What are the Primary Steps in Developing a Mobile App

Some Fundamental Steps You Need to Follow When Developing a Mobile App

Do you have a great idea for an app that you know people will love and find useful? If so, you are off to a great start! All you need now are some handy business app development tips that will surely help you get started in the right direction. You need to following certain fundamental steps before starting the actual development process. If this is your first app, you should pay special attention to the steps mentioned below as they may very well determine the success or failure of your venture.

Step 1: Start by defining your goal

Every successful project starts with an idea. However, to make your idea come to life, you need to have a clear vision of what you want and what your goals are. Before you get into the details of your app, make sure you define its mission and purpose. What core problem is your app going to solve? Will it make the users’ lives better or easier? What is its main feature? Who are the target audience? A clearly defined goal will make the next steps much easier.

Step 2: Put it down on paper

While mental visualization works in the beginning, you need to put your ideas onto paper to solidify them. The best way you can plan the basic interface of your app is by sketching it. This step will help you conceptualize the primary features and also approximate the structure and layout of the application. Having a rough sketch is a critical step in mobile application development as it gives the other team members a clear idea of what you are going for.

Step 3: Conduct a thorough research

The research should help you answer four critical questions – are there other apps similar to the one you are planning? Do you have a design inspiration for the app? What are the technical requirements? How will you market and monetize your app? There are over one million apps for iOS and Android. So, it is nearly impossible to create an app that is completely unique. You should, however, aim at creating an app that is better than the ones that already exist. Learn from the mistakes and key features of your competitors.

Step 4: Create a Storyboard and Wireframe

Whether you are planning an Android or iOS mobile app development, creating a Wireframe and Storyboard will help you to fuse your ideas and features into a much clearer picture. Wireframing allows you develop a prototype or mockup of your app. A quick search online should help you find several prototyping tools. The most reliable and popular ones are HotGloo, Moqups, and Balsamiq.

These tools allow you to drag and drop all the representative graphics and placeholders into place, and they also let you add buttons that you can click in review mode. While creating the wireframes, you should also build a Storyboard. The idea here is to create a roadmap that will clearly show the connection between different screens and how users will be able to navigate through the app.

Step 5: Create a well-defined plan for the back end of the app

Through Wireframing and Storyboarding, you have already laid the foundation for the back end of your app. Now you need to sketch out the data diagrams, APIs, and servers. As you progress further into the planning phase and approach the development phase, more and more people are likely to join the project. Creating a self-explanatory diagram will help everyone get on the same page. While planning the back end, if you run into any technical limitations, make sure to modify or alter your Storyboard and Wireframes.

Step 6: Time to test the prototype

At this stage, you should give your family, friends, colleagues, and trusted experts access to the Wireframes. Ask them to give your prototype a test run and request their honest feedback. This way, you will get a basic review of your app, and they might even be able to help you identify dead-end links and flaws. You may even consider inviting them to your workspace so that they can try the prototype in front of you. Watching them use the app will help you monitor their movements and actions, and that should help you adapt your UX/UI.

The idea here is to solidify the concept for your app before the design and development phase starts. Making changes and modifications become much harder when you are in the middle of the design and development process. So, having a working prototype right at the start makes the rest of the process much smoother.

Step 7: Hire a reliable designer and developer

You can have the perfect plan and prototype for your app, but if the end product does not match your plan, all the work would go to waste. Hiring a competent designers and developers is crucial to the success of your app. They are the ones who will actually design and build your app and make it functional. Just because you have laid out the plan perfectly, you cannot hire amateurs to save money. Hiring experienced professionals might cost you a little high, but it will be worth it when the final product comes out flawless.

Wrapping up

ArjanTech Solutions, a leading mobile app development company, Toronto, Canada, is known for creating state of the art mobile applications for businesses of all sizes and niches. Our in-house team of designers and developers can turn your ideas into reality. Even if you do not have a detailed plan for your app yet, we can help you form a clear picture.

With experience in creating apps for both Android and iOS, ArjanTech Solutions is the perfect choice for you if you want your app to run smoothly on both platforms. Once the design and development of your app is completed, we can help you create a developer account with app stores. Without a developer account, you won’t be able to list or sell your app on the respective app store.

Get in touch us today if you would like to take a step further towards making your dream app come to life!