We all know that it is not easy to be mobile app owner: to discover a great idea that will rock the world, to write the code for it in order to obtain a functional, error-free app, to design a smashing user interface, to make sure that you offer an extraordinary experience overall and in the same time to promote it and why not to have a return on your investment. But there is a more exigent category: the creators of mobile apps for kids. It is more difficult to manage an educational app for the young ones. We will see the reasons for that and we will provide some solutions for those interested in enhancing children’s lives with their valuable apps.
Tips Of Making Engaging, Educative And Profitable Mobile Apps For Kids
There are many obscure persons which cannot be called developers and who are trying to trick little minds with their worthless soft. But we won’t discuss them. We will keep talking about the ones that want to offer something beneficial to children when they show their curiosity for a bright colored app icon.
Challenges Of Creating Effective Kid – Friendly Onboarding
Let’s start by covering the main aspects of designing an app for kids.
Image Source: http://www.elasticode.com/allapps.php?s=ab&t=cat&f=Kids
First Impression Is The Key
It takes a few seconds to attract a child or to make him close the app. Kids are very curious and based on their age you have to win their interest. For them, the first image they see is crucial.
Catching The Kids’ Attention
Their attention span is very short so it is not a good solution to delay your attractive elements. And you need to provide engaging content in order to maintain their concentration.
Winning The Parents’ Trust
It is very important to convince parents to approve your app for their children. This is available for all ages because parents look for constructive apps when they allow their kids to spend their time on mobile devices.
Challenges Of Monetizing Mobile Apps For Children
If developers want to earn some side income from their creations there are important factors which will influence their actions.
Individual Developers Or Startups Usually Cannot Balance Their Return On Investment
Developers which are decided to create apps for very young persons are determined to offer worthy moments for them. On the other hand, they have bills to pay. So, it is very hard to find the right balance between creating a helpful app for kids and to see an ROI for their creation. This is the reason why some programmers choose other categories when they are looking to build an app.
Image Source: http://kidscreen.com/2016/09/20/understanding-and-surviving-kids-app-monetization/
The Effects Of Monetizing An App For Children
If an app owner considers winning some money after investing all his resources in creating the app, he hits some barriers which can determine him to change his mind.
In-App Purchases
In-app purchases led to a lot of refund complaints from parents and we should mention that you risk gathering a lot of bad reviews.
In-App Advertising
Showing intrusive and irrelevant ads will do more harm than good. You will lose both money and users at the same time.
Subscription Model
The subscription model is the best seen from all, but it requires time and a substantial budget for your company to build a successful model.
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What Is The Formula For Success?
Building app for kiddies is hard but not impossible. You just need to take care of much more aspects than with older users.
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Always Consider Both Audiences: Parents And Children
Even if you create your app for kids, you need to have their parents in your mind all the time. It is better to consider both parties for the success of your app. A great strategy is presented by Google with a blog post on how Budge Studios creates a more engaging experience for families.
Image Source: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/04/app-onboarding-for-kids-how-budge.html
Map Kids’ And Parents’ Journey
We just talked about the benefits of Mapping A Mobile Customer Journey. Now you need to double your strategy. Create a playful atmosphere with your app for the entire family. If you consider the scenario which parents use your app to check its reliability, you will be one step ahead for gaining the trust of them by delivering family-friendly design.
Make It Educative And Entertaining
When you create a mobile app for children you always have to provide elements that enhance their knowledge. You need to study your audience first and to understand what attracts them more. All the stages of your app need to be engaging and to help them to acquire new skills. Check these apps below to learn from the best.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com
Use Hybrid Monetization Model To Balance ROI
The decision you make for monetizing your app is also a result obtained after investing a lot of time in knowing your users. If you choose to advertise it you have to consult first Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) if you target the US and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if you create your app for Europe. A good solution would be Playable Ads, but the game presented must be according to their age. With the evolution of technology, there are multiple options for you to test if you want to impress your users.
Image Source: http://kidoz.net/corona-kidoz-plugin/
Make Onboarding Elementary
The trick with onboarding is to make it understandable for their little brains. You need to take into account that small kids don’t know how to read and a calm and pleasant voice explaining what to do will help them a lot. Try to create a simple interface without menus because their small hands can touch everything by mistake and they can get lost inside your app.
Pro Tip: You can add a splash screen because kids have a great visual memory and they will recognize your brand when they will look for other games.
Do Beta Tests Before Launch!
Even if you consider that you created the best possible app it is essential to test it before your big launch. You will never know if you accomplished kids’ interests and parent’s demands if you don’t ask for others’ opinion instead of blindly throwing your app on the market.
FINAL THOUGHTS
With this article, we tried to highlight the most important concerns of developers who want to share with the youngest users their enthusiasm regarding the bright future of mobile apps. In the same time, we gave you some solutions to find the right balance between your goals, kids’ needs, and their parents’ requirements.