A Step-By-Step Guide To Mobile App

Development

So you wake up in the morning with a brilliant idea for a mobile app– you
can explain it, you know it’s the most amazing idea ever, and you know
your app idea can amaze many people- So what next?

Well, the good thing is yes, it’ s a good start. The bad part, though, is
that very few apps are really successful. So what divides the good and
the bad- Some luck? Yes, and a lot of right steps. While you can earn
luck, We are sharing here the right steps to build your app.

If you’re contemplating developing a mobile application, Let’s explore

our comprehensive guide on mobile app development process. To make
it understandable for you, we have broken down the complete guide to
mobile app development process into nine key steps.

The Key Stages Of The App Development Process

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Fig: Mobile app development process

Step 1 Confirming On The Idea

Before planning to proceed, you need to answer the following questions
to make sure that you are not marrying the wrong idea, and the idea is
worth investing time and effort.
 worth investing time and effort.

App Objective: Why do you want to build a mobile app? Is it really

needed in your businesses? Is your idea appropriate or a great fit,
according to your company’s/target audience needs? Do you have
enough resources to promote it?
Target Audience: Who is your target audience? Who are the potential
users?
App USP What are the important features? What is the core appeal
of your app? Why should your audience use your app? How will you
differentiate?
Competitor Analysis: Who are your competitors? Do they have a
similar application? If yes, is your idea of solving the problem in a
better way than them?
App Investment: Any app development will require money, effort, and
time from you. Are you ready?
App Marketing: When and how will you promote your application?
What is your promotional strategy for the first 500 users?

Step 2 Market Research

Now is the time to do the most important part of your journey. Market
research shows you the real demand or interest of the market;
accordingly, you can modify your idea, and the research can give you a
clear list of requirements that can help you prioritize the work. Here the
question, of course, is how to do market research the right way? Check
the step by step market research process here:
 Fig: Market research process

Here are some more advantages to doing market research:

It helps you to maintain a better understanding of your customers
Get a clear idea about your competitors
Helps you assess your product carefully before launch
Helps you define how you can reach the audience?
Identify the business opportunities
Get a chance to discover the feature list and demands of the users

Step 3 Build Your App’s Wireframe

Once your idea list is ready, it’s time to put a shape to your idea-
Wireframes. You can consider a wireframe as a blueprint of your
application. It will display the design of your app and functionality. Also,
it will help you understand the look and the work of the application.

Mainly app wireframe gives articulation to the theory for the team to
follow. Also, it helps developers as a reference or you can say as a guide
book.

If you need suggestions for building your app’s wireframe, here are
some steps

Here are some more advantages to doing market research:

Map Out The User Flow

In the beginning, the user flow map is essential because these steps are
a necessary aspect for your app to achieve a specific goal. I know you
want to know all the steps, right? Let’s check them:
Fig: User flow Process
  Set a Mobile Frame

It is better to select a frame that has dimensions of the actual device

that you design. Firstly, the frame should act as a natural constraint, it
will avert you from adding too many elements in one screen. Secondly, a
frame should be generating an illusion of actual frame design.

We would like to recommend starting with a middle screen size device.

For example, if you develop a mobile app for iOS devices, you can use
the XS frame of the iPhone.

Fig: Set a mobile frame

Use Design Patterns

Familiarity is the most important aspect of UX design. When users see

familiar User Interface elements in a new product, they can rely on their
past experience when interacting with this new product. Both iOS and
Android have native design patterns that can simplify the design
processes of developing a familiar experience for the designers. Design
patterns can act as a reusable content block; it is possible to use to
resolve common issues.

Ensure Your Content Scales Well

Will your screen design look good on an iPhone XS? That’s great! But will
Will your screen design look good on an iPhone XS? That’s great! But will
also look great in all the screen sizes. If your screen design looks great
on a medium-size phone screen like iPhone XS, it doesn’t mean that the
iPhone 5 and iPhone XS Max users will have the same experience. While
it is fine to start with middle screen size when wireframing, it is also
important to check how your content looks on the different screen sizes
and adjust it according to the size.

Fig: Screen sizes

If you are looking for help to build your mobile app’s wireframe then
check out the trending wireframe tools:

InVision: InVision bring screens to life in a Prototype, mirror Studio

files, and more. It’s all available in real-time, from anywhere.
UXPin: UXPin Mirror makes previewing your prototypes on real
devices fast and easy. It takes a few taps to ensure mobile prototypes
look and perform the way you intended by viewing them in real-time
on actual devices.
Balsamiq: Balsamiq Wireframes allows you to create, edit, and share
sketch-quality wireframes, all within Drive and the G Suite apps Docs,
Sheets, Slides).
 Fluid UI The Fluid UI Player is the free companion app for Fluid UI.
Install the Player to view fantastic full-screen mockups built with your
FluidUI.com account. Simply scan the QR code accessible in the
FluidUI.com project preview – iterating app designs has never been
easier or faster.
Proto.io: Proto.io create fully-interactive high-fidelity prototypes that
look and work correctly as your app should. No coding required.
JustinMind: The Justinmind app is a prototype viewer for Justinmind
prototypes that can work offline. Prototypes are imported from your
Justinmind account and viewed locally.
Prott: Prott is a prototyping tool that takes your ideas from the first
sketch to an interactive prototype that works like a real app in
seconds. With an intuitive UI and collaboration capabilities, Prott is
the ideal design and communication tool for those interested in
working better together, anytime, anywhere.
Figma: Figma Mirror allows you to view your designs from the Figma
desktop app live across all of your Android devices.

Bring Order To The Design Chaos With Design Sprints

During wireframing, you will be confused about whether you are making
the right design decisions or not. Maybe one layout IOS better than
another, or perhaps some xx feature should be added. A Design Sprint is
a proven, scientific process of collaborative brainstorming which helps
in assessing which features to build first and which ones to eliminate. It
helps in saving development time and money by solidifying concepts
and building the groundwork for wireframing and designing.

Importance Of Design Sprint

Design sprints are useful in every stage of the project. Let’s explore:

Creating a new product/service

Redesigning the existing product/service
 Adding new features to an existing product/service

To provide you in-depth knowledge in design sprint we are going to

highlight its significant steps, let’s explore them:

Understand: Dig into the design problem

Define: Define the key strategy and focus
Diverge: Rapidly develop as many solutions as possible
Decide: Choose the best ideas so far
Prototype: Build something quick and dirty
Get user feedback: learn what works & what doesn’t