What’s Involved In Maintaining A Mobile App?

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Input cost is always a primary consideration when embarking on the app development journey. That makes sense when a simple mobile app costs about $37,500 while a complex app is north of $500,000. Undoubtedly, designing and developing an app is a substantial investment that company leaders need to comprehend. But they also need to understand the importance of maintaining their applications after releasing them.

User expectations have risen considerably, and they seldom put up with buggy, obtrusive, and unengaging apps. That’s why it’s vital to listen to user feedback and roll out the necessary bug fixes and content updates. However, this is an ongoing process that increases the likelihood of — keeping users hooked — when done correctly. Below, we’ll take a deeper look at what’s involved in maintaining a mobile app.

1. App Development Is Ongoing

 

Pushing an application out the door is only part of the app development process. And the reason for this is that an app is never truly finished if it’s going to enjoy long-term success. There’s no shortage of applications in the App Store and Google Play, which means that users have an almost endless amount of options. Therefore, they’ll quickly delete lackluster apps to make space for those that seem more promising.

Many users have no qualms about removing applications that have intrusive in-app purchases, poor UX, security vulnerabilities, technical issues, unnecessary features, and when they lack content or violate user privacy. However, you can avoid or reduce the frequency of these issues by regularly rolling out updates for your apps.

2. Hidden Mobile App Costs

 

Developing applications comes with its fair share of hidden mobile app costs. Back-end hosting, gathering user feedback, keeping up with OS updates, maintaining a developer account, supporting new devices, and providing maintenance and support, all cost time and money. Since an app requires regular updates during its life cycle, the costs of maintaining and supporting it may exceed its initial development costs.

3. Listening To User Feedback And Requests

 

The apps that succeed are those made by developers that take user feedback seriously. That’s why you should always be listening to user feedback and responding to their requests timeously. Look out for reviews left by experts and regular users in the app stores, and always make sure to respond with the necessary bug fixes, updates, or replies.

Their feedback will also help shape your app since you’ll gradually implement features and improvements that users want. Furthermore, by understanding user behavior you won’t waste resources on unnecessary content and features.

4. Pushing New Content

 

It’s vital to keep users engaged so that they don’t lose interest in your app. A good way to achieve this is by pushing new content at regular intervals. And one of the most efficient ways to notify your users about these changes is with push notifications. But there’s a push notification cost that you’ll need to consider. While several analytics platforms and vendors offer a free tier to help you get started, eventually, you’ll need to invest in a paid service to increase your reach.

The Bottom Line

 

Maintaining a mobile app is an essential part of the app development process. And doing it right means that you’re ascertaining all the hidden mobile app costs and listening to user feedback. Furthermore, you’re taking advantage of push notifications and applying the right strategies to keep your push notification cost as low as possible. Contact us today to learn how NS804 can help you develop and maintain engaging mobile apps.

The Ultimate Guide To Managing Remote Teams

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The Ultimate Guide To Managing Remote Teams During and Post COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 is far from over. In fact, we don’t yet know how far into the future the effects of COVID-19 will be seen. Some would say forever. Whether or not this proves true, one thing is certain: the shift to a remote workforce and the digital age is in a period of rapid acceleration. Therefore, businesses and organizations all across the globe have been making the shift to a remote workforce. With that shift, however, there are new workflows. New communication tools. And other new tactics that your company needs for managing remote teams.

First and foremost, with a remote workforce there are certain perks your company can use to their advantage. For instance, when managing a remote team, your company can utilize a much more flexible schedule. With employees at home, there isn’t as much pressure or urgency to get things done in a certain timeframe; and therefore tasks can be accomplished throughout the entire span of the day, and even into the night, without staff feeling overwhelmed.

A Decrease In Time-Wasters Improves Efficiency

Additionally, a decrease in “time-wasting” activities that only affected in-person staff improves efficiency. One such example is the commute to-and-from-work. Without a daily commute, employees are able to spend more time with their families and in their own home. This, therefore, leads to a stronger sense of work-life-balance, and a happier employee overall.

On average, remote employees are happier and have a better sense of work-life-balance, which usually leads to stronger performances at work. The mood of a staff-member directly affects their productivity, meaning that in the case of managing a remote team, your staff, on average, could have a significantly higher rate of productivity.

Understanding Expectations When Managing Remote Teams

When hiring or transitioning to a remote workforce, one of the core principles is to establish expectations. This is the same as it would be with in-person workers. However, it’s important to have a clear understanding of expectations from the very beginning when managing remote teams. While communication is important in every relationship context, it is specifically vital to managing a remote team. There is a lot of nuance to communication in-person. Between body-language and other non-verbals. However, most communication in a remote environment is non-visual. Hence why communication is so vital to managing remote teams.

Additionally, since many companies are utilizing more flexible scheduling with remote teams; it’s logical that expectations need to be set on both sides of the coin. These details should include things like time-commitment, weekly tasks, compensation, and everything else that would define the employees role and their relationship to the company.

