As of now, consumers can choose among 2.2 million apps on the Apple App Store and access a pool of 3.48 million apps on Android’s Google Play, the world’s largest app store. And these numbers just keep on increasing. In fact, the average consumer spends about 90% of their time spent on a mobile device, on apps. So, it’s not surprising to learn that the global mobile app economy is estimated to hit a whopping $6.3 trillion by the end of 2021. However, these favorable projections alone do not guarantee a successful mobile app development and launch. On the contrary, with almost no barriers to entry, the highly saturated and starkly competitive mobile app market calls for a plethora of obstacles and challenges along the way. No matter how genius an idea, your app can either become wildly successful or tank completely, depending on the effectiveness and efficiency of your app development and launch process.
The app development lifecycle encompasses few key phases which should be seen through from beginning to end, regardless of the size or scope of the app.
Defining the Strategy and Conducting Market Research – The main goals of this phase include identifying your target audience, researching your competition, clearly defining the goals of your app, and choosing an appropriate mobile platform for it. The creative effort put into the building of the app that satisfies a specific consumer need should be well-researched and well-designed. The app is worth little if it cannot seamlessly function to satisfactorily fulfill that specific need.
Primary and secondary market research will give you tons of additional insight into not only the needs, wants, and frustrations of your target audience, but also into the successes of your competitors, their shortcomings, and what you can do to make your app stand out.
Analysis & Planning – This is perhaps the most important phase of the development process. If every step along the way is not accounted for and every execution stage is not planned in detail during this initial phase, your app will not be ready for the market. In addition, you will need to objectively map out your app’s intended goals, its features and functions that will guarantee customer engagement.
This is also where you identify the skills needed for developing your app. Do you plan to build an app for iOS? Android? Both? Gather a team of developers that have the necessary skillset for the specific technology stack that will be used in the app development process.
Then put your app to the test by registering your domain and creating a landing page.
UI/UX Design – Next up, we have design. A good mobile app design will combine visual and graphical elements to create a seamless user experience. Designers can begin the app design process by creating wireframes, which is a kind of digital sketch. It allows for designing app layouts for specific devices. A style guide can help you stay consistent with an app’s planned design standards which can then be applied to your app wireframes in order to produce a mockup. Mockups are really useful for effectively displaying your app’s functionality. These can then be turned into prototypes that test the app’s design and simulate the user experience. An interactive high-fidelity prototype will serve as a great evaluation tool and help identify any usability issues.
App Development – Once tech prototyping has been dealt with in the design phase, you can move on to the coding part of the development process. This includes setting up the back end/server technology, APIs (Application Programming Interface), and the front-end of the mobile app. The designer will create skins for your mobile app, which is essentially representative of your app’s user interface.
Testing – Successful QA (Quality Assurance) testing is one that is performed rigorously and religiously in order to ensure a stable and secure mobile app. Various testing methods, like UX testing, functional testing (to ensure app features work as intended), performance testing (to ensure desired app design performance and easy navigation), security testing, and device and platform testing (to ensure apt app performance on target devices like Android and iOS smartphones) should be utilized to deliver a high-quality mobile app. Recall the list of goals you had created during the initial phases, and check to see if user expectations and data requirements are fully met. Once you have tested and retested and are happy with the appearance and functionality of your app interface, you can begin preparing for launch.
But so far, your work has only just begun. If you truly wish to justify the money and resources that have been put into the app development process, your app needs to stand out in the app market, gain a competitive edge, and maintain high user engagement in the long run. This can be realized with a full-proof launch strategy in place.
Start by claiming your social media
accounts pre-launch. Focus on listing out marketing campaigns and creating
content that explains the workings of your app. A good strategy is to shoot a
promotional video or demo that clearly explains your app’s purpose and shows
how it works in action. Do not forget to work on SEO (Social Media
Optimization) and A
SO (App Store Optimization) to enhance your app’s
discoverability. Make sure you have a website or some sort of landing page in
place. This will be key for promoting the app. Once the app has been
sufficiently reviewed and the app store’s submission guidelines met, it is
ready for launch.
Since retaining users is critical for long-term success, it is necessary to define certain metrics and establish a feedback loop post-launch. You can measure success in terms of downloads, ratings, revenue, etc. Using analytics tools to study these metrics will paint a clearer picture of the app’s effects on your target audience. You will also want to build a feedback loop that encourages users to post reviews which you can then use to identify bugs and update your app in order to add value to the user experience.
Best Mobile App Development Company in Kuwait
From ideation to launch, Design Master, one of the best mobile app development companies in Kuwait, will help you realize your visions by employing an experienced team of mobile app developers that utilize tried-and-tested development and launch strategies. Our years of expertise in Android application development and iOS application development alike, is testimony to our success. We strive to use this knowledge to continue on this path and cater to your target users’ needs that gives your app a long-lasting positive impression.
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