A 9 Step Guide for Mobile App Development

With mobile rapidly taking over, businesses are getting more and more opportunities that are defining the new way of how services and products are delivered nowadays. Even, small business and startups realize the importance of going mobile and coming up with excellent mobile apps.

But, the main question arises “How To Create An App”? And how will that app get you the desired success in the technology driven space?

As mobile is swapping desktop, the number of mobile users and the time spent on mobile are experiencing a constant upthrust. Proffering a seamless, yet inviting experience on mobile is far more important than ever. So, if you are wondering about having a mobile app and win the digital space, then make sure to have an innovative idea before it.

However, creating an app can be a daunting experience. You may think again about the initial potential cost, complex project management, team of technical professionals, time duration, and many more to list. While it seems to be a winding journey, we have simplified it in 9 easy steps.

Hope this step wise guide give you all the resources you need, and explain all the options.

Let’s start!

Step 1:  Sketch Your App Idea & Objective

Every app begins with an idea. It doesn’t need to be prodigious, savvy, and ground-breaking; rather, just an idea is good enough. So, it’s the right time to take out pen and paper and sketch down your app idea, and it’s core objective.

The goal is to make the idea real. You define how to make an app, how will your app work, and what features will it include before you start working on your app. So, if you have started jotting down the list of features, and are confused between must-have and nice-to-have, I have separated the elements into two categories:

a) Must-have: The must-have features are the one without which your app can’t skyrocket.

b) Nice-to-have: Nice-to-have features are the one which is significant but not essential.

When you make an app, you ensure to make it as lean and mean as possible known as MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Thereby, when you start focusing on what matters, you add momentum to the app development process and make your app pliable against the setbacks.

Step 2. Do Some Homework – Do Some Market Research

Usually, app developers turn a blind eye to do some research work, even though it’s one of the essential element in making a worthwhile app.

Even, before stepping ahead in the procedure, you should know “How Good Is Your App Idea”? To get the right answers, probably ask yourself these questions:

• What do potential customers need?
• What are alternative apps and competitors in the marketplace?
• What’s the right business model?

Opting for the market research before you make your app saves you from committing a lot of mistakes. You sign off on assumptions and assess the needs of the potential customers. Moreover, two types of market researches are especially helpful:

• Finding out if people are in the search for an app like yours.
• Find what mistakes your competitors are making.  

You heard it right! You can have a good estimation for the demand of an app before you make it. Finding insights also holds many other benefits for dimensions related to it. 

Based on your research work, you can clearly define the challenges your app solves and the audience for whom they solve. These insights prove to be beneficial in developing an app that serves it’s user better.

Step 3: Perform Mock-ups For Your App

Still sitting on the fence of how to make an app?

Opt for Performing mockups. It’s a tried-and-tested approach before you start building your app. A mockup is a rough sketch of how your app will look and flow.

But, keep in mind mockups don’t include:

• Finest UI elements
• Precisely positioning of UI elements
• Complex colour schemes and effects

For having a user experience instead of alluring looks of your app’s design, performing a mockup is the right choice. Moreover, a mockup describes the flow and interactions of your app. What happens on clicking a particular button? How will you move from screen A to screen B? Which navigation flows your app follow?

As it’s the bridge between your rough idea and final end product before any technical execution begins, you can be sure with its visual guide in the following ways:

Offline – If you made up your mind for offline you can use pen and paper, or you can also use a template from SneakPeeklt. 

Online – This include templates for Adobe suite, and customized tools like Gliffy, Balsamiq Mockups, Fluid UI.

While you’re making an app for a client or an employer, making a mockup is an excellent opportunity to accomplish them with the result before building the app. You can also guide them through the UI by using the mockups and help them throughout the entire process.

Step 4: Time To Craft Your App’s Graphic Design

Now, as your project is taking shape, the time has come when you should be thinking about the graphic design of your app. Your app’s design include graphic-effects, pixel-perfect visual details, and in some cases animations and motion designs. 

I recommend two ways to commence with graphic design for your app:

• Do it yourself with graphic template
• Hire a professional graphic designer

But, still if you want to go alone, don’t reinvent the wheel. Rather, bring the UI to life with professional approach and templates like: 

• NOW, TETHR and DO by InVision
• iOS 11 iPhone GUI from Facebook
• Stark UI kit by Baianat
• Stitch by Lina Seleznyova
• Phoenix by Adrian Chiran
• Apply Pixels by Michael Flarup

Step 5: Analyze Your App Wireframes

Now that you have your own cases and their visual representation, it’s the time to check it’s user experience and flow.

