The 21st-century application, which was once known as a software program on a computer, has now turned into smaller software that is easily downloaded with the click of a button. Most mobile phones today have app stores where users can search for apps in different categories for different reasons.
Apps are created and updated on a daily basis. The ease with which they allow users to get things done, play games, plan ahead, or keep in touch with people, has made apps hugely popular. Building your own can be a little more complicated though. By outsourcing software development to experienced professionals, you can easily create a successful app that meets your objectives.
However, regardless of your business industry or app-building capabilities, in this post we will be sharing a quick guide on how to build an app for your business.
The Idea And Research:
Like with any product, before development can take place, there must be a relevant idea that aims to solve your audience’s pain points. This will be easier if the topic is an area of interest to you and your business.
In addition to a solid idea, research should be conducted to see if there is market appetite for your app or if something similar already exists.
Elaborating on what your app will essentially do is also an important step in this beginning phase. Once these three categories are identified, you can move on to the next phase.
Envisioning The App And User Experience:
Creating a physical picture of what your app will look like, the display, the colours, the icons, etc, is crucial. When you physically make it come to life – whether that’s digitally or hand-drawn/written – your vision will gain momentum and ideas will flow even more.
This is also the stage where you will have to think about the app from your user’s point of view. If someone was creating the perfect app for you, how would it look, what would the functionality be like, what settings would there be, and how would you navigate through it? At this point, outsourcing software development may be beneficial to consult on the user experience and interface functionality before the build, rather than having to make amendments once the shell has been built.
Using creative tools, such as Adobe XD or Figma, is a good way to create a prototype or mockup for your app. This will give you a clearer understanding of what it will look like and ultimately, whether you’re happy with the design and functionality, or not.
Once you’ve successfully created a prototype, you can start getting other people’s opinions and testing out your target market.
Creating A Marketing Plan:
Once your idea, design, functionality, and prototypes are ready, it is wise to put together a marketing plan. You may have already done this when you decided on your target market during your research, however, it doesn’t hurt to create even more hype around the launch.
Something that you may do here is to create an email waitlist for users to be notified as soon as your app goes live.
Bringing Your App To Life:
At this stage, you could choose to outsource software development again, if you want to ensure that a professional coder creates the app seamlessly. Alternatively, you can code the app yourself if you are confident!
There are app builders available that can be used as well. This will simplify the process but still give you the satisfaction of creating it yourself. Appinstitute, Appsbuilder, and GoodBarber are some examples of app builders.
Finishing Off:
Once your app is officially built you will still need to look out for any problems that may occur, resulting in your app receiving poor feedback. Fixing any known bugs or problems is important to do as soon as possible.
Finally, your finished product can be submitted to be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play.
Regardless of whether you choose to outsource software development or create the app alone, make sure that your planning and idea are solid from the beginning.
