It’s time for you to get that application built. It may be for internal use, or for a product or service you want to sell.
Either way, you want an application that its users will genuinely enjoy using, so that it gets purchased, used, appreciated, and talked about – in a positive way.
You can hire any number of companies to “just write the code.” But, sadly, that isn’t nearly enough.
We can’t tell you how many times managers have come to us after they have “hired coders,” tried their best, and just didn’t get what they needed or their customers wanted. Of course, by the time they come to us, there isn’t much time, because the planned launch date is right around the corner.
We usually still manage to pull it off, but it would be better for everyone – and for your product – if you came to us first. Yes, you will get coding. You will even get a competitive price, even though we’re an onshore development firm. We understand the reality of new product development; we get your budget and schedule constraints.
Why do coding-only projects fail? Two reasons. First, they’re often done offshore, and communication/culture issues just muck up the works more than anyone can imagine. Offshore works well in many cases, but product development isn’t one of them. Second, and even more importantly, the real elephant in the room is the fact that coders – no matter where they are in the world – aren’t experienced in all of the things that make an application a market-ready product. They don’t know what should go into it, and they don’t know what can go wrong. There is more to software product development than just code.
An application or product that will compete in the marketplace – and get used and recommended – has these characteristics:
1. It meets or exceeds the standards set by competing and popular products. It is consistent in its navigation and nomenclature, in a way that is familiar to users.
2. It is visually up to date, appealing, and intuitive. The user always knows exactly what he can or cannot do with the application, and what comes next.
3. The application uses accepted navigational norms – such as a search box in the upper right corner and familiar “submit / next / continue” buttons. And it does so consistently across the entire application.
4. The application is tested for usability as it is created, so there isn’t that nasty, terrible surprise at the end where your users reject the entire application because “it doesn’t do what I expected it to, the way I expected it to do it.”
5. Is designed to be secure, and security is baked into all stages of development. Security is one of those “meets the standard” aspects of application development. We take this so seriously that we have even developed the security tools that other developers use.
6. The application is developed with market realities and revenue goals in mind. This is truly rare among application developers, and one of the main reason that clients come to us for development. There are so many decisions to be made that will impact the business aspect of the application, including:
7. What is the price point?
8. What is the business goal for this application?
9. What do users expect to get at that price point?
10. Are there features you absolutely must have, and features you could leave out for later – or not include at all?
11. What features/functions would really separate you from the pack, and are they worth the additional development effort?
12. What is the best development platform for this application – in terms of longevity, support, maintenance, speed of development, and cost?
13. How many different devices must this application work on, and how do you make sure that the application works well on all required devices?
14. How many users or transactions must this application support? How can we make sure it will scale?
15. What is the history of this application? Are we starting from scratch, or building on prior history?
16. How much support can the company give the development effort? How many people are involved, and what are their roles?
17. What is the target budget?
We have developed hundreds of applications, of all types, for web, cloud, mobile, the
“Internet of Things” (IoT, or embedded devices), desktops, and kiosks.
As we work with you, our team will be as focused on usability and marketability as they are on the technical functionality and sophistication of the application. Every single application development process starts with us putting our pencils down, and asking the right questions. What is this thing? Who is the buyer? Who is the user? (They are often different people.) What are we trying to achieve here? What are your goals and your success criteria?
It’s all part of being a company that produces more than just code. Before we even get to the code we think together with you to make sure we’re going to create a market-ready product. We do market and customer research. We do mockups. We do usability testing. It’s all part of deciding what code you should be writing, before you ever write any code. It’s applying the lessons that we’ve learned developing countless commercial applications that are running out in the real world.
What happens when you take an internal app and turn it into a commercial product?
It’s not uncommon for one of our clients to develop an application for internal use then, over time, it becomes apparent that their customers could find that application useful, so the company starts to share it with their customers.
Things can get messy after that. They’ve crossed the bridge from a piece of code to a product, one that must accommodate their customers’ thought process and workflow. Often the internal application isn’t really robust enough to handle higher volume usage, or customers start using the application in ways the original developers hadn’t intended or anticipated.
In these situations, you will be surprised at what users expect – in terms of how the application functions and the features that they wish it included. What started out as a possible source of income – and almost a “favor” to customers – becomes a major development, maintenance, and support effort.
The truth is, the most straightforward and inexpensive way to a new product is to bring the idea to a product development company (yes, like us) when the product is still in the concept stage. We can help you make the kinds of decisions that make sure your product will work in the marketplace, without any false starts. Doing it once, onshore, the right way, is always cheaper than fixing a product that is already broken, and after you’ve used up most of your development time.
Around here we have a rule: We won’t help you fail. When it comes to developing applications, you can actually “succeed to death:” you make your customers want your product badly, then disappoint them when they start using it. That’s no fun. There is a way to develop an application that moves smoothly along from concept to commercial product. It’s what we do.
You need to build a software application. Now what?
What should you do? How should you do it? What should you look out for? This guide will help you spot the most common pitfalls and avoid them. Advice you won’t find elsewhere.