Smartphones are now a crucial part of human life. Even established brands recognize that interacting with consumers on their smartphones and other mobile devices is the most efficient method to attract their attention, generate interest in the brand, and encourage them to make a purchase. That’s why the number of mobile apps have sharply grown for years. With our experience, GCT Solutions, a top mobile app development company in Vietnam, suggests 7 detailed steps to help you begin you mobile app development project from scratch.
The planning phase should start as soon as you have an idea for a mobile app in your head. The planning stage should address a number of high-level questions concerning the viability of your idea in the market rather than selecting how your app will be programmed.
Market research is a must-have part of planning. It is necessary to answer questions like: "Are there other mobile applications resembling ours?", "What does my mobile app require?", and "What is the value proposition of my app?". Before investing a huge amount of money and time in developing and launching your mobile app, it is crucial to know whether there is a market niche for your product.
In addition, choosing the platforms for your mobile app is an important decision (iOS, Android, Web, etc.). You must choose among a native, hybrid, progressive or cross-platform strategy. Consider the level of competition and the location of your target market when choosing the suitable platforms. This step can help you to determine whether the mobile app is feasible, and where you would focus initial development efforts.
To ensure that your mobile app has a possibility of success, it is crucial to make an effort in advance on preparation. Wonder some questions such as: (1) Are there users of your app?; (2) Are there users willing to pay for your app? You should answer "yes" to these questions with confidence before moving on to the next steps.
During the prototyping phase, you begin quickly creating wireframes and making adjustments based on user or client feedback. A wireframe, which provides an overall sense of the operation and flow of your mobile app, can be viewed as a low-fidelity reference to the UI / UX design. Focus on displaying the main features of your MVP (minimum viable product) in your wireframes rather than giving them a comprehensive feature set.
It is recommended that you collect feedback from a large number of samples. Otherwise, you risk creating a mobile app that cannot meet the expectations or demands. For instance, you create a boat booking app. But your product is useless if your target audience won't bother to use that app, because they just want to go to the port and directly buy tickets at the quay.
It is crucial to adopt an iterative process, so you should show as many mock-ups to your users as possible, allowing the functions of your mobile applications to change and adapt. Spend time researching and observing, because you should be certain that your mobile app will satisfy the demands of your audience. Instead of going back to this stage in the middle of development, it is preferable to carry out the beginning.
We will only briefly cover some of the most significant elements in the design phase of developing a mobile app, because there are hundreds of elements
Firstly, it is up to your UI / UX designers to determine the wireframes. This involves UI design, user flow definition, a comprehension of element hierarchy, etc. You should create high-fidelity mockups that your developers use to display crucial functions. These mockups should include what happens when objects are tapped, swiped, dragged, etc.
If you don't already have one, you should create a brand guideline to ensure that your mobile app identity is recognizable and well-understood by both your UI designers and developers. Each screen must adhere to your principles, so that your mobile app is cohesively designed.
At this stage, a marketing strategy should also be prepared. Typically, this involves your mobile app promotion plan. It is necessary to build a website, a series of newsletter, or social media.