It is no longer a rocket science thing to create a mobile application. Nearly half of small companies (42%) have a mobile app, with another 30% planning to develop one in the future — ranging from point-to-point solutions to corporate applications across various sectors. Over 1.5 million applications in the Apple App Store and over 2.5 million in the Google Play Store.
The increased demand for apps in the corporate sector exemplifies the shift in the recent decade from single manufacturers with all-in-one platforms to “best-of-breed” applications. Making an on-demand mobile app is a process that requires a lot of preparation ahead of time. To assure product integrity, reduce time-to-market, simplify the app development process, and save money on app costs. It’s critical to understand what steps are included in the mobile app development process.
You can get more info about creating an app like uber here. We’d like to share our knowledge in this post to better grasp the mobile development process and its nuances.
Stage 1: Develop a strategy
The first step entails determining everything from the app’s purpose and target audience to the technology. The app’s purpose will be used, and the metrics will be judged.
- Define the aims and objectives of the mobile app.
A mobile app should solve problems for the user and be convenient. It’s critical to consider what issues you want your app to tackle and how you intend to gain from it.
- Identify the target audience, including who they are and how many they are.
Actual demographics, motives, activity patterns, and objectives of your user’s persona should be included in your study. Whether your target audience uses an iPhone or an Android device, it’s critical to keep the user lifecycle and its characteristics in mind throughout the development process. You may construct user personas in this method, which will help you understand the true objectives and restrictions of the app’s users. The cornerstone of developing an on-demand mobile app understands your consumers. Thorough research provides clarity and establishes a solid foundation for your app.
- Research the competitors.
You may discover which aspects are lacking from your competitor’s app by comprehensively reviewing their app. And which you might include into your own to make it more unique.
Stage 2: Conceptualization
It’s time to assemble a development team. It includes a product owner, project manager, business analyst, 2–3 app developers per platform (Android and iOS), backend developer, UI/UX designer, and 1-2 quality assurance engineers. After you’ve assembled your team, you may start working on the design. There are four phases in the design stage:
- Defining specifications
During the workshop with the client, the team evaluates the project’s initial data and then asks more detailed and contextual questions.
- User experience design
We’re now building an app architecture for a better conceptual understanding and prototyping the future mobile app in as much detail as possible: each button, pop-up, and the text field.
All of the information collected from the customer is analyzed and classified, with any gaps filled up as needed. We’ve already started laying out the project’s structure, sketching out the user flow and happy passes, and working through the edge situations. We go on to the next step, UI when the customer signs an NDA. The mobile app phases of the new product development process from concept through app release and support.
- UI design and creation
It’s critical to consider the client’s interests and preferences, but the target audience is even more crucial. We can construct the project’s style guide and render the remainder of the screens when approved preliminary designs. If the client has a brand or a distinct corporate style, it’s critical to adhere to it and ensure it is well-supported.
- Testing and maintenance
The designer’s effort does not finish when the developers get all the mobile app prototypes. During the development stage, the designer also joins the project team to explain the tough times in the logic structure and establish a balance between what is attractive and what is technically feasible. The designer must also check for compliance with the design and idea in the completed product. All of these stages allow for producing a high-quality, one-of-a-kind app that is customized to the customer’s business and target audience goals.
Stage: 3 – Development.
As you know, a software development company is only driven by association. The cornerstone of a good result is establishing a trusted connection between the client and the team.
We suggest using the Agile technique. It divides development into sprints of two to four weeks or a month each, each focusing on a single feature. Flexible planning, progressive growth, early deployment, and continuous upgrades are all aided by this. After each sprint, a mini-release is supplied for the client’s evaluation and testing.
There are two primary programming languages for native development: Swift and Objective-C for iOS and Kotlin and Java for Android. React Native or Flutter are cross-platform development software options.
The following stages may be used to explain the development process:
Everyone chooses application architecture based on functional needs such as orientation, flipping, and the quantity of business logic, among others. There are many basic styles of app architecture for Android and iOS.
- We may pick the best match for the project based on the backend technology chosen. When there is an explicit knowledge of the graphics and non-functional needs, we assess whether the backend will support the app’s functionality. The prerequisites for an app will vary depending on whether it is developed for iOS or Android.
- If you expect your mobile app to develop features and users, a bespoke backend is a superior alternative.
- The frameworks, libraries, and off-the-shelf solutions utilized in the project are all selected by us. Frameworks such as DI and Binding are used as infrastructures to speed up the creation of code for iOS and Android. In terms of functionally specialized frameworks for the project at hand.
- If required, the team contributes to the API design. If you already have a different system, you’ll need to build an API that lets your app communicate with the rest of the system or third-party software.
- We participate in detailed specification requirements and design, if necessary. As specialists, we know the system’s constraints and ideal UX/UI solutions. We can give important advice to business analysts and designers.
Stage 4: Testing.
The testing strategy is always laid out in tiers. Here functionality comes first. It is followed by greater functionality, and last, design. The second and third items may be swapped depending on the needs and requirements of the client. It’s preferable to add a few well-functioning features rather than a massive slew of them that causes a slew of issues.
To give the customer an estimate of the testing stage, the QA engineers may determine an estimated number of tests for each feature.
- Evaluation of performance
Performance testing examines how quickly a system or a system component responds to a given load. Other system quality attributes, such as scalability, reliability, and resource consumption, can also be verified and validated. Performance testing answers queries such as how effectively the app reacts to user requests. Or how quickly the app’s screens load and its size is more significant than it should be.
- Testing for security
The importance of security testing in the app development process cannot be overstated. Any possible weakness might lead to a hack, particularly important for mobile corporate applications.
None of the data that should not be accessed by a third party is considered critical user data. It includes both personal data such as date of birth, residential address, and personal correspondence and confidential data such as passwords, credit card data, bank account numbers, order numbers, and so on.
This is a method of assessing the security of a mobile app that involves systematic testing of its protective efficacy. The testing method aggressively looks for application problems, technological defects, or vulnerabilities.
- Testing for usability
Software development should be accompanied by usability testing at all stages. This will enable the early identification of many issues, many of which may be recognized before or during the interface design process.
Usability testing may be used to assess particular functionality, the user’s general perception of the app or design, the user’s happy passes, or to compare the app to rivals’ equivalents. Beta testing is necessary to guarantee that your programme runs smoothly and without issues and is pleasant to use. External user testing is a small, targeted population using a beta version of an app and providing genuine feedback to better understand the usability flow and any concerns.
Stage 5: App Distribution and Support
The app’s key features and increased functionality for subsequent versions are generally included in the initial release.
The app is ready for market launch, but bear in mind that the app stores specific regulations for approving and validating mobile applications. After you submit your app to the Apple App Store, it will go through a review process. It may take days or even months. Although app ratings on Google Play vary from App Store, your app will usually appear in the market within a few hours after submission.
Following the app’s submission, it’s critical to maintain track of trends and update functionality in response to audience targeting demands and evaluate user input for future upgrades.
Final Thoughts
App development is an ongoing process. And it will continue after the first launch to gather user input and add new features. The most essential thing is to put together a skilled team. It can help you through all phases of mobile app development while also assuring the quality of the finished product.
We hope that article has helped you understand all aspects of app development, from strategy to identifying your target audience through app deployment and ongoing maintenance.