Event apps must be built around need

The event app is often the most overpromised and underdelivered part of an experience.

It is sold as a matchmaking engine, a networking facilitator, a personalised agenda builder. By day two of the event, half the delegates have not opened it since registration and the other half are using it solely as a viewer for the programme schedule.

Part of the problem is timing. In the Middle East, there is a pattern that anyone delivering events in the region will recognise: regional delegates tend to download and engage with the app at the last minute, often on-site, while an international audience may want weeks of lead time to set up meetings and browse the attendee list. Launching everything at once serves neither group well.

I’m an advocate for launching an MVP version of the app early (key information, programme, speakers, partners, attendee directory) and then layering in features as the event approaches: FOMO highlights, matchmaking tools, session ratings, live polling, networking recommendations. This builds engagement incrementally rather than overwhelming users with a full platform they have no context for yet. It also gives you real usage data before the event starts, which means you can adjust what is not working rather than discovering the problems on day one.

A bigger issue is that most apps are designed as if every delegate has the same needs. A minister and a first-time attendee are using the same interface for very different reasons. Unless event apps are built around stakeholder tiers rather than feature lists, they will always risk being the tool everyone downloads and nobody uses.