Global IT expenditure may be going against expectations. But, cloud growth is on the rise. Gartner predicted that it would rise by 6.3% in 2020. Moreover, the global software as a service market is estimated to touch 623 billion US dollars by 2023.
So, does this mean more SaaS products? If yes, then how to design a SaaS product?
Also, do all SaaS products do well? Do all serve their intended purpose? If not, how can you make your SaaS software satisfy the customers and bring in good revenue?
To know, read our all-inclusive guide on how to design a SaaS product. It should help you create the software from scratch without difficulty.
In the further sections, we will also talk about some practical tips on designing.
The guide is segregated into four parts for easy understanding:
- The role of design in SaaS
- Designing a SaaS product
- Design checklist
- Some useful SaaS website design tips
Let’s get started!
The Role of Design in SaaS
Great User Experience + Great User Interface = Great Product. This is what you need to keep in mind while undertaking the process of how to design SaaS software.
Both components hold significance in offering a great SaaS product. And these design components are not just limited to fewer aspects. Many of them decide the overall look and functionality of the software. Hence, they need absolute focus.
For instance, if you are designing SaaS software, it is necessary to keep the following factors in mind:
- Layout
- Accessibility
- Visual Design
- Database
And others!
If you want to glue the users to your software, ensure that you embed all of these in it and follow some of these proven SaaS website design tips.
Tip 1. Easy Sign Up and Sign In
A user wants a signup process that he or she can complete without hassle. It isn’t that easy.
You need to ensure that you do not ask the user something that makes them completely skip signing up for your software.
For instance, provide a free trial to the user but don’t keep their credit card information. It makes the user a bit insecure.
Keep in mind that you need to:
- Attract a user and
- Engage a user
To make it happen, be careful with your signup process.
Tip 2. User-Friendly and Engaging Onboarding
The first impression is the last. Since good onboarding allows you to make it last, it is best to grab it. Educate and engage the new customers. You can accomplish this by incorporating user-friendly steps and resources for possible sticking points.
- Keep the signup steps simple and make sure you don’t add lengthy forms for the users to fill.
- Include a process completion bar for the users to monitor.
- Introduce chat support, if in any case, the user wants help.
- Keep the users engaged so that they keep coming back.
Autodesk is the finest example of this. The software firm created an extensive learning site that allowed the users to take self-paced courses after discovering the glitch in their onboarding process.
Tip 3. Gamification
One thing that can make your service or product more interactive and attractive for users is effective communication.
In designing a SaaS product, you can use game elements such as tracking and monitoring to reward the users for their achievement. SaaS founders often apply psychological tactics to boost product adoption and customer loyalty.
Here is an example:
Bunchball Nitro, a cloud-based platform, uses advanced technology in the sales process to push its employees to achieve better results.
All these aspects will help you harness higher engagement, which ultimately leads to product growth and profit.
Now let’s take a look at how to use all of these hacks in the SaaS design process.
Graphic designer Robert L. Peters shares the crux of our discussion on app design cost.Design creates culture.Culture Shapes Values.Values determine the future.This means that the app design and the cost you put into it today decide your business’s future.Creating a great design is fundamental to your application.However, to execute a great design, you need to implement a great process.
But it is not necessary to spend a fortune to execute a great process.Various aspects play a role in developing the design.User InterfaceFoundationLayoutEye MovementUser ExperienceColorsLayoutButton PlacementThere is a lot more to an app’s design than meets the eye.Each and everything further plays a role in the app design price.In this excerpt, we will discuss the mobile app design cost of the MVP version of the application.Just as paying peanuts does not get you an engaging designing, spending a fortune won’t translate into success.You need a mix of optimal cost structuring and some great tricks to create an excellent and valuable design.That is exactly what we will discuss in this article.Steve Jobs once said that a good design is not how it looks, rather how it works.So, taking inspiration from this legendary entrepreneur and visionary, let’s delve into the intricacies of mobile app design and its cost.What Type of Design Do You Need?A 2018 research on mobile application development from the purview of the app design highlights three aspects.Accessible = IntuitiveAppealing = InterfacePedagogically Constructive = Lower Learning curveAll these concepts are highly subjective.Users have different perspectives.
