You have an amazing Augmented Reality idea and now you are wondering how to start off the process. The demos and the AR apps have totally blown away your mind. But you are wondering how to validate your idea and how to turn it into a successful one. With this article, I will try to answer all such queries.

How to Begin

The best way to begin is to ask yourself the question,

Will this app really need an Augmented Reality experience?

If the answer is no or maybe, then it’s better you stay away from it.

You can’t force AR to any idea and hope that it works.

Following broader themes and questions will help you to validate your idea and rank it accordingly.

Tasks Utility, Learning, and Entertainment

Ask yourself what value you are providing to your end customer. Will they Learn, Gain any Value, Or be Entertained?

If your app does fall into one of these three categories, then you have an idea that will do more than the initial download.

For Task Utility, you need to check whether your app is making the task easier, faster, or more efficient. Consider the case of the iOS App, Measure. You can utilize this app to measure any object around you without the need of any tool. This adds a massive value and handles an important task making it more efficient and frees you of the tools.

From Learning Perspective, AR has many utilities. Any industrial worker with an AR glass while working on a piece of equipment can utilize the augmented instructions. This can make a plumber fix rockets with a few sessions. A medical student can run surgeries using AR.

For Entertainment, Gaming, and Pokemon Go are the best examples. Pokemon Go combined geo-location with the augmented characters and made a gaming world of its own.

Meaningful Interactions

Are there sufficient interactions? Do your interactions provide any significant and useful value for customers? 

You need to keep in mind the Augmented Reality perspectives of touch, locations, and viewing perspectives. If those interactions are needed for your idea to work, then proceed.

Consider a case, where you are placing furniture in the air, what’s the real utility of this app? Maybe you will download this app once but will definitely delete it within 5 min.

Instead, IKEA Place did an amazing job using the interactions and placing furniture in real environments. You are essentially using the viewing perspectives with your actual location. This adds a lot of value to the end user experience.

Repeat Usage

Do you provide a reason for your users to come back? Do you envision ways for bringing a customer back for things like learning more, advancing to next levels, achieving a goal, or needing a new interaction?

Going back to IKEA examples, the app does a wonderful job of pushing you towards a goal. You will use it again for the new furniture ideas, different placements, and playing around with different textures and colors.

IKEA user experience is making you fall in love with the App Developer and also pushing you to make a purchase down the road.

In addition, you will be sharing such experience with your friends and family and pushing them towards experimenting and buying IKEA.

Right Device

Are you building your idea for the right device?

With AR, you are augmenting objects over reality for a new and meaningful experience. This gets tricky with device sizes and the environment where that device will be used.

So, in case you are augmenting a big truck with a small screen phone in a closed corridor, you are bound to lose.

Remember, you are enhancing the experience and not creating a new one. You need to keep in perspective when your user will be using it, with what kind of device and the environment they are in.

Money

How will your app make money? 

Again this goal is hinged on the fact that user is finding value and coming back to interact with your app frequently. You should know the monetization options and the eco-system that supports it. Otherwise, why bother?

For money making you have all the traditional way of doing so. You can have in-app purchases, Adds, Upgrades, Subscriptions, and Paid Apps model. You can read about all the App Monetisation Options here.

Summing Up:

With all the above factors listed, I would still be going back to the same question again and again.

Is your project fit for an AR experience?

If the same task can be accomplished using a regular app, then save your money, effort, and resources!

You can contact me by visiting App2Dev.com