Lets cover how to build SaaS App Features for your new application. We’ll cover the basics of SaaS, key features to consider, and resources to help you along the way.
What is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)?
SaaS is a way of delivering applications over the Internet as a service. Instead of installing software on a computer computer, you simply access it via the Internet. Most commonly using a web browser on a desktop computer, tablet, or mobile device.
What are common features found in SaaS Apps
Cloud-based applications
SaaS apps run on servers online. Requiring a web connection to connect to servers, rather than using your local device.
Subscription-based pricing
Users often pay a monthly or annual recurring fee to access the software. Rather than the traditional one-time licensing fee.
Automatic updates
SaaS providers manage the digital product online. Enabling organizations to manage and roll out updates to all users, automatically. Updates may include: new app features, bug fixes, UX improvements, and more.
Shared infrastructure
SaaS users share the same application infrastructure and codebase. However, each user (or organization) has their data securely isolated to their account.
Web Access
People use the internet to access SaaS applications. Commonly, built for any screen size with responsive UX design.
What are some common examples of SaaS Applications
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools like Salesforce
- Productivity tools like Google Workspace (Gmail, Sheets, Docs, Meet, etc) and Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Excel, Word, Teams, etc)
- Communication tools such as Slack
- Project management tools like Linear
What features are important for SaaS Apps
Account Creation
For most applications, creating an account is the first step of the new user journey. Gather key details to enable user to sign up, and log back into your product. Creating a streamlined account sign-up flow is vital to get people into your software.
Platforms commonly gather a user’s email or phone number, and ask them to create a password. If you want to pull other data from subscribers, consider using oAuth from a 3rd party provider. Open Authorization (oAuth) requests authorization from another platform to pull data about the account holder. Common oAuth providers include Google, Linkedin, Facebook or Apple.
Things to consider
Error States
Think about what information your new users need to provide. Think about what issues may come up, and how you can help users fix errors themselves. Develop user stories for common problems, and the best way to solve them.
Log in button
Give your app users a quick-and-easy way to navigate to log in. Rather than needing to go back, or worse, restarting from the beginning.
Log in logic
When a user engages with your account creation flow, consider adding a way to log in. If they have an account with the info they provide, you can automatically log them in. Consider adding a message to let them know they have the account so they know why they bypass account creation.
Account Log In
Give users who have an account a way to pick up where they left off. Let users enter their credentials to access your product. Keep in mind if you use an oAuth service for sign up, you’ll want to do the same for log in. Logging in has a few extra pieces to consider.
Things to consider
Error states
Similar to sign up, explain why log ins may not be successful. Give users a way to get into their account. Without providing too much information, or ways for 3rd parties to hack accounts.
Don’t Say:
- Your password is incorrect
Do Say:
- Your account email and password don’t match any account
Password reset
Sometimes people lose their password, offer a way to change credentials. You can implement a magic link, letting users log in for a specified amount of time, to reset their password. Or you can email a code to verify the account user is making the desired changes.
Sign in button
For users who do not have an account, add a sign up button. Letting them rapidly change to the sign up form if they navigate to your log in screen by accident.
Guided onboarding
After creating an account, think about what information you need from users. How do you use that information to provide a better user experience? Create a checklist for yourself, and think about doing the same for your users.
Providing a clear user journey is a great way to make your product user-friendly. Letting people know what value they get, gives them incentive to complete each step.
Things to consider
Feature previews
Give people incentive to subscribe to your product or service. Show them what features you offer, and share why they are user friendly. Better yet, deliver a preview by creating free plan limits.
Use-case UX
Think about focusing on specific user personas in your software. By catering to your key user types, your SaaS app has a better opportunity to resonate with customers. Especially if you have key features catered to different market segments.
Account subscription
Make it easy for your users to upgrade to a paid plan. Don’t force users to search for a way to pay for your product.
Things to consider
Plan comparison
Let people easily compare your different pricing plans. By understanding what features they have access to, they can confidently choose the right subscription. Avoid using dark patterns to upsell your users, building trust with your community is a major retention driver.
Suggested plans
When a person hits a free plan limit, consider showing them a suggested plan to give them access to the feature they are using. Otherwise, you can share what is the most popular paid plan based on your community’s subscriptions.
Plan changes and cancellations
Remember to give your customers a clear way to make changes to their plan. Customer success can be costly, and making changes difficult can negatively impact your brand reputation. Aim to be clear on how the account’s plans will be impacted, and when.
Notifications and Alerts
Provide your users with timely alerts about their account health and your platform. Notifications are a great way to show what’s new on a user’s profile. Alerts show warnings or errors your customers can use to improve their product experience.
Things to consider
Communication lifecycle
Be intentional about how often your send messages to your users. Sending too many messages may cause users to ignore your alerts. Different communication channels may lead to different outcomes.
We suggest limiting push notifications to the most important actions. Use email messaging sparingly to avoid being marked spam by your community. When a user is in your app, consider linking them to the area they should focus on, to quickly make changes.
Wrapping up
We hope this article is helpful for startup product teams & SaaS app founders. Your product experience may incorporate these and many more features. After developing software used by millions world-wide, we try to help teams get to market sooner.
Our San Diego-based UX Studio works with startups to develop products people love. Check out Bicoastal for more.