STEP 1. CHOOSE FEATURE SET
For your MVP you will choose the most basic set of features just to begin with it. However, if you don’t want your app to “taste bland”, you need to develop additional functionality that will solve more user’s problems. Also, be sure to find the feature that will become the main twist of your app – something your customers remember and associate with you. For example, a lookbook would be a great solution for a fashion app. It can imitate the structure of magazines, arising certain emotions in their users. Book shops usually add a preview of pages, making them turn like real paper books.
STEP 2. OUTLINE SPECIFICATIONS AND PROTOTYPE
To pay attention to all aspects of development and make sure your team understands what you want from them, you need to outline specifications. These are the detailed descriptions of each aspect, task, or issue that needs to be addressed. Yes, you will be able to make adjustments while the developers work on specific tasks. However, the more adjustments – the more distractions. The more distractions – the more time it takes to get things done. So, it is better to outline exactly what you mean and provide all the necessary details from the beginning so that there was no need to interrupt the development process in progress.
In SapientPro we are always available if you suddenly have adjustments to the current task. However, it is our priority to get to the grips of the specifications beforehand. It increases the overall efficiency, saves time, and, sometimes, even spares nerves.
As for the prototype – the pilot version of your app – it’s the first thing you visually explore and decide where to move next. It allows us to test ideas and see what actually works and what looked good only in your head.
STEP 3. CREATE APPLICATION DESIGN
After you’ve understood what works in theory and what doesn’t, your team is ready to turn the efficient practices into reality. It’s time to create a final design of your application. The main challenges of this process involve the understanding of how the customers use the app, what interests they have, and how to represent it in the user interface and how to make the usage intuitive. A great designer is not only an aesthete, illustrator, and creative person. There always has to be a share of understanding of human psychology because it is the main aspect of design – to appeal to people’s emotions.
STEP 4. CHOOSE A PLATFORM
Now it’s time to decide what development platform you’ll target and what technologies you will use. Basically, the most popular app stores you’ll need to target are Apple Store (1,8+ million apps) and Google Play (2,5+ million apps). However, there are more solutions you may consider for the potential market – Windows Store and Amazon Appstore, for example.
For the basic Android-iOS development, you have two ways – either to code for each separately in native languages or to choose a cross-platform framework. With native development, you will need to invest more money into the development, as you will need separate devs for separate platforms. With cross-platform development, your app will lose points in the performance, however, you’ll save costs.
STEP 5. DEVELOP AN APP AND TEST IT
Now, it’s time to CODE HARD. Backend developers arrange business logic, servers, and databases – everything that makes your app work and is not viewable for your users. Frontend developers create the visual part of the app – something your customers will directly interfere with. In mobile development, there is usually no distinction between the two, as smartphones contain all necessary logic for the operation. However, shopping apps are API based, meaning that they need a server to work, so both backend and frontend devs are needed.
After the development, it is a must to test an app. A specially trained QA manager can perform it manually. Also, there are tester-plugins that perform this function automatically. For better results, it is a good practice to combine both ways, as a human may notice something that a computer ignored and vice versa.
STEP 6. LAUNCH THE APP
Launching the app involves its optimization in app stores. It requires writing relevant keywords in the description, adding your logo and title, uploading screenshots displaying the main features, and informing about the recent updates.
STEP 7. GATHER FEEDBACK
This is a highly important step that you should not ignore. Before implementing new features, you need to know if the old ones work smoothly. Gather feedback from app stores review sections, google your app reviews, analyze the scores. First, solve the issues your users are concerned about right now, then work on additional functionality.
App development is an iterative process. There’s always room for improvement. There are always new trends to follow and issues to solve. It’s a challenging still exciting path, and the SapientPro development team is ready to be your guide.