Making an app is a multifaceted endeavor. Besides the more obvious concerns of setting yourself apart from the competition and staying up to date with consumer interests, the deeper details surrounding design, development, and maintenance make it a tough process to tackle without experience.
With more than 4 million apps currently available in app stores such as Google Play, it should be clear that coming up with a solid plan upfront isn’t optional anymore if you want to stand out and grab users’ attention. Putting a unique slant on an existing idea can take you far, but ideas alone do not create killer apps—great teams forged through quality partnerships do.
To get started on your next app, you’ll need to know your project’s scope and have a working understanding of what your budget will be. As is the case with most things, there are numerous paths forward and the best one for you depends largely on what you can afford to put into a project. More money can potentially shorten development times by buying better (or simply more) development help, but a smaller budget might not mean you have to settle for lesser results.
How to make an app
App making involves strategizing early on and carefully defining your design, APIs, and hosting as well as any other third-party requirements. This all precedes launching your project—another process that should be planned out properly before you move forward. With VeryCreatives, you are part of the team from the project’s start: You won’t have to wade out into the deep end of app development alone. We can help you to handle each of the steps laid out above and more. Here’s a shortlist of the development process you can expect for your next app:
1. Come up with a development strategy
Your development strategy can make or break your project’s prospects of succeeding. Many companies make the mistake of jumping right into the process and asking questions later. This deadens their ability to accommodate key concerns such as security standards and product-market fit. Your app strategy should take a (preferably tested) revenue model into account from the offset and build out logic to match. This ensures that it not only attracts the kinds of users you want to cater to, but that it also encourages them to spend real money on it as well. Having the option to sit down with a team of skilled developers and benefit from the industry experience they can offer is tremendously beneficial to this stage of the app development process. VeryCreatives does this every step of the way, starting with an in-depth strategy workshop to assist with both idea discovery and general project scoping:
- Idea discovery gives your concept wings by fleshing out usability details, user interface concerns, and more.
- Project scoping ensures your final product can be produced within your budget and timeline, tweaking features and commitments to match your goals
Working out every aspect of your app’s development and the real-world requirements for making it a reality should happen early. However, this is ultimately just the beginning of your project. Next comes design—a zone where many projects can falter for a wide variety of reasons.
2. Begin your project’s design
The design process can prove perilous for many projects as businesses lose touch with their chosen development teams. Communication is absolutely critical to any project’s success, which is why we take it so seriously at VeryCreatives. Our design team consults with you on every aspect of the prototyping process to ensure you are always in the loop as to where your project is headed. Whether we’re still working on a wireframe model of the app to come or are looking to get the branding your business requires just right on the final design before progressing, you can expect a constant stream of communication to coordinate ideas.
App design involves achieving consistency in a visual sense — between in-app elements and labels — but also in a functional sense. Different elements of your app’s functionality should carry over the same user experience. In addition to all of this, your app’s consistency with your brand as a whole must also be taken into account to ensure it is recognizable as your own.
3. Develop an MVP
Once development begins, our team engages in a series of sprints, which are planned out in conjunction with your guidance. Goals are set and the sprint’s testing parameters are defined. A special staging server is used to host iterative versions of the project as it comes to life. Here, we normally ask that you assist in testing out each iteration to help speed up the decision-making process. Whatever needs changing is either handled immediately or set aside for subsequent sprints.
The usual end goal for a new project is a so-called minimum viable product or “MVP.” This is a product that accomplishes the core goals required to capture consumer interest and generate early revenue. Your MVP works to help test features’ aptitude and gauge consumer interest at a reduced cost compared to producing a full-featured piece of software too soon. At VeryCreatives, we encourage our clients to think of their MVP as a powerful marketing tool as well.
Let VeryCreatives do the heavy lifting for you
Whether you need to decide on a revenue model, are looking for design guidance, or have no idea where to turn to get your app idea vetted and developed at a reasonable rate, VeryCreatives can help.
If you have additional questions, such as:
- How much does it cost to make an app?
- How long does it take to make an app?
- What will it take to get started on a new app?
Reach out to our team at your convenience so that we can help you move forward. You can book a call in no time and be well on your way to launching the next leading app.
