How to Develop an App: A 10-Step Guide
If you're stuck on the question of how to develop an app, you need to start by defining your app concept, target audience and features before moving on to creating a user interface, testing and uploading to the app store.
Read on to learn more about each key step in the app development process
1. Create a Concept
The first step in developing an app is to determine the overall concept of your app. Ask yourself what goals you want to achieve and how the mobile app will help you do that.
This will create a vision for the project and inform the functionality and design needed to achieve your business goals.
The app concept you create needs to align with the needs and requirements of your target audience, so make sure you formulate and know your buyer persona inside and out.
You should also study the market for apps created by your competitors. Highlight what they do well and where they fall short. This kind of research can provide specific insights into what your target audience expects and what you need to improve.
In short, your app should offer a solution to a problem that exists in the market. If you are making an app for your organization, think about how it will help your company's goals. Reflecting on this will make it easier to create a roadmap for the future app.
2. Identify Monetization
This may seem like a later step, but you should actually start thinking about how to monetize your mobile app quite early, as this will affect the user interface design. The most common ways to monetize are:
- In-app purchases and upgrades
- Fully e-commerce application
- Pay to download
- In-app ads from third parties
3. Decide on the Type of Features
Many businesses make the grave mistake of trying to cram too many features into their mobile apps - especially in the initial release.
A better option would be to separate the desired features into desired features and required features. Only add required features in V1 of your app. Believe it or not, user feedback will later inform you of other features that customers are looking for.
Make a list of possible features that will differentiate your app from your competitors. Some basic functionality features include user interface simplicity, fast loading and high image resolution. These are all essential features to ensure a positive user experience.
Another feature to consider is cross-platform compatibility, available on both major operating systems (Android and iOS). Adding a search feature is another good way to engage users no matter what the app is. While not as useful for game-based apps, allowing users to search the app is a good option for e-commerce and social media.
4. Create User Journeys and Wireframes
Once you have identified the goal and desired features of your app, a user experience designer - with the help of other experts such as a digital strategist or information architect - will create wireframes and lay out the user journey that customers will follow to complete the desired action.
A mockup is a comprehensive blueprint of the app's appearance and how functions and features unfold. A mockup usually includes colors, fonts, photos, basic layout and other visual elements. When done effectively, a mockup should give the development team an idea of how the app should look and work.
Creating a mockup allows you to:
- Show up and then change the look of the app.
- Show the app to stakeholders before the development team starts coding
- Formulate the expectations of the development team.
Mockups can help evaluate the accessibility and visual consistency of the design and allow designers to improve the look of the design in terms of both appearance and functionality.
Our industry analysts have identified the best mockup tools on the market that designers use to turn their ideas into concepts. These are as follows:
- Mediamodifier
- Placeit
- Special Stage
5. Design the User Interface
Once the wireframme and customer journey are approved, an app designer will design the interface, adding graphics, colors, designs and more to create an engaging and well-branded experience.
The UI is much more than aesthetics and branding - it is all about the end user and their habits when using the app, so the UI - buttons, main menu, font size, content layout, etc. - should be determined with their in-app behavior in mind.
The user interface of the app should be preserved:
- Intuitive
- Fast loading
- Easy to understand
- Simple
- Accessible
- Variety in a sense, offering all the necessary features without over-touching
6. Develop the App in a Test Environment
Once the mobile app is designed, the heavy lifting begins - that is, app developers start coding the platform. They must do this in a test environment so that it can be tested throughout the entire development process.
When developing an app, it is advisable to keep your work files secure with a password management tool that not only contributes to a more secure working environment, but also allows your collaborators to remotely access files whenever they need to.
The security of an application - the front end as well as the back end - is a very important consideration. Test security by enabling a secure source code, performing penetration testing and input validation. Additional steps are also recommended, such as verifying that HTTPS and SSL/TLS security layers are implemented.
7. Test Every Feature
As we mentioned earlier, every mobile app should be tested dozens or even hundreds of times throughout the development process. - It should be tested dozens or even hundreds of times.
In fact, a dedicated quality assurance specialist should conduct thorough QA tests that will ensure that every single feature works as it should.
If they catch a bug in the test environment, the developers will be able to fix it before the app is launched, ensuring that users never know about it.
Here are the aspects of an application that need to be rigorously tested:
- Front-end and back-end functionality: How does the app look and feel on the front end, the user-facing side of the app? Does it work properly (backend)
- Device compatibility: If an app is made for both iOS and Android, it should be thoroughly tested on both operating systems, i.e. the devices that use them. This includes different versions of these systems. It is also advisable to test the app on different screen/smartphone sizes.
- App integration with other tools: For example, if an app asks users to use their camera, does this function work smoothly and properly?
- Installation: How is the app downloaded from the app store, how does the installation go? Is the size of the app important, can it be reduced?
These are some of the best application testing tools on the market that application developers use to ensure the quality of their products:
Lambda Test
Testigma
8. Submitting an App to App Stores
Once the V1 of your app is completed, an app development agency will launch the app on the relevant app stores so that users can start downloading and using the app. The most popular ones are the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Different app stores have different regulations that you need to know about, just like the app development agency needs to know about. Make sure you go through all their requirements before submitting the app to the store, so that it doesn't get rejected.
Your app may have been developed specifically for Google Play Store's Apple App Store, but cross-platform apps get the best visibility.
9. Market to Specific Audiences
Did you know that app stores allow companies to enter photos, videos and content that can help them target appropriate audiences?
Reliable app design and development firms will help businesses successfully market their apps both in app stores and on other platforms such as websites or social media channels.
This is especially imperative because 61% of users will not install a new app. It will also increase downloads - which means more revenue for you and more visibility in app stores.
Optimize your app store listing page to promote your app in the best way possible:
- A detailed yet direct and engaging description of your app's functionalities
- Unique value propositions and differentiators are clearly stated for users to see
- In-app photos, videos and screenshots showing the most attractive features of the app (with some benefit-oriented text)
You may also want to create a landing page or a mini-site for your app with all this information and links to app stores where it can be downloaded.
10. Listen to Feedback
An important rule to remember is that app development is never really finished. Users will provide targeted feedback, customers will leave reviews in app stores, bugs will occur, and organizations will want to add new features from time to time.
All these elements mean that a new version of the app needs to be developed and made available to existing users and app stores, whether it's a small fix or a major update.
Listen to your audience and their feedback about your app in the places where they hang out: the comments section on your app's page in the app store, the forums where they hang out, social media and all other potential online review platforms.
The first rule of online reputation management says that you should respond to any negative feedback in a timely and professional manner and assure users that their complaints will be addressed in the next app update.
Nur Oğuz