The last 15 years of mobile transformation have turned phones into the pocket-sized powerhouses we know today. The native applications available on the first iPhone were more about having fun with new technologies and less about efficiently accomplishing complex activities on the go. What has the massive increase in expectations from mobile consumers meant for mobile product owners?

Today, it’s not just about building a responsive app; mobile app owners are integrating AI for smarter functionalities, incorporating AR/VR for immersive experiences, connecting with IoT for a seamless integration of the physical and digital, facilitating mobile payments for frictionless transactions, and syncing with wearable tech for that personal touch. Those are just a few examples that have blossomed in the last few years!

And the demands are continuing to increase and coming at product owners even faster.

Chasing a moving target. 

With all of the technological advancements and surging customer expectations, reaching your desired mobile goals can feel like grasping at a mirage. There are a few challenges that stand in the way of mobile product teams today:

• Shifting goalposts. As technology evolves, so do the benchmarks of what constitutes a ‘good’ experience. This means businesses are not just racing against their competitors, but also against time, as they strive to stay updated with the latest in tech.

• Limited resources. Whether a smaller organization or a large enterprise, resources are finite—people, time, and budget. Having to balance current operations while developing optimization initiatives can be a tough act.

• Mastering the basics. Many companies are still grappling with perfecting their native digital experiences. Issues like user interface glitches, non-intuitive design, or slow loading times still plague numerous platforms. With these foundational challenges yet to be addressed, venturing into more advanced technological terrains like AI or AR becomes even more daunting.
• Data constraints due to version updates. In order to stay up to date, platforms frequently undergo version updates. However, these updates can sometimes limit the availability of crucial data. For decision-makers, this can be a significant setback.

While the path to a desired future mobile state is marked by certain barriers, recognizing them is the first step. The next? Developing a strategy to overcome them.

3 must-haves for your mobile analytics approach. 

While you continue to address the above challenges and work to incorporate the latest technological innovations into your mobile platform, you can’t take your eye off the user experience. Having a seamless, intuitive, and enjoyable interaction with your mobile platform can spell the difference between brand loyalty and app uninstallation.

To overcome the technical challenges inherent in native app development while providing best in class mobile experiences, here are the top 3 essentials to meet the needs of your mobile strategy:

1. Autocapture.

Mobile development teams are relatively new and can take advantage of one of the biggest learnings from digital analytics over the last 2 decades. Data should help you make decisions and release great products faster, not be a hindrance. 

Autocapture empowers mobile teams to collect data now without worrying about excessive tagging or inaccurate configuration so you can focus on releasing mobile products that delight your customers.

The power of proactive data capture gives mobile teams the advantage of being a step ahead.

• Efficiency in setup. Traditional data capture methodologies often entail long, tedious setup processes, which can delay essential insights. App changes need to be pushed quickly and frequently in order to address bugs and keep up with app store requirements—and tagging cannot slow you down. With autocapture, the groundwork time is significantly reduced, ensuring that you’re immediately ready to accumulate valuable user data.
• Capture now, configure later. One of the standout features of autocapture is its capability to begin by collecting everything. Instead of pre-defining the data you might need, you start with a comprehensive data set, and then narrow down or configure based on specific requirements. This ensures that you never miss out on potentially pivotal insights simply because they weren’t pre-configured.

2. Remote configuration.

Priorities change quickly—nowhere is that more true than in mobile. Relying on capturing and configuring data before pivoting priorities is a recipe for failure. Historically, analytics systems required rigid configuration before data could be collected and analyzed.

With remote configuration, we now have complete data capture with the ability to change how we analyze that data as priorities evolve.

• Bypass dependencies. A significant advantage of remote configuration is its ability to access necessary data without waiting for SDK modifications or prompting users to update their apps. This means less waiting, fewer dependencies, and faster decision-making.

• Analysis fluidity. Rigid data structures hinder adaptability. With remote configuration, you maintain the flexibility to pivot your data analysis strategies as and when needed, ensuring you’re always in sync with evolving user behaviors.

3. Real-time data visibility.

In a world of increasing interaction between the digital and non-digital, real-time data visibility is a must to ensure not only positive digital experiences, but real-world ones as well.

• Immediate understanding. When issues occur in your app, whether bugs or other bad experiences, you can’t wait for days or even hours to start understanding the problem. With real-time data, start diagnosing and fixing issues the moment they’re introduced. 

• Combat uninstalls. It can take a lot to get someone to download your app, but uninstalling takes only seconds. If critical errors are introduced to your experience, the faster you can address them, the fewer people will experience those issues. 

Elevate your mobile insights with real-time app analytics.

There are many factors at play in building and delivering top mobile app experiences, but these 3 factors are non-negotiable. 

Interested in learning more about seeing these requirements in one spot? Explore the Quantum Metric mobile app analytics demo to see how it’s used by enterprise organizations to craft excellent mobile app experiences.