Data Mining With A Mobile App

Businesses are relying more and more on data in order to improve their agility and assist in making high-risk decisions.

Data is especially vital in industries that have a great deal of risk or liability, such as:

• government
• healthcare
• finance
• marketing
• insurance

It can also aid in business governance decisions, consumer analytics, and other endeavors common to most organizations.

Important Factors for Mobile App Data Mining

One way to accumulate the data needed to make these types of decisions is by mining data through mobile apps. As you analyze data from your users and leverage it in the right way, you’ll start to receive more precise guidance on the types of products to develop, how to market them, and how to streamline operations.

Using Data to Improve UX

One benefit of data mining is that it improves the user experience (UX) of your customers.

People use apps because they derive some sort of value from it. This may be easier shopping, access to needed information, or simply entertainment. By accumulating certain types of data, you can improve their experience with the app by tracking their preferences and increasing convenience.

As they find improved user-friendliness, they’ll use your app more often, essentially increasing loyalty.

Examining User Behaviors

User behaviors, such as when and what they shop for, what types of social media used and at what time, even their location, is all useful. User behaviors provide valuable data on how your consumers can be best reached. This improves the precision of business functions, such as:

• Marketing and advertising
• Customer service
• Medical treatment (for the healthcare industry)
• Product and service development
• Company policy and governance, particularly when it directly impacts customers

On mobile devices, the main aspect is location data, which can help you analyze what other data truly means.

For instance, tracking the location of an app user can allow you to send targeted promotional offers when they happen to be passing by your store, thereby increasing foot traffic.

Maintaining Security

While there are plenty of benefits to data mining for both you and the app’s users, there are some caveats to consider.

You owe your customers a great deal of care when it comes to protecting their data, so it’s important to follow certain protocols when tracking their usage patterns and preferences.

You want to make sure you only gather the types of data you absolutely need and that it doesn’t intrude on your users’ privacy. Rather than collect data based on device IDs or phone numbers, you could do so simply with their login to the app. This way, you get the data you need without raising any red flags.

Implementing Data Mining

Before data mining in a mobile app, you need to determine the type of information you will collect, how it should be collected, and how it should be interpreted. Then, algorithms can be implemented into a mobile app to track user data that is pertinent to your needs.

The type of data you’re seeking impacts the design of the app itself, including components like:

• functionality
• user interface (UI)
• programming language
• device compatibility
• and so on, and so forth

A usable, quality mobile app is best designed by someone who knows what you’re looking for in terms of data and who has experience designing and programming native apps.