Emphasizing Communication

As discussed above, communication is an integral aspect to any and every relationship. No matter the context. In managing remote teams, communication is more than essential. It truly is a vital aspect of successful teams working remotely. Correspondingly, then, it goes to reason that companies shifting to a remote workforce would want to implement business applications for communication. There are a myriad of business applications that your company can choose to use for communicating internally and externally.

Internally speaking, Slack is extremely popular as a part instant-messaging and part-email communication solution. Zoom is another company that has blown up astronomically since the onset of the pandemic. With global companies, domestic companies, and everyone in between needing reliable and consistent video conferencing capability; Zoom saw an unbelievable amount of growth in 2020, and set some records for themselves while at it.

There are many other internal communication solutions that you can implement for your remote staff, and even softwares that allow you to set up incentives for your team. This lets the culture of your company thrive even in a remote setting post COVID-19. Some incentive-based-softwares for remote teams are all managed by the leaders and decision makers, while others encourage and promote inter-colleague connections.

In other words, colleagues and co-workers can reward each other on a job well done with an internal currency that can then be redeemed for prizes, gifts, vacations, or even donated to a charity of the recipients choice. These are all great solutions to keep your company culture alive, and incentivize your remote staff to keep working hard and hitting goals.

Providing Some Structure When Managing Remote Teams

While flexible schedules and a stronger sense of work-life-balance are great; business is business, and work needs to get done. To help provide some structure to your remote staffs workweek or work-day, and to ensure that tasks are being accomplished managers and team leaders can schedule regular check-ins.

These check-ins might mimic the exact structure of a daily or weekly check-in that you’d conduct in the office. The only difference being that these check-ins occur remotely. Whether that be via a phone call, or a quick video-chat, a swift one-on-one with each of your remote workers is a great way to not only connect about work, but also get to know your workers and ensure they’re doing okay during these trying times.

Encourage Team Building and Team Bonding

Just because the world is shifting to a digital age and a majorly remote workforce, doesn’t mean that team members can’t connect and bond with one another. There are plenty of options for managers overseeing remote work teams who are looking for ways to bond the team. Some examples might be a virtual film-showing, or a remote happy-hour. Another popular choice is the remote pizza party.

However, while there’s nothing wrong with any of the above choices, staff and employees often enjoy trying something new. Being creative with team bonding exercises has gotten a little harder with the pandemic limiting so many options. Yet, where there’s a will, there’s a way, as the old saying goes.

For instance, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) can be an excellent team-building and team-bonding activity. For starters, D&D is all about a group working together, and usually overcoming a few character flaws or group-issues as well. But beyond that, good D&D campaigns, or even one-shots, require the team to think outside the box, put together some creative solutions, and ultimately work together. All in the context of having a good time, and maybe a few drinks.

Use Project Management Tools

While there are some differences and adaptations to managing remote teams, there are some similarities too. For instance, your managers can likely use the same project management software or project management tools that they were using in person. Transitioning to a remote use of these project management softwares is really simple, and they are already built for it, making it an easy and simple transition.

Using project management software when managing remote teams will allow you to set daily and weekly to-do lists, and share updates on project timelines with the whole team.

Wrapping Up

The world is changing rapidly. The shift to a virtual age and a digital workforce is upon us. Many companies are already prepared for the remote environment. Many others are preparing for the shift. Either way, it’s important to be able to properly manage a remote work team and remote customers.

For more information on the shift to the digital age, or managing remote teams, visit NS804 today.

The Waterfall UX Process: Everything You Need To Know

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When developing mobile apps, we need to consider various project management approaches, such as the Waterfall UX process. After all, we retain users by utilizing methodologies and strategies for UI/UX that work. And we want to reduce the associated risks of creating apps via a well-thought-out Waterfall software development process.

But you may be wondering if this is the right methodology for your upcoming project or considering alternatives such as Agile. Well, we’ll shed some light on these matters and compare both methodologies below.

1. What Is The Waterfall Methodology

 

The Waterfall methodology is a project management paradigm initially used in construction and manufacturing but later adopted by software developers. All project tasks are split into phases that follow a linear sequence that flows downwards, similarly to a waterfall, hence the naming convention. It’s a fairly straightforward process but far more rigid than alternative models such as agile.

2. Does The Waterfall UX Process Work

 

Users expect modern apps to have intuitive and responsive UX. And a few ways to keep these users satisfied is by simplifying the user journey, organizing content, personalizing apps, adding biometric authentication features, and minimizing data input. But how does a development team hash out their UX process to create engaging apps? The good news is that the Waterfall methodology works incredibly well for UX, which many developers utilize.

A well-trodden Waterfall UX process works as follows:

  • Initiate research and determine all core problems
  • Categorize all these problems
  • Generate journey maps and personas
  • Hold brainstorming sessions to come up with new ideas
  • Create a prototype and test it
  • Begin developing the product based on the prototype
  • Release the product
  • Gather user feedback and return to the first phase

Overall, this process brings about satisfactory results as long as the UX isn’t updated regularly. However, many design-led mobile app developers prefer to update their UX in shorter cadences. In such a scenario, a Waterfall process isn’t the most suitable methodology. Thus, a growing number of developers utilize Lean and Agile methodologies instead.

