The club app nobody opened
Northside Youth Club is a made-up club. It pays for an app. Two hundred people install it. A month later, almost nobody opens it.
The app has a lot of pictures and a lot of buttons. But it does not do the one thing members want: show tonight's activities. An app must fit its purpose and its users. This lesson shows how to check that.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can judge whether a digital application suits its purpose and its users.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Application | a program that does a job for a user |
| Purpose | the job the application is made to do |
| Target audience | the group of people it is made for |
| Interactive | it reacts when the user does something |
| Copyright | the owner's right to control who copies their work |
| Accessibility | how well people with different needs can use it |
| Proofread | to read content slowly and fix every mistake |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Every application has a purpose
An application, or app, is a program that does a job for a user. It can run on a phone, a tablet, a computer or a smart TV.
Organisations make apps for different purposes. A shop app may sell. A bank app may show money. A club app may share news. Before anything is built, the team asks: what job must this app do?
Seven common purposes of an app
| Purpose | What the app does | Made-up example |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Makes people aware of the organisation | A café app with a new-drink advert |
| Sales | Helps people buy | A shoe shop app with a basket |
| Information | Gives facts | A bus times app |
| E-commerce | Takes payment online | Tickets for a school show |
| Support services | Helps users with a problem | A help chat for a phone company |
| Financial | Shows or moves money | A savings app for a bank |
| Collaboration | Lets people work together | A shared homework planner |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.