App Development Process at LANARS: Core App Development Phases

App Development Process at LANARS

When businesses seek technical solutions to implement their ideas, the next step is finding a reliable contractor qualified for this purpose. In the diverse market of software vendors, potential customers are often puzzled by the abundance of offers. They might be wondering how the development process is structured and what workflows are set up within the software team. They need to be assured the end-product will be profitable, with guarantees of high-performance and quality and that it will enter the market on time.

With us, each stage of this process is divided into interlocking parts so that the individual stages come together at the end as a complete system. Following a personalized strategy, we handle any challenges that might occur. The methodology we apply allows our team to streamline the software development stages, offering easy management aligned with the input requirements during each phase.             

Below, you can browse through the guidelines that describe how we run the entire software development process step by step. 

Negotiation phase

A client request is a trigger for initiating the software development process. Before detailing, we will choose a route that will help overcome any potential failures during the process. Also, as standard, while gathering the necessary requirements, we maintain the confidentiality of the client's business idea.    

Personalized communication starts with a video call, where we begin to collect the requirements and shape an initial customer profile. Here, sales managers and business analysts take part to follow the presale process. As a rule, they collaborate to gather the information required for preparing a proposal. Commonly, the requirements may consist of information on a mix of the development stuff, including out-staffing resources and a suitable technology stack. 

Nobody likes nasty surprises, especially when the stakes are high. At this point, the risks associated with the end product, organizational structure, and business environment should be determined and mitigated. Having the appropriate level of expertise while delegating the responsibilities and assigning the roles is another way to reduce technical issues during the app development lifecycle. In each case, we set specific algorithms to follow while measuring the project goals and risks simultaneously. 

Upon receiving a customer request, we make a rough estimation of how much money and time the initial project will take using the initial input data. This step can be calculated in advance, based on the scale and complexity of similar previous projects. Potential customers can use it as a yardstick on which to pencil in a preliminary budget. Project estimates may vary in a percentage ratio, based on the client's input requirements before the discovery stage. This way, we can help our client regulate unnecessary spending and set priority expenses.  

After the drafts are mapped, the negotiation switches to a personalized proposal. We capture all the requirements on paper, sign the contract, then continue to flesh-out the details during the next phase.

Discovery phase

The next stage is to compose the high-level end product requirements for project managers, business analysts, and our technical team. All roles are specifically delegated between team members to adhere to the single idea concept. 

In fact, the software development life cycle (SDLC) has multiple distinct steps to ensure your project delivers effective results during each phase. Based on our longstanding experience, we consider the discovery stage as an essential component of establishing a significant pillar for the progressive development process. We apply a work management approach on the basis of the customer’s request. Whether it is Agile, Scrum, Lean, or an option our client already prefers, we ensure each phase of the project will have strict time optimization and result-based implementation.

Once a customer-reviewed and approved the project details and signed all required documents, all materials will be transferred to the project management team to shape the whole digital project. Project managers generate documentation and a project management plan to validate with stakeholders and customers to align with the needs of the focus group. They start collaborating on the final business purpose, share their visions, and exchange experiences. 

After all of the participants of this phase have processed the feedback on the project details, the next crucial step is to review internal documents to determine similar product-related reviews on the market. Business analysts again enter the development process by analyzing the market, competitors, value reams and evaluate targeted business sectors. Their work forms the deliverables of the work for solution architects, UX, and UI designers.

The obtained information, based on market research of product segments, is subjected to careful analysis. Next is the creation of a Software Requirements Specification (SRS), which is a roadmap for each team member to follow critically. On the artistic side, creating user infographics and journeys additionally helps to represent the user’s product experience to forecast potential issues.

Based on the discovery phase, it is possible to come up with a total budget and time frame. The Work Breakdown Structure hierarchy contains the main requirements, acceptance criteria, risk identification, wireframes, and time estimations to perform tasks in the aforementioned specifications. 

By using Jira Work Management, project managers arrange assignments of project tasks in priority order so that the whole team is able to follow them throughout each sprint and report during daily standup meetings. Next, the initial project setup with technical documentation is ready to move to the core development phase.

Design Phase

During the discovery phase, the major deliverables for the work of the software designers are formed. The design phase starts with a careful analysis of the design task flow and product roadmap created by the business analyst. When BA finishes processing all the business requirements, solution architects do their job and complete an architectural vision of the product.  

A design review and formal approval by customers is an essential detail we always keep in mind. After all the points have been considered, we get down to shape the product design.  

Firstly, based on the design workflow, UX designers create wireframes to show how different elements are represented on the screen. The second step is about creating a visual design of the screens on the basis of the client's stylistic preferences. This part is more up to the intense work of the UI designers. They are engaged in the creation of an app's graphic appearance, including choosing colors, shapes, or icons. The joint work of UI and UX designers is to visualize the interaction and visual concepts based on the user's necessary functionality and convenience. They collect their visions into one aesthetic picture. 

