121+ questions you need to answer when defining your mobile architecture and strategy

Series of mobile strategy tips for creating and launching awesome apps!

When looking back at the success or failure of an app there is always plenty of credit and blame to go around. Hindsight is NOT always 20/20 though, because everyone will have an opinion but not everyone will be right.

When looking ahead and drafting a mobile strategy and architecture, you have the advantage of designing a successful plan and working with talented people to make it happen!

My 20+ years of mobile, API, and software development has given me unique insight into the complete process of creating a mobile app, from idea to publication and beyond. I’ve worked with clients across various industries including broadcasting, advertising, retail, financial services, transportation, publishing, and non-profits. One thing I’ve found is this: Regardless of the industry, if you don’t have a good strategy, you will likely not succeed.

This list is big (but also not complete)! It will get you started by identifying easy wins that can help you and your business launch apps that captivate and delight your users and customers!

Bookmark this page and over the next few weeks and months, this list will grow and become links to stories that can help guide your strategic mobile plans. You can gain more of what you need to know when tackling your strategy for new or existing mobile apps!

I recently grouped these to be easier to read but may add/rearrange items and categories to make it more functional and readable in the near future

Audience

• Have you specifically defined the different target audiences of your app?
• Do you know how the target audiences of your app would actually want to use the app?

Onboarding

• How is your app onboarding your new customers?
• How is your app onboarding your existing customers?
• How is your app onboarding new features added to your app?
• How are you onboarding device feature requests?

UI/UX

• How quickly can a new user start using the app?
• Are you requiring user to login before you should?
• Are you requiring information from user before it is needed?
• Have you created a prototype of the app and run it by the project stakeholders?
• Have you created and/or designed all the user interface (UI) elements that will be needed in the app?
• Have you tested the user experience (UX) design in a prototyping tool?
• Do you have a dedicated user experience (UX) person on your team?
• Are the features in your app actually intuitive for customer to use?
• What is your plan for what your empty state screens look like?
• Does your app have a flow that is easily understood by target user?
• Does your app adhere to platform standards set by Apple and Google?
• Does your app have an “in-store” mode if customer is at your location?
• Do you have proper image/icon sizes for each device platform and size?
• Are you trying to make your native app look like a website? If so, what are your reasons? Do you understand the risks?
• Do you have plans for using gamification to increase user retention?
• Do you use an icon package (such as icons8) or do you plan on custom designing all icons?

Usability

• Does your app behave like other apps for that platform?
• What is your plan for supporting current + previous versions of iOS?
• What is your plan for supporting current + previous versions of Android OS
• Does your app have a different UI/UX for tablets than for smaller devices?

Design

• What tool are you using for prototyping?
• Can prototypes be easily viewed by team on their computers and devices?

Testing

• What actual user usability testing have you done or have planned?
• Have you defined multiple functional tests, with steps to recreate, for each feature?
• Have you defined functional tests to cover all common scenarios used by customers (happy paths)?
• Have you defined negative functional tests to cover all common scenarios where an error should be displayed?
• Have defined functional tests to cover known edge cases for using app?
• Have you created unit tests for testing blocks of code in app?
• Have you created integration tests for testing APIs and other data dependencies?
• Do you have a tool for automating the running and reporting of unit tests?
• Do you have a tool for automating the running and reporting of integration tests?
• Do you have a tool for automating the running and reporting of functional tests?
• Do you have a wide selection of both iOS and Android devices dedicated for testing app?
• Do you have a plan for creating regression tests that include all tests from previous iterations and releases?
• Have you carved out the time that is going to be required to run all the regression tests before every release?
• Do you have a dedicated QA resource that has experience testing mobile apps on different platforms?
• Do you have a tool for managing the entry and executing of test suites?
• Have you tested to see what you app looks like with the all-new App Store?
• Are you taking advantage of the new A/B testing that is available for iOS devices with Apple TestFlight?

Development

• Do you know advantages/disadvantages of platform native vs cross-platform native vs hybrid?
• Do you have mobile developers that are experienced with the technology and platforms you have chosen for app?
• Are upstream dependencies (APIs, databases, or other content providers) completed or will more work need to be done — before analysis?
• Do you have an established code style in use and have you defined linting files (eslint, etc) to use with development tools?

Technology

• Have you decided on technology for mobile app (and why)?
• Have you decided on technology for backend data (and why)?

