Develop a Successful app: Building an app is not only a question of importance in the tech industry but also in every other industry or business. The key reason for this is that in today’s world of technology, a mobile app can give you a bigger market as compared to any other marketing strategy. It makes communication between the seller and the consumer much easier and uncomplicated. In a world where people are becoming more and more mobile, it provides them with the mobility of transaction and a virtual outlook of what they want.
As an answer to this question, we have summed up a 10-step walkthrough that will guide you through the process.
How to make an app: Steps and Outline
Before discussing how to build the app, we need to know how much and what it costs. Well, it is not only dependent on the money but also the brilliancy of one’s idea and work. A successful app can be built by these 10 simple steps:
1. Knowing your idea: Just one single moment of realization of your idea would never be enough. It takes an enormous amount of knowledge and strategy to make an app.
2. Identify your goal: Knowing the goal behind your idea is also very necessary. It not only gives a structure to your idea but also motivation and direction to work on it.
3. Do your research: Understanding your market, your competitors, and your target consumers is the next step. This would not only help you make better business but also help you in standing out. Do enough research on your competitors. Scrutinize their products and services, and juxtapose their marketing strategies. Figure out your way to come up with something they failed to lay their lights on.
4. Know your tools: Knowing the appropriate tools is a very essential step. Even the best sculptors in the world would fail to prove their worth without the right tools. There are many different tools available on the internet that lets you build an app. You have to choose the one that best fits your purpose.
5. Wire Frames & UX: We make a dummy of your app to understand the user flow and the functioning of the app. This process reflecting all possible user actions in also known as information architecture. A wireframe is a rough layout that can be edited and improved at the early stages.
6. Back-end development: Also known as app architecture, it will be the next step on our list. Developing a backend or an app structure is a key point in the answer to how to build an app. There are majorly two ways of developing a back-end: Software as a Service as the back-end – e.g. Firebase, AWS Mobile Hub, CloudKit, or a custom and self-developed back-end. The second one is recommended when you pursue advanced development of your app with new features and a large number of users.
7. Visual design: It is a good idea to produce several versions of visual designs for your app. Usually, a typical designer makes three versions of the visual concept or outlook of the app. The further versions are then decided on the visual concept of your choice. Even the color scheme counts. Most of the apps are in the blue-green-white color layout. (e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, etc.)
8. Coding and binding everything together: This is when the coding team starts developing the app. The team works and completes the chore under the strict supervision of a project leader or manager. (An ethic practiced by most of the software companies.)
9. Testing: The next step is testing the functioning of the app by the team of quality assurance engineers. Software testing plays a very large role in the development of a mobile app and enhancing and cleaning the final upshot.
10. Release: It is the final stage when the app stands as 100% working with all the quality checks done. It usually means publishing the app in app stores like the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Now let’s discuss all these steps elaborately. We will divide the discussion into two parts:
1. The planning and preparation part
2. The development and execution part
The planning part
includes the idea, the goals, the research, and finalizing the tools.
The Idea
Today’s world of technology offers huge competition in the field of app making. There is rarely a unique idea that one comes up with. Most of the time there is an improved idea of an already available app. But does that even matter? No, it is, in fact, a better idea an enter a pre-established market with your idea of an improved and handier option with more different features. Ask yourself- why will people use my app? What does my app do? What category of daily-life problems does it cater to?
The Goal
It is the backbone of your idea. Without it, you won’t be having a direction of work. It should always be solving a particular problem. Like necessity is the mother of all inventions, a particular necessity prevailing in the society will give you your consumers. Look for it!
The Tools
Knowing the tools before starting the execution part is very necessary. Among a large number of tools available on the internet, picking the appropriate ones for your purpose is the key step. Any wrong choice of tools would lead to a lag in the process of development.
Knowing Your Users
Among all the other steps, it is the most necessary one. You cannot start a business without knowing your customers, similarly, you cannot make an application without knowing the types of users it will cater to. It includes giving the app different capabilities depending upon the region, understanding, lifestyle, and abilities of the user.
The development and execution part:
Wireframes, UX and Back-end development
When we have decided on the goals, the target consumers, and the essential features of the app, we can move to the step of actual app development. Firstly, we are supposed to determine the functions of the app i.e. the list of features the app is going to have including the navigation of flow within the app. This is called information architecture. It reflects all probable user activity on the app.
To understand the working of the app conceptually, wireframes are brought into practice. What we do here is we make a model or outline sketch of our upcoming app to visually see and understand how our app is going to look like and work like. For a better understanding, it is important to add as many details as possible: buttons, pop-ups, and text fields.
One of the best tools for wireframing are:
Then comes developing the back-end. There are mainly two ways of doing so:
· Using Software as a service(SaaS) as the back-end
· Developing a custom back-end yourself
For this, deciding all the alternatives like technology stack, services, and coding languages is very necessary. Some of the services used for SaaS are AWS Mobile Hub, Cloudkit, and Kinvey. However, making a custom self-developed backend is preferred more as it eliminates all the limitations of features and functions the app can have.
Visual designing, coding and binding it all together
Visual designing is also a very crucial step in app development. The design is not only about how it looks but also how it works. We should never forget user-experience and user-friendliness is essential.
The next step that jumps in is the development or coding part. Programming the app, building all its features and setting them up, and bringing them together. There are plenty of developing agencies like us who would love to do the strenuous task for you. Otherwise, you will have to learn to code yourself which might take days, months, or even years depending on the individual.
Testing
It is also a very crucial and mandatory practice in app development. It aims not to release the app with errors, bugs, long loading durations, crashes, or an app that doesn’t meet its goals. To make sure it gives a satisfactory user experience, an app is always subjected to beta testing. This way, we get to understand the flow of usability and the possible issues that our users might face. It means allowing, say, a 1000 beta testers to use the app. They give their reviews on it before it releases for the users in general.
The advantages of beta testing:
· The ability to understand the views of real users on the app over some quality assurance engineers.
· Correct the user level issues before the app going public.
· Rare issues and negative reviews and complaints after the app going over the stores.
Release
This is the final step in developing the app. When the app is completely error and bug-free, it is then compiled into .apk file for Android and/or .ipa file for iOS. It is then published on the app stores. A brief description, logos, in-app screenshots, and video presentations, etc. are then added. Then the age restrictions are set up according to the guidelines of the app stores.
How much time does it take to make an app?
This is the most important question that comes in after “how to build an app?”. Well, there is no specific duration for the completion of a project of developing an app. It varies based on the following factors:
- The type of app you are making. e.g. a gaming app will take much more time to develop than a shopping app.
- The skills of the individual. e.g. a well-skilled developer would take a week or two. Whereas an unskilled individual might take months to get the relevant skills.
If you want to avoid the nasty hustle-bustle of this tedious work and want to have an amazing app for your organization, contact us. We are well experienced in this industry and had been delivering quality apps to our clients.
