These days, the world is going almost entirely mobile. A lot of businesses develop mobile applications to attract new customers and revenues. It helps make their business more accessible for customers. If you are thinking of making your way to building an app, you must follow a systematic approach to avoid industry mishaps. So, let’s dive into the stages of the app development process!
Strategy
To move towards having the best app, you must focus on building a strategy. A good strategy helps in transforming your idea into a valuable app. The major steps that you must discuss with your team for developing a strategy are:
- Discover the needs of the users for whom you are taking this initiative.
- Identify your competitors to attain the best results for launching your successful app.
- State your objectives and your end goals.
- Choose the platform where you want to publish or deploy your app.
A strategy motivates and makes the goal clearcut for you. Then, when you have a great idea for your app, feel free to go to the next stages of app development.
Analysis and Planning
At this stage, you are clear about the idea or what you exactly want to build. Now, it’s time to tailor your idea. The first step is to write out every use case, along with the appropriate comprehensive functional requirements.
If your app has no value, then it’s quite useless, regardless of its functionality. It should help resolve a problem, entertain, or simplify different processes to become successful. If it doesn’t accomplish any of these functions, the user will uninstall your app and put your reputation at risk, usually along with negative feedback.
Then, it’s time to pen down a detailed methodology. First, you need to rank all of the requirements and categorize them. Next, you must write the time the app is needed by, the budgetary cost, or any other concern that can impact the delivery of any of the categories. Finally, you must delineate the process with milestones. If we are talking about the app cost, you must remember that it takes $160,000-$210,000. It can take from one to five months to complete, on average.
Last but not least, you have to buy the domain from a good hosting provider as well. Also, you have to pick an engaging and relevant name for your app. It should be remarkable, and draw the attention of potential users.
UI/UX design
Would you like to use an app that is too complicated to use or has no value for you? Indeed, the answer is No! The end-users always use apps that have the best UI or interact in the best ways. But of course, users can’t fully enjoy using an app only because of its interactivity and UI. These merely impact the first impression on your user.
The way your app presents itself to the user is the User Interface (UI). The way a user interacts with your app is the User Experience (UX). You need to examine how your app fulfills its purpose. In short, it must fulfill the following conditions:
- Simple to use;
- Keep users engaged;
- Serves the purpose for which it was built.
These application development steps will help make your user a returning user of your app!
App Development
The application development process comprises many stages. First, you need to outline your application and build a thorough plan. It’s an initial stage that will help you to understand what you will get in the end.
Then, you can hire an iOS app developer and share your plan with an expert. Why do we suggest starting with the iOS app? It’s simpler to monetize your app with iOS users. The team of experts will start developing your application. The app development process can be presented with the following steps: plan – develop – test – iterate. When each part of your application is released, it has to be tested using several methods to ensure that everything works smoothly and correctly. Otherwise, bugs will have to be discovered and fixed.
Testing
Testing is one of the most important mobile app development process steps. If your Android or iOS application is not secure and it is unstable, it is a big problem that must be resolved before releasing your app.
To make sure that your app works in the best way, you must go through QA testing. The best way is to make a list of test cases and examine your application thoroughly. Developing test cases is the most important step for checking your app’s behavior in every scenario.
Deployment and Support
This is the last step of the mobile app development process. Keep in mind, you always require a developer account before deploying your application. Before launching your app, you have to provide the following information:
- Title of the application
- Detailed overview of the application.
- Category to which it belongs.
- Keywords to rank it.
- An icon that defines your app.
- Screenshots, particularly of the app store.
Then a review process is initiated that takes a few weeks to ensure that your app follows the app store’s guidelines. Finally, you must have a feedback page where users can submit their comments, and you can promptly respond to their queries as well. It always helps your app stay on top and to stay ahead of your competition by giving the best experience to your users.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that the app development process is a never-ending process. There are many companies worldwide working hard to maintain their standards after the first launch of their app. Following a systematic approach for maintaining your app makes you able to enjoy the best and most desired outcomes. Even though the entire application development process is not that scary if it’s organized in small tasks, a good application must be improved constantly.
FAQs
How do I start the mobile app development process?
First, have a clear idea of what you want to build, what features you will provide, and which features your competitors lack. Then, with this idea in mind, you can start now!
What are the app development stages?
The stages are:
- Developing an idea.
- Analysis and planning.
- UI/UX design.
- App development process.
- Testing.
- Deployment and Support.
How long does it take to create an app?
If you know about the functional requirements of an app, you can build an MVP in just a month. On the other hand, a complicated iOS or Android app development process can take up six to nine months.
Author
Vitaly Makhov, CEO at DOIT Software, custom software development and IT Staff Augmentation company. He is a highly energetic manager who is passionate about building successful systems and solving challenges. Vitaly is experienced in working with startups, product companies, and digital agencies. He is driven to build a company based on moral and professional values, with mutually beneficial partnerships and relationships.
