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The Ultimate Guide to Mobile Apps for Municipalities and Local Governments
Is your municipality or local government considering a mobile app for your local residents but don’t know where to start? Or do you wonder if a mobile app would benefit your town or region but are not sure how to evaluate the option?
Our guide is designed for the non-technical professionals. We update it regularly and the information here will help you understand as much as you need to know about mobile apps and working with mobile app developers. You will be able to confidently choose whether to have a mobile app developed and why, you will be able to choose a mobile app development company and you will be able to lead your team through the project to a successful mobile app launch.
If you are ready to get started today, let’s talk.
Establish Need
You don’t want to get left behind, but you also don’t want to commit budget to a technical project that doesn’t fulfill its goal. So how does a non-technical team decide on a technical project? These articles will help answer many of the questions teams in municipalities and local governments have before they decide to move forward with a mobile app.
- How mobile apps are different from websites (coming soon)
- Establishing a need – pro/con for mobile apps (coming soon)
- We Already Have a Website…Do We Really Need a Mobile App?
- Do We Really Need a Mobile App?
- What’s a Reasonable Budget for a Mobile App?
- Mobile apps creating resident engagement
- Is our municipality too small for an app
- Selling the mobile app idea into your municipal government (coming soon)
Kick off and Discovery
You’ve decided to go ahead with the mobile app. Does this mean everything is left to the development team? How do you ensure you get the mobile app your municipality needs without having done this before?
- How to lead a tech project when you are not technical (coming soon)
- What is involved to prepare for a kick-off meeting – who to bring, what to prepare (coming soon)
- What to expect from the vendor in a kick-off/discovery meeting (coming soon)
- Eight Things Your Mobile App Developer Wishes You Knew
- So Your Organization Is Having a Mobile App Built and You’re in Charge
- Kick Things Off Right With Your Mobile App Developer
- What to ask for in your next Mobile App – top customer requests
- Step 1: Kicking Things Off Right for Municipalities and Local Governments
Data Gathering
Your development team needs a lot from you, but it is within your capabilities. What if you have to gather technical requirements – what even are technical requirements? We’ve got your back. Read these articles to help understand this point in the process.
- Why your mobile app development team needs final/approved content (coming soon)
- How to tame the data gathering process (coming soon)
- How to gather data quickly for mobile app projects (coming soon)
- Taming the Content Gathering Beast
- Step 2: Gathering Data and Content for Municipalities and Local Governments
Mobile App Design
If you have a designer or graphics department as part of your team, this step will probably be one they can handle. But if you don’t, you’ll still be asked for some direction and feedback at this point as your mobile app process continues to evolve. These articles will explain what happens at this stage and what to expect.
- How to evaluate mobile app design for non-designers (coming soon)
- Pitfalls to avoid at the mobile app design stage (coming soon)
- Realities of mobile app design vs. budget for the project (coming soon)
- Five Things NOT to Do When Developing Your Mobile App
- Balancing Innovation and Functionality
- Champagne taste with beer budget: the realities of mobile app design vs your budget
- Step 3: Mobile App Design for Municipalities and Local Governments
Mobile App Development
The magic takes place at this stage, and can be one of the most mis-understood parts of the mobile app project. Get clarity by reading our demystifying articles.
- Why is it taking so long? Insight on mobile app development for non-technical professionals (coming soon)
- What’s new in mobile app development 2023 for non-technical professionals (coming soon)
- Blog – push notifications for municipal residents
- Step 4: Mobile App Development for Municipalities and Local Governments
Mobile App Review
Your mobile app is in your hands. Your development team wants to know if it is approved. How do you know the mobile app you are looking at is what you asked for?
- How to test a mobile app when you are not technically savvy (coming soon)
- How to give feedback to technical teams (coming soon)
- How to Test Your Mobile App When You’re Not Tech-Savvy
- Step 5: Review and Adjustment of Mobile Apps for Municipalities and Local Governments
Launching Your Mobile App
Here’s where we say, you can’t build it and they will download, you have to promote your app. Promote, promote, promote – here’s how:
- Common challenges of mobile app launches (coming soon)
- Timeline for encouraging ongoing mobile app engagement (coming soon)
- Avoid a Mobile App Launch Disaster
- Four Strategies for Promoting Your Municipal Mobile App
- Future-Proof Your Mobile App Investment for Municipalities and Local Governments
- How to market your mobile app – for Municipalities (download guide)
- Step 6: Launch Your Municipal or Local Government Mobile App
- Step 7: Training for Teams in Municipalities and Local Governments
- Step 8: Support for Municipalities and Local Governments
Our Client Spotlight
We’ve developed many mobile apps for municipalities and local governments all over North America. Have a look at some of our client stories:
