This one is easy to answer. You outsource it. I've recently been involved with a company called AppDragon who provide complete end to end solutions for brands wishing to create mobile apps for Smartphones.
It's by far the easiest way because, even if you do have someone in house who has a penchant for coding, there's far more involved if you want you app to be a success. Here's a pyramid diagram I've created that outlines the different stages of a successful app. Yes, it's upside down and that's to reflect the fact that the key elements are the upfront creative and design aspects. Get these right and the rest if a sausage factory...
Here's my pyramid.
The first layer is essential and you need a partner that is willing and able to listen to your aspirations, goals, ideals, needs, problems and issues and how your business currently operates and then build on your own ideas with creativity of their own.
Only if you get this stage right will your app be a success. I've seen apps developed for the sake of getting an app on an appstore and not only have they not delivered any value to end users and hence the brand owner, but they have even been detrimental (e.g. in one case took substituted lucrative revenues with a free of charge app). Care is required at this stage and a pedantic but innovative designer is the best to have if you can find one.
Design & create needs prototyping to be at its core. The client needs to be able to see how his or her ideas will look on paper, on the screen and essentially on a mobile phone. Workflows and use cases are also key, what happens if the user does X or Y. Does that mean he can't do Z or maybe it allows him to to A which we hadn't previously thought of... Iteration, iteration, iteration is the name of the game here until the concept is right.
Plan & build - the mechanical bit. Offshore it. It'll be cheaper and if, like my clients, your supplier provides UK based account and programme management as your primary contact, who cares which country the programmers are working in?
Testing - make sure your supply partner uses independent testers. Coders are notoriously proud of their own code (I know I was when I used to code) and often can't see or overlook minor bugs and issues. Get someone who doesn't know the structure of the code to pull it apart, stress test it, try and make it fail. There's nothing worse than a bug filled application to turn users off and ruin your brand reputation.
Now your app is ready to hit the big wide world and the app stores and download sites. Next time I'll blog about this part of the process and how to maximise use of your app and, if you're one of the 45% of app developers wanting to make money from an app, I'll show you how to start monetizing your app.
It's by far the easiest way because, even if you do have someone in house who has a penchant for coding, there's far more involved if you want you app to be a success. Here's a pyramid diagram I've created that outlines the different stages of a successful app. Yes, it's upside down and that's to reflect the fact that the key elements are the upfront creative and design aspects. Get these right and the rest if a sausage factory...
Here's my pyramid.
The first layer is essential and you need a partner that is willing and able to listen to your aspirations, goals, ideals, needs, problems and issues and how your business currently operates and then build on your own ideas with creativity of their own.
Only if you get this stage right will your app be a success. I've seen apps developed for the sake of getting an app on an appstore and not only have they not delivered any value to end users and hence the brand owner, but they have even been detrimental (e.g. in one case took substituted lucrative revenues with a free of charge app). Care is required at this stage and a pedantic but innovative designer is the best to have if you can find one.
Design & create needs prototyping to be at its core. The client needs to be able to see how his or her ideas will look on paper, on the screen and essentially on a mobile phone. Workflows and use cases are also key, what happens if the user does X or Y. Does that mean he can't do Z or maybe it allows him to to A which we hadn't previously thought of... Iteration, iteration, iteration is the name of the game here until the concept is right.
Plan & build - the mechanical bit. Offshore it. It'll be cheaper and if, like my clients, your supplier provides UK based account and programme management as your primary contact, who cares which country the programmers are working in?
Testing - make sure your supply partner uses independent testers. Coders are notoriously proud of their own code (I know I was when I used to code) and often can't see or overlook minor bugs and issues. Get someone who doesn't know the structure of the code to pull it apart, stress test it, try and make it fail. There's nothing worse than a bug filled application to turn users off and ruin your brand reputation.
Now your app is ready to hit the big wide world and the app stores and download sites. Next time I'll blog about this part of the process and how to maximise use of your app and, if you're one of the 45% of app developers wanting to make money from an app, I'll show you how to start monetizing your app.
Comments