Okay. You just woke up and have an awesome idea for an application that might change the world. Well, that’s really great! And here is a short guide of mobile application development world. Check it to get things done in a right way!
#1. Identification.
First thing you need to do… well, you need to realize your vision, realize the goal of the application. What does it mean? You have to target and write down everything: starting from the list of competitors to basic market researches. Because, there might be some ideas which you consider as genius and one-of-a-kind… But those ideas might be as well already applied by other businessmen. So check the digital market places, such as Google Play or App Store.
#2. Mapping.
OK. You’ve checked whether your application has a competitive advantage. You’ve checked the competitors. You’ve checked the so-called “market demand”. You’ve checked everything and you are set to start something beautiful. Now it’s time to create mockups and write down functional and nonfunctional requirements to your application. You may ask: why to bother with the documentation and mockups first? Well, developer’s time cost more money. You must have a single vision which should be imprinted on a paper. Only after that your dream team of developers should start the development of your application. Oh wait! Don’t forget them to estimate time first and plan your budget accordingly.
#3. Developing.
That’s kinda it — after previous steps you can start the development process. Identification, product and process mapping, and then — voila! — the magic of creation an application steps in. But wait… Did you think about such things as cross-platforming or native approach, payment system integration, social media integration? If no, you should. As well as about back end of your app. Find experts besides developers who may shed a light on these questions. Have the budget? Don’t use a freelancer. You may apply outsourcing approach or outstaffing approach. Decide what suits you best and apply it. With outsourcing model, you will get a full management of the application development, besides that you may get a business analyst, a designer, an experienced project manager, a team of quality assurance/quality control and not only a bunch of developers. If you feel like you can be the manager yourself, use outstaff model. Outstaff lets you to be the main manager within the project. Working with agencies might be even more cost-effective. There are several well-known outsourcing destinations, including Eastern Europe & Latin America, where you’ll get set-up communication processes and great rates.
#4. Registration.
Please prepare 99 USD for Apple and 25 USD for Google Market. Yep, that’s it — you have to be registered in these markets (App Store and Google Market) to sell your product. They’ll charge you annually.
#5. After-thinking
When you upload the app, start collecting feedback. See whether your users are engaged with the app, see what they think about it. And in this case, be flexible. Change your way to please your customers. Be Agile!
