Smartphones have revolutionized the ways in which companies do business nowadays. No matter whether you need to order food, book tickets, pay bills, buy groceries, or just any other thing, mobile applications make it possible for the users to carry out such tasks effectively and conveniently.
With the rise in the number of mobile phone users, the usage of mobile devices is expected to skyrocket soon. Mobile applications have become a necessity for businesses since they stimulate user engagement, brand awareness, online visibility, etc. In addition to it, mobile apps promote revenue growth as well.
That being said, if you are looking forward to developing a mobile app for your business, you must understand how things work. To get an application developed for your business, you can contact rocketlab.com.au. Visit them to get all your development needs to be served.
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Before you approach mobile app developers to get mobile apps developed, it is crucial to understand the development process. You should also infer how your application will fit your marketing goals and your industry’s niche. The steps you need to follow are mentioned as follows:
1. Discover, Research, and Know the Best Tech Stack for the Mobile App:
You may have done some research to get started with the development process of your mobile app. However, as the saying goes, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” and thus before you contact app developers, carry out intense research on the development process. Dive deep and collect as much information as possible, about your target audience, business and competitors as well.
Finding answers to a few questions as mentioned below will give you a clear idea of what will work best for your app.
What are your goals behind building a mobile app? The platforms that you want to use for your mobile app? Who is your target audience? How your competitors are performing, do they have a mobile app, what features do they have in their mobile app, etc.? When do you want to launch your app and how will you promote it?
2. Defining Intentions and Objectives for Building App:
It is one of the most crucial steps in planning the development of your mobile app. After determining what kind of mobile app you want for your business, you need to know the steps you need to follow to get it to the market.
To define the goals of your app, you should answer a few common questions. What features will you integrate into your mobile app? What problems will your mobile app solve? etc.
3. Structures and Wireframes:
Now that you know how your mobile app will look, and the features that it will encompass, you will have to work on the design and development plan.
Establish a scope for your work, the parts that you want your in-house team to do, and what parts you will outsource. When it comes to wireframing your app, you can use several apps available for the task.
4. Interpreting the Components of Backend:
The storyboard and wireframes laid out for your app will conform as a guide for the structure of your mobile app. That being said, you will need the things that will be required to support your mobile app. Such elements include APIs, servers, data diagrams, push notification services, integration of data, etc.
In several cases, it is often noticed that small to medium-sized enterprises find more sense in picking a mobile backend as a service platform since it helps them solve multiple challenges.
Also, you should stay flexible during the early stages, since you may have to change the wireframes and storyboard as and when the situation demands.
5. Assessing the Prototypes:
If required, at this phase you may need to change the wireframes. After finalising the storyboard and wireframe, you will have to get started with building an interactive prototype.
The prototyping phase is crucial in the process of app development since it provides the opportunity of evaluating concepts of app design, collecting feedback, and identifying all possible flaws in the performance of your mobile app.
People who are not part of your development team will best evaluate the usability of your app. They will give you honest feedback on how your app performs and how easy it is to use.
During this phase, you will have to finalize the design of your mobile app and its concept. The establishment of a high fidelity prototype during this phase will also guide you through the development process.
6. The Development Phase:
If you have not hired a mobile BaaS provider or not using the app development platform, then you should know that there are several steps involved in the development process.
You will have to set up an account for the developers on the app store. This step takes several days and hence, you should not overlook it. Go through the guidelines of the app store where you want to launch it so that the application doesn’t get rejected.
Then comes the coding and programming phase of your app. Ensure using the best UI/UX framework so that the end-users enjoy using your app.
7. Thoroughly Test The App Developed:
This is an exciting phase in the mobile app development lifecycle. Now that you have everything in place, you need to get started with testing the application developed so that all real-life scenarios are encountered and possible technical flaws are corrected.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that if some feature was working well in the development phase, it will work in the final concept as well. You need to test every functionality integrated.
You should also observe other users when they are testing your application so that you have an idea of the problems that your end users may face.
You can also use several mobile UX testing tools available in the market. Such a tool will give you feedback in real-time and analytics. Ensure to test for cross-platform compatibility as well so that you have an idea of how your images and graphics appear.
Conclusion
The last steps in mobile application development include launch, promotion, and its official release. Your responsibility doesn’t get over with the release of your app, and you will have to keep up with its regular maintenance to ensure it functions adequately.
Kim Marks 
Nicola Holder