How to create a mobile app: from idea to launch

This article is a brief guide to developing a mobile app, covering stages from idea to deployment

There is no doubt that any successful business needs an app. No wonder millions of applications are available on the market today. They vary by their functionality, purpose, look-and-feel and user-friendliness. Why are some apps of high quality, and the others are not?

Mobile app development is a hard process that requires a lot of effort. There are 5 mobile app development steps that a dev team has to make to deliver a good product. The quality of the app depends on how the team will manage to make all the steps. Mobile app development process starts with an idea. It proceeds with project planning, development and testing. And it finishes with deploying it on App Store or Google Play platforms.

Coming up with an idea

At the beginning dev team needs to find a concept for a new app. Concept is foundation that affects the other mobile app development stages. In order to succeed in choosing the idea, the team needs to see business objectives. It requires detailed attention to your customers’ thoughts and deep research. 

Users need the app, not only a customer. So it makes sense to figure out the target audience. The team have to analyze the market to see what users are looking for in similar products. Why and how will users install the app? What are their demands? What mobile app development trends are there on the market? Answering the questions will help the team tailor their idea to the business needs of their customer. 

Developers need to make a list of functional and nonfunctional requirements. The former is a set of features that the team should implement to meet users needs. The latter defines how the system should perform.

Making a list of requirements is time and effort-consuming. But makes an important impact on all mobile app development phases.

Planning

Since the requirements are ready, the team proceeds with planning. In this phase, they build a roadmap. It includes setting goals, defining key features, and deciding on a timeline. After having their goals determined, the team needs to estimate costs. Then it requires to make a plan of development and testing with milestones.

Development

App architecture

The next step of mobile app development lifecycle includes data work. There are two man types of data used in app. 

  • Data that the app will collect about users: contact info, reviews, etc. 
  • Data the users will see in the app company info, services, etc.

Then the team needs to develop an information architecture.

Coding

All coding process relies on two components. These are frontend and backend. The former involves creating a public part of web app. It includes texts, icons, buttons and other UX and UI elements. Backend part is invisible for users, but it makes the application work. Both parts requires much preparation and hard work. 

UI / UX design

This stage is creative but hides a lot of mobile app development challenges. Mobile app design is not only about beauty but easy use of the app. A successful mobile app should have clear and user-friendly interface. It means that people using the app will find it easy to register, find contact info, check out. 

Testing

Strict testing is critical if you want to make a perfect app. There are some types of testing. They are:

  • Usability testing to determine how different modules interact with each other. 
  • Functionality testing to see if all the features work as intended.  
  • Performance testing to validate response times and general success of an app. 
  • Security testing to protect user data. 
  • UI testing identifies cosmetic defects. 

 

These are the most popular types of testing but the app may need more.

Deployment

The last stage of app development process is adding the app to the app stores. It means creating a developer account in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The team needs to add the name, overview, category, keywords, launch icon to submit it. 

Even when mobile app development lifecycle is complete, the team continues  working with it. They have to maintain it and update it to ensure smooth user- experience. 

Conclusion

We believe, our mobile app development tips will help you get an insight into the process. As you can see, a team should invest a lot of resources to get an ideal app. Arixess Company is good at building apps for various businesses. Should you find a team for making an app for you? Feel free to contact us.

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