Are you thinking of creating a mobile app for your business, service or because you are starting your entrepreneurial journey?
If so, then you must read this blog post as it will give you an exceptional insight into the world of apps and how you can get started building your mobile app.
With the rise of smartphones in recent years, there has been an increase in popularity among users for using applications. COVID has forced many companies, some of which would never have considered apps before this change in behavior, to take action.
To further break down this growth, according to data released by Statista, revenue of mobile apps worldwide was $365 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $935 billion by 2023. That’s a lot of growth, especially when you consider it was $97 billion in 2014.
What that doesn’t count for is revenue generated through appointment bookings, among other things, where payments are made offline.
So So if you want to get into the app stores, there’s no better time than now.
Validating Your Idea
I’m going to share something that might surprise or offend you. Your idea is not worth much. It’s worth nothing.
It’s the execution that counts. Execution of the strategy, design, construction and marketing of your app to sell it. If you can’t solve those things, your app is dead.
But that doesn’t mean you should give up on your idea, far from it. However, don’t consider it the most crucial part of the trip.
If you’re reading this article, you already have an idea that you want to explore. If that’s the case, we recommend that you evaluate your idea in two parts:
Feasibility
We use this to determine if what we want to build will happen. Is it possible to do what we want to do?
Sometimes what we want to build is so complex that it will be so expensive that it is not possible, or the technology is not ready yet.
To help you with this, you have a couple of options.
1. Find examples of the problem you want to solve. Does the solution already exist? If so, can you implement it better?
2. Talk to knowledgeable people. You can try posting on Reddit, Facebook groups, or LinkedIn. You could even talk to people in a tech meetup group.
Feasibility
Let’s assume your idea is feasible. But is it feasible?
By that, we mean, can I achieve my end goal for a cost I can afford, and is there likely to be a return on that investment in the future?
We seek to find out in the shortest and cheapest way possible if that idea has viability in the market.
To find out the approximate costs, talk to a mobile application developer or an agency to gain the probable costs involved. You can also talk to potential customers or users to see how much they would pay for a solution.
You want to validate the viability of the idea before spending large sums of money on it.
I like to run an XYZ experiment that details how you can perform a small experiment to validate your hypothesis.
Validating your mobile app
In the same way, you were validating your idea; you need to validate your approach to solve that problem with a mobile app.
What you shouldn’t do is release an unvalidated app to market.
We’ve talked to countless people who have done this and they’ve made big mistakes.
You don’t need to complicate this part, but follow this order.
Create a user flow
A user flow is a sequence of how a user will go from discovering your app to using it.
Shows what is the order of events it will take through the app.
I find it a valuable process to clear up any confusion in the process with a client and streamline it. If it’s confusing in the user flow, it’s really confusing.
This is what a user stream looks like.
At the top, we have our user characters. These are people who will use our mobile application or service. Underneath, we put the groupings or categories of events, such as “Provide Base Information. This is a task that the user is trying to complete and can be made up of a series of tasks.
Those tasks are the elements below the categories.They provide more information about the work the user is trying to complete.
Once you’ve created your user flow, pretend you’re a user navigating the app. Does it feel good? Have you missed something or made it confusing?
A big question to ask yourself is, “What can I take out of this?” An exercise we do with clients to teach them this method details for going to work in the morning.
On a typical day, you might have 15-20 steps in your flow.Wake up, go to the bathroom, shower, etc.
But if you only have 15 minutes to get to work and you’re going to be late, what can you cut out of that process?It could be as simple as get up and go to work.
Use this approach to define your minimum user flow and focus on this.
Design an app prototype
At this stage, we like to design an app prototype mobile. This is a visual representation of the screens in your app.
You want to review your user flow, create each screen, and then put it into something your user can navigate.
You can use tools like Figma or Adobe XD or create your own prototype. We’ve even seen prototypes created in Powerpoint and Keynote. The tool itself doesn’t matter.
If you’re not good at designing, you could work with a freelancer or agency here to build your prototype based on user flow.
If you have some design skills, you can use pre-built layouts and mockups to create your app. It doesn’t have to be custom.
The idea here is to get something compelling enough that anyone you show it to can consider it a real app.
User testing
With your prototype, you’ll want to test it with real users. I say real, because please don’t pick your friends.
If you pick your friends, they’ll probably tell you that your idea is great so as not to hurt your feelings. Whatever you do, don’t choose your mom.
You want to find five actual users that meet your target demographic. If you’re building an app for dentists, find five dentists.
We reward our user tests with something like an Amazon coupon for taking the time to help us.
If you’re having trouble finding user testers, you can use platforms like LinkedIn or use Facebook ads to target a specific niche or job title.
Once you’ve found the five users you want to test with, use a platform like Google Meet or Zoom to talk to them; it will ask them open-ended questions about what they think about your app.
Asking the right questions can be challenging, so we recommend learning more about it. This video is a good start.
Save all comments in a document or spreadsheet. Write down all the positives and negatives because you’ll need them next.
Iterate based on the results
Once you’ve completed user testing, you’ll have a good idea of how your audience received your mobile app.
Without user testing, you have no idea how the market will position, use, or place your app in their minds. Now, you do.
I heard a great analogy before your user test; you are standing in a dark room with the lights off, holding a dart. In that room on one of the four walls is a dartboard, but you have no idea where it is because it’s dark.
While you might be questioning some of your life choices to end up alone in a room dark with a single dart, hear us out.
You are prompted to aim and throw your dart. After you’ve shot, the lights turn on and you can see the target for the first time.
After five seconds, the lights turn off, they give you another dart and ask you to do it. throw the dart again.
