The critical steps in the app development process involve multiple interconnected disciplines. Technical components include cross-platform functionality, user-friendliness, compatibility, and performance. Audio-visual elements are essential in attracting app users, retaining their interest, and driving continued app use.

However, the app development process’s most critical aspect is understanding people. Ultimately, people use apps despite the level of technical magic that goes into creating them. The smartphone/tablet app will not be used if it doesn’t serve a human purpose.

Today, we explore a specific case study of coupons apps and how they can better serve cost-conscious customers. We could explore the efficacy of a productivity tool or a health and wellness monitoring app. In each instance, there is a predefined use case for the application. 

The secret lies in uncovering what resonates with the target market:

• What does the audience want? What does the audience need? 
• What can a business offer customers to realize those expectations as efficiently, effectively, and productively as possible? 

Here’s how to shape an app development process around user-centric insights.

Identify a Real-World Problem And Present A Solution

Any demand/supply scenario is always about meeting the market needs or creating a demand for a new product or service. Either way, there has to be a confluence of customers and a supply of business-created products or services. 

App developers ask the pertinent questions – What gap exists in the market? Successful apps solve problems and make life easier. 

For example, the right food discount apps can address the universal need to save money through cash back on purchases, presenting customers with a greater variety and offering a pool of 50,000+ restaurants, grocery stores, and gas stations. 

Of course, the market is already saturated with cashback apps, but a novel and targeted approach can certainly tap into this high-demand sector and flourish. App developers are encouraged to conduct heavy research on audience pain points. 

What creates tension, difficulty, or cost-related problems in day-to-day life? Various avenues are available for exploration, including social media groups, Reddit forums, online surveys, etc.

Trends and Competitors

Market saturation is a real phenomenon. Businesses deal with fierce competition despite novel ideas. Understanding what’s already out there is essential to strategic management. 

Naturally, it’s not always possible to ascertain/gauge what other competitors plan to launch, but we can see what exists at the App Store or the Google Play Store.

This is a great point of departure.

Once a developer finds pertinent information about an app, it’s imperative to research customer feedback on-site to determine any pressure points, complaints, trends, or related feedback that could help position the app more successfully.

Engage the Target Audience Early on

This is sacrosanct. Potential customers and users are your best source of inspiration. Several approaches are available for connecting with them, notably:

• Focus Groups
• Social Media Polls
• Feedback Platforms

Many apps – especially successful apps– test prototypes with users before launching at the App Store and the Google Play Store. Duolingo is one such example.

Monitor Data and Behavior

Various analytics tools and resources are available for gauging an app’s performance, productivity, and efficacy. Google Trends, SEM Rush, App Annie, and similar are available. These insights should be combined and contrasted with location-based data (geolocation) for greater accuracy. For food discount apps, this could undoubtedly benefit customers in urban areas or for rural delivery options, take-out, dining in etcetera.

Add Value and Build Convenience

Highly successful apps make something more accessible or more cost-effective to customers. That’s why it’s always best to focus on making an app user-friendly. If it’s easy to use, people will use it. Plus it should be efficient (do what it intends to do with as few resource-intensive activities as possible) and be simple. Food discount apps, for example, could present users with the following information:

• Nearby food-related deals in real time
• Save past purchases for quick reordering
• Personalised recommendations based on preferences

Once all the steps above have been assessed, evaluated, and compared with pre-stated objectives, the beta version can be launched with a small target audience. This provides invaluable feedback. Users can tell the app developers what they found useful, what frustrated them, or whether they would recommend the app to a friend. 

This is sacrosanct in the app production process. It indicates the best approach methodology to fine-tune the app to user expectations. During the post-launch phase, app developers must continue to work hard. Built-in analytics track user behavior, gather feedback and make necessary changes. These come in the form of updates. 

As a case in point, a top-tier coupon app can offer seasonal promos, partner with local businesses, or offer engaging enticements to keep customers interested.

The post Steps in the App Development Process appeared first on Agicent.

Crafting a winning app isn’t just about innovative ideas – it’s about perfecting your development process. With technology continuously upping its game, developers need to stay ahead and keep creativity and productivity at their core.

In this piece, we’re breaking down six crucial steps to ramp up your app development journey. These tips, suitable for novice or pro developers, will add sparkle to your projects, delivering functionality and novelty in each line of code.

1. Define Clear Objectives and User Needs

Imagine hopping into a boat without a compass – directionless and drifting! Before hitting the coding keyboard, pick your destination. Define what your app should achieve, who it’s for, and the problem it will solve.

Make sure to dive deep into market research and user interviews. By understanding your future users’ obstacles and wishes, you’ll gain a user-oriented perspective.

