AARRR prioritizing
Dave McClure has created an approach to determine functions helping the audience move from one stage to the other one as follows:
- Acquisition means a user downloads your solution since he’s curious about it.
- Activation is a stage when that person starts applying the service.
- Retention characterizes how successful you are in motivating the individuals to apply a program continuously.
- Referral includes your efforts to encourage individuals who use your application to spread a word of that app recommending it to other users.
- Revenue refers to a moment when you can calculate your profits having customers who use your app systematically.
This is how it looks:
Put it simpler, you make a list of parameters to motivate as many people as possible to carry out the actions mentioned above, so you can make profits from your solution.
Enjoy your features prioritizing procedures to develop a truly great and successful m-service.