The 7 stages of the mobile app development process in 2024

Which steps make up the process of developing an app? What is the structure of a mobile app development process? How can I begin the application development process? These are the questions you are most likely asking yourself right now if you are considering creating an app. This post serves as a manual for present and prospective app developers who want to understand the exact steps involved in creating their product.

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Which steps make up the process of developing an app?

To put it simply, the following steps make up a mobile app development process:

Choosing a partner: choose a business to create and develop your application.
Investigating, evaluating, and choosing a business to work with on your project. signing a contract with an independent contractor.

Determine what you want to make, for whom, and why via product discovery.
establishing the objectives of your product, its target audience, and the vision of your app. selecting the most important things to include in your MVP. Practical instruments: Personas, Event Storming, Product Canvas, and Prioritization Chart.

UI/UX app design: decide how your app will seem and function.
producing beautiful user interfaces, clickable wireframes, motion design (animations & screen transitions), and a User Journey Map.

Project kick-off and setup are the last steps before the app development process begins, during which the PO gets to know the development team and vice versa. defining each team member’s position, reaching a consensus on guidelines and next actions, and setting up tools.

Quality Assurance in App Development

Continuous Integration in App Development: planning, coding, building, testing (and repeating). use both automated and human testing to provide quality assurance throughout the whole app development process.

Getting the app ready and releasing it on the Google Play Store and Apple Store
Releasing include uploading promotional materials and legally needed assets, beta testing, improving the product page and store visibility, and completing all the requirements for a successful app approval process.

Phase after development: app upkeep and further development
Identifying crashes, keeping an eye on the data of the program, improving the product, and continuing development. Your app maintains its appeal while adjusting to user input and shifting market circumstances.

STAGE 1: Picking a partner: Decide which business will create and develop your app.

Choose whether to create your app internally or by hiring a third party. You may find this information useful: Development of software: in-house vs outsourcing. You must understand how to choose a reliable app development firm for your project if you prefer to outsource the construction of your products. How can you tell whether a business you’re considering is reliable? We advise you to:

For B2B purchases, use Clutch.co or other sites.

Use services like Clutch.co, AppFutura, GoodFirms, and ContractIQ to assist you in choosing a few providers that fit your needs.

Examine pre-selected businesses

Examine their portfolio and reviews about them. Pose queries such as: Do they have prior experience producing goods comparable to yours?
Did they collaborate with partners from various industries and nations?
Do they work with large corporations, start-ups, or both?
Do they make advantage of modern technologies and solutions?
Examine the estimates that you are given.
Obtaining and comparing estimates from many companies is worthwhile. It is important to verify how each team arrived at their own number if you get two completely different estimates.

Did you provide both businesses the same documents and information?
Find out the assumptions the corporations used to make their estimates. Are all of the important components from the higher estimate present in the lower one?
Did they inquire to find out more about your app concept?
Is team meeting time included in the estimation?

Is time for Quality Assurance (such as creating tests) included in the estimate?
Did the businesses consider the possibility of unanticipated events?
Is it taken into account in the assessment if the design of your app calls for certain non-native solutions?

Whether your product is a traditional app type, such as e-commerce or m-commerce, but you would want it to have some unique features, see whether the estimations have taken them into account.

Ensure that the code is written in English.

To ensure that the code is securely saved and that you have access to it, make sure it is hosted on code repository hosts like Bitbucket or GitHub.

Check the Independent Contract Agreement.

Make sure to thoroughly review the contract you receive and get legal advice if necessary. We’ve outlined some crucial components that have to be in a contract for you below. We are writing about variables that are more unique to software houses rather than some apparent features like parties’ personal data.

Maintaining confidentiality: Verify if a provision regarding sensitive information is included in the contract. Your partner should pledge to keep any information about your project that isn’t now public knowledge private.

Intellectual property: All of the software company’s creations should belong to you. To finalize the assignment of intellectual property rights in the Deliverables to the Company’s sole and exclusive ownership, the contractor must execute and submit any further documents and take any reasonable steps.

Choice of Law: A dispute resolution location should be specified in the contract. This is particularly crucial if the software company is located abroad. Your spouse will most likely wish to choose his nation’s judiciary.

Offshore mobile application developmenttransforms challenges into global advantages, harnessing diverse expertise across time zones to craft innovative apps efficiently, all while adapting to ever-evolving tech landscapes.

