By: Hillel Fuld

Despite the extravagant number of mobile applications out there, this space is still relatively young. What that means is that users and developers are still learning the ropes of what works and what doesn’t. Clearly, birds that you fling at pigs is a recipe for success, but beyond that, what are some of the other things we have learned?

I come across hundreds if not thousands of apps every week and I have definitely noticed some clear patterns among young developers, so I thought I would share them with you and help you learn from others’ mistakes and decisions.

The following are five tips you want to think about when developing a mobile app. These tips are relevant no matter what platform you are developing for, and they are true no matter what type of app you are developing. At the end of the day, developers want to make money from their apps, but in order to achieve that, no matter what their app monetization strategy (Full disclosure: I just started a new marketing position at Inner-active),  is, they need downloads. Since there is no better way to put it, I will quote the famous movie Field of Dreams and say “If you build it (a quality app), they will come!”

Here it goes:

1. Simplicity Wins (every time): Yes, I know, I have said this already a hundred times, but apparently, people need to hear it again. A common misconception among mobile developers is that there is a direct correlation between the amount of features the app provides and the number of downloads. Not only is that completely false, but I think the opposite is closer to the truth. The simpler the app and the better it does one single feature, the more interest it will get from the mobile community.

Take a look at almost all successful apps and you will see that I am right. The reason the iPhone does so well is because it’s intuitive and provides a simplistic user experience. That is what your app should aspire to do. Keep it simple and if you are in doubt whether to include a certain feature, remember, there is always the next version. More on that later.

Simple and Beautiful

2. Whet (yes, that is how it is spelled, who knew?) my Appetite: After trying out a new app this morning, I tweeted this. Allow me to ask you a question. If I launch an app for the first time and I am greeted with a sign up screen, why would I want to take the time to launch the browser, register for your service, then sign in, all before I know what I am getting in return? If you want me to register for your app so I can get the full experience, that is fine but give me a reason to. Make the welcome screen an overview of the app so I can see what it is, or give me the basic experience so I have incentive to go ahead with the registration process.

3. Learn from Zuckerberg: If there is one thing that annoys the heck out of people about Facebook, it is the whole opt out vs opt in philosophy. If I want to join a group, I will sign up, I do not want people adding me to a group without my permission.

Zuckerberg apparently does not care what I want, but that is a mistake Facebook can afford to make, you cannot. If I want to tweet about your app, I will do so, if I want to share it on Facebook, give me that option, but do not, under any circumstances do these things for me without my permission. It is amazing to me that some apps still do this and think it is an effective method of raising awareness for their app. The only thing it is really doing is giving me a reason to uninstall the app, and trash it publicly, and all that before I even tested it out. I think we can agree that that is not what you were hoping to accomplish.

I guess Time doesn't care either...

4. Time is Short: Yes, I know, we are all A.D.D, you have Twitter to thank for that. The reality is that the world is moving fast, the mobile industry is moving faster, and people do not have patience to sit around while your app loads for thirty seconds. Yes, I get that you want your company logo engraved on your users’ brains, and I even get that your app is so sophisticated that it takes time to load, but guess what?

If I have to wait more than a few seconds for the app to load, I am already after three tweets and have completely forgotten about your app. Performance is key here. Make sure the load times of your app are as short as humanly possible and the transitions within the app are no different. Much like a website, there is a direct correlation between the speed of your app and the time spent using it, before the user jumps ship.

5. Keep me Interested: Call me a spoiled brat, but with millions of apps available across all platforms, chances are you are not the only one doing what you’re doing, so you must think about retaining your customers. Once I download your app and it has all the above requirements, you need to keep me interested. One common mistake made by developers is that they release the app and think that is the end of the process, when the reality is, it is just the beginning.

You need to be releasing frequent updates, not only so you can include all the features you left out in version one to increase performance, but also because you want your users to keep using your product and remain loyal to your brand. Release updates, engage your audience on the social web, and if you want to go all out, you might want to consider offering the occasional bonus/contest for your audience. Trust me, you will benefit more from the iPad you give away than the guy who won it.

For the sake of transparency, I am not a developer, nor am I familiar with the challenges that accompany app development. I am, however, an avid mobile app user that has well over 400 apps across my various mobile devices and that is after I have deleted hundreds if not thousands that failed on one of the points mentioned above.

If you are an app user and you have some tips for the developers out there, leave them in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter. If you are a developer, I would also love to hear your point of view on these tips and any others you have learned.