We are already in the middle of 2022, and earning from mobile apps across all the marketplaces made app development one of the most profitable businesses. This is simply because many businesses are considering app development indomitable in their business strategy.
But not all apps are profitable, and most mobile apps face the stiffest competition. Millions of apps across every category are not earning enough or just struggling for visibility and traction. The top mobile app development company in India follows every required step to shape a successful app with top-notch code standards. Today we share their proven step-by-step app development process with you.
Let us now explain the key steps in a successful mobile app development process.
Evaluate the App Idea
Any successful and market-winning app stems from a relevant, valuable and unique app idea. This is why the first thing is to evaluate the idea and its relevance for garnering traction with the right audience. It would help if you ensured that the app delivers a sustainable solution to a burning user problem.
When you have made up your mind on the basic app idea, you need to validate this app idea for specific audience requirements, market trends, and chances to stay against the competition. To evaluate the app idea meticulously, you can consider the following aspects.
- What user problem does the app solve? Is it relevant enough for your business? Here you need to understand how it can create value for your business.
- Secondly, you need to research the target audience and find who will find the app useful.
- What key value offerings the proposed app project delivers? How do these value offerings stand as unique compared to the competition? Here it would help if you thoroughly researched competitive apps’ market share.
- Lastly, you need to evaluate your capabilities and resources for the app project starting with the monetary resources to IT infrastructure to developers.
Document the Project Requirement
The next step in any app development process following the evaluation of the idea is to create an in-depth document with all the project requirements. In the end, this documentation will work as a constant guide for the developers, designers, stakeholders, and project managers. The project requirement document (PRD) will guide the entire app project from start to end.
A project requirement document must incorporate all the aspects of the app project. It should include the below-mentioned aspects.
- What the app idea, the key purpose, target audience, the market competition, and typical value propositions that make it unique all should be mentioned.
- The document should also mention the target OS platform for the app. Whether you want to build two separate apps for iOS and Android or want to build a cross-platform app should be mentioned here.
- You should also mention the technology stack you are going to use for the app project. Besides the core languages and frameworks, you should mention the tools and the third-party APIs required for the app project.
- In the end, provide a project deadline, the budget for the project, and available developer resources.
Create a Wireframe
This comes as a step in the app development process that focuses on defining the core look and feel of the proposed app. You can draw sketches of the app screen with pencil and paper. You can also opt for several tools used popularly for app wireframe design.
The app wireframe design shows the flow of an app starting from the home screen to all the others and gives a look at all the buttons and layout. In the market, we now have a whole array of high-quality app wireframe design tools like UXPin, Balsamiq, AdobeXD, InVision, etc.
Create a Dynamic Prototype
The app UI and UX design determine the effortlessness with which the users can make interactions and engage the users. The app wireframe provides an elementary idea of the look of the app. This ultimately leads to dynamic prototype design.
The dynamic prototype for the app is created by incorporating interactive elements within the simple wireframe. Ultimately, the design crystallizes around the core idea, and the prototype, to a great extent, will look very similar to the proposed app. The dynamic prototype will display the app’s flow, the on-screen interactions, and several key design elements.
Choose the Ideal OS
The next crucial step is to decide on the better target OS platform to launch the app. If you choose to develop a native app for Android and iOS, you can deliver a great user experience, but the development time and cost will increase.
As an alternative, you are also free to go for a less expensive hybrid development approach so that one app can run on all platforms. But this approach will be coming with performance bottlenecks and a lack of speciality. This is where you can opt for a balanced development approach called cross-platform development between the two opposites, such as native and hybrid development.
App Development
Now, just when the app design process ends, the app project’s programming and technical side start taking shape. Here by taking an IDE, you can make the basics right, followed by programming different parts and elements of the app. The developers must go through the cycle of QA testing, front-end, backend, and APIs development.
For the backend, the developers are required to do the server and prepare a robust database. This server configuration step is important because the app features and functions rely heavily on server responses.
APIs, on the other hand, bring third-party services, tools, and protocols for the mobile apps to make interactions outside the app project. APIs help facilitates interactions among different app components required for the functional usability of the app in real-life contexts.
The app’s front end deals with developing interactive elements that ensure a supple and engaging user experience. This is where the creative side of the developers comes to the forefront. Any user-centric app project will rely heavily on the user experience, so front-end development is important.
QA Testing
The immediate next step following the app development is testing the app by QA professionals. It should begin with thoroughly debugging the code so that the app performance doesn’t suffer from coding errors. Apart from debugging, the app code should also pass through an intensive review to ensure smooth app functioning.
But mere debugging is no longer enough, and the app should also go through a series of tests such as performance tests, load tests, usability tests, security tests, etc. These tests guarantee ease of use, faster loading time, and smooth performance.
Conclusion
We have explained almost every bit of the app development process in the present elucidation. Who doesn’t want their app to stay ahead of the competition with a superior user experience? But for this, you need to adhere to the success principles laid out by other leading app projects.
We have explained everything on execution. Before ending the present post, let us remind you of the importance of a unique app idea to drive traction before leading to development. A great app idea executed to perfection ultimately garners traction, which is why you cannot leave a single step unattended.