Understanding mobile moments spurs maternity app

 

Everybody, it seems, has to have an app. The rush to ensure that a brand has an entry in app stores has led to tens of thousands of mediocre (and worse) entries, all vying for consumer attention. 

Smart app development isn’t a matter of throwing some resources together. It’s a matter of understanding how people use their smartphones, their expectations, and the mobile moments in which they are most inclined to engage. The American Airlines app, for instance, draws on multiple systems that have never been unified before to provide information at every stage of a passenger’s journey, from reserving a ticket to keeping an eye on efforts to find luggage lost in transit. 

Customized Communications took a similar approach with its Gift of Motherhood app, a new offering amidst the apps available to provide information to expecting mothers. Some apps let mothers track contraction times, some deal with post-partum issues, some talk about maternal care. This meant that a pregnant woman had to find the right app at the right time. Customized Communications remedied this situation by creating a pregnancy continuum a woman can tap into at any point in her pregnancy: Knowing an expectant mother’s due date, the app can deliver morning sickness information early in the pregnancy, for example, and post-partum information after delivery. For its innovative work, we name Customized Communications and MobileSmith the winners of the Best Mobile App category in Ragan’s 2014 Health Care PR and Marketing Awards.

It took only one person using an app development platform to craft the app, which includes educational resources, tips and advice, 3-D videos, a baby development calendar, pregnancy journals, contraction timers, and medication and appointment reminders. 

Anyone developing an app on a limited budget should look to the outstanding work produced by e-learning production manager Heather Noack to understand the role of context in delivering a truly useful app that will engage its users.

Want to get recognized for your hard work? Find out about Ragan and PR Daily’s award programs here: http://www.ragan.com/Awards/RaganAwardsPrograms.aspx.