Device Features

• Is your app taking advantage of 3D Touch for app icon (iOS)?
• Is your app taking advantage of 3D Touch inside app (iOS)?
• Is your app using Push Notifications?
• Is your app using Local Notifications?
• Does your app take advantage of Touch ID?
• Does your app correctly use Universal Links (iOS)?
• Does your app correctly use App Links (Android)?
• Does your app use Deep Linking
• Does your app take advantage of integration with user’s contacts?
• Does your app take advantage of integration with user’s calendar?
• Does your app take advantage of CoreMotion iOS features? (Accelerometer, DeviceMotion, Gyroscope, Magnetometer, — MotionActivity, Pedometer, StepCounter)
• Does your app integrate with Apple Maps or Google Maps for directions or points of interest?
• Is your app taking advantage of Android Near Field Communication (NFC)?
• Is your app taking advantage of Apple Newsstand (iOS)?
• Does your app have or will it need to support Augmented Reality?
• Is your app taking advantage of changing app icon (iOS)?
• Is your app taking advantage of integration with Siri? (iOS)?
• Is your app taking advantage of voice recognition features?
• Is your app taking advantage of text-to-speech features?
• Does your app need a barcode reader? If so, what barcodes do you need to support?
• Is your app taking advantage of in-app rating feature for App Store (iOS)?
• Does your app use Spotlight Search (iOS)?
• Is your app taking advantage of Geolocation?
• Is your app taking advantage of Geofencing?
• Do you plan on taking advantage of the built-in QR code reader coming in iOS camera?
• Do you have ideas for using Core ML (machine learning) that will be released with iOS 11?
• Will your app be using the ARKit (Augmented Reality) features to be included in iOS 11?

Performance

• What caching strategy are you using for content in your app?
• What caching strategy are you using for your APIs?
• Are you using a CDN to cache non-volatile data coming from APIs?
• Has any existing codebase been analyzed for performance risks?
• Has any existing codebase been analyzed for potential memory leaks?
• How quickly does the home screen of your app appear?
• Do you have a module for detecting and reporting any app crashes that might occur?

APIs

• Have your APIs been analyzed for any potential security risks?
• Do your APIs adhere to RESTful (or other) standards?
• Do your APIs support ETag headers for detecting updated content?

Security

• Does your app properly handle Authentication? (who am I?)
• Does your app properly handle Authorization? (what can I do?)
• Does your app support social network login (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc)?
• Is your app and backend Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant (if handling credit cards)?
• Are you storing passwords within your app? If so, how and where?
• Are you storing any sensitive information within the app? If so, how and where?
• Is your app taking advantage of iOS KeyChain for storing secure data (iOS)?
• Are you using secure HTTPS protocol for all network calls?

Marketing

• How will your brand be perceived in an app?
• Do the icons and images properly reflect your brand and image?
• Has any existing codebase been analyzed for security risks?
• Have you already designed/created an app landing page on your website?
• Has the app description in App Store been optimized for keywords?
• Has the app description in Google Play been optimized for keywords?
• Have you decided on a pricing strategy and plan for your app?
• Have you created some beautiful screenshots and mockups that show off the most important features of your app?
• Do you plan on displaying advertisements in your app?
• Have you prepared social media images for sharing (in sizes appropriate for each service)?

Publishing

• Have you defined a checklist of steps and requirements for publishing to App Store?
• Have you defines a checklist of steps and requirements for publishing to Google Play?
• Can app content be updated without republishing app?
• Do you have a way of notifying users if app has been updated in App Store or Google Play?
• Does app have a way of auto-updating content/design without re-publishing to App Store or Google Play?
• Have you automated the process of capture screenshots and mockups so they are always up-to-date as the app changes?
• Do you have a plan for releasing frequent updates (at least every few weeks) to the App Store and Google Play?
• Have you populated the optional properties that can now be set for your app and seen in the all-new App Store?

Feedback

• Does your app capture critical feedback outside of app store review?
• Do you have a system for capturing and tracking any issues that might be found in your app?
• Do you have a strategy for replying and responding to reviews in App Store and Google Play?

Legal

• Do you have all the proper rights and permissions for content and images in your app?
• Have you secured your app name in the App Stores?
• Do you have custom privacy policy pages or will you use Apple’s default when publishing to App Store?

Process

• Do you have a plan for how to build and publish an emergency release if a critical issue is found in your app?
• Have you identified which processes can be automated now?
• Have you identified which processes can be automated later?
• If you are using an agile (Scrum, etc) methodology, do your teams (dev, QA, project management, marketing, etc) have — experience with agile projects?
• Have you defined the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) to be used with this app project?

Documentation

• Have you clearly defined the requirements and expectations for features in app?
• Do you have a way of documenting and sharing your mobile architecture and strategy within company and with partners?

Brenton House is a Senior Mobile Architect and Strategist with over 20 years experience in mobile, API, and web development. He has worked with many clients across various industries including broadcasting, advertising, retail, financial services, transportation, publishing, and non-profits. His passion for everything mobile together with his mobile strategy and design experience, drive him to create captivating products that inspire and delight audiences.