Want to plan mobile app development in 2019?

In the 4.0 industry, a smartphone can be considered as one of the direct methods which cause the change of how society reacts nowadays. With the rising of smartphone users, mobile application development becomes a highly popular process. People can use mobile app services even in the smallest requests such as payment, ordering food, booking the hotel. Every business owners can see the potential development with their own mobile application service. So even finding the best outsourcing mobile app development company or using your own developer resource to create your own mobile app, it is necessary to know a basic step-wise in a mobile app development plan. So let’s find out some standard process here – in our blog. 

1.    Starting with the idea

Everything always starts from a thought, an idea of doing something new, it is the same with your mobile app development- the very first step you should have an idea of why creating the app. The idea behind your app, sometimes, is just simple as to broaden your business, you need your company website to reach and satisfy more customers. Or sometimes, your app idea just comes up when you meet troubles during working, and the mobile app idea is the solution. In general, you should understand the soul of an app, why you need the app, starting to find a solution for your issues, it is the first step.

2.    Why research?

You get the idea, you know what you want to do, and now, you need to visualize your dream. Firstly, you should do deep research to evaluate the overviews of your mobile app idea. This is an essential process to check whether developing a mobile app is a good choice or not. Therefore, make sure you will not skip this step while applying the process.

#1. Competition

You have a great unique idea, and others may have the same idea as you. That is the reason why checking the competition should be the first step in aresearch process. Comparing and research for the competition not only help you to list down all your current potential competitors but also learn your competitors’ business strategy to develop and launch the mobile app. You should take five or ten competitors and do the deep research about them, what they are doing with the mobile app and their business strategy in the current market. From the detailed research, you can learn to build your own strategy, create your competitive advantages and target corrected customers. 

#2. Target End Users

Researching about your competitors is not enough, you should draw the full business pictures, which show you your targeted customers. It is because different customers range will own their personal preference and demands, therefore building a mobile app for a targeted customers group will have different features. For example, some popular mobile app as Facebook, Instagram are used by the younger generation, so developers may update the features for youth’s preference as upload photos, comments, posting status and so on. While others app as Google Map, Grab, Uber are targeted to customers from younger to older, therefore, it features should be designed as simple as possible, so everyone can easily download and use the app. So your targeted customer will help to determine the features and process to develop your mobile app.

#3. Research for a Trend

In the process of research, you may find out the current trends in the market. Researching for the current one and predicting the next trend, so you may not build the out-of-date mobile app. Sometimes, the new trend may come from a small thing as in the conversation, small requirements and surprised idea of a party. Therefore, making sure you can do as much research as possible and well prepare before building your final mobile app. 

3.    Let’s go to the planning 

After gathering enough information, the next step should be a detailed plan, which shows you the checklist and ensures you not miss anything during complex developing and launching process. 

#1. Starting with an MVP

A Minimum viable product (or an MVP), as in the previous blog of “Innovating your business using lessons from Software development?”, an MVP is the wise choice of any experienced in-house and offshore software development teams in developing a new app. There are some reasons are mentioned as saving cost, saving time, saving resource while developers can still launch their app and ask for the feedbacks from final users. And, carefully selecting key features for your app, developing your app and launching to test the market are the main advice for this part. 

#2. What should your ideal platform?

As you know, there is a lot of smartphone in the market which causes different platforms for each type. And, selecting your starting platform may determine your business strategy.

Do you think iOS and Android, which is the better one? Which one is more popular than the other? Or maybe you invest on a different platform? Let’s check the data below:

As the report of Statista, 88% of users now using Android while there are about 11.9% using iOS in the second quarter of 2018. It seems like the market prefers the Android platform than iOS, one of the reasons should be the open source origin, Android is developed in many devices. 

However, everything has its other side, Android has its own disadvantage. Because it is cheap and easy to afford, Android-targeted users are also willing to pay less money on in-app purchases, therefore the revenue developers get from selling an app may not much, while there is a large number of Android apps in the Google Play. 

In contrast, iOS targets in the higher quality of customers who can afford and buy expensive Apple devices. Therefore, it is quite difficult for you to get the license or improvement from the Apple Store to successfully launch an iOS app. Also, since their customers are more preferable to pay and use in-app purchase. 

Finally, you should evaluate all criteria before giving a final decision, which based on your objectives, targeted customers, budget, requirements. Or you can choose another solution to build an MVP app using Hybrid apps- a web-fronted app for both iOS and Android. Just keep it simple and see the case study from some big brand names as Uber, Gmail, Instagram. 

#3. Checking your budget

You can imagine and dream a lot of functionalities as well as how your app will look like, and now is time to get real with your expectations. It may take a lot of money to develop a mobile app, even the result after finishing the app may not as what you looking for. 

You may choose to develop your app using your in-house team or you may find the most suitable outsourcing mobile application company for your project. In each case, your budget is used to pay for these developing tasks, which can be charged per hour. Therefore, you should have a fixed number in mind, which can help you in selecting the best solution. 

Or you should find a way to increase the budget and get your dream mobile app by calling for the investors. Introducing the potential of your idea may be the best way to call for more investments and make your app come true. 

4.    Having your own developer

As mentioned above, there are two ways to develop a mobile application, building an in-house team and outsourcing an IT company. Both of two ways have its strengths and weakness, which you can choose based on your demands. 

Building your own team means you own your team for a whole lifetime to make sure the application works well and can be frequently updated. Additionally, it means there are a lot of works you have to take care of, and also you should have enough IT knowledge to ensure the smooth working process. 

At the same time, the second solution may reduce the risks of building your own developer team. 

Of course, you want to find the top IT companies to develop mobile application in your budget while there are a lot of IT agencies which may suit your requirements. So making sure to do some research and read some reviews before confirm to work with a dedicated IT team. 

You can find some guidelines in our blog “ How to choose the right mobile app development partnership in Vietnam?” to get some more idea before deciding to outsource a service. 

In the end, you should keep in mind to keep contacts and frequently sharing with the team, not only for checking process status but also immediately discuss if there are any unexpected issues happen. And always check the trends to have on-time updated the strategy and develop your business.