This insight will let you plot a development path in line with user needs and commercial targets.

2. Construct Your Blueprint: Wireframe and Prototype

An app without a wireframe lacks a solid foundation. Wireframes are your app’s skeleton, offering a visual guide to its layout and function.

Use utilities like Sketch or Adobe XD to sketch wireframes that depict your app’s interface and user path. Then, create a prototype to test features and collect feedback. This “test run” lets you fine-tune things prior to the grand launch.

3. Select Your Technology Stack

Picking a technology stack is like selecting the perfect ingredients for a cake – choose wrong, and the result may be unpalatable.

Reflect on aspects like scalability, performance, and developer know-how. Whether you go for Java for Android or Swift for iOS, your stack should prop up your app’s features and goals.

Striking a balance between fresh technology and stability ensures your app stays fresh and smooth-running.

4. Plan Your Billing Strategy

Billing strategies in app development should be clear and efficiently managed. Consider using detailed paystubs to keep everyone informed. Explore efficient billing processes by drawing insights from FormPros, where paystub creation streamlines payment details. 

This approach not only helps maintain transparency between developers and clients but also ensures precise financial tracking tailored to each project’s unique needs.

5. Repeat Testing and Maintain Feedback Channels

Just as you wouldn’t sell a car without brake checks, you shouldn’t release an app without testing. Establish a looping testing routine, involving not just developers but also users.

Use resources like TestFlight or Firebase for beta testing, where real users experiment with your app, exposing hidden flaws and areas for improvement.

Keep feedback channels open to guarantee you’re not just hearing, but truly understanding user feedback, consistently enhancing the app’s functionality and user experience.

6. Unveil and Sustain Post-Launch Strategies

Bravo, your app is ready to step into the spotlight! But remember, the launch is merely the starting line. Craft a strong marketing strategy to stand out in the bustling app marketplace. Engage your community and encourage user-generated content.

Keep tabs on app performance through analytics tools, monitor user activity, and adjust your marketing efforts accordingly. Regular updates and new features will keep your app contemporary and your users intrigued.

Conclusion

To sum up, creating a successful app relies on selecting the right technology stack, repeated testing, and savvy launch tactics.

By ensuring scalability and future-proofing your app, tapping into user feedback, and rolling out effective marketing strategies, you can secure lasting user engagement and app enhancement.

Remember, the journey doesn’t end at launch; ongoing evaluation and tweaking are pivotal to thriving in the cut-throat landscape. With grit and creativity, your app can attract and sustain users’ attention.

The post Key Steps to Improve Your App Development appeared first on Agicent.

The first thing for a business is obviously the idea. After an innovative idea, what comes next is how to raise funds for an app? You can find hundreds of ways segregated from different sources that can help you figure this out. But what makes it more important is the quality and weightage of each point mentioned under the topic. You have to be very wise in terms of investment and choosing an investor for raising funds because it can lead to tremendous downfall.

Investments and funds are like a wheel of fortune, it can go in any direction- immense success or failure. To play with this many things need to be kept in mind like the apps you’ll be developing, how prepared are you? How much will it take? How many people are working with you? What makes you different from the competitors? etc.

As a process is to be followed in order to raise funds for an app, we have tried to collect significant aspects in this post that are to be understood before reaching to the final answer of How to raise funds for an app?

Lets now discuss the points that can be helpful and important for raising funds for in the app business and startups. It goes as –

1. Why and who gets funded?

To start with, lets have a brief idea about who gets funded. Every business have a set of their own desired requirements and motives. Some have a small team, idea and plan while others have a huge planning, great idea and a large team. So, raising funds for an app is directly proportional to the scale of business that you fall into.

You will be preferred if you prove that your idea will make a difference in any particular domain that you are stepping into. The investors also look for people who they find more capable and oriented with a great goal plan.

So, if you want to raise funds, it is necessary to establish yourself in the market place as the one who can stand apart without being lost amongst the competitors. After this only you work on How to raise funds for an app?

2. Elevator’s pitch is your image, make it the best.

The only way to reach your investor and to convey your ideas to them is through your pitch. Make it the best presentation of yours. It should leave an impact on the investor’s mind- keep it precise, impressive and easy to understand. Be clear about your points and hone your ideas and knowledge about the topic.

3.Determine the Market Place for your app.

When stepping into the business, analyse what place will be the best for your app. You should understand it well with respect to the competitors present in the market. This can be done well with the help of the Blue Ocean Strategy. It helps to understand the market scenario which can be worked over in order to get your place. It will also help you to attain a better uncontested market place in the near  future.So, basically before jumping directly to raising funds for your app, first have an in-dept look at the market. This further simplifies the question of How to raise funds for an app.

