5 Step Guide to Mobile App Development Process
e digital businesses are thriving and on a roll since the rise in popularity of smartphones. Online businesses prefer a mobile app instead of a regular website as a bulk of the people use smartphones to address their online needs. The trend of hiring a mobile app development company is on a meteoric rise. This is evident from the fact that by 2020 these itsy-bitsy apps are supposed to contribute $189 billion to the global economy. There are more than 5 million mobile apps available for download on Google and Apple play stores. On average, a mobile app is used more than 50 times a day by 21% of millennials. Mobile apps are contributing more than 55% of the usage of digital media. A smartphone user uses an average of 30 apps every month. The above staggering facts about mobile apps make a strong case for online business owners to go for developing a mobile app of their own. This article highlights the crucial steps involved in developing a mobile app.
Step #1: App Ideation
The first and foremost step is an innovative idea worth executing. The concept should be refined to a practically implementable idea by brainstorming with the team members. In this phase, the major features and scope of the app should be decided upon. Moreover, the feasibility of ideas should be checked by either going for market research or analyzing your competitors. The schedule and budget should also be fixed during this preliminary phase. An A/B testing should be used to choose either a mobile app or a progressive web app that is suitable for the requirements. The target platform should also be finalized according to the target audience.
Step #2: UI design
After tinkering with the idea and completing the initial pieces of the puzzle, the focus now should move on to the visual aspects of the app. The user interface should be simple, easily navigatable, and soothing to the eyes. The UI should be interactive and in sync with the original idea. Not only the UI but also the UX is of critical importance in a mobile app as it decides the engagement level of the user. An outstanding UI doesn’t necessarily mean a compromised UX. A balancing act needs to be done. A/B testing or beta launch can be used for finding the perfect UI/UX. The architecture of the app and interface between key modules can also be touched upon during this phase.
Step #3: Development
The development stage consumes maximum resources amongst all the phases as the actual product is being built here. It is always good to develop a fully functional prototype. This phase starts with the alpha phase in which the core functionalities of the app are developed. The alpha phase is followed by the beta phase in which all the features of the app are incorporated along with a little bit of testing. Then comes the launch phase wherein the bug-free application is prepped for the launch. The app should be light-weight and as per the target platform’s requirements.
Step #4: Testing
Post-development, the QA team commences the thorough testing of the app to ensure that the app is error-free. The beta version of the app can be launched to get the feedback of the target users. The testing is a time-consuming process and often seals the fate of the app. Testing should ideally be started as early as possible, as it is costly to fix glitches found late than early ones. The app is tested for functionality, bugs, usability, UI/UX, etc. through various types of testing such as functional testing, regression testing, performance testing, user acceptance testing, etc. Device-Specific testing is, however, unavoidable to check the compatibility of the app on various screen sizes and different operating systems.
Step #5: Launch
This is the most vital phase of the mobile app development process. The entire exercise is futile if one doesn’t pull off this phase successfully. The focus is on distributing the app to as large a relevant audience as possible. The distribution policies of the concerned platforms shall be taken into consideration before setting a launch date for your app as different platforms have different publishing policies. The launch should be preceded by marketing efforts to promote your mobile app. Multiple promotional channels, including social media, blogs, print media, etc. can be roped in for a successful launch.
Conclusion
Every mobile app development company follows the above steps to develop a mobile app, more or less. Certain steps, however, often can run parallely. For instance, the development phase might be in progress, while the UI/UX finalization is in its concluding stage. During the development phase, the ideation may suggest some new cool features that can be integrated into the app without much effort. The entire process needs a lot of patience, time, and money. But, it is not a one-time process as one needs to continuously improvise, e.g., by launching a progressive web app version, adding new functionalities, etc.