Brand owners need to invest more in their business if they wish to reach newer heights. In this day and age, the best investment for a business is a digital platform like a mobile app. A good mobile app showcasing your products and services will ensure customer retention and may even initiate recurring word of mouth. But it isn’t just about sleek app design and smooth performance. The mobile app development process involves technicalities one must abide by.
In-app advertisement, according to research, has shown great promise — and has delivered! If given enough incentive, people buy in-app products and do more than they can with a physical business. For applications launched last year, there was a lot of profit. The key was sales, led by human needs and the fact that people had more time on their hands due to the COVID-19 lock-down. A number of businesses have been, ever since, trying to capitalize on mobile apps and it is not at all late to hop on the bandwagon.
Here, we have compiled a quick guide for the entire mobile app development process. Each step will address a strategy that ensures the process of developing an app that goes smoothly without a hitch.
1. First Thing’s First – Devise a Good Strategy
Want to know what is the primary driving force behind the mobile app development process? It’s converting one’s thought process into an actionable app development lifecycle. These steps are interconnected and understanding how they connect is essential for conducting an overall seamless production.
What makes a good strategy? It’s pretty simple. You need to determine who are you stakeholders are and work your way from there. Think of your target audience and research them. Create a customer persona with defined likes and dislikes. Once you have your persona ready, think what they would appreciate in your app.
Come up with a prototype that solves a unanimous problem of your target audience. Secondly, a good strategy for a mobile app development process would be to examine your competitors. Also, come up with a marketing plan and how you can potentially earn not just from the app but the app development process as well.
A good strategy will ensure long-term success.
2. Step Two Is to Plan and Analyze
This is where the actual mobile app development process begins. You will have to identify use cases and the primary objectives of the application. Think if what you plan to create is possible and the time you think the app process will take. See if you have enough resources to carry the project out, if you would have to outsource it or if you plan on programming it independently. Decide the programming languages you will be using. Last but not least, choose your approaches, whether Android or iOS?
Let us not forget the most important detail of them all – the app’s name! If you are a company or a brand, then coming up with a name should not be too hard. However, if you are entering into business or operating on a unique business model, you will need to step outside the bounds and let your creative juices flow. It is important that the app’s name is well-researched and SEO-friendly. This will help you avoid issues in App Store Optimization. But most importantly, make sure that the name is not already taken. For that, consider domain name research a priority.
3. Designing User Interface (UI) and Experience (UX)
Apps that follow all the steps for developing an app but do not pay attention to user interface and experience design errors. Look and feel, when it comes to the mobile app development company, is more important than some people would deem. Insipid, ineffective app visuals are a major turn off. You do not want bad reviews especially regarding user interface. The application experience you deliver must be unique, carry a certain appeal, and must be straightforward. You need to score on all fronts – not just app design, but app functionality and effectiveness.
4. Observing Wire-frames as Essential Components
It is time for putting pen to paper and using your doodling skills. An app starts with sketches and scrawls. You will have to draw all of your wire-frames before you send them to production. What are wireframes? Think of them as mockups, low-fidelity, of course, that function as semantic blueprints of the app. You can assess what your app’s graphic display will look like through a flawless wire-frame.
While making wire-frames, you are in a two-dimensional world of black and white. Colors and visual appeal come later. Wire-frames deal more with providing developers an idea of what exactly they need to design. You can populate wire-frames with a style guide later in the mobile app development process once you have designed a basic sketch. Wire-frames are essential components and an important third step; you cannot move ahead with prototyping and app development.
5. Programming the App – The Process of Developing an App
Start working on your prototype with the wire-frame finalized. Prototyping will entail taking care of product backlog, choosing a technology package that meets your requirements and those of your app, and narrowing down your application goals. Your programmers will need to stick to a strict coding regimen and meet all of your deadlines so that the project does not get delayed. Put your project management skills to good use and manage each process effectively, keeping deliveries consistent.
Your project will have the following basic components: a basic back-end server and server tech, relevant API, or APIs, for seamless integration, and a front-end layout for the mobile app.
6. Testing, Deployment, and Post-Deployment Support
QA engineers, this is where you come in. Your QA engineers will have to examine every aspect of the programmed application, ensuring the project is stable, secure, and high-performing. This will come down to writing test cases that act as testament to each and every part of the developed application. Once your QA engineers have okay-ed the application, the mobile app development process is almost over. You now move into the final phase of the app development process — deployment and support.
Putting up your app on relevant app stores is not all there is to deployment. You will have to optimize your app for the app store. In app store optimization, you will need to come up with a unique application title, a keyword-influenced application description, categorize the app for easy recognition, design an icon for app booting, and take relevant screenshots so people can gauge the quality of your app. Next comes post-deployment support where you monitor flaws and keep an eye out for customer complaints and feedback. Your code correction engineers will need to vigilantly deal with any drawbacks your application carries so that you can improve the user’s overall experience and prevent the same from happening for other users.
Takeaway
Designing an application is a recurring process that sometimes may require redoing steps. You might want to add elements to your app, certain features that you missed before or those that your competitors have added. You can dole out these new features in future updates to your app. Almost all apps follow the same kind of software development life-cycle. Your approach may have to vary slightly when developing enterprise level projects than when making small-scale apps meant for a limited target audience.
What are your thoughts on the mobile app development process? Have your say in the comments below.