 

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3. The Main Parts Of The Waterfall Software Development Process

 

A typical Waterfall software development process consists of either five or seven phases following a stringent linear sequence. The naming of phases may vary, but these are the commonly used descriptors:

Requirements – Project managers gather all necessary customer requirements during this initial phase. Then, without further customer input, the remaining phases in the waterfall sequence are planned out.

Design – Design consists of a logical design and a physical design phase. Logical design involves the brainstorming and theorization of solutions, while physical design necessitates the establishment of specifications based on these theories.

Implementation – The development team’s programmers start writing code based on the requirements and specifications from the above phases.

Verification – During the verification phase, the customer receives the finished product to review. The customer will then ascertain whether or not the product meets their requirements.

Maintenance – The customer regularly uses the product and gradually discovers bugs and other faults. Then, the maintenance team makes the necessary fixes based on customer feedback.

4. Pros And Cons Of Waterfall

 

The Waterfall software development process has several pros and cons that you should consider before commencing any upcoming projects. Unfortunately, the Waterfall model has gained an undeserved reputation among many developers nowadays. They often claim that it’s inefficient and outdated due to its rigid structure. However, it’s still widely used in enterprise, game, and mobile app development.

Waterfall’s clear structure makes it easy for developers to understand and complete tasks. And since tasks must be completed in sequence, this diminishes the possibility of unfinished and unpolished apps. Furthermore, if the developer can commit to a set release date, then it’s easy to predict the end goal and production costs.

On the flipside, Waterfall’s rigid structure makes it difficult to implement changes. Any sudden change or revision will likely derail the project and extend the time to market (TTM). Another negative is that the customer or end-user doesn’t have a say during the development process and provides valuable feedback that benefits the project. Finally, testing takes place near the end of the process, which may lead to costly and time-consuming revisions.

 

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5. Waterfall Methodology Vs Agile

 

Whether in the canteen or around the water cooler, it’s common for developers to engage in Waterfall methodology vs Agile debates. Since neither methodology is better than the other, it’s difficult to settle on a clear winner. However, they both have several notable differences that are worth discussing. 

We’ve already gone over Waterfall’s rigid structure, which makes it difficult to implement changes. Well, Agile is the complete opposite and allows for a more iterative approach at shorter time scales. However, do keep changes to a minimum to avoid a budget overrun. After all, Agile lacks the predictability of Waterfall, making it less suitable for determining cost and time factors.

While Waterfall’s ideal for projects with clearly defined end goals, this isn’t the case for Agile. Customers are often uncertain about how a project should turn out and prefer to determine the result through trial and error. Agile’s flexible approach facilitates user feedback throughout the development process and fine-tuning the project accordingly.

6. What Projects Work Best With Waterfall

 

Waterfall works best for smaller projects and those that have a fixed budget, release date, and scope. It’s also a good choice for any application that doesn’t require frequent updates. And the team structure of the developer may determine if Waterfall is the way to go. For example, if contractors and remote workers will also be contributing to the project, then Waterfall’s clean and straightforward structure makes it suitable. Moreover, the customer may not have the time or inclination to follow the entire development process and only wishes to see the finished product.

7. Should You Use Waterfall And Agile Together?

 

It usually makes sense to deliberate over Waterfall Methodology Vs Agile, especially when embarking on mobile app development. But sometimes, depending on the project, it may be necessary to embrace both methodologies. Ideally, you’ll want to form a hybrid methodology that combines the positive aspects of both models but without any of the negative.

By implementing the Water-Scrum-Fall paradigm, it’s possible to have a hybrid methodology that works effectively. Project leaders operate within the Waterfall paradigm, but the development team functions in an Agile environment and only integrates with the Waterfall structure via the Scrum team. However, it’s challenging to run Agile and Waterfall processes concurrently. But worthwhile if you’re employing Continuous Delivery in your DevOps pipeline for your app development endeavors.

The Bottom Line

 

The Waterfall methodology has played a significant role in software development for many decades. It may seem outdated, especially for newer developers accustomed to an Agile environment. However, Waterfall still has its place and can be made to work with Agile if necessary. Contact us now, and find out how NS804 can help bring your mobile app ideas to life.

Choosing the Proper Tech Stack

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The tech industry moves at a rapid pace, meaning that hardly a month goes by without us hearing about a new tech stack or two. But since current trends in mobile app development encourage the adoption of newer technologies, it’s vital to make the right choice. After all, not all tech stacks are created equal, and there’s a notable difference between native and hybrid app development. We’ll take a look at six tech stacks and reveal when and where they should be used.

1. Purpose Of Choosing The Tech Stack

 

Current trends in mobile app development include the adoption of tech stacks that facilitate cost-effectiveness, efficiency, scalability, and speed. Tech stacks consist of frameworks, libraries, programming languages, and tools that aid the development process. Furthermore, one can find tech stacks for both front-end and back-end development. For example, React is a popular front-end JavaScript library, while Java is a widely-used programming language for back-end development.