4.Some efforts- worth the pain.

If you want to reach out to investors with your app, show that you have made efforts to earn their interest. This can be done by including a actual domain name and some interactive materials like a logo design. This will have a mark of your sincerity and dedication on the investor and can be helpful for raising more funds for your app. To gain the confidence of anyone, you should hone all that you portray. For this, make some efforts and be clear with all that you present.

5.Know all that you can about the Fund Raising process.

In order to explain your requirements and to have an interactive conversation, you yourself should be well versed of the topic. So when you are already hunting for answer to How to raise funds for an app, you should first gather information  as much as you can from the real-time experienced people and from other available sources. Obviously it takes time to master an art, but you should atleast be clear of the basics which includes the fund raising process, the different stages before raising funds for your app, rounds that you have to go through, etc.

6.Seed stages in financing.

What are seed stages? Why are they important? These are the questions that pop up the mind of any individual naive to the business domain. But, let me specify, to raise funds, a person should have an idea about finance and investments so that it can be helpful in the longer run of business. To understand it further, you can read about seed financing where you can learn about different stages in the process.

To state in brief, there are various seed stages like The seed round, Angel, Series 1,Series 2, and so on. These stages basically implies the  different levels of the fund raising process of an app that one has to go through before getting to the desired point.

7. Hunting the right investors.

When it comes to raising funds for an app, it also matters to choose the right investor who can be targeted. As investors also have there set of preferences, they too keep on looking for the right choice for their betterment. So, think before you approach some to raise funds for an app.

8.Be prepared with the best and attractive app demo.

The demo of your app will play a great role because it is something released before the actual app. Since you are still in the early phase of this venture, you can also present your pitch with an app demo. It will surely have a different and more efficient impact on the investors. Through this, you can incline their interest to your idea and may be it can work well for you. It is worth a try.

9.Learn and learn more.

You should be very clear with all the concepts related to your app idea. It will help you in raising more funds for your app if the person finds out that you are quite dedicated towards your work plan. It will surely be in your favor. And it will also be helpful for your business if you know more of details about how to raise funds for an app and other topics including in raising funds.

10.Don’t fear “NO”.

Yes in this process you will hear NO quite a many times may be, but you should just keep on moving on with other ways. Some of it will work for sure. No one gets success on the first step. Just keep working patiently.

Conclude Note

These were the points that are to be considered while you are planning any app launch. Although they can just help you with raising capitals, the main role play here is your app idea which is the key to spread your app to the app stores. At times, people bootstrap and raise some  funds themselves for their app which can help you to gain the confidence of investors so that they can raise more funds for your app.

Hopefully we made the question “How to raise funds for an app?” clear to a greater extent and the next time you get stuck you can surely get some help here. 

If you think any other point should be included in this post, your suggestions are always appreciated. Please right us back at sales@agicent.com or mention your views in the comment section below. Your voice will surely be heard.

For more such posts stay tuned with our blog and keep reading!

The post How to raise funds for an app business startup? appeared first on Agicent.

App development process is a simple to understand step by step software programming process that starts from idea generation and goes to the app launch and then the cycle repeats if you need more enhancements, though it gets tricky at times when more than one components are involved like backend, admin panel, multiple platforms and then it needs more formal professional approach.  An App idea, when goes into production moves through various steps of feasibility, refinement, fine tuning, R&D and what not before it comes to life as a quality app.

The success of your app depends upon how good your app is in terms of performance, user convenience, security, reliability, and other user-centric factors, and these factors don’t come on their own. The teams involved in the design & App development process should first of all have a great “clarity” on what is to be done and then a professional approach in breaking down that “what is to be done’ into meaningful chunks of user-stories, and then putting those user stories into development, starting with raw mockups to polished design, and then real app that works great.

In case of startups having new ideas, we recommend taking a Rapid MVP approach first, so that you can quickly (and in low cost) develop the core and most compelling functionality of your app and launch it for the end users, and do an aggressive marketing and generate early response as well as feedback, you can always add more side-features later on. The development time is fast, the cost is less, so as the risk and scope of enhancing with real experience is more.

In case of existing apps that need enhancements or introduction of more features, we recommend dividing the new features into smaller chunks (that we can user as job cards) and implementing those in weekly sprints, and going live every weekend or fortnight. This way the work keeps ongoing, and at the same time app is being updated for end users frequently, without waiting for months. You keep them engagement, and that is most important. Giants like Facebook, Google, or dropbox follow this approach and we offer the same facility to our clients.