By combining the UX flow, they create the first product design prototypes. They represent a collection of images of each screen with tappable hotspots. 

As a rule, the final stage is user testing. Before moving on to the coding of an app, we often conduct internal testing to get feedback and the user acceptance.    

Development Phase

At this stage, the requirements for the development team are generated to start creating the app’s functioning system. We determine the app architecture during the development phase, choose the appropriate technology stack, and review technical documentation. Before initial development starts, the designed prototypes and technical specification is vital. All details on how the app will look and how it will work are defined there. The first drafts formed by a solution architect allow formalizing the project scope to the development team.

Further, we deploy a repository that assigns each developer with a precise task in a current sprint. Development sprints last two weeks, during which, a certain amount of functionality should be performed. After each part is complete, it moves on to internal review and testing. In such a way, the development process is transparent to both sides. Customers are aware of each stage before the final app release, while developers are ensured that their code doesn't break anything produced before. 

As mentioned, the development of each app feature is divided into actual implementation and testing. By implementing the UI design into the real programming code, we test the developed functionality regularly and always keep in touch with project stakeholders. At this point, regular meetings help us ensure that coding phase meet specific business requirements. 

Considering the testing part, when the development team finishes implementing a specific app feature, the Quality Assurance engineering team plays their role. The QA's primary goal is to detect errors and register them, then sending this back to the development team to make corrections until complete unit testing will be fully functional. Unit testing includes web usability, compatibility, performance, security, and UI checks. Our DevOps engineer makes this aspect simpler. His primary responsibility is to oversee the arrangement of all processes in the app development cycle and preparing products for successful deployment and stabilization. 

As a result, after complete predetermined end software simulations, the fully developed version of the application is submitted to the App Store and Play Market.   

Maintenance and Evolution Phase

Regardless of the amount of testing made during the development phase after each sprint, some non-functional issues often occur. Thus, the final maintenance and evolution stage aims to prepare an application for the full product release on the app market and coordinate further support. This means that the first product uploaded to the App Store and Play Market may not be the end of the journey.

From our side, we complete all tasks to ready the product for final release and offer support both during pre-and post-release. The pre-release support includes systems backup, verification testing, and the app's functionality stabilization. 

Before first attempts to release, sometimes there is a need for alpha and beta testing to penetrate your product into the actual app user's environment. This limited audience may report app problems or suggest improvements relating to further upgrades at the early stages. 

What's more, it can help you plan promotion strategies and monetize your app as soon as possible.

Our team tries out the app’s functionality and gathers user feedback to monitor the system's operation. Depending on the customer's choice, sometimes we apply User Acceptance Testing (UAT), where the feedback received is used to stabilize the new product to improve the QA team's reports and ensure that the fixes don't cause any other problems.

The final part of this phase is providing post-release support. At this point, the first data gathered during testing is aimed at creating tech support, uploading regular updates, and fixing issues based on user requests in future updates. We can offer a report of recommendation for potential app updates. The user's app usage analysis is one area that can form the basis of additional implementations after the official release. 

Also, we can suggest planning a budget for the maintenance and annual update costs. In such a way, our client gains an advantageous position to plan available resources for ongoing app evolution and managing unexpected issues.  

How We Ensure Visibility

We choose to provide our clients with transparency during each phase of the app development process. By using the main components of any decent project, these goals are achieved faster. 

Thus, we start by facilitating the interaction with our team. In general, sometimes, we may join an ongoing development project or use communication channels as specified by the customer. In other cases, the control of the working processes is guaranteed with the help of our Slack. We create general chats between the client and our teams, so that our clients can monitor the project progress, make corrections, or communicate with any participant of the project.

 So we provide full access to our tools and communicate through secured channels with a team if required. By the way, we leave application source files and direct access to its repository on the client’s side.  

The scope of completed and remaining work, possible development risks, and the ways to address them are included in the project plan specified by PMs. App development process steps at Lanars are evident, as we make regular calls and send current project plans at the end of each sprint or by request. At this point, progress tracking is performed to oversee risks and create solutions about ways to eliminate them. 

Bottom Line

Focusing on minor details makes our new project notable and capable of acquiring cutting-edge monetization strategies. All components of the app development mechanism influence the end product directly. So, our aim is fully achieved if we apply the most suitable tools to manage highly organized processes during each phase.

Perfect product implementation depends on the proper methodology, the competency level of each team member, and the way we collaborate. Following each outlined stage above helps us to offer you to work under “above expectations” terms.

We also want our clients to have an accurate picture of the entire process of developing an app. It doesn’t matter if some aspects fall beyond your area of expertise. We are ready to make this process transparent and work for your business objectives directly. 

Unleash the full potential of your product with our team!