As per Statista, the software development industry is on the rise with global spending on enterprise software being 5.2 trillion. Another statistic tells us the number of smartphone users has nearly doubled from 2016 to 2022. Other data for smartphone subscription till 2027. Also, there have been 218 billion downloads of mobile apps worldwide.

All these statistics convey only one thing: the future of software and product development, especially web and mobile app development is bright. 

Online presence in the form of web or mobile apps has become a necessity for most businesses today. But when it comes to planning the development of web and mobile applications, business owners need to take care of a few things. Whether building it in-house or outsourcing it to an experienced and adept software and product development partner, let’s look at the things to consider while developing mobile and web applications:

Things to Consider While Developing Web and Mobile Applications

1. Target Audience

The first and foremost step is to identify who is your target audience. Before going straight into the development, it’s essential to identify the user base your app will target. Find and list out all the possible information such as location, age group, gender, profession, income level, occupation, etc. about your target audience.

Deciding the user base is vital for measuring the success and failure of your web and mobile application. Hence, targeting the right kind of audience is crucial. Finding the right target audience starts with what pain points your web or mobile app solves. Based on those pain points, you can effectively run your marketing campaigns and attract the right kind of target audience.

To identify the target audience, developers should consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors. For example, if the mobile application is designed for younger people, it may have a more playful design and include features that appeal to younger users, such as social sharing or gamification. On the other hand, if the application is designed for professionals, it may have a more streamlined and efficient design with features that facilitate productivity and collaboration.

Understanding the target audience also helps developers determine how the application will be marketed and distributed. For example, if the target audience is primarily mobile users,  mobile app developers may prioritize developing a mobile app over a web app. If the target audience is primarily located in a specific geographic region, developers may focus their marketing efforts on that area.

Another best practice to find the right target audience is to create different user personas based on the available information. Doing so will also help you better understand your target audience and build more intuitive, engaging, and feature-rich web or mobile applications.

2. Selection of Tech Stack and Platform

Once you have figured out who your target audience is, the next thing to consider is the technology stack required for your dream to come true. Based on the target audience, select the right technology stack to develop your web or mobile applications. Selection of the right tech stack helps your application become a hit in the market as soon as it is released.

If you want to develop a mobile application, find what platform your audience mostly uses: iOS or Android and select one or both to widen your scope. Once it’s clear, you may proceed to develop a native, hybrid, or cross-platform application. NativeScript, React Native, Ionic, Flutter, etc. are the most popular frameworks to develop hybrid or cross-platform mobile apps.

Web apps, on the other hand, have two layers: frontend and backend, and technologies for both differ vastly. The frontend layer of web apps is developed using JS frameworks, CSS, HTML, etc. whereas the backend is developed using NodeJS, C#, Java, Python, PHP, C++, etc.

Based on the scope and scale of the project, you can select the right kind of tech stack to develop your web or mobile applications.

3. App Architecture Designing

App architecture designing is one of the most important aspects that act as a catalyst for the success of your web or mobile applications. The main focus of your app design should be on making it intuitive and easily navigable by end-users. Poorly designed apps are a turn-off for users and can force them to uninstall or try another app with advanced UI/UX designs.

To develop an app that meets their expectations and requirements, you must recognize the target audience's requirements. The team at ashutec meets every requirement of the audience. The most important features and functionalities of an app should be prioritized and directly depends on available to consumers.

Using colors, typography, and images that enhance the visual design's support for the app's performance and brand identity, the app should have an appealing visual design that is consistent with the brand identity.

Try not to add unnecessary elements to reduce distractions for users and help them find what they are looking for with ease. An expert team of designers will help you design your applications with pixel-perfect and sleek UI/UX designs that flow naturally from one point to another. Further, limiting your usage of sending notifications too frequently and offering more than one input method may cause users to uninstall apps.

4. Features to Offer

Another significant aspect to consider while developing your web and mobile app is the features to offer to end-users. Decide what features should you include in your web or mobile app to make it more interactive and engaging. You can either go for including simple features for the basic free version of the app and offer advanced features in the paid version for high-end users

New advancements in technology have also enabled developers to utilize and integrate device features into mobile apps. Features such as fingerprint unlocking, direct calling, SMS, and others can be integrated with the mobile app for enhanced user experience. GPS tracking capabilities also can be provided to users for location-based information. However, integrating such features will make your app complex and slow the loading speed down.

A personalized experience and data security are provided, which enables users to establish accounts and log into your app securely.

You can warn users in real-time about important information or updates relating to your app by using push notifications. If your software supports in-app purchases, users may quickly upgrade and gain access to any premium features or content.

By integrating your app with well-known social networking sites, you can make it simple for users to interact with their friends and followers and exchange content. For web apps, come up with some unique features that your competitors lack and add value to the users’ overall app experience.

5. Budget and Time Frame

Time and budget constraints are common resistance to moving web and mobile app development forward. Thus, you need to estimate the total budget of the project and get an idea of the time frame for the completion of the same. The scale and complexity level of the application to be developed also impacts greatly on budget and time frame.

Depending on the complexity of the project, the features and functionality required, and the website you're targeting, the cost of designing a mobile or web application might vary significantly. Establishing a reasonable budget upfront is essential, as is allocating money for the project's many components, such as design, development, testing, and marketing.

The complexity of the project and the available resources can affect how long it takes to develop a mobile or web application. It's essential to establish a plan with milestones and due dates for each project phase, such as design, development, testing, and release.

Moreover, you may also need to consider the expenses for maintaining and marketing your application along with the development budget. Fix your budget and other expenses and hire an outsourcing partner that offers cost-effective web or mobile app development services at your budget. One other thing you can do to ensure that your app development project completes within the budget is by setting up time frames and deadlines. Keep track of each stage of the development completed within its stipulated time frame to adhere to your budget.

6. Security and Maintenance

Regardless of whether building applications in-house or outsourcing the whole project, there will require maintenance and security checkups. Security and maintenance of the web and mobile applications are important aspects when outsourcing the project. Ashutec Solutions Pvt Ltd. is committed to providing cost-effective web and mobile app development with best-in-class security and upkeep.

It is important to develop mobile and online applications with security in mind to protect user data and stop illegal access. Using appropriate authentication and authorization methods, encrypting sensitive data, using secure communication protocols (like HTTPS), and routinely testing and auditing the application for vulnerabilities are just a few examples of security measures.

For mobile and online applications to continue working effectively and to stay current with new security measures, maintenance is necessary. Regular updates to the application to fix bugs and security holes, performance optimization, and the addition of new features are all examples of maintenance activities.

We just not only develop the apps but also help keep them up-to-date, remove bugs and issues, add new features, and track the performance of the application for further improvement. Moreover, we utilize the tech stack with the highest level of security measures to ensure your data is safe and secure from the very beginning.

Summing Up

The aforementioned aspects are essential and must be taken care of while developing web and mobile applications. Once you have taken care of all these things, your web or mobile application will help you reinforce your brand’s online presence, make traffic into users, and turn them into loyal and eventually evangelists.

Ashutec Solutions Pvt Ltd. is an experienced team of passionate professionals and an ideal outsourcing partner offering unique and innovation-driven software and product development services. We offer to develop interactive and engaging custom web and mobile applications along with API development, UI/UX design, software testing, and upgrade/migration of applications.

Have a project in mind for us? Write an email at connect@ashutec.com and start a discussion on your web and mobile app requirements.