Now, for the uninitiated, following is the Mobile App Development Process, well defined:-

1. First Contact:-

You contact us via web, phone, personal email or social media and share just a brief about your idea. We then interview you and get information about the features you need in your app, your business strategy, your marketing plans and  overall expectations of services from us. While we gather the requirements, we also welcome you to ask us as many questions as you want (Please read- Questions to ask before hiring an app development agency). We suggest you the betterment where it is needed, propose you with a commercial quote, and development approach, and then we sign the contract. The project is divided into several milestones (on an average 4), and each milestone is connected with a progressive build and corresponding payment percentage.

It is recommended to read “how to write app specs” post of ours, and learn writing great app specs yourself. You can also use our app development cost calculator to answer some simple questions and know the overall cost range of your app idea.

2. Wireframes:-

The next stage in our mobile application development process is designing wireframes of your app, wireframes are the blueprint of the how the actual app would work. With the help of wireframes, we explain how the end product will function, we jointly discuss and do iterations on the wireframes and once all looks fine, we move on to the next step of the mobile App development process.

3. Database, Design & Architecture, Polished designs

Once mockups are finalized,  it is time to put the seasoned brains at work. We design the overall architecture of the system, consider various current and future factors, security considerations, scalability, and business vision and at the same time our designers work on creating polished UI & UX, and share with you running PoC for your review and feedback. We understand the fact that nor all audience have same taste neither all apps are same, so we consider design and subjective and pick a design approach strictly on the basis of target audience, product type, and latest trends. This blend has always worked good so far.

4. Coding, Implementation, and Unit Testing:-

And when all things planned, it is time to get your hands into it, and do the coding! Our passionate App developers use latest technologies and tools to start converting these designs into real app. While writing the code, our developers ensure that the code is highly cohesive and loosely couple which makes the app faster and more responsive. Data and user identity security is our utmost priority; we follow mobile app security best practices to build secure apps right from the client side to the server side. To keep you updated on the progress of the project, we facilitate weekly Skype sessions with developers and also share a fully functional build of your app after unit, functional, and UAT testing.

The work happens in weekly or bi-weekly sprints, and you get an interim release of the app for your own review and testing at every sprint and gets an OK-tested label only after all parties are satisfied.

5. Final Testing and Store Launch:-

After development, and ongoing testing, we put the App for final User Acceptance Testing and also stress testing and go live only when all things work absolutely fine. We work with you in writing compelling marketing copies, and also assist you in on page App Store optimization and then also make the apps live on your behalf, using your iTunes developer or Google play developer accounts only.

6. Post Launch Support & Warranty:-

Our job isn’t over yet, We stay beside you and help you out if the app faces any issues or bugs. Yup! You got it right, customer satisfaction is our main business policy and doing repeat business is what we always strive for. For any project, small or big, we offer a minimum of “free 3 months bug-fixing” warranty program. We fix any problem or issue found during this time for absolutely no Fee, meaning FREE. And even when warranty time is over, we’ve highly cost effective yearly maintenance packages that you can always opt in and keep focusing on increasing the business, while we take care of all things tech.

Nothing ends even now, therefore we also offer initial and regular boost to your app promotion by sharing it on our decently followed social media profiles and personal network circles. In some cases, we can even help you to develop your app marketing strategy to promote it and even get it reviewed on app review websites.

We have fine tuned this simple looking process as most-productive one over years, and still do so everyday because there is never a day when you don’t learn anything new, so what is better than improving for good? No matter how early-stage or mature your app idea is, you can share that with us not only for a quote always but also for discussion. An idea grows when shared, so drop us a note at sales@agicent.com, and get the ball, well, bouncing for heights!

The post App Development Process of Agicent App Company appeared first on Agicent.

Starting from simple hygiene questions to critical ones and sometimes even the regular ones, we have many such questions being asked and answered every day.

So we thought to consolidate and compile some of the most important questions (asked by real people) and their answers in this post, hoping it helps anyone looking for app development services or Mobile App Development Companies. Here we go:-

Q. I’ve a mobile app idea, how do I get it developed?

Great, so you now have to share your idea with mobile app development companies and for that you may describe the mobile app as a third-person as much as you can, so that we gauge the scope of the work and give the client an estimation (commercial quote + timelines). If you have wireframes or mockups then it shall be more helpful, else we can develop those for you if you give inputs.

Q. What if you steal my mobile app idea, how do I ensure confidentiality?

We won’t, we can’t do this since we’re a pure play service provider company and wouldn’t want to compete with our potential customers, ever! Also, if we just sign an NDA (non disclosure agreement) you shall be safe in writing as well.

Q. How to obtain an accurate quote? Can I give you hand sketched screen flows I created, kind of click the sketches and share with you? What is the easiest way?