During this phase, you have a much better chance of hitting at least roughly the correct area. If you’re like me at darts, hitting the right wall can be a good start.
It’s unlikely to make it to the board, but at least it’s headed in the right direction now.
Launching a new app or product is a bit like that.
When you start out, everything is based on assumptions and feelings.
User testing sheds light on where you got things right, but also where you made mistakes and gives you an opportunity to improve.
Now is your chance to iterate your product based on from feedback and repeat user tests.
Build the App
You are now at a point where you could start building your mobile app! You’ve come a long way.
But now, you’re faced with confusing terms and different technologies that you may not have come across before.
You can break this phase down into two parts ; the technology and the team that builds the app.
Technology
We’re fortunate that there are a few different ways to build mobile apps, and they all have their pros and cons.
Native
Native apps are considered the gold standard. They are written in the native programming languages for your operating system. Swift for iOS and Java/Kotlin for Android.
On the plus side, you’ll get access to the latest features and be as close to the operating system as possible. This increases quality and reduces the likelihood of defects.
The downside is that you have to hire two app developers or work with an agency that can produce both iOS and Android versions. This will often take more time and increase the price.
Cross-Platform
We are now in a position where cross-platform technologies are almost as good as native ones. Platforms like React and Flutter produce native code but from a single compiled codebase.
This means that the person building the app writes the code once, but produces the iOS and Android versions.
The benefits of this approach are that it will save time.
The downside is that you rely on third parties to fill these gaps in the latest native features. This can be slower and more time consuming.
If your app relies on highly integrated features, such as Bluetooth, we always recommend going with Native. If you’re building something simple, a cross-platform app might be the best way to go.
Backend
The vast majority of apps we build tend to include some back-end system or service to power them.
You may hear these referred to as “APIs”. They are vehicles in which data flows to and from your app.
Some apps work entirely on the phone without any backend. But if you’re storing data, getting users to log in, you’ll need some API setup for this.
Just keep in mind that if you’re moving data, you’ll probably need to ask about APIs. We won’t cover them in depth here because that’s an entire topic on its own.
The Team
Your choices for the team you decide to work with impact two crucial factors in building an app. Time and cost. We have two articles going into this for you to read later.
1. How much does it cost to create a mobile app?
2. How long does it take to create a mobile app?
We’ll summarize it here so you can read the rest of the article.
Do It Yourself
Believe it or not , there are options to create an application yourself. People often get discouraged here because they’ve heard of programming and code and think it’s complex.
Actually, it can be. But now, we have low-code and no-code platforms, making it easier for individuals and businesses to build apps. They eliminate the need to learn to code and make it much easier to use drag-and-drop interfaces with data connections.
Will these work for all applications? No. For the most complex apps and projects, they will not have the required native features. And often the quality of these apps isn’t great.
However, if you’re building an internal tool for your business, these platforms might be perfect for you.
I We recommend taking a look at tools like bubble.io, appmakr, buildfire, and glide to get started.
Hire a Freelancer
There are many great freelancers in mobile apps. You’ll find plenty of app developers on platforms like PeoplePerHour, Upwork, and the like. You’ll also find plenty on Google.
Hiring a freelancer to build your app is a good idea because they often have experience and understand the process without charging big overhead.
But. .. you can get caught.
Now it’s easy to look like an expert without really being one. You can feature attractive images that you have never created.
You need to make sure you have the right contracts and references to ensure they can do what they say.
You need to check how long they have been in the business, what apps they’ve built, and finding suitable insurance.
If you’ve launched mobile apps before, hiring a freelancer is a great way to do it. . But if this is your first time, it can be a steep learning curve. You’ll want them to fill their knowledge gap, but they’ll only be interested in building the app. They may not have any interest in the strategy, design, or long-term success of your idea.
Hire an Agency
A mobile app development agency is often the safest but most expensive way to build your application. It is not uncommon for prices to reach £50,000 or £100,000 for some complex applications, often putting them out of reach for people using their own money.
But, the agency The right one with a mix of strategy, design, development and marketing skills could be the right choice to get your project off the ground.
Like freelancers, look at their previous experience and quality of work. Seek recommendations from people you know who have experienced your work.
It is also possible to work with multiple agencies. You will find some that specialize in certain parts of the process. You will find agencies that focus only on, let’s say, the user experience as part of the process and don’t touch development. Doing this will mean more work to find the right app agencies, but the highest quality experts may have focused.
You may have heard the expression “jack of all trades, master of none.” Sometimes you want the master.
But whoever you choose, whether it’s a DIY professional, a freelancer or an agency, there will be someone who can help you get started with your mobile app.
Launch
You’re ready to go! How exciting.
It’s hard for us to admit because we love designing and building things, but the process of positioning, marketing and selling your app is the most critical part. It would help if you were working on it from day 1.
You can no longer “build it, and they will come”. Trust me; They won’t. You need to put more effort into marketing the app than anything else.
To be honest, this is not an area we focus on, so I’m not going to tell you what to do. You need to find professionals who can help you launch and market your app right.
Measure
Often, analytics is something that gets overlooked. Everyone is so excited to launch this that you will forget to measure what your users are doing.
Don’t do this.
Plan your metrics from day 1.
You want to keep track of what your users are doing within your app. You want to know your daily active users. You want to know how many times a day they complete their main activity.
The reason this is important is because later, when you make changes, you want to know if they worked or not. But without these statistics, you’ll never know.
How We Can Help
We are an experienced mobile app development agency focusing on native iOS and Android apps.
If you need help defining your project, developing your apps or need some advice, get in touch and we will be happy to help you.
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