2. React Tech Stack

 

React is a battle-tested open-source library that’s maintained by Facebook and various other companies and developers. It’s a web-based technology but has gained traction within the mobile app development space. 

React Native, in particular, is a wrapper that allows developers to code in JavaScript while rendering to the native APIs used by Android & iOS. It compiles all UI components into the native languages of the target platform, namely: Java or Objective C/Swift. However, all non-UI specific code remains in JavaScript, meaning that it’s a hybrid and not a native solution. Thus, it’s a good choice for easy deployment to both platforms, but with a possible performance penalty.

3. Java Tech Stack

 

It’s usually a good idea to approach custom mobile app development with the view of supporting both Android & iOS. But we understand that’s not always possible, and you may only want to support Android. In that case, it makes sense to focus exclusively on native app development by using a Java tech stack. Development can be done almost entirely with Android Studio and its SDK tools, which are powerful and well-documented. And since all code is in Java, expect optimal performance due to the language’s excellent memory management and multi-threaded capabilities.

4. Kotlin Tech Stack

 

Java isn’t the only game in town for native Android development. In recent years, we’ve witnessed the growing popularity of Kotlin, which seems like a natural evolution of Java. Created by JetBrains, a company behind many popular IDEs and development tools, Kotlin improves upon Java in several areas. It offers better security, cleaner syntax, enhanced thread handling, and is more lightweight.

Furthermore, Kotlin’s cross-platform capabilities make it a good candidate for iOS development too. Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile allows developers to keep all their business logic in Kotlin and only write in different languages for platform-specific APIs and UI. While Kotlin does save development time, do consider all potential hidden costs, especially when cross-developing.

5. Swift Tech Stack

 

Swift is Apple’s flagship programming language, which allows developers to target iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. It shares many similarities to its successor languages: C & Objective-C. However, Swift’s ease-of-use, modern features, and safety make it ideal for custom mobile app development on iOS. It also utilizes the renowned LLVM compiler that outputs optimized native code that takes advantage of Apple’s modern hardware. 

Keeping in line with current trends in mobile app development, Swift is supported by several IDEs and code editors. Apple’s own Xcode is a popular choice, but some developers prefer JetBrains’ AppCode or an open-source alternative such as Atom. If you’re targeting Apple devices, then Swift is the way to go due to its excellent performance and rich feature set. 

6. Progressive Web Apps Tech Stack

 

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are a cross between mobile apps and mobile websites while functioning similarly to native apps. It’s a relatively straightforward and quick process to download and install a PWA from a website. But what makes PWAs so compelling is that they run within the browser but can be installed on the user’s device and then accessed from the home screen. 

They’re a good choice for custom mobile app development while avoiding some of the associated risks and pitfalls. Furthermore, developers can release their apps outside the walled gardens of the app stores. At NS804, we recommend native solutions for the best possible user experience, but there are cases where hybrid solutions have their place.

Must Have Apps For Managing Remote Teams

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Managing Remote Teams With Must Have Apps

The shift toward a digital age has been long in the works, however, 202 has accelerated that transition. This is, in part, due to COVID-19 and the way that our society has shifted to limit person-to-person contact. As such, companies have had to embrace the digital age as well. This has brought many to adopt a variety of applications for managing remote teams.

As with any new process or system, there are challenges that come with managing remote teams. For example, one challenge that companies must address in managing remote teams is keeping communication channels open. Many companies have addressed communication challenges with multiple apps.

Solving Communication Challenges

Communication has always been an integral aspect of business. However, as the transition to the digital age continues communication’s role is becoming even more emphasized. One of the most popular apps in 2020 was Zoom. The digital-conferencing and video-calling features have helped communication lines stay alive across the country and even the world. Likewise, they’ve helped professionals in managing remote teams and staying connected both internally and externally. This is significantly important as Zoom has set a variety of user-records in 2020 with an astronomical growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and the accelerated shift into the digital age.

Beyond using Zoom, Slack is another extremely popular application for communication. Slack works as both an email-replacement and an instant-messaging platform for internal business purposes. It’s a great application as it offers users the ability to create and manage multiple channels. Then those channels are populated by team-specific personnel. Administration can limit and control access as well, making sure that only the right people are involved in the right conversations.

Additionally, companies still need to successfully manage projects. Zoom is great for holding and hosting meetings. Slack is a strong collaboration and internal communication solution for teams. Trello, however, remains a strong project-management software. Trello allows for easy scheduling and tracking of project progress. This keeps everyone on the same page. Simultaneously, these three applications in concert makes managing remote teams easier.

The final aspect of communication that businesses and companies need to rely on is document sharing. While there are plenty of options for mass-document sharing, and file-sharing solutions one of the most prominent is the Google-Docs Suite. Using Google Docs, professionals can share access to important files like proposals, and presentations, spreadsheets, and any type of document you might need to create.

Wrapping Up

The application industry has taken off during 2020. Specifically, this is because of the reliance that the business community has had on communication solutions. Zoom is an extremely popular video-conferencing software that businesses use to conduct video-calls, Slack is a great collaboration tool for internal teams. Meanwhile, Trello and Google Suites tackle the project-management and file-sharing aspects of managing remote teams.