You might be thinking why testing is needed?

Testing will help you analyze your cases, look for any friction points, and question the ease of mobile app process. You can have a look of the screen flow with user’s expectations and escape any potential frustrations.

Moreover, you can also ask your tester to jot down the answer to the following queries:

• After opening the app, is access to the main menu easy?
• Can you easily find all the task you accomplish with the app?
• Did you need to click on the “Back” button for any of the tasks you wanted to complete because the approach wasn’t spontaneous?
• Were you looking for an option that wasn’t there?
• Was there any option, repetitious?

Surely, answer to these will put you one step ahead informing your action items in the next step.

Step 6: Debug Your App Based On Feedback

Now, what after testing?

As you got all your feedbacks and now you group it by similarities. Based on the excessive opinion of people for your app, group them together and list the reasons why.

After the sorting is done, make your to-do list of revisions and updates you need to do in your wireframe. Implement the updates and make your mockup again ready for testing to ensure all the friction points are removed.

Yes, test once again and you will be contented with the feedback you are getting. Now, you are ready to walk to the next “BIG STEP”. 

Step 7: Choose The Right App Development Path

The time came to abide your app’s use cases and functionalities goodbye, and actually create it.

Wondering what to do in this?

In this step, you have to choose your development path, boils down to core options:

1. Selecting the programming language

2. Choosing a reliable mobile building app platform

Let’s take a deep dive in each of these options and get the right answer for how to make an app for Android and iOS:

• Coding your application

The time you code your app, you can further choose one of the two paths:

• Native Mobile App Development – In this you are creating an app from scratch for your chosen operating system. So, if you are planning to launch your app on Google and Apple play store, you need to build two distinctive apps from the ground level.

• Hybrid Mobile App Development – These apps have a feel of native app, but are developed through a single code that is deployed on both Android and iOS. Although, their performance can lag behind the native, this gap is now narrowing down.

2. Using A Mobile App Building Platform

The time you decide to choose to go with a mobile app development platform, rather than developing an app from scratch, you are given free hands to create your mobile app look and instantly see any changes you want to make without having any code change – everything done within minutes.

When you have made your final call, it’s time to swipe to the next step – “Build it”.

Step 8: Build your app

When you have decided to create an app – whether from scratch or via mobile app framework, this is the time to align with developers and designers. You will team up with them to bring your ideas and wireframes to a reality, keep a close eye on every step to be sure of the consistency between your vision and the final product. 

So, whether you are a beginner or a proficient app developer, don’t forget to practice! Practice brings perfection.

Most beginner developers find it challenging to go from following iOS tutorials on how to create an app for iPhone to actually developing an app at their own. Don’t worry set aside some time in the day, or during the week, to practice, experiment, to make mistakes, and learn new techniques, and this is where you’ll notice the hard work has paid off.

Step 9: Test your live app & Launch Your App

You have reached the final stage – let the world know about your exclusive new app.

All set to launch your app? Now you have already built your app, it’s the right time to launch it at your preferred app store. For this, make sure you follow all the guidelines that each platform defines and simultaneously, make the most out of your app store optimization.

And, once your app get live in the store, it’s time to get the eyeballs on it!

There are different ways you can promote your mobile app, but to start with you can email your customer, update your website, promote it on social media.

The last comes with the great responsibility, “Real User Feedback”. You use a user experience and their feedback to improve the app. The key for unlocking every “how” with user feedback is about experimenting with actions and results of making an app. No one knows the quick fix until you’ve tested it, and counted on the results. The faster your turn-around time on experiments and their improvements, the quicker your mobile app improves.   

All Set To Start On Your Apps..Foremost, it’s essential that no creative work has ever been made by following a step-by-step guide. Now you are familiar with the steps, but your implementation of those steps is what counts in creating a successful app.

Secondly, you need to treat your app as a business. It’s a business’ purpose to deliver quality and value from Android app development to iOS App Development.

So, what will be your next?

Figure out where you are in the app making steps and take the next best step with our Android app developer, which will proffer you with a mobile app ready for your audience in a matter of days.

Good luck, and joyous app making.

Namaste UI

For any types of queries, you can contact us on info[at]namasteui.com.