Payment in advance: We advise that the upfront payment not beyond the monthly cost of the team’s labor. A larger upfront payment may be appropriate if a contractor has to make a significant investment at the start of the project (for example, for hardware or licensing).

Deadline for payment: The terms of the contract should specify what happens if payments are not made on time. How long is a wait considered acceptable? How many days will interest start to accrue? How many days may the development team take a break from work? Despite appearances, you are protected by such a provision.

Requirements for contract termination: Setting a notice period of 15 to 20 days is safe.
Due dates:
Time & Material: No precise deadline has to be specified in this kind of contract. When the app is ready is up to you. Your input is applied up to date after each loop.

Fixed Price: A timetable of partial deliveries is included in the contract. Additionally, it is good to schedule time for you to provide input for each iteration and for the team to put that feedback into practice.

Step 2: Product Discovery: Identify what you want to make, who you want to make it for, and why

Clarifying your app’s vision is a vital step before beginning the mobile app development process; this is known as Product Discovery. The success of your app depends on this. Product discovery is based on continuously testing ideas and solutions and learning how to modify them to meet consumer demands. It also guarantees that your development staff understands your objectives and can implement your ideas, in addition to your awareness of end users’ wants.

During product discovery, you should concentrate on the following areas:

Formulating a plan. What do you want to achieve? What do you hope to accomplish?
Focusing on the issue of prospective consumers. Who is the user? What kind of issues are they facing? How can we assist them?
Generating ideas for solutions. How can the issue be resolved? What would such a solution accomplish? Which option is the best?
Making prototypes. What is the experience of my users? Is the solution to my liking?
going over concepts. Are your concepts sufficient? What are the opinions of my users about them? Can I really fix their issues?
focusing on specific solutions. Which concepts will we put into practice?
Setting priorities. Which of the app’s features are most important? Which features should be added first?
Making plans. What does our MVP (Minimum Viable Product) cover? How can I assess the outcome to see whether the objective has been achieved?

This is fantastic if your vision is clear and you already know the answers! However, just thinking about them is insufficient. Put them in writing and discuss them with others, such as your coworkers, friends, or coworkers. They need to be aware of its purpose.

What if you didn’t have a clear vision before beginning development? Although the process of product discovery is optional, would it make sense to begin expensive development without doing enough research? According to the “1:10:100 rule” found in the Theory of Quality Management, failure is more expensive than correction, and prevention is more expensive than repair. Compared to launching a pointless application, Product Discovery is completely free of charge.

To put it simply, Product Discovery is the stage of app development when we prioritize creating the right thing rather than the right thing.

App design agenciesare teams of experts who specialize in creating visually appealing and user-friendly mobile and web applications. They combine creativity, technical skills, and user experience knowledge to design interfaces that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

STAGE 3: UX/UI app design: decide how your application will function and appear.

First, let’s clarify what UX and UI stand for. In short: The way an app functions is called UX (User Experience). The way it appears is called UI (User Interface). A well-designed user interface and user experience are crucial from a commercial perspective. Ultimately, they have an impact on the rate of retention. Users will adore and use your software if the user experience is delightful and faultless and the design leaves a favorable impression.

Map of User Journeys

You create a User Journey Map (either by yourself or with your development team). It shows how a user navigates your application. It narrates the experience of the user.

UX wireframes

Wireframes are digital, simplified visual conceptions of the future application that are created by designers. They define the product’s hierarchy, structure, and relationships amongst its constituent parts. It is the foundation of a kind of software.

Design (UI)

Designers work on your app’s style guide, motion design, user interface, and visual language. You get movies showcasing your app’s motion design (animations & screen transitions) as well as mockups displaying the finished product.

In conclusion, even if you have a fantastic app concept, you will fail if the UX and interface design are poor. Ensure that the UI Design and UX procedures are carried out with consideration. AtLinkitsoft, Participate in every step of the product design process to help the team mold the finished designs to your specifications. Finally, but just as importantly, keep the users of your app at the forefront of your mind.

STAGE 4. Project kick-off and setup: last preparations prior to app development commencing

App Development Kick-off has a big impact on how well you and your software partner work together. In summary, it’s time to specify each team member’s function and define yours as a Product Owner. Project Kick-off also include preparing the following stages and establishing the guidelines you want to adhere to.