In today’s business climate, mobile applications aren’t an option — they’re a necessity. As of 2016, more than 92% of consumers want businesses to have a mobile app. 69% of small businesses currently have a mobile app, and nearly half (42%) plan to build one in the future.
The official Apple App Store has more than 1.5 million apps, while the Android Play Store has over 2.5 million apps.
If you are new to mobile app development, this blog post can help you. Here, we have shared 6 essential stages that every successful mobile application has to go through.
Let’s discuss them in detail.
#1 Defining Strategy
Goals & Objectives
Making a mobile app is not always the best idea for any startup. With an abundance of apps in the market, it’s challenging to make your app stand out from the rest. At the same time, a mobile app should be based on problem-solving for the user and be handy, especially in small businesses such as cafes. It’s very essential to ask yourself what challenges or problems you want to solve with your mobile application and how you are going to be benefited from the app.
Competition
Conducting a thorough competitor analysis is always one of the most important steps in creating an app. Study your competitors’ apps and determine what features you can use to round out your own app. It is also wise to study the app stores where your competitors are present. For instance, see what categories your competitors’ apps are in and whether they have been featured.
Audience
Before you build your mobile application, you’ve got to get to know your user — and what better way than by understanding the demographics of your target audience? User lifecycle is an important component in the design process, and knowing your user’s goals and constraints can help you create a better user experience. Having a clear understanding of your users is the cornerstone of building an on-demand mobile app.
Development Platform
iOS and Android are equally good for you. You can start with whichever one is easiest to work with, or even build your app for both platforms at once if you have the budget for it.
Native: With native app development, your team can build an application that offers a high-performance experience for the user and more complicated logic than what is possible with a web app. However, as native apps are written in code, you will need to update your apps individually for each platform, i.e. iOS and Android devices.
Cross-platform: Cross-platform development is a killer solution for businesses seeking to create applications that work across multiple digital platforms. It enables companies to reach new users, right when and where they are looking for a product or service. Creating mobile apps is costly, but cross-platform development can help reduce costs by offering organizations a single code base.
#2 App Design
Good designers are great at making designs clear and easy to understand. But they’re lousy at making sure that the designs they’ve come up with will work well on a real platform. This is where prototyping comes in — it allows you to play around with your design idea and test it out in real-life scenarios, as opposed to just imagining how it’ll look on screens.
Prototyping and design production is an integral part of the mobile application development lifecycle. Prototyping directs the flow of the app’s interface and allows app developers to test different transitions, animations, and styles — greatly reducing the amount of time needed for launch. Once the app is tested for usability, it’s time to code.
A solid prototype ensures that UI/UX designers have mapped out the user flow and can be implemented into a mobile application development project.
#3 App Development
The next step after the UI/UX designing and prototyping is the app development.
Developing an app requires serious care and preparation. Before the app is even developed, there are many steps that have to be taken beforehand in order for the project to go smoothly.
Everyone thinks that application development is all about coding, but it takes much more than that for an app to be the best.
Estimation & Prioritization of the tasks is an important step of mobile app development.
Estimating the time needed to complete a task is an integral part of the process — one that allows app developers to prioritize tasks and plan their time accordingly.
Prioritization is important because it helps define what goes into estimation, and estimation can take into account only coding, not meetings, discussions, or other time spent on development during the project.
#4 App Testing
Mobile app testing is important because it helps ensure that your app is functioning properly before you release it to the public. Without testing, there could be a number of problems with your app that you are not aware of, which could lead to negative reviews and a loss of users.
Mobile app testing should include a variety of tests, such as functional testing, usability testing, and compatibility testing. By taking the time to test your app thoroughly, you can be confident that you are releasing a high-quality product that will meet the needs of your users.
#5 App Deployment & Launch
Mobile app deployment is the process of making a mobile app available for users to download and install. There are a number of things to consider when launching a mobile app, such as which platforms to target (iOS, Android, etc.), whether to charge for the app and how to promote the app.
When launching a mobile app, it is also important to consider the deployment process and what steps need to be taken in order to ensure a successful launch. This includes ensuring that the app is compatible with the target devices, as well as testing the app on those devices to ensure proper functionality. Additionally, it is important to create an engaging and user-friendly interface that will encourage users to download and use the app.
#6 App Maintenance
Mobile app maintenance is important for a number of reasons. First, it helps to ensure that the app is always up-to-date and compliant with the latest platform requirements. This can help avoid potential issues that could occur if the app is not compatible with the latest operating system or hardware.
Additionally, mobile app maintenance can help to improve performance and stability, as well as address any security concerns that may arise. Without proper maintenance, an app could become outdated, unstable, and insecure, which could lead to serious consequences for both the users and the business.
So, when you build a mobile application for your business, don’t forget to hire a professional mobile app developer to maintain your app.
