Developing a mobile app with ready-made designs
In case you have already thought the idea through and the design is created by your designer or any company, you probably can’t wait to launch the app. Remember though, that before the development team implements your idea, there are still other steps to complete. If you want it to be fine tuned, you have to be aware that it will take some time. Developing a mobile app with ready-made designs is faster than without them. But most of the time to be spent on the project is still dedicated to the app development process.
So here are some hints for you to make your new mobile app a real success!
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More haste less speed — we still need to make analyses
You might think that after the designs are created, there’s nothing left to do and the team should start the app development process straightaway. It’s not that easy though! The team that wasn’t there while creating designs has to see them in the first place. See them, analyse them and draw conclusions.
These analyses will not look the same as in case you didn’t have designs, but are still necessary. An experienced team, having insight into the graphic project, always sees areas and elements for discussion.
For the mobile app development process we have to check if the project is properly prepared to start it. We also have to understand the purpose of the app. Then, we need to check if all the elements of the designs were taken into account. There might be e.g. some error states, empty states and differences between platforms.
At FiveDotTwelve, we’ll always give recommendations or suggestions for your app development taking advantage of the experience we have. When our client has any kind of doubts concerning the project, there is always a possibility to be involved more than it was planned before. Just because it has been established that calls or meetings will be held twice a week doesn’t mean they can’t take place more often. You’ll always be involved as much as you need.
Accept the changes concerning UI and UX
The designs might require changing/improving. There is no such thing as a perfect design. The team has to browse through the whole documentation very carefully. That’s because what you’d like the mobile app development company to do next are estimations. And they can only be accurate with well finished designs. You can find more information about the estimations here and here in section 4.
Making these analyses is crucial in order to assure our client with the best possible customer service. Different clients come to us with projects at different stages of app development. We always have to dig into them and decide what needs to be changed.
You have to be aware that some corrections are essential so that the development runs efficiently. During the process, every detail is important e.g. exact parameters (sizes) of the buttons and their margins in an app. These are often things you don’t even see as a non-professional user, but they’re crucial for the development team. When the lack of details occurs, it extends the time of the mobile app development lifecycle. Still, it’s almost impossible to predict everything at the stage of creating designs. That’s why you have to stay in touch with the team — to clear up any doubts concerning the UI as well as the UX designs.
Why can’t we just give you the price?
That’s the question some clients ask. At the early stage of the process we’re being asked about the overall costs. This is something we cannot fully predict, because it depends on many factors. This rule also exists in case of ready-made designs. As mentioned above, we still need to check everything and make sure the designs are finely structured. The price is determined after the whole process of making estimations. So, once the designs are checked and corrected (if needed), we can move on to this activity.
First, the tasks are being divided for each team member and the process flow is set. Then each of them has to predict how much time they’ll spend on their tasks and the Project Manager calculates the overall project estimate.
Remember that prepared estimation still might be subject to change as during the development itself it sometimes turns out that something’s missing or that you, as a client, decide to add new features or change the design. And yes, it works the other way round too. If a feature is found to be redundant and can be disposed of, there will be a surplus of time and therefore the costs will be reduced.
So in conclusion, don’t expect to know the price at the very beginning of the process. If we want to keep our services on a high level, it’s simply impossible to give you the quotation for the app development so soon. The app’s functionality and users’ satisfaction remain the most important.
The rest of the mobile app development process
The whole app development process (programming) is, of course, on the developers side but it doesn’t mean you’re not involved. There are still calls or meetings during this process to check if everything is going as planned and if you, as a client, have any additional requirements.
The team will inform you about the stage of the project on a regular basis — about what has changed, which features are already implemented and which are going to be developed in the near future.
The app is being tested by the QA team and development team all the time. Testing phase is not at the end of mobile app development. All the features are checked one by one during the implementation.
After that there comes the time to launch the app on mobile stores (Google Play store, App Store, Huawei Gallery etc.).
So as you