You wake up with an amazing idea for a mobile app. It’s a great start. Unfortunately, only a few apps have been successful. What is the difference between the good and the bad? A little luck. Yes. There are correct steps as well. You can always try your luck but the mobile app development process will show you how to properly develop an app. With technological advances, the mobile app industry has changed. Everyone needs mobile application development, whether they are in the Fintech or Insurance sector, or the fashion and retail sectors. It started as a simple app called Flappy Bird. But it has evolved to meet all human needs.
If you are interested in making a mobile app, let’s take a look at our comprehensive guide to the process. To make it simpler to understand, we’ve broken the entire guide down into just a few key steps.
New technologies can open up new possibilities.
All the features of modern mobile applications:
- Data security
- Data personalization
- Image recognition
- In-app messaging
- Gamification
- Sharing content
- Payment processing
Thanks to technology like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and augmented reality, businesses can achieve a lot more through mobile apps. It is now easier to develop a mobile app.
Studies show that the average American checks his phone once every 12 minutes. More than 10% check it every four minutes. Here are some more statistics.
-
On average, mobile app users spend 35 hours per month using their device.
-
More than half of all digital media time is spent on mobile devices.
-
Around 90% of smartphone users use mobile apps.
-
An average smartphone user has more than 30 apps.
The data will be motivating for anyone who is interested in developing or building a mobile application. Let’s first get a better idea of how mobile app development works.
Although it may seem like a lucrative idea to build a mobile app in order to grab a piece of the $1 billion pie, it is worth careful planning.
Your software will also be competing against approximately 1.5 million apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Clients’ general concepts
Our clients often bring a vision of the app they wish to create, along with information about competitors and consumers. Now that the foundation research is complete, the project can be accelerated.
Let’s take a look at the data prospects bring with them.
1. Who are the app’s users?
Companies can determine who will use the app at a surface stakeholder level and in terms of research user demographics. To determine the user demographics of users, such as their age, where they live, how they use their devices and their location, companies often conduct user research.
2. Learn about their competitors
Customers are well aware of the apps’ competitors. After conducting research on the brands that their app would be competing with, they contacted us.
3. Basic viability of an Idea
Companies arrive when they have confirmed that the app concept is feasible and will provide substantial value to customers.
The app’s concept: Clients are well-aware of the features in the app.
Steps to follow when developing mobile apps
Each app is unique but the process of developing an app is almost identical. Our approaches change depending on the app’s needs and domain.
We have compiled a common process and steps for creating an app for mobile devices. These procedures are applicable to both iOS and Android app development. Let’s have a look!
1. Mobile app development process: Strategy
The first step in any app development project is to create a strategy that will translate your design into a sales-worthy app. This can be integrated with your overall organization mobility plan.
You will need to adopt an app-centric approach when developing software. Your app’s goals may be different from others.
These are the key criteria for developing mobile apps:
-
Identify your users.
-
Investigate your competitors.
-
Determine the purpose and goals of your app.
-
Choose a platform to host your app.
2. Process of developing mobile apps: Planning and analysis
Your concept becomes a project during the planning phase. Planning and analysis begins with establishing use cases and determining the functional requirements.
Create a software development roadmap after determining your app’s requirements. This involves organizing the features of your mobile app into measurable milestones. If resources, time or money are limited, you can identify the Minimum Viable Products (MVP) to focus on for your app’s initial release.
Your program must be available on both iOS and Android platforms using different app development technologies. This includes hiring and recruiting Android developers. Hire the top mobile app development company for business growth.
After doing thorough research in every app store, choose a unique name for your app.
3. Mobile app development process: UI/UX Design
Apps should look professional and offer a smooth user experience. This can be achieved by a mobile app development company that is experienced in UI/UX design.
Your app will be a hit with users when it is designed to work well on mobile devices.
The user interface/user experience design is about creating an extraordinary user experience. It aims to make your software intuitive, engaging, and user-friendly so that people are interested.
-
Information architecture & workflows
In the initial stages of mobile app development, data can be used in a variety of ways. These include the one that is displayed to users and the one that is collected. It also depends on how users interact with the app.
As a mobile app is developed, users are given roles, rights and rules that will help to build the information architecture. The app’s navigation hierarchy can be identified using workflow diagrams, which help identify all user interactions.
-
Wireframes
Wireframes can be compared to digital sketches that app designers create for mobile app development. By creating low-fidelity mockups or conceptual layouts, it helps to create a visual structure that will support your app’s functional requirements.
Wireframes are not about app colors and styles. They focus on the app’s aesthetics, and how-to, for mobile app development. This is a cost-effective and quick strategy that takes into account device-specific design across multiple devices in order to provide intuitive and device-specific user experience.
-
Style Guide
Style guides are “living documents” which specify the style requirements for an application throughout its development, from branding guidelines to navigation icons.
It is made up of:
-
The font family should be used for text in your app
-
App color scheme
-
Use the app design to promote your company’s brand
Style guides are a great tool for helping you develop a strategy when designing mobile apps. It establishes a style guide that can be used by your mobile app developers if it is done early.
You can ensure that your app’s design is consistent by following a style guide. Check out the Apple iOS app design guidelines and Google’s Android app design guides.
-
Mockups
App developers frequently refer to these final designs as high-fidelity designs. You can create mockups by including your style guide into the wireframes for your app. After you have completed the app design, your information architecture, workflow, aesthetics, and other details can all be modified.
The most popular tool for producing high-resolution mockups of your mobile app is Adobe Photoshop.
-
Prototype
App mockups are static designs which show how your mobile application works. You can use tools such as Figma and Invision to make them click-through prototypes.
It is essential to create prototypes in order to simulate the user experience and the app workflow before the final product launches. Although prototyping can take some time, it is worth it as it allows you to showcase your app’s functionality and design early.
Prototypes are a great way to identify potential improvements in the functionality of the app as you work on mobile app development.
