5 Ways to Save Money When Building a Mobile App

Featured article by Magdalena Sawicka-Adryjanek, Content Manager, Tech & Startup Devotee

Introduction

The importance of businesses reaching the widest audience possible has been a determiner of success ever since the entrepreneurs staring selling products and services. The age-old question has been answered in a number of ways. Today one of the best methods to reach a wide audience is by the incorporation of a mobile app. It is the answer that may be simple but the implementation can reduce the return on investment to the point where company directors turn red in the face and start pulling hair. Preventing such a scene when the desired app falls short is of the utmost importance. What follows is five proven methods to prevent your boss from entering a murderous rage.

Clarity in Project Requirements

The first step in any mobile software development project is determining that there is a need for an app. The difference between the need and the final launch of an app is vast, filled with questions and uncertainties. All the questions tend to manifest as an extra cost. Something to avoid if not wanting to give the powers that be a heart attack. The best way to get started is to have a clear plan of attack.

A comprehensive plan not only saves money and time but it clearly sets out parameters for the developers. The less guesswork they have to do the better. This reduces the need for multiple revisions and is itself a way to prevent costs skyrocketing.

Less is More

When it comes to app functionality there is always the temptation to re-invent the wheel. This temptation to shoot for the stars often results in those behind the app’s development to want to function on top of the function. Feature-rich is and always will be expensive. This is in part to longer development times and simply trying to get all of the features to work in a concise way.

Rather than looking to make an app that does everything, it is better to create an app that does a few things incredibly well. Project managers need to have a clear understanding of the apps aims and target audience so that functions fill those very specific needs.

Step by Step

The business world is full of new and trendy jargon. Some of it can be useful, for example when development adopts a scrum approach in order to become more “agile”. Some of the jargon will turn into dogmatic practice while others will fall by the wayside but an approach in software development that has lasted the test is iterative development.

At the start of the project, the app can be looked at as a whole product ready to be delivered, at least in the minds of those assigned to the project. However, the reality is that all good apps were developed in stages and feature a module per function. By separating the build time into modules the team can stay focussed on those preventing time wasted pursuing grand but vague concepts.

One Team

This methodology applies to whether you outsource development or use in-house talent. It is far more efficient to have one team working on the project rather than multiple teams focused on separate aspects of the project. With multiple teams the need for impeccable and perfect communication skyrockets. Team heads need to be able to coordinate seamlessly. This along with perfect communication forces in complexity that will inevitably result in delays.

Detrimental Deadlines

Giving a development team no deadline is a bad idea for a number of reasons. The opposite of no deadline can be equally as bad for the project. If deadlines are unrealistic and place speed of delivery over quality the development team will be error-prone. The more errors there are in the code, delays and increased costs will in all likelihood happen as errors require time to fix.

Conclusion

Businesses need to see a return on investment, this is a maxim all business promotes. A mobile app can be a great tool to realize this goal but by placing speed over quality or by not having a clearly defined idea at the start an app can quickly turn into a money pit.

About The Author

Magdalena Sawicka-Adryjanek, content manager, tech & startup devotee, marketing trends follower, local IT community supporter. Exploring these fields for almost 8 years currently in Merixstudio – one of the best web & custom software developers in the world (according to Clutch.co). Always looking for some smashing news, innovations and great content. Happy to help and share the knowledge.