In addition to keeping communication channels wide open and operating smoothly, there are even more applications that managers and team-leaders can use to promote team-bonding and team building. One great example of this is using Dungeons and Dragons as a team-building exercise. And with the development of Roll20, even this can be taken remote.

Of course, even beyond all of these solutions, custom apps are still widely in use as well. For more information on managing remote teams and communication solutions, visit NS804 today.

Building a Team of Remote Workers

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Managing New Normals – Remote Workers

The year 2020 is going to go down in history. Firstly, there’s the worldwide pandemic that’s still raging on today. Secondly, on a more domestic front, 2020 was home to likely the most unorthodox election in the history of the United States. Therefore, it’s been a pretty hectic year all-in-all. However, it hasn’t been all bad. One result from this crazy and chaotic year was the rapid acceleration toward digital transformation and remote workers.

The wave of digital transformation has been forming for years. Over the last decade at least, more and more technology emerged in the business world. As these advancements came, they led the companies that operate ahead of the curve to already begin preparations for a digital age and the virtual customer. In 2020, however, this push into a digital era saw a massive acceleration – up to almost 6x the previous rate.

Virtual customers, however, aren’t the only result of the digital age. In addition to the large majority of consumers staying at home. Remote workers and remote staff have already become the new normal. Therefore, companies need to learn how to recruit, utilize, and best serve their remote workers.

Communication is Key

Communication is an integral aspect of every relationship. No matter the context. This is true across life partners, friends, and really any personal or professional relationship. Maintaining open lines of communication in business will lead you and your team to accomplishing tasks on time, on budget, and on scope.

Transitioning to a team of remote workers, doesn’t dampen the importance of clear and open communication between team members and team leaders alike. Luckily, there are countless communication solutions that your firm can employ in order to sustain the level of interaction necessary. There are enterprise level applications ranging from the likes of Slack to Monday.com; and even more traditional project management softwares like Basecamp or Asana. c

No matter which solution you choose to empower your remote workers; it’s integral that the remote workers are somewhat centralized still. For example, connecting a remote team through the same software so that everyone can stay updated and in communication on the project status.

Team Building with Remote Workers

Just because they’re remote workers, doesn’t mean that team-building goes out the window. In fact, with remote workers, and remote teams, it’s just as important to keep the general morale high. Finding ways to motivate your remote workers can be a little challenging. However, there are plenty of ways to keep your remote workers in high spirits, and even bring them slightly closer together.

With the vast majority of physical-event-spaces being shut down, companies might be out of ideas for ways to bring their remote staff together. However, a lot of the enterprise level software on the market includes some sort of incentive-system. This is a great way for you and your management team to continue rewarding strong performance throughout your staff. These incentive systems are also normally colleague-based, meaning that your cohort can also reward and recognize your strong performances.

Finally, if you’re searching for a team-building activity that everyone can join in on remotely; Dungeons and Dragons, believe it or not, is a great way to get your remote team together outside of working hours for a little team-bonding.

For more information on remote working, or navigating these troubling times, visit NS804 today, and get in touch with an expert mobile app developer ready to bring your dreams into reality.

The Ultimate Guide To Creating an MVP for Your Startup

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The Ultimate MVP Guide

Put up or shut up. Put your money where your mouth is. Actions speak louder than words. These phrases have earned their place in history by speaking to a commonality in all of us: the desire for cold hard evidence. Because seeing is believing, right? Therefore, these little quips and phrases point towards the importance of business tools like prototypes, product proof-of-concept, or an MVP.

Prototypes, a proof-of-concept, and an MVP are all tools companies use in a variety of ways. Two of the main functions of these tools include investor recruitment and target market feedback. Plus, developing these tools and making use of them will lead to further insights that will help inform the rest of the product development lifecycle.

Understanding MVPs

No, we aren’t talking about Patrick Mahomes possibly leading the Chiefs to a second straight superbowl, for the first time in the history of the NFL. No, in mobile app development, an MVP stands for the minimum viable product. In other words, this is the bare-bones product that your developers build as a sort of shell-demonstration. This demonstrates the core functionality of the application. However, the MVP is still very much a predecessor to the application’s full-blown vision.

Although, that doesn’t always stop the MVP from being utilized. See there’s a whole niche market of app-development where the bells and whistles are just that: bells and whistles. The end-user isn’t so much interested in the seamless UX or the brilliant design; but rather the solution that the application provides. This is often the case when it comes to business-oriented-applications, or industry-specific applications.

In these environments, the end-user may be an early-adopter or a professional simply looking for a solution to their problem, if your MVP contains that solution – the extra functions and features that get added might just be icing on the cake.

While an MVP may sound very similar to a prototype, and they are in many ways, there are a few key differences between the two. The biggest and most obvious difference between an MVP and a prototype is the form it takes. An MVP is always going to be a lightweight version of the application.

A prototype, on the other hand, can come in a whole variety of shapes, sizes, and forms. The most basic prototypes, in fact, are simple sketches. The form your prototype takes will largely depend on a variety of factors. Aspects like your industry-expertise, technical ability, and access to resources.

