If you’ve ever found yourself having an idea which promised to change the world and to bring you a fortune and having no ideas about how to turn it into reality this article is for you.
Trying to build the next hot app without understanding the fundamentals is a sure path to failure. Let’s take a look at the fundamentals of what it takes to make your idea a success.
Building on your light bulb
Every application begins with a problem. You see something stressing you out and think “there should be a better way.” This is where you get middle-of-the-road brainwave about how to solve a problem and make this world a little better place.
But where do you start? You know nothing about application development, and you’re not sure how the app store works. That’s where you start hitting the books (or blogs).
So, this is what you need to know about the stages of the application development process before you find yourself sitting in a conference room across from project managers and developers.
Researching
For you, your application begins with a witty idea of how to solve some problem.
For us, it begins with technical research. We verify that your concept is feasible to develop using platforms, modules, and components, and suggest you the modules and components that will go together. Here the development team lays the ground to build your future app on. Right from this moment your phrase “I’m building an application” already sounds like a plan.
Roadmapping
When everything is listed, the Project Manager of a team discusses with you the roadmap. Literally, the roadmap is a strategic plan that defines the desired outcome, and the major milestones to reach. This planning stage includes determining immediate and long-term requirements.
Sketching
The sketching stage is about designing the application interface (UI) and creating user experience (UX) for your application. Together we should work out design and experience that will accommodate the ways that your customers behave and the habits they have. Thus we’ll be creating the application design to become a part of the lifestyle of its users.
The designers create an interactive prototype of the future app that gives you an idea of how your app will feel and taste even before the coding started. You can suggest any improvements to the concept of your project before the actual development, that will shorten your expenses by half, comparing to the situation when you do it at the middle of the development process.
Coding
Developers start coding as soon as you approve the UI/UX. By saying “coding” we mean that the development team performs the real rocket science. They melt the frameworks, the hundreds of code lines and third-party libraries, and utilize the best practices to get closer to the goal.
Building the app can take two or three iterations of development, depending on your feedback and suggestions. We can say that the entire project is ready for testing when all code works are done.
Testing
The aim of this stage is pretty simple — the application should look and behave exactly as planned. The QA team test the app under different conditions on a number of devices and platforms. Once they tested the app, no worries that the user experience, features, and look-and-feel are properly maintained.
Deploying the app to market
The iOS App Store and Google Play Store are just a few clicks away but there’s some work to be done before we excitedly press the launch button. We need to determine what category your app belongs in, write engaging and SEO approved copy for the marketplace, and select the best screenshots to show off your app. Once all of that is ready, it’s time to press play and deploy that app to the world.
Maintenance and support
As the download rates start to climb you’ll begin to hear feedback from your first batch of users. Some of it will be glowing, others will be less so. The truth is that app development is not a sprint but a marathon. Most likely, you’ll want to make changes based on user feedback to make your app even better. App development is all about optimization and iterations. Features that you wanted to include in your first update may have to wait until your second or third. We believe that app optimization is a crucial part of app development. Our work and cooperation with clients don’t end with the product deployment to the app stores.
As any business owner knows, you can’t rest when you’re ahead. There are always going to be competitors trying to launch a cheaper, sleeker, smarter version of your product. Succeeding in business means always taking note of what your competition is doing and then doing it better than they are. We believe that the same is true with your app. Once you launch, take a few days off to relax and congratulate yourself, but then wipe the slate clean and get started on version 2.0 of your product.
The question you might want to ask
Being a businessperson and having budget besides all has its things. The natural questions popping up in the head when discussing and planning your app are “Do I fit the budget?” and “How do I understand that these guys deliver me exactly what I needed?
Well, the budget is easy. The reason why you discuss everything with the project manager in all those details is to find an optimal solution on the features to implement and processes to tweak. So, that shouldn’t be your concern.
Talking about the perfect delivery, it’s difficult to say that the process is always smooth and seamless. The awkward truth is that it never is. It’s impossible to predict which issue will cause the biggest headaches within any particular project.
However, unexpected challenges occur in any project and any business. So, what should you do?
Entrust your project to a team of professional developers with a wide variety of skills, well-honed processes, and experience, and stay confident that your team will smooth out any bumps along the road long before you launch. Find your perfect match among the development companies and trust them all along the process for developing your first application.
