Companies can increase the acceptance of their products or services through mobile apps. This article describes how developers create a feature-rich and user-friendly Mobile App Development.
In today’s world, developing a smartphone app isn’t rocket science. According to research, more than 5 billion unique mobile users are expected by 2022, which will only increase between now and 2025. The average number of active app users is expected to grow at least 6-7% annually until 2025.
Building a mobile application for any business worth takes time. The first step to building a successful product is doing some planning. To make your app, you may design and build it within an integrated development environment, which could take as little as half a day’s work. Alternatively, you could go through a more detailed up-front design process.
The mobile app development life cycle is an important thing to keep in mind. The path you choose directly impacts how your vision takes shape. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the critical phases in the mobile app development life cycle:
1. Ideation & Discovery phase
You know your vision has convinced you to have the expertise to make it happen. You meet with your developer and are bombarded with a barrage of plain English questions, which you can easily understand, such as, “How many users do you want your app to have? What background do they need to have to run this project?”
As a result, you and your web developer must evaluate steps that translate customer desires into technical descriptions. A well-designed approach involves the following operations:
- Competitor Research
- Mapping Of Features
- Specifications Of Technological Needs
- Costs
- Set Deadlines
- Brainstorming
2. Initial designing
App designs are incomplete without Visuals and Graphics. Designers work on different processes to give your app a desirable appearance to stand out in the crowd. After you have decided upon the kind of app you want and done all of your primary research, the next stage is to start shaping the first visuals of the app. This is where essential functions, along with your mobile app ideas, take shape. A visual picture or storyboard can be created instead of a workflow chart to make the working processes more accessible for a reader’s mind to comprehend!
The three aspects of the designing phase are as follows: –
Sketch
Sketching is the initial step in creating the app’s concept. We can confidently state that the designers do their work precisely, as those are high-quality, licensed applications. The next stage is focused on the application’s animation, which looks like an actual paper draft. You should know that all this can be done by converting your existing drawings into digital format – with maximum comfort and ease of understanding.
Wireframe
During the wireframing step, you need to be stringent with time. The reason is that you have a limited time for idea development. At this phase, you shouldn’t try to build a product that looks pretty but works poorly as it will harm your reputation and customer trust. Wireframing will help you spot usability concerns, so the app doesn’t lose competitiveness.
Prototype
In this stage, a designer will be expected to create a visually appealing and somewhat interactive version of their app idea. The prototype needs to demonstrate how it will work for the end-user, so use notes from the previous meeting where you asked users what they want from your product to ensure that the finished piece represents your target audience.
3. Initial development
The design is done, but the features will not become fully functional upon completion of the next phase. The programmers take over and implement the requirements discussed during the design phase of app development.
The development cycle usually has two stages: front-end design and back-end integration. Front-end design should be handled to ensure that the front-end functions are working, data is either being gathered or processed on the back-end, and should tie into whatever payment system your developers choose. In broad terms, this stage involves:
Front-end development
A front-end developer ensures that your app meets the requirements of its users. To do that, a Front-End dev needs to:
- Build your user app screens
- Create clickable buttons
- Design navigation pages
- Seamlessly use back-end processes.
It’s then that UX designers will focus on developing the interfaces of the app and its various interactive screens, as well as its links and other elements of visual appeal. The aim is to ensure that every decision regarding how your end-product eventually looks, feels, and behaves feels right because good UX Design significantly impacts how users react to a finalized product.
Backend development
Web application functionality is more complex than at first glance. If a user visits a page and expects to see something relevant, there needs to be some infrastructure in place. Data storage & retrieval is going to require calculations that need to occur on the back-end server. Database management will help the app store information efficiently, making it quicker and easier for users to access what they need and when they need it. The programmers will start with the initial version, also known as MVP (Minimum Valuable Product).
4. Initial testing
Developing the app means that it is designed to meet the needs of its users. Ideally, the end-user would enjoy using the app and not want to replace or remove it anytime soon. But this cannot be easy because an app is never 100% perfect but can be made more usable through careful testing. Testing should also include looking for obvious and hidden bugs and errors in the app’s program code and then figuring out how to resolve those issues to ensure the user receives a much better experience from there on out.
Application testing is broad in scope, so make sure your app is worth all the work! For all the immersive readers, Practical Logix likes to take several approaches to evaluate the usability, functionality, security, and UI of a mobile platform prepped for launch. And it’s crucial, not just throughout this testing process itself but also when you enter user acceptance testing. Here, you may evaluate whether your mobile app functions are in sync with your target demographic.
5. Final testing of the app
Letting actual users test out your app is always a good idea. You must get it in the hands of test users and see how people will respond to your product or service. Putting your app in the hands of real customers could lead to valuable insights that could change or improve your overall strategy when making certain adjustments as needed or desired. It involves:
UAT (Use Acceptance Testing): To ensure the app meets your needs and is exactly what you want, complete this questionnaire before scheduling your project to go live. An essential part of any product or service is ensuring it is designed and built to match your expectations as the end-user.
Beta Testing:
The app is completely developed and open for public access at an earlier stage of the development cycle. The comprehensive feedback from users plays a vital role in helping developers understand what may or may not be working well for them.
6. Deployment and Publishing
Now that all testing is complete, your app is ready to be officially launched. You can check out online mobile app stores like App Store (Apple Inc.) and Google Play Store (Android) for more information on how to offer your app to the general public. Both store platforms have guidelines and specific requirements to which you must agree to publish your app.
Publishing your app is the last stage of app development and marks the beginning of a long-term commitment. It forces you to reach out and open up a conversation with those you relied upon during the development stages and the equally crucial external support systems that may take an interest in your product.
7. Maintenance & Updates
Even after the application has been released, much work remains. After launch, app development must continue regularly to be smoothly accepted by the public and keep bringing in revenue. App developers must constantly monitor how their applications perform to be prepared for any eventuality and respond accordingly. They may even have various reaction strategies available for different situations. For example:
- Technical service downtime
- Bad grammar or spelling errors found in your app description
- Critical user comments
- Reviews posted online
Final words
App market competition can be crazy! Modern entrepreneurs must design their projects, handle app development, and carefully maintain the final product. Any error means a loss of customers! To prevent this from happening, ensure that you anticipate the phases in the app development process and prepare for them accordingly. Those steps include inception (research), design, development, stabilization (quality assurance), deployment (launching), and maintenance.
Also Read: CHECKLIST FOR WEB APPLICATION SECURITY TESTS