The Development

While it may seem like one of the first steps in mobile app development, there’s actually quite a bit of work to be done before your firm can tackle the MVP. The very first step in mobile app development is identifying a problem and a potential solution. This is by far the most critical question that needs to be answered at the onset of a mobile app development project.

Without a firm-wide understanding of the problem that’s being addressed and the solution that’s being developed, a whole onslaught of issues will arise. These issues range from miscommunication, to inefficient processes, and misaligned development activities. In other words, one developer might be working on a user-interface that is completely incompatible with the overall solution that’s being developed. Therefore, time, energy, and resources were all wasted, which could have been avoided entirely with stronger communication channels.

Once your firm has identified the problem they’d like to solve, and how they’d like to solve it; then they can advance to the next step of the development process. The next phase in mobile app development, or MVP development is determining the core-features that need to be built into the application. The core features that are selected largely influence both the MVP and the design of the finished application.

This is important to note. The MVP, as mentioned above, is a tool your mobile app firm develops for a wide variety of reasons. Two of the main reasons for MVP development is end-user and target-market feedback, as well as investor recruitment. These are two of the most crucial phases in the entire mobile app development lifecycle.

Feedback and Investor Recruitment

As the age-old-adage goes, “money makes the world go round.” And as sad as that is to acknowledge at times, the practical utility of liquid assets is undeniable. Developing an MVP takes time, money, labor, and resources. Once your firm develops the MVP, however, there’s plenty of opportunity for your team to leverage the MVP into additional investments.

On top of leveraging an MVP into additional funding for your firm, or the specific project; an MVP also gives your company a way to conduct market focus-groups. This allows you to garner real end-user feedback on the solution provided and the overall direction of the application. These insights can be used to further inform your team on the features and trends most impactful to the target market, and how to finish the development process.

When garnering user-feedback or running focus-groups, there are a few important things to keep in mind. Keeping these elements in mind can help your team maximize the value that these activities in the development process yield. For example, when running a focus group with an MVP, your team should consider including a basic version of the UX. This will help the focus-group. It helps them understand the flow of the application, how the app presents information to the user, and more.

Running focus groups and testing the MVP in a variety of demographics is a best-practice by all considerations. This practice is important because it will help you and your team avoid common pitfalls in app development. One of the most common traps that mobile app developers often fall into is known as the ‘assumption trap’. This is the ‘trap’ that mobile app developers fall into when they believe they already know what the end-consumer wants.

Avoiding The Trap

Conducting a series of focus groups across a variety of demographics, therefore, is extremely valuable and provides incredible insight into consumer behavior, and consumer wants.

The end-consumer, especially today, has more power than ever before. Between the era of information and technology providing more widespread access to information, and the emergence of a very competitive marketplace, the consumer truly is king. Therefore, taking the time to understand the issues that are most significant to your target-market will benefit you greatly. Let the consumers and customers tell you what they want, then deliver. Otherwise, you may very well be putting the cart before the horse.

Final Thoughts on MVP Development

The mobile app market is booming. Ever since earlier this year when the pandemic was first beginning to rage and the first set of lockdown orders were issued, mobile app usership has boomed. Between March and April of this year, millions of first-time app users were downloading applications, log-times were skyrocketing, and the shift toward the digital age was officially underway.

In such a crowded market, it’s important to stand out, deliver on consumer wants, and offer new and unique solutions. Developing an MVP will help you and your firm do all of this and more. From investor-recruitment, to real-time consumer feedback, developing an MVP is a necessity.

For more information on MVPs, or anything related to mobile app development, visit NS804 today, and get in touch with an expert mobile app developer ready to turn your idea into a reality.

What You Can Learn From a Competitive Analysis

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The Advantages of Conducting a Competitive Analysis

Imagine for a moment that everyone lives in a vacuum. Then, if we’re all living in vacuums, any problems or obstacles that arose would be entirely our own to address. Subsequently, in each vacuum then, we would see a variety of solutions that evolved to address the same issues from vacuum to vacuum. However, we don’t live in vacuums that are entirely separate from one another. Because of this, the very popular phrase, “don’t reinvent the wheel” still exists today. Simply put, it doesn’t do any good to spend time, energy, and resources developing an entirely redundant value. In the context of mobile app development this means conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis.

There are many benefits that developers reap from conducting a thorough competitive analysis. The competitive analysis is a process in the mobile app development workflow that helps the development team gain an understanding of the current marketplace. There are many factors to consider when conducting this analysis.

What To Look For During a CA

A competitive analysis begins internally. The mobile app developers must come to a value-proposition for their application-in-development before a proper analysis can begin. Defining the value proposition of the application prior to the market analysis is vital. Without the value-proposition clearly defined, the developers won’t have a lot of the information needed to properly move forward with the analysis.

Once the value proposition is defined, the developers will have a sense of where in the mobile market their competition lies. Once you’ve identified the competition, your team can begin drawing lines of differentiation between your application and that of your competitors. This is important. It’s important because it heavily influences your marketing strategies. If your team don’t understand what makes your application different, the end-user won’t either.

