By Chris Lee

With tablet computers, such as Apple’s iPad family, Motorola’s Xoom and the BlackBerry PlayBook, disrupting the mobile communications market, organisations are apparently desperate to develop apps to cater for a global audience tipped to reach 285 million by 2015 (Gartner).

Recent research from digital agency Seven and pollster YouGov found that among UK iPad users, 37 per cent use apps ‘several times a day’, with an average of 26 apps sitting on each UK iPad. iPad sales outstripped analyst predictions and with competitive players coming onto the market consumers will enjoy even greater choice.

App development

The vast majority of the 300,000 apps available were created for the iPhone and do not fully exploit the capabilities of an iPad. That’s the view of Magnus Jern, CEO of app developer Golden Gekko, who also believes that iPad is currently the easiest platform to develop for since the developer only needs to take into account two versions of the hardware, one screen resolution and one operating system.

“So why apps and not just resort to mobile websites for tablets? Content owners and developers have the choice of delivering a good user experience through the browser or a mind-blowing experience through apps,” he said. “The user experience that can be achieved through apps on tablets in terms of interactivity, rich media, immediate feedback and slick user interfaces is simply amazing.”

Building the business case

With app development costing anywhere between £10,000 for a very simple app to more than £100,000 for a highly interactive app, how can one build the business case for developing tablet apps?

Andy Budd, managing director at Web design company Clearleft, warned that companies should be clear on their motives behind why they want to create apps before commissioning developers.

“At the moment I think a lot of mobile apps are commissioned as trophies, either because the managing director has just bought a tablet computer or that their competitor has released an app which is getting a lot of press,” he told NMK. “It actually reminds me a lot of the early Web. People rushing out company websites without really understanding who was going to use it, what the site was for or even what content was needed. As such, we saw a lot of also-ran brochure sites. Similarly, on the mobile Web the first crop of company apps were crude store finders or impoverished website clones. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as brands need to understand the medium and see what works and what doesn't. However, a lot of money has been wasted rushing half baked apps to market.”

Budd continued: “I think brands need to stop thinking of apps as a golden goose and start seeing them as just another brand extension. If executed correctly, they are a great way of connecting with a smaller, but often more profitable and engaged section of your audience.”

What makes a good app?

According to Randy Locklair of boutique web and mobile software design and development firm hatchMAP, tablet apps should be seen as “glorified business cards”, fully representing the skills of that organisation.

“The capabilities of the device – Internet, audio, video - should be used. They should engage with social networks and have dynamic content that can be changed without having to update the application,” he said. “In addition to the flair of being able to say ‘we have an app for that!’ it presents your business with a new way to showcase your product.”

Ged Carroll, an avid technophile and digital media consultant at PR firm Ruder Finn, said creating tablet apps makes sense if it adds value to users’ digital consumption on the go that cannot already be achieved on a mobile handheld device.

hatchMap’s Locklair concluded: “To ensure your app is a success, find a reliable company with a great portfolio to develop the application and make sure you plan out the entire app with the developer before you get started.   Find the developer that understands your business model and communicates clearly. You should know exactly what you are going to get and how it’s going to help you before you sign off on the project.”