How to choose an app development company: the steps and secrets
In our era, many different businesses and entities can earn quite a bit through a dedicated application. Whether it is an online store, a restaurant reservation system or a study portal - an application will allow customers and the target audience to access the services easily with just one click on the mobile phone. If you are also interested in this option, the most important thing is to choose the right development company that will give you the best result. Here you will find all the information that will help, including the iron steps for choosing software, the importance of a comprehensive and professional characterization alongside coordinating expectations and of course important information about the development process itself.
Iron steps in choosing a software house
First you need to understand that app development is much more than creating a basic user interface. Beyond the design itself, there is an important emphasis on the engine behind the application, the software you use, the user experience and your ability to make changes when necessary. is the important iron steps when choosing the business that will open for you the application you need.
Do extensive research on the company
Before you choose a company, it is important to do extensive research on the companies that offer this service. It is important to understand since when they existed, what processes they went through along the way (for example if they changed owners), if there were unusual events during the years of their existence and so on. Press clippings that can be found online will certainly be a good start, and beyond visiting the website it is worth looking for information through external sources as well. The more background you have on the companies that interest you, the easier it will be for you to make an informed and correct decision.
Get recommendations from colleagues
If you maintain friendly competitiveness with your competitors for business, it seems that you know quite a few business owners in your field and in tangential fields, many of them are already using the application for various purposes today. It is definitely worth getting information and tips from colleagues, which can definitely testify well about the product and service you are going to receive. If you don't have too many colleagues you know who have an app, it's definitely worth trying and reading recommendations online as well. On the website of each company you will often see good recommendations and endorsements, this does not mean that they are not real, but you will not get all the information. That's why you should also search external websites where you will find more objective reports.
Check the company's experience
In the end, the X factor of any software house for building applications is the experience in the field. It is very important to go to the customer pages and portfolio on the website and see their experience. It is important to see examples from years ago, to be impressed by a wide variety of different applications and projects and to put special emphasis on aspects of branding in the application. If you want to understand more or less what it should look like, these are our projects and it's definitely worth taking a look at them to get the picture.
user experience (UX)
In the end, it doesn't matter if you designed a beautiful application and quality branding, if the user experience is not comfortable and intuitive it will be very difficult to get customers to use your application. The secret of the success of any application is not its design or even its branding, the secret is a good user experience. When we come to an application that we understand easily, that every button in it is intuitive and that every click moves us naturally and easily to the next level, we will probably continue to use it. When you receive proposals from different companies, make sure that the process includes your early walkthrough of the application and the possibility to deeply understand the expected user experience.
Defining the needs and goals of your application
Please note that the most basic and essential part of the process of building an application is the full preliminary characterization, which ensures that the application is truly a natural extension of your business or organization, addresses the right target audience and reflects the business model. Let's go deeper about these things.
Sharing the business model
A software company should be able to produce for you an application that really meets your needs, it must do it through your eyes, just as if it were working within the company. Therefore, an important part of the process is sharing the business model of the company or organization - sharing the goals, risks, methods of operation, target audiences and any other important information that explains to the employees of the software house exactly what this body is and why it needs an app. If you have found a business you trust, it is very important to give credit, share as much important and relevant information as possible and actually help the experts help you.
matching expectations
It should be understood that in the end, application development software houses offer a certain product to their customers that has clear limits. What is the length of the development process, what exactly does the final product include, how many joint meetings are included in the process and so on. Agencies that do not share the information transparently on the one hand, and on the other hand clients who do not know how to ask the important questions, often lead to heartache. Therefore, when you choose the business that will build you an app, it is very important to make sure that we fully coordinate expectations between you. If you feel that you are not getting answers to important questions and in general that something is not really clear to you regarding the process or the final product you are supposed to receive, do not hesitate to raise it and it is important to enter the process with full transparency from both parties.
the course of development
Application development is essentially a process similar to any information systems development . That is, a telephone interface must be created which is usually based on an Internet connection (therefore a server and storage are also needed, sometimes also on the website) and the entire emphasis is on going through all the steps in cooperation with the client. After an accurate characterization and a choice among various sketches and suggestions for design, the stage of designing the application itself begins. Prepare each page separately, precisely define each button and each action and apply external links, payment methods and so on. All this is done in a long and patient ping pong game with the customer on what to achieve the exact result that meets the requirements as much as possible. The client receives beta versions of the application, comments, shares insights, raises questions until the final product is reached. Depending on the complexity of the project, the process may take from several weeks to several months.
costs
It is very difficult to talk about an exact price because the range is wide. Experienced and larger companies may charge more and in general the cost is directly related to the nature and complexity of the project. Therefore, it is recommended to collect at least five different price quotes and thus get an accurate picture of the average cost.
In conclusion
Your app is an important asset of the business, and if it is built properly, it can be an excellent source of income and, in general, upgrade the level of your brand. It is very important to get to know the different steps in the process, to understand what to look for when choosing an agency that will build an app for you, and above all it is important to make sure to coordinate expectations. Want to know more? Here on the blog you can find a lot more important information on the subject. And if you also need an application for any purpose, contact the experts of the WeDev company who will be happy to bring their experience, service and professionalism and fit you an application like a glove.