Other Competitive Analysis Tactics

Understanding the value-proposition and the differentiators between your application and the competition is just the beginning. There are an endless amount of insights that can be drawn from conducting a thorough and comprehensive competitive analysis. In addition to the insights found regarding factors of differentiation, the market analysis also provides deep insight into consumer behaviors.

Through the process of the market analysis trends will begin to emerge. These trends will apply to a variety of application elements. Ranging from user-experience, to the most trendy color-schemes, paying attention during the competitive analysis will result in mountains of useful data.

One aspect to which developers should pay specific attention is the user experience. The user experience is one of the most significant and impactful factors of any mobile app. With as much competition as exists within the market, and how many variations on a single solution is available to the end-user, consumers are becoming much more likely to delete an app and switch to a competitor after a single negative experience.

A Final Thought

There are endless insights to be drawn from a thorough competitive analysis, and this article only scratches the surface. For more information on competitive analysis, or anything related to mobile app development, visit NS804 today.

The Secrets Of Successful Appreneurs

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If you’re an aspiring appreneur, you’ve probably pondered on what it takes to launch successful apps. And if you’re an experienced developer with several releases under your belt, then you understand what it takes to succeed in such a competitive market. The process is fairly involved with many steps that you need to take to release a compelling app. Below, we reveal several valuable tips to make your upcoming app release truly special.

1. What Makes An Appreneur Different

While the business world does change, it usually transforms at a gradual pace. It’s common for many CEOs and entrepreneurs to play it safe, favoring stability instead of taking bold steps. However, the emergence of the appreneur has changed the game by being a disruptive and innovative force.

Today’s forward-thinking entrepreneurs have embraced current trends in mobile app development, allowing them to enhance business processes. And they no longer wait around for someone else to provide solutions. Instead, they seize the opportunity to design and create powerful apps that solve existing problems efficiently and smartly.

2. Know The Current Trends In Mobile App Development

The mobile app market is in constant flux, so take the time to investigate it further. For example, there was a period when native app development was the norm, but hybrid development has become more common in recent years.

In 2020, we’re witnessing the gradual adoption of 5G technology and foldable devices. But existing technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), chatbots, digital wallets, instant apps, on-demand apps, predictive analytics, and wearable devices have been trending upwards. If you’re planning on releasing your app in the immediate future, make sure to take advantage of these trends.

3. Finding Inspiration From App Stores

It’s seldom easy coming up with new app ideas that show potential. You may even start feeling burnt out as you peruse all your sticky notes and diagrams on the drawing board. Truth be told, that killer idea won’t always come from the isolated environment of your office, even if you’re consulting with talented individuals. Thus, it’s a good idea to regularly browse both the App Store and Google Play to find out which apps are setting the world on fire.

4. Understanding What Users Truly Want

Every competent appreneur places the user at the forefront of their mobile app development endeavors. One of the most important things you can do is understand what your users truly want. Regularly conduct user reviews and surveys, asking your users what their expectations, experiences, and frustrations are about your solutions and those from rivals. 

Furthermore, conduct behavioral research focusing on users’ emotions, feelings, barriers, and motivators. Collect and analyze this data, and design your app in a way that fits your users’ psychological profiles.

5. Remember The KISS Method

Let’s face the facts; developing apps is hard work. That’s why smart developers apply the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. It’s a process of simplifying the design of applications by reducing code complexity and the number of interconnected parts. There are many benefits to this, such as easier collaboration among older and newer team members, a more straightforward debugging and testing process, and it’s just easier to add new functionality and implement changes. 

6. Come Up With Innovative Ideas Quickly

The app marketplace is always evolving, which means that developers need to come up with innovative ideas quickly. Appreneurs never stay still and are continuously brainstorming new ideas for their upcoming apps. 

So how do you come up with these valuable ideas in record time? Firstly, you should be asking if current apps are solving business or day-to-day problems effectively. Secondly, keep your ear to the ground by regularly perusing app stores, mobile app and tech blogs, and social media sites. Thirdly, build small prototypes regularly, and show these to team members and ask them for feedback or to iterate further on the more promising ideas.

7. Master App Store Optimization (ASO)

You’ve worked hard on your app and don’t want it to languish in obscurity upon release. An effective way to boost its visibility on digital storefronts is by mastering App Store Optimization (ASO). By successfully implementing ASO, you’ll be able to drive installs organically and gradually increase your app’s store rank. 

But what does ASO involve? There are several things that you’ll need to do, such as using keywords in your app’s title and description, categorizing your app correctly, inserting all relevant screenshots and other assets, and localizing your content. Furthermore, you can research how your competitors are implementing ASO and make the necessary adjustments to improve your app’s rank.

8. Look At Appreneur System Reviews 

Everyone learns differently. Some folks need to read books, while others prefer to view videos or purchase courseware to internalize those valuable app development skills. Several notable appreneurs have developed their own methodologies and systems to help you find success in the app stores. Read appreneur system reviews online to find out which method works for you. Amazon, LinkedIn, and dedicated mobile app development sites are all excellent resources.

