An app is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to reach your target audience, especially if you are a small to medium sized business. If this idea is on your priority list, it is imperative for you to know what it takes to execute an app for your SMB.
According to latest statistics, mobile app downloads are up by 23.3% since the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the world. This percentage is further expected to rise upto 45%.
Therefore, it is the right time for you, as a business, to get your own mobile app and tap into the market. In this blog, we will have a brief look at the mobile app development process and how to make it fit in your marketing goals as well.
Steps in Mobile App Development Lifecycle
Step 1: Discovery. Market Research. Tech-Stack
While ideas could be many, the first step to building your own app is to carry out extensive research. You need to get deeper into the minds of your target audience and also your competitors. A few questions that you must ask yourself include the purpose of your app, defining your target audience, fixing your app budget, choice of development language and framework and marketing decisions. Well, these are just some of the things that you will need to figure out.
Step 2: App goals. Objectives
This is a very crucial step in the process of mobile app development. As a part of this step, you will need to decide on the features of your app – what problems you would want your app to solve and how its core appeal is supposed to be. Not only will this clear out your development path ahead, but it will also give you a fair idea of your budget and the in-house capabilities that are needed.
Step 3: Wireframe. Roadmap. Backend
By this time, you would have had a clear definition of how you want your app to look like and what all features it should have. Your scope of work should be ready, which means you know what portions will be developed in-house and what you are going to outsource. This is when you start sketching out your app and coming up with a storyboard.
You can use the various wireframe tools to know how your ideas and supposed features will look together in a functional app. You should also create a roadmap that will draw connections between each of the app screens and give you a picture of app navigation. Once you are done with the wireframe and roadmap, you will need to create the various backend structures like – data diagrams, data integrations, APIs, servers and push notifications etc. Having your backend features set means that you now know your app is scalable or not.
Step 4: Finalize wireframe. Prototype testing
As you are done with finalizing any changes in your wireframe during the backend planning process, you move on to the next step of building a prototype of your app. This step is essential to evaluate your design concepts, get necessary feedback and make more changes accordingly. It will also help in identifying the flaws and breaks in the app’s usability. It is recommended that you bring in more people to test and evaluate your app prototype. This will facilitate proper feedback and give you an idea on the app’s overall usability and functionality.
Step 5: Test. Test. Test again.
Now you are almost ready with the complete app concept. You have the graphics and text ready. Next comes the crucial part where you rigorously test your app in numerous real-world scenarios, this is highly essential to find out any incorrect functioning or technical flaws. It is important that you go through all of the details in each of the features to ensure seamless experience in your app. you ca use any of the popular UX testing tools to get real-time analytics and feedback. Once you are satisfied that your app is compatible in all scenarios and environments, and you are happy with the overall usability and look-and-feel of the app, you get ready for the next big step – launch!
Step 6: App Launch
Everything that you do when you prepare for your app launch will have the most effect on its final success. Therefore, it is wise to involve your marketing team in the process early! With the right marketing guidance, you will get to know the right keyword research – crucial for SEO and app store optimization. This will greatly enhance your app’s discoverability.
With the right keyword research, you can choose the optimal app title and description that will improve your app’s ranking and discoverability. you can also go for high quality screenshots of your app screens and a promo video at this point of the app development process. Having a website or a landing page is a huge add-on to your chances of success. Once you are ready for launching, you must promote your app on various channels, including your social media accounts, blogs, and even in email campaigns. Now is also a good time to extend your app’s reach beyond Apple store and Play store and reach out to other stores for your app distribution.
Step 7: Official Release. Feedback Response
You should be ready to create some buzz around your app with write-ups and articles by influencers that will fuel up excitement for your app launch. However, what you must keep in mind is that launching your app is not the end! You need to keep engaging with your customers and be responsive towards their feedback and concerns. Be vigilant of your analytics and you should be tracking the KPIs that define success.
These are the steps of mobile development process lifecycle. Almost every app goes through this lifecycle. If you have an app idea for your business and are looking for the right team to partner with, we are here for you! At EOV, we provide mobile app development services that are in line with your expectations and goals that will help you achieve your much awaited success! You can get in touch with our team today!
Such an informative piece! Great insights