Developing a successful mobile app that clearly reflects your business idea to your targeted audiences is not an overnight task. It requires a great deal of effort and a significant amount of time to build an Android or iOS application. Most people reckon that mobile app development is all about choosing the right technology stack and hiring a renowned mobile application development company. However, following the proper mobile app development process, from beginning to end, is equally essential to make your app a chartbuster on the PlayStore or App Store.
After reading this eye-opening fact, most people would be wondering about the processes or phases involved in the development of a mobile application. Mobile app development process starts with market research, wireframing, assessing technical feasibility, prototyping, designing, developing, testing, and launching. Promotion, support, and maintenance of the app are what come after this. It is not an overnight tasks; even an experienced and skilled developer needs to pay attention at every phase to ensure the flawlessness and sound functionality of the app developed.
If you too are sailing in the same boat, then this article is exclusively for you.
Here, we have provided the complete phases of a mobile app development process that would guide you throughout your development journey.
Here are the Phases of Mobile App Development
- Researching
- Wireframing
- Evaluating Technical Feasibility
- Prototyping
- Designing
- Developing
- Testing
- Deploying the app
1. Researching
You might already have plenty of ideas for your mobile app; it is still good to dig deeper into demographics, behavior patterns, and demand of your targeted audiences. The other important thing that covers up under this phase of the mobile app development process is not to overlook your competitors. By researching thoroughly, get yourself answers to the following questions:
- Who is your targeted audience?
- What will be a suitable platform to launch your app?
- What are your competitors offering to customers?
These are just a few questions from the long list that you have to keep in mind. While researching, think from your customer’s perspective to find out what additional features should be there in your app to make it stand out in the crowd. Sparing enough time for researching and brainstorming will build a strong foundation for your mobile app development.
2. Wireframing
Wireframing gives a clear understanding of your app’s features and functionalities, and hence, is a crucial phase. Draw detailed sketches of the product you want to build to reveal the usability problems beforehand. Wireframing help narrow down the ideas and organize all the app design components correctly.
In this stage, try to identify how your planned features will blend into a fully functional mobile application. Also, make a storyboard or roadmap to demonstrate how a user will use and explore your app. Your prime focus should be on delivering an excellent customer experience by simplifying the roadmap.
3. Evaluating Technical Feasibility
After having sound knowledge of visuals, it’s time to focus on the backend system. So, in this phase of mobile app development process, you have to check whether the backend system would be capable of supporting the app’s functionality or not. To figure out the technical feasibility of your app’s idea, access the public data by sourcing public application programming interfaces (APIs).
You have to understand that an app with different formats (wearables, smartphones, tablets, etc.) and platforms (Android, iOS, or any other) will not have the same needs. By the end of this stage, you would have various ideas for your app’s functionality.
4. Prototyping
Prototyping helps to determine whether you are moving in the right direction or not. It is totally understandable that you cannot fully deliver the experience to let your users’ knowledge about the working and functioning of your app without developing it completely.
Therefore, create a prototype that conveys the app’s concept to your targeted audience to verify how it works. You can allow your stakeholders to have the first look at your app and touch the prototype to deliver their feedback about it.
5. Designing
UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) are the two vital components of your mobile app design. The former is responsible for the look and appeal of your application, whereas the latter facilitates the interaction between the design elements. While preparing a design for your mobile app, two primary considerations should be your project’s scope and budget.
The time required for designing cannot be specified as it may take only a couple of hours to a few days. Another factor that impacts your app designing time is the experience of the developers from your mobile app development services provider. It is a multistep process that needs to be done carefully to ensure that the outcome provides a clear vision of your business idea.
6. Developing
Generally, this phase of the android and iOS app development process starts at the very initial stage. Right after you finalize an app idea, the developers need to develop a prototype to authenticate the features and functionalities. At this stage, the development flourishes to the fullest. The development phase is further divided into various sections, where the team or a developer writes pieces of code, which then tested by another team. After marking the first section as bug-free, the development team moves further.
In the case of complex projects with frequently changing user requirements, it is good to opt for an agile methodology. This type of methodology leads to progressive development and brings flexibility in the planning process.
Read More: Tech Stack Used for Mobile App Development
7. Testing
Testing early and frequently gives developers the advantage of fixing a bug right when it occurs. It also controls the final cost of the development as it will require both money and efforts to fix a bug, which occurred at the first stage, after you reach on fifth or more. Application testing involves various things; hence, make sure your development team covers every aspect of it.
While testing your app, consider compatibility, security, usability, performance, UI checks, and other factors in mind. Check whether your application serves its purpose or not. For testing the app in real-time, you can ask a few users to use the app and give their feedback. Once users give thumbs up to your app, you can be sure about its functionality. Now, you can move towards beta testing.
8. Deploying the app
In this stage, your app is ready to launch. To do so, select a day and release your mobile application on the desired platforms. Deploying the app is not the final step technically as you receive feedback from your audience and thus, have to make the changes accordingly.
The other two mobile app development processes that remain associated with a mobile app are support and maintenance. Maintenance is required to bring new functionalities and features to your app over time. On the other hand, support should be there to answer the queries of the users using your mobile application. It would be no wrong to say that mobile app development is a long-term commitment rather than just a short-term project.
Bottom Line
If you are thinking of developing a mobile application, you must know the processes or phases of the mobile app needed to build it successfully. Here, in this article, we have mentioned the eight essential processes of mobile app development that should be followed in the provided order to ensure that the final product (mobile app) fulfills your expectations and serves your business purpose.
Start from researching, wireframing, technical feasibility assessment, prototyping, designing, and development, and go until the final release to develop a successful app. If you are new to this field and don’t have any idea of the development, then reach out to a custom mobile app development company with your particular app requirements. You can also hire mobile app developers for the same.
