It Is All In The Name – Christening Your Mobile App

By Author: Susan Smith
Total Articles: 132
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For passionate developers, their products are so much like their offspring. Both are their creations, while one contains their DNA, the other possesses their intellectual stamp. Therefore, they both share an unbreakable bond with their creator. There are many similarities between a newly developed code and a newborn child, like the fact that they both take time to mature and perfect, both need careful observation to spot issues that may need attention, and they are both difficult to name.

Anyone who is a parent will vouch for the fact that it takes long discussions, research and deliberations to find the perfect appellation for your bundle of joy. The developers face a similar dilemma when they finish writing the code for their product. What to name your application is generally very important and a not so easy decision.

Claims of the numerologists and feng – shui experts aside, names do have an influence on the future of a product. People who do not know your software will associate the name with an image that it forms in their minds when they read it, and thus, would already have an opinion about your application, ...
... just by reading its name, without ever having seen it. It is similar to the pre – judgmental attitude of people towards others when they know them just by name, without having met them.

Imagine you having a meeting with a Mr. Tiny, or a Ms. Penelope Cruz (not the star). Now before you learn that Mr. Tiny is a professional wrestler, and Ms. Cruz is an 80 year old single lady, you would have thought of them differently in your head. Similarly, you would seldom imagine an application named ‘Hakunamatata’ to be an enterprise resource planning application, or ‘Project Central 2.0’ to be a children’s game, even if they were.

So what do you call your beloved piece of code? While it is something that is ultimately a personal decision, there are certain tips given below to help you make up your mind.

1. Keep it unique – Uniqueness is in itself not a unique quality. Therefore, if you want to get noticed in the sea of millions of mobile applications, you need to name it something that is different. Try not to imitate a real world object, movie or person, till the time the application is about them.

2. Keep it contextual – as per all of the discussion above, people will associate the functionality of the software with the name. Therefore, ensure that the name represents the essence of the app. You do not need go to the extent of keeping a boring and strictly professional name for a business app (unless it is required). You can innovate and be creative.

3. Consider the languages – Keep in mind that your application may be used by people who will not be the native speakers of your language, even if the interface is not in their local language. To the extent possible, ensure that the name of your app does not mean anything that is insulting, racist, or is a foul word in the target audience’s native language. This will effectively dissuade a portion of your potential customers from using your app.

4. Consider the length – Do not keep names that are too long. People do not like to talk about them. Worse, they will turn it into an acronym that might defeat the purpose of the name itself.

In summary, when naming your application, keep it short, simple, catchy, and contextual. This will help you get some initial leverage in the marketplace. After that though, its your application that counts.

The author is associated with one of the top mobile enterprise app development companies, Dallas enterprise application development and enterprise app development Noida company