According to statistics, in 2017, consumers downloaded a massive 178.1 billion apps to their connected devices. On average an adult spends about three and a half hours on their phone. While texting and web browsing is definitely the main agenda for the time spent on their phones, using mobile apps have become the new popular agenda.
Today apps are becoming more and more tailor-made for you. From social media to food ordering, banking to bill paying, apps are everywhere today. The ease of access and availability has made apps become so popular today. The convenience of apps have made our life more than easy and we are only thankful for it.
Now that you are aware of how much people have become reliant of apps, you might want to know if there are any guides for creating an app that will perfectly capture the user’s attention. It’s important to have a well thought out plan before you start developing an app. So here is a step by step guide for you to follow when you are developing your app.
The Steps To Create Your App
It may seem confusing, even right out hard to plan and create your own app. But it’s very simple, only if you keep up with the guide below.
1.What Is The Purpose Of Your App?
Before moving any farther with your plan to make an app, answer this question first- what is the purpose of your app?
This is probably the first question you might have for your app. And this is also the first question that needs answering. You can’t build an app just because you want to. It needs to serve a purpose, solve a problem. Otherwise, people would not use it.
Having a clear understanding of the challenge your consumer is facing is going to make it easier for you to develop the solution. To know what are the exact pain points for your customers and what features on your app can solve them, you need to have clear communication with them.
2. Research The Market
Now that you know what is the purpose of your app, you need to start your market research. Once the purpose of your app is determined, you need to take a good look at the apps in the market that are solving the same problems.
The app market you want to launch your app in must have tons of apps similar to yours. By taking a good look at these apps and how they are helping the users, you can locate the problem areas of their working style and address it in a different way. The aim is to make your app more efficient for your users.
To examine the competition in full, install them and use them each for a couple of days. See what they are doing, note down their pros and cons. Once you have gathered enough intel, you can start developing your own app.
3. Build The Wireframe
The wireframing step is probably the most important of this guide.
A wireframe is like a blueprint. It helps you to design and develop your app. After thorough market research, you need to build the wireframe of your app. It will work as a reference for your app development step.
The wireframe determines how your app will look. So if you want to make your app look attractive, then don’t even think about skipping over this step.
4. Design The App
The next step will be designing your app. But unless you are a graphic designer, it is better to hire a designer for your app.
The visuals of an app, the images, colors, and fonts can make or break an app. If the user does not like your app’s visuals, it would take them a few moments to uninstall it. So it’s important that you hire professional designers for your app. In this case, you have two options.
- Work With A Freelancer:
Collaborating with a freelancer makes your app development process a lot smoother. Your ideas can be turned into reality by an experienced freelancer. They can guide you about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to creating an app.
Collaborating with a freelancer can only make your app run better and smoother, giving the users a better experience.
- Work With An Agency:
Hiring a freelancer may not be for all that good because sometimes, your app idea can be too complex. in such cases, you need the help of a professional app development agency.
Hiring an agency to develop your app may seem expensive. It can increase the cost of developing your app. But it is the surefire way of getting a complete app. They will take care of the entire app development process in the most convenient way.
But make sure that you stay in touch with the agency after you have hired them. Good communication is important when it comes to developing an app. And the agency you hire needs your input when going through the steps of building the app. So don’t just disappear once you have hired the developers. Make sure to communicate well with them.
5. Prototype Development
Once you have a prototype, you need to test it. The prototype testing is important to know whether the design of your app works or not.
Once you have a prototype for your app, make sure to test it among a few testers. They can give you valuable input about the design and UI/UX of the app. If you skip over this step then you can be wasting all your resources on the next steps. The prototype testing can save your app from major failure.
6. Developing
Once you are sure that the prototype of your app works, you can begin the developing part. This is the step where you can hand over your design to the freelancer you have hired or the agency. They will now collaborate with you in building the main components of your app.
This is the step where the design of your app is going to meet the backend of your app. The frontend and backend of your app need to be balanced well together. Which is why this step is more crucial than any in this guide.
7. Testing The App Once Again
Now that you have a functioning MVP, you need to test it again to figure out whether you have any bugs in your app or not. This is best done with the help of professional app testers. This is a final usability test. On this step, you can make some final changes before launching the beta version of your app.
8. Launch Of The Beta Version
Launching a beta version of your app gets you the early adopters, who can help you to get your app mainstream. The beta testers can provide valuable insight into your app’s pros and cons, the features that can be added and improved in your app. Their reviews and endorsement of your app are going to work as a valuable marketing strategy and boost your app’s performance in the app market.
9. The Final Launch
Now that you have gone through the previous steps of this guide, it’s time to launch your app. Make sure you already have a developers account on the app market where you want to launch your app.
Both app store, Google Play store and App Store has its own guidelines. If you don’t follow those guidelines before launching accepted in the app store.
10. Marketing Your App
If you think you are done after launching then you are mistaken. The biggest step comes after launching your app, which is marketing your app.
People need to know about your app. They need to know that your app exists. So you have to use the right marketing strategy to market your app to the people. You can make promotional videos and post them on social media platforms with a link to download your app. You can also advertise your app on similar apps.
Besides these ten steps, You also have to keep rolling out updates for your app and improve on the features. Keep following the user reviews and see what they want in your app. This way you’ll be able to hold onto your existing users while also acquiring new ones.
