Essential Steps for Building a Mobile App

Developing a mobile app is popular in today’s start-up world. With daily headlines about this field of products, it’s easy to be attracted to mobile apps as a business model. For instance, Uber is valued at over fifty million dollars. Pokemon generated nearly a billion dollars in 2016 alone. Candy Crush was acquired for over five billion dollars. Even newly released apps are raking in insane revenue daily. App development is definitely a goldmine if you do it right.

Here’s our handy guide detailing how to go about it. We have listed all the necessary steps in app development and how you can create an excellent app.

Step 1 – Find a problem you want to solve

One trait of successful entrepreneurs is that they aim to solve problems with their products and services. When you look around, you’ll notice that almost every application in your device was created to solve a problem.

The first step in app building is having an idea of the problem you wish to solve with your app. There are so many problems in your environment that affects your daily life and require solutions. You can generate ideas for your app by offering solutions to these problems.

Here are some other ways you can get some great app ideas:

· Look around you

There are so many problems around us, all you have to do is to pay attention to be able to identify them. You can go for an evening stroll, go to the mall, church, hospitals, school, etc. and observe what people have difficulty in doing. Then think of ways you can ease that difficulty with technology.

· Look at other apps

Analyze apps that you use every day. Browse through the top apps and observe the problems such apps are solving. This might give you an idea for your own.

· Solicit ideas

Talk to people you know and ask their opinion about what problems they have that need to be solved. Kids are a great resource!

Don’t be afraid to go through a LOT of problems before you land on just the right one. Keep a list to track your potential apps!

Step 2 – Determine whether or not there is a need in the marketplace

Research tells us that the average person spends up to 2 hours every day on their devices. People are glued to their screens and that makes for a massive market.

However, just because the market is huge, doesn’t mean it’s an easy one to break into. The mobile app landscape is quite competitive. To be successful, you need to have the right product at the right time.

You may have a great app idea, but you need to confirm that there is a demand. You need to research the potential desirability of the app and also understand your target audience. This will enable you to refine your app idea. You can also determine whether users will choose your app over existing ones.

There are many ways you can get information about your app’s market. You can conduct online interviews, send questionnaires on popular forums, create polls asking users to place a percentage on how much they would spend on this kind of app, etc.

Carrying out a market research is fundamental. Since the success of your app will be determined by the level of engagement, you need to know the age group, gender, profession, region and other vital details about your potential users.

Step 3 – Determine essential features

Once you’ve refined your app idea, you need to determine other extra features you intend to add. How do you want the app to look? What other attributes can you add to your app to distinct it from others? A review of similar apps can enable you determine the sort of features to add to your app.

Don’t overload your app with excessive features initially. Just add the fundamentals, so the app will still be simple to use. You can always add more features later on.

Step 4 – Research competitors

An often overlooked step in app development is analyzing the competitors. This process increases your knowledge of your niche. Go to various online outlets and download various apps that serve the same purpose as your own. After that, you should analyze each app separately, check their popularity rate, their audience, the number of downloads and the uninstall rate. Compare their features with yours, lookout for what you can do to improve on your own app based on what you see on others.  Gather information about their most active source of downloads and all other possible statistics.

This process alone serves many purposes. It enables you to validate your app idea. You also get to know your target market and customers. Finally, it provides you with information on improving the design and features of your app.

Step 5 – Design and develop

This is of course the core step in creating your mobile app. The design of your app will determine its success in the market. Your design should be simple and clean, with the just the essential features. Too many features may confuse and frustrate users. While it is not wise to copy designs from other apps, you can still be inspired by them. Users tend to accept familiar apps more easily.

Step 6 – Test

Essential Steps for Building a Mobile App | Imaginovation

After designing your app, the next step is to test it to ensure that it works flawlessly. Any reputable app developer will make testing a part of the process, but there are also services, such as Applause, that will test apps. Of course, you should also test it thoroughly yourself!

Step 7 – Track users

Essential Steps for Building a Mobile App | App Annie

After releasing your app to the market, you need to monitor its performance. There are numerous software programs, such as App Annie, that will enable you to see how users interact with your app. You’ll be able to see the number of downloads, uninstalls, an estimate of the current users and other useful statistics. You can also use the free Google Analytics tool to track your app.

Step 8 – Get feedback from everyone

The moment you release your app, the behavior of the first set of users will give you the data you need in order to make changes. It is important to monitor all feedback. The simplest way to do this is to look at the ratings on the App Store and Google Play. You can also do this by reaching out to users and simply asking what they think of the app. If the feedback is largely positive, focus on ways to enhance your app.  Negative feedback will provide you with specifics on what needs to be improved. You can then make meaningful modifications for updated versions.

Do you have a great idea for a mobile app and are ready to get started? Contact us!

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