Educators Guide to Testing, Launching and Promoting an App

Developing an app for Extension and instruction use is generating interest among faculty, Extension agents, and university administrators. The University of Tennessee with partners at Clemson University, North Carolina State University, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University developed an app for professionals working with pest management and plant care for plants in the nursery and landscape, IPMPro, and a corresponding app, IPMLite, for the home landscape enthusiast market. The focus of this presentation is to familiarize potential educational developers with the process of testing, launching, and promoting an app using this development team’s experience as a model.  Once the app is designed and fully populated it must be tested. A systematic testing procedure will be discussed. Testing the app requires volunteers who have different levels of involvement with the development of the app on each platform. The range of time required varies depending on how complex the app is and timed events such as push notifications. Launching an app, including setting up vendor accounts, preparing the required files and images, acquiring the required hardware and software, planning for the time lag during marketplace approval, and staging promotion with launch are critical to a successful release.  Utilizing reviews and promotional versions of the app can be part of an effective PR campaign. App promotion should include a professionally prepared press release. How to generate a list of relevant recipients and the development team’s role in promotion will also be discussed as will key pieces of information to include in your press release.  Proper testing and promotion are critical to releasing a properly functioning app to the appropriate markets.  Apps can be a productive in-state or multi-state collaboration that deliver research-based information to an increasingly mobile phone-savvy clientele and reinforce that land-grant universities are a cutting edge source of information.