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When your boss or client comes to you asking for an iPhone app; what do you say?

I would hope you don’t say “absolutely, here is your invoice.” Rather, I hope you ask “why” and more importantly “what do you want it to do?”

Too often clients and management are not really sure what they want or why they want it. They ask for an app because somebody has told them that mobile is the latest thing and that they should get an app. It falls to us to dig a little deeper.

Often the answer is they don’t need an app, but a responsive website instead. However, that can be hard to explain to management. We might understand the nuances, but we are not always good at communicating them.

Sometimes we need to simplify the decision making process to something the client/manager can clearly understand. One such technique is to say that native apps are for completing tasks, while mobile optimised websites are for consuming content.

We know that things aren’t quite that black and white, but it is a good guide that helps get others thinking in the right terms.

Too often management and clients want a native app that simply replicates the content from the website. That is not what native apps are for. In such cases a responsive website is the way to go. However, if management wants to allow users to complete key tasks such as check stock levels, access a contact database or book an event, then a native app is the way to go.

My point here is that we need to have a clear idea of what use cases require a native app and be able to clearly communicate those of our clients.