How Strategy & Data-driven Design Help Products Succeed in Competitive Spaces

Mobile apps come in all shapes and sizes which means that the recipe for ideal long-term growth is different in each case – while functionality and output all vary, the process to make a product successful is the same: research and strategy are the biggest drivers for digital product success.

At Blue Label Labs, we’ve realized this truth again and again in the hundreds of successful products we’ve brought to the market and support. We rely on products and services like those from Talon.One which is why we’re happy to work together and share our knowledge.

Here, we’re going to explain how and why we incorporate strategy from the earliest stages of digital product design to help our customers succeed.

As an entrepreneur or existing business, your main concern with a digital product relates is, “will it work?”

Whether it’s a mobile app for a QSR, a news platform with streaming media, or anything else, you need to know that your investment won’t go to waste.

You might as well just burn it if you’re not going to invest carefully. | Source: Jp Valery on Unsplash

However, until we’ve had time to roll up our sleeves, we can’t be sure whether your idea will work or not. And neither do you!

This phenomenon holds true with, quite literally, all digital products: it applies to completely innovative solutions, improved spins on existing ideas, and everything in between.

Before you begin designing and coding, several phases of prep work will need to be completed before you can move forward with designing and coding.

We begin all new projects with dedicated market research to first learn about the most important element of an app: its users! 

The knowledge we gain is applied throughout a Design Sprint derived from the process developed at Google Ventures. This condensed process allows us to translate our knowledge into UX (User Experience) and design that’s rapidly prototyped and then tested with real human beings.

This process teaches us how well our ideas actually perform – we use what we learn here as the foundation for building an MVP. The idea is to build an objectively engaging product with just enough features to further study your product and users in the wild.

Getting an MVP right is important as it’s the cornerstone of an ongoing, iterative process that uses feedback loops to continually refine products around a growing user base's needs.

All kinds of third-party services come together to create the many apps you see on digital marketplaces today.

To get a comprehensive understanding of your product’s performance, systems like behavioral analytics solutions will be key to uncovering detailed information about how users engage with your product that you won’t uncover through direct feedback alone.

Though it varies from product to product, we often incorporate a variety of analytics services that complement your service and each other. 

We use analytics for processes like:

Data collected by analytics services paint a detailed picture of everything that’s going on in a product by providing detailed clues on how to fix or improve processes that aren’t up to snuff.

You’ll be able to answer “why the chicken crossed the road” and much more. | Source: Саша Круглая on Pexels

Scalable systems like those from Mixpanel, Segment, and Appsflyer (just to name a few) capture and analyze data both inside the app and for certain outside processes like marketing.

These services work together to provide a detailed understanding of how a product’s performing and how to address problems and polish processes to optimize user engagement. It allows us to create strategic alignment and develop vertical-focused KPI scorecards with meaningful data that reflects business-ready company goals.

When all goes well, an MVP sets you up for a lifetime of iterative product development.

A plant needs to do some growing before it can bear leaves and fruit! | Source: jag2020 on Pixabay

We could discuss all the specific values iterative development offers but the gist is that every change and feature is much like your initial concept: carefully adding pieces as you go gives you a kind of buffer that allows you smoothly roll out changes and ensure users engage as intended.

This benefit affects both users and the team supporting your app to maximize the effectiveness of connected services.

For example, customer-facing features like coupons and gift cards offered by Talon.One’s Promotion Engine gain additional benefits from the “extra set of eyes” you get from other products in an analytics stack. 

Likewise, if you’re a retailer offering customer rewards using the Talon.One Loyalty solution, the data and analytics behind this service will often reveal data and opportunities for outside processes to supplement the program.

As your product evolves, learning will be constant. Data will allow you to continually apply strategy to everything you do and keep your app healthy and users happy as it grows.

We know that every product needs focused research and strategy to succeed. By relying on great products like those from Talon.One, we’re able to build products that users love.

To learn more about Blue Label Labs or discuss an idea you have, get in touch!

About Blue Label Labs:

Blue Label Labs works side-by-side with ambitious companies, brands, and founders to deliver bold digital transformation. Together, they help brands make bolder choices and uncover transformative change with customer-centric digital products that are truly user-validated.