Have you got a creative idea from which you can make a mobile app? An idea which others haven’t got, and about which you’re certain of the success? If you think you don’t know how to begin developing an app, do not worry! We will guide you through these important steps for making your app.
Set your Goal
Every project begins with an amazing idea. Before you go further, you need to clearly define the mission and purpose of the mobile app, and what it would do. You need to know about its most important appeal and what kind of a problem it would solve, thereby making life better.
Sketch
By designing sketches, you would be building a foundation for the user interface of the imminent app. Here, you need to conceptualize your app features visually, and the probable structure and layout of the app.
Research
You need to research if there are other apps for the same thing. Get an inspirational design got your app. Research on the technical requisites of the app. Research on how you can monetize and market the app.
Develop a Wire Frame as Well as a Storyboard
In this step, you will club your ideas and app features into a distinct picture. Wire frame is basically developing a prototype of the app. When you are developing wire frame, you should also develop a story board for the app. You need to develop a road-map which will help you realize the link between every screen and how the app user could navigate. Have a look at design case study of skoop.
[irp]Back End of The Mobile App should be Defined
The wire frames as well as the story board will now act as the foundation for the app’s back end structure. Make a sketch of the servers, APIs as well as data diagrams. These will be helpful as a reference for the app developer, and since many people will get into the project, you will now have a diagram that is self-explanatory for others to study.
Run a Test on The Prototype
Ask your family and friends to help you in reviewing the prototype. Give them access to your wire frame and make them run a test on your app. Once you receive honest feedback from them, you can recognize the flaws. The main aim is to make the app concept firm before you start with design process.
Develop The app’s back End
Since your app is defined properly, you need to start with developing the back end. The developer must setup the app servers, databases storage solutions and APIs. One more essential thing is to sign in for a developer account in the app market. It would take some time to get the account approved and hence, do not wait till the end.
[irp]App Skins Design
The individual screens of the app are what the skins are. The designer must now make high resolution of the previous wire frame version. Here, it is important to make necessary changes from the feedback received through prototypes.
Run a Test Again
Once the app skins are designed, you need to test them again. It will be the first time your app concept would be on place and hence, testing is necessary.
Make Changes and Resume Building
Once the design is tested, gather more reviews and polish the app with those feedbacks. You could still ask the developer to change the back end of layouts. You can now resume building your app.
[irp]Refine and Polish
Once you resume with the app, you might need to have frequent looks at the app. For instance, it is easy to have the app file installed on the android device to test the functionality, whereas it is different in iOS. There, you might need a platform such as TestFlight to download the app and test it. You need to refine each detail of the app for the best of the results. You must think like a normal user who has just downloaded the app and using it. When it is done, you will realize some changes you’d want to make. Checking the User interface and User experience is highly important.
Time To Release
Each app market has got various policies when a new app has to be published. Android, for instance, wouldn’t review freshly submitted apps instantly. They would come across it sometime and check. However, your app would be instantly included on Google Play.
[irp]iOS is different. Apple reserves all rights to review as well as approve the new app before it can be sent live. There isn’t actually a proper time frame for this but a week is probable. And after you’ve gone through all these steps, your app will be ready to use by all. For best of the apps, there are many UI and UX design agencies out there ready to help you!