Mobile app development process in 2021 – 7 stages of app development
Do you think mobile app development is a complex workflow that requires careful planning and execution? This is true for applications that are written by developers from scratch. In fact, you no longer need to be a programmer who knows the programming language to create an application.
The first question that interests the client: “How much will it cost?” The next one after it: “When will the mobile application be ready?” To answer both questions the specialists draw up a work plan.
But what does the cryptic word “appraisal” mean?
At this stage mobile app development agency studies the technical documentation. A detailed assessment can last from a few days to a week, but it allows you to accurately determine how, when and which application you will receive as a result. If the business analyst connects to the project during the assessment phase, it is easier for the client and developers to get a single view of the application and calculate everything accurately. But no matter how detailed the assessment is, it happens that customers add new features right in the course of the project. When we were making the Pro Photo Shoot app, a social network for photographers and models, its author, startup William Upshaw, at the development stage, realized what functions were missing.
Stages of mobile application development
Idea. It all starts with the main idea of your application. Let’s say you need an app for a ready-made meal delivery service with the ability to leave requests for pizza delivery from the app. This application will be useful and necessary for users who use the services of similar companies and order products. The application also serves as a tool for accumulating customers around the company through mobile devices. Therefore, before you start developing an application, you need to think about how it will be useful to users and business. As well as determine the target audience of this application. In this case, these can be students or office workers, company clients. They use applications to communicate with the delivery service. As well as people who move around a lot and who need to be able to place orders through a mobile device. Having decided on the idea of the application and the target audience, you can proceed to the next stage.
Designing an android application development services involves creating a map that demonstrates all the functionality of the application. It’s product screens and a diagram of transitions between them. In fact, a prototype of the application is created, on the basis of which the product itself will be developed in the future.
Design, preparation of graphics. The development of the design of the future application involves the creation of graphic elements for the entire application. These are screens. That is, background images of tabs, an image for the main screen, icons for the entire application. These are the headers for individual pages, buttons with an individual design are created if necessary. It is important to subject all graphic elements to usability research in order to understand how convenient it will be for the user to click on all these elements and application buttons on the screen of their mobile device.
The stage of building an application in a service consists of three components. This is creating tabs and functions, filling with content and customizing the appearance of the application. But before moving on to them, you need to configure the application settings by specifying the application code. The application name for the AppStore and GooglePlay, and the name of the application icon on the users desktop.
Creation of tabs and functions. Working in the service involves working in a visual designer editor, you do not need special knowledge of programming languages. Because you simply select the necessary elements and customize them step by step. That is, create new tabs, set the functions of these tabs, load icons for each tab, or select from those set in the constructor.
Filling the app with content is the most creative process of app development. At this stage, you download background images for all screens of the application, headers for individual tabs, customize the menu, download the list of categories, products, depending on the needs of the application.
Customizing the appearance is already the final stage of application development. All that remains is to customize the appearance of the application, add sliders to the main screen or display the necessary buttons. And also it customizes the display of the menu in the application.
Testing. After the application is developed, it is important to test it on the customer’s mobile device. For this there is a special program – the application for viewing mobile applications. How the application looks when viewed, so it will look and work after publishing. Therefore, at this stage, it is important to identify gaps, failures and incorrect display of elements. So that they can be corrected before publication.
Publishing an application is the last stage of development. After the errors have been identified and corrected. And the application has been agreed with the customer, you can start publishing.
After the publication of the mobile application, an important stage of its launch begins. That is, the promotion of the mobile application among users and potential customers.