Yes, absolutely. Would be more kind of you if you also care to describe some things via text. The more you try to make me understand your project idea, more shall I be able to offer you best advice and quote.

So the best input is “wireframes or screen drawings + description and a Q&A session”, second best is “Description and Q&A session” and least is “either description or Q&A”, and below least is sharing a “reference app” (I call it below least because you can only see the front end of a reference app and not the backend and therefore any cost idea is based on assumptions that can swing your estimation by more than 50 % at times).

And, If you are technical, then you know what we need.

Q. Native or hybrid (cross platform using xamarin, or phonegap, or ionic etc)

Long story short: Go for hybrid only if

• there is a lot of business logic on the front-end
• if your app is already existing and has good user market (and no risk of first launch)
• if you have more easy access to cross platform developers than native ones

Else go for Native, always, since those apps are best performing, take most advantage of the OS and if you don’t have much logic on front end (which is usually the case) you’d not be paying more for native w.r.t cross platform. Contact me directly if you need more information on this.

Q. You showed me some portfolio Apps, how do I know you only create these? One can bluff also…

Your concern is valid, so we shall let you speak with the mobile app owners who can verify we’ve created these; also if we create these we are able to show you that project in our company’s development console (in a screen-sharing session); on an android studio for Android app or on Xcode an iPhone app.

Q. Well, how much does it cost to develop an App? An idea is fine…

It will be asked always, so the summary is an app development costs between $ 3 K to 15 K mostly (from a simple App to a good functional App and then more price to cover more platforms). For a more detailed idea on cost, read this earlier post of mine app development costs. And for an exact idea, refer point 3 and contact me.

Q. How shall I be able to see the progress of my app development?

Our mobile app development company shall give you complete work visibility by using a handy tool Trello where you can see what job cards are being worked upon, which ones are delivered and signed off, and which ones are in testing (and yes, we shall break the project into several job cards and move them from “parking” to “doing” to “done” to “sign off” and you’ll get to know what’s going on).

And then, we shall provide you a weekly interim release (Ie. an app in progress) every Friday with release notes, you’d be able to run it on your device, figure any bugs and report or just share your feedback and on Monday I fix anything you report and proceed with developing remainder of the cards.

Q. How shall you ensure your company’s app development quality?

That we do objectively like this

• we define “quality” by jointly creating an “acceptance and performance criteria” before jumping into development (basically parameters on which the app should pass before it is called accepted)
• The developers do the unit testing on every functionality they make and then adhere to the acceptance criteria and an internal QA validates the same before we release any interim build
• you do the user acceptance testing (UAT) along with our QA and jointly add any issues figured in “Jira” or may be in simple Excel, that is assigned to development team and they fix until all is fixed and then release

Q. Is there any warranty your company can provide?

Yes, if we leave any bugs we shall fix them for no fee even after 3 months of delivering.

Q. Do I need support and maintenance services? And what does this mean?

You don’t need specific support services at least for initial few months of launch (since you already have a warranty to fix bugs) unless you need more than just bug fixing, and that can be (but not limited to):

• Regular time sensitive troubleshooting
• New Feature upgrade
• Upgrading to make it compatible with new OS version, and to also leverage new features of OS for the app
• Language support or localization

And you better get a separate quote for support and maintenance (minus warranty time) by first agreeing on the scope of work. However, if your app gains traction the chances will be you’d be needing more feature development again and in that case, there won’t be much need for a separate support & maintenance unless it is really a big need.

Q. How do I pay your mobile app development company?

You pay us in milestones, which are usually 4 or 5 or as we mutually define. Starting from the kick off earnest money to first UI release to a dynamic app (functioning) to an “App + Admin” to store upload. 20 % each in case of 5 milestones.

Q. Do I own the source code?

Yes, you do. We’d sign with you this Mobile app development agreement which ensures you shall get all the source code.

Q. Is paying hourly good or fixed price?

Fixed-price is the right method if you can define your requirements beforehand (even in the most easiest way we’ve described above) and then you can always put forth “change orders” to be priced separately during the development.

Go for an hourly payment (or weekly fee) only if you need a mobile programmer or a dedicated app development team for regular evolving product development.

Go for hybrid if one part of the project is defined (for example the App) and needs not so regular development, while other part needs to be continuously upgraded (like the server part) to take best of both worlds.

Other relevant article:

• Agicent in news – Huffpost covers Pregmo App and Agicent
• Catering Mobile Users To The Fullest Is A Must For Startups In 2018
• Hiring App Development Companies? Read this FAQs for dummies

The post Hiring App Development Companies? Read this FAQs for dummies appeared first on Agicent.