9. Start Marketing Pre-Launch

Even if you find the marketing process intimidating, we recommend that you don’t leave it until the last minute. Start your marketing endeavors as early as possible, and follow a carefully planned and robust strategy.

Define your target audience by building buyer personas that serve as a representation of your customer base. These buyer personas will contain demographic and psychographic data of your potential customers. Then, reach out to influencers that your target audience follows. You’ll need to contact these influencers on their preferred social media channels and run incentivized campaigns. Furthermore, foment a community on social media and engage with them regularly, and gradually ramp up interest in your upcoming app. 

Don’t forget to build a landing page and drive traffic to this page via advertising, email campaigns, influencer marketing, and social media. Your landing page should feature videos and screenshots of your mobile app and provide visitors a brief description of its key features. Moreover, make it easy for visitors to join your mailing list via a secure signup form.

10. Work With A Trusted Developer

Developing high-quality apps is a team effort. That’s why you need to work with a developer that you can trust. The right partner will be able to meet expectations, stay within budget and time constraints, and deliver your app according to spec for either Android, iOS, or both. 

Unfortunately, It’s often difficult finding a reliable partner via Google, as many fly-by-night and inexperienced developers turn up on searches. We recommend using authoritative sites such as Clutch and The Manifest to track down leading developers such as NS804.

Final Thoughts

Appreneurs have risen in prominence in recent years due to the growing popularity of mobile apps. Current trends in mobile app development have enhanced and streamlined the creation of applications, which has further bolstered the market. Therefore, many opportunities abound for resourceful appreneurs that want to disrupt the marketplace moving forward. Contact us today to find out how NS804 can turn your unique ideas into engaging apps.

You’re Ready to Develop a Mobile App. Now What?

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As a forward-thinking business leader, you may have considered developing a mobile app. You could also be one of those visionaries that have a well-defined end goal in mind and planning on creating an app, which will allow you to achieve certain milestones and improve vital business processes.

However, you might not be up to speed with the latest trends in mobile app design or mobile app development in general. So what do you do now? Well, you’ve come to the right place, as we understand how intimidating it can be to forge ahead with app development. Below, we provide several handy tips that will put you on the right track.

1. Recap the basics of research, target market, and solutions

Before developing a mobile app, you’ll need to do your homework. You may already have brainstormed a couple of ideas, which you believe will result in a compelling app. But you won’t know for sure without doing market research and understanding your target audience. 

Prepare a Product Market Fit (PMF) checklist and utilize App Store Optimization (ASO) to research digital marketplaces. Find out what types of apps are succeeding and what kind of users are downloading these. Learn as much as possible about these users, such as their age, gender, education, income, location, and occupation. Furthermore, determine if these apps are effectively solving problems or if there’s room in the marketplace for an improved or more innovative solution.

2. Determine which type of app will work best for your goals

It’s important to figure out early what platforms your app should target. Perhaps you need to take advantage of the Metal API for its low-level 3D rendering capabilities. In that case, you should develop a native app that specifically utilizes Apple’s unique hardware and APIs for the best results.

Nowadays, mobile app development frameworks and tools make it easy to publish on multiple platforms, such as Android, iOS, and the web. With only a single codebase, it’s possible to target all platforms that your target audience use. While this hybrid solution is more cost-effective than developing native apps, there’s usually a performance penalty. 

Finally, you can develop a web application that runs on any platform connected to the internet. It’s also possible to make your web app conform to the latest trends in mobile app design, making it look and feel almost as good as a native or hybrid app. But do keep in mind that web apps are usually more limited in scope.

3. Determine monetization points & carve out project budgets

The cost of developing a mobile app varies wildly. We recommend you use a mobile application cost calculator while taking into account several factors. These should include the duration of development, back-end development, front-end development, marketing, number of target platforms, UI & UX design, and any additional app features. To ensure profitability, you’ll need to consider how you’ll monetize your app. Will you integrate In-App Purchases (IAP), mobile ads, or a combination of both? 

4. Marketing for pre-launch enthusiasm

The success of your app largely depends on your marketing efforts. Press relations (PR), media outreach, and a user acquisition strategy are all equally important. Ideally, you want to build a buzz before launch, which can be achieved through content marketing, leveraging BETA testing and focus groups, and holding an exciting launch party.

5. Security & Optimization efforts

Developing a mobile app is an involved process due to the best practices that every competent developer should follow. These practices include locking down the security of an app by encrypting its data, employing high-level authentication, inserting tamper detection, using authorized APIs, utilizing the principle of least privilege, and writing secure code. It’s also vital to test the app regularly and optimize it so that it performs adequately on various devices.  

6. Partners & Support

It’s always a good idea to find the right partners when embarking on mobile app development. Partners, such as NS804, can help develop, market, and support your app throughout its lifecycle. The right partner will help craft your Call to Action (CTA), which will drive the downloads you need while not straying from the latest trends in mobile app design.

In Conclusion

Mobile app development doesn’t have to be intimidating if you understand the process and partner with the right developer. With years of experience in delivering amazing results for our clients, NS804 can turn your app ideas into reality.