Their perspective towards the entire structure of the application can differ.In other words, the experience a person A has from your application will be different from person B.All in all, application design is not something that you can handle lightly.You need to invest time, resources, and money into it.There are two types of app designs that you can implement.
And the mobile app design price for both of these designs will be different.Native Mobile App DesignNativity to a mobile app design means that you need to follow the platform-specific design guidelines and element placements.iOS, Android, and other mobile device platforms have some set precedents of how everything shall look on the screen.This is similar to the de facto design of some application screens, particularly the search and Getting started sequences.Following the native guidelines, you will incur less application design cost relative to the custom design.With a native mobile app design, the guidelines set forth dictate how every element should be placed.For instance, with the iPhone, the button to “Go Back” is always on the top left corner of the phone screen.The designers can only change the icon shape and color, whereas the placement is fixed.Hence, a native User Interface cannot divert away from these guidelines.Pros of Native App DesignPlatform-Specificity This is one of the biggest advantages of designing a native app.Due to this, the mobile app design price is also lower.Platform specificity implies that the designers can access all the normal functionalities without running into design or framework errors.Easy to Implement With native app designing, the designers will mostly work with familiar systems.There is less room for experimentation with a lesser learning curve.This is because most of the systems and elements are pre-fixed.Faster and Quicker Development Usually, the process of deciding the placement of the elements is quite long and tedious.But here, you can use templates.This saves time for developing everything from scratch; also, the final cost to design an app is also less.Cons of Native Mobile App DesignLess Room for Experimentation Some designers believe that a native mobile app design framework reduces the potential to explore.There is a lesser inclination to deviate from the set standards that take all the fun out of the designing.In other words, the designers and developers are less flexible with the work.Limited Features Because a Native mobile app has to follow the set guidelines, the number of features is limited.Elements like buttons, scrollers, screens, and so on have a limited variety.You can only insert as many features as they are present in the UI kit.However, due to this limited set of features, the cost to design an app is also lower.If you are interested to read more, follow the cost to design an app guide.
There you'll find out:Custom Mobile App DesignThe Desing process workflowFactors affects the cost of app designFramework to find a reliable design team
Gladly, these days are in the past.
Such a diversity confuses users and even causes a kind of SaaS chaos.
Of course, these collaborations don't solve the problem of chaos in full but prove brands’ awareness and desire to support the users.Bottom line: We are witnessing a real boost in the SaaS market now and it’s not going to slow down.
Some useful tips to follow:Consider open-source tools;Choose fast prototyping with Ruby on Rails;Use free databases; Benefit from available solutions, e.g., Ruby gems; Don’t forget about load testing.Guide: how to create a successful SaaS productWhen we talk about MVP development, we usually follow the best practices.
The MoSCoW method prioritizes the features from M - Must-have features to S - Should have and C - Could have, and finally to W - Won't have ones.Choosing the Pricing Model The pricing model in SaaS is a method to set the desired price for a solution.
All come with their Pros and Cons.
With the attention of CIOs and developers focusing on IaaS and SaaS, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is struggling to take off.
But should we really consider it being at rest?
Considering SaaS (Software as a Service) is praised by the majority of organizations, and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) solutions being very successful, PaaS, which joined the race much later, has not yet succeeded in establishing itself.
This contributes to the success of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.The second observation, developers do not like to be restricted by a sandbox.
This opinion comes from PaaS providers who impose restrictions on architectural components in the cloud, such as tools, databases and programming languages, which developers do not like.The third observation, IaaS seems to be a better fit than PaaS for DevOps organizations, as it provides the operational platforms that developers will ultimately have to use: those of the IaaS platform, as well as their local environments, where they can replicate it in IaaS cloud.Last observation, the lack of standardization in the offers of PaaS providers.
And the developer struggles to navigate and especially to find the answer to his questions, forced to follow a closed approach which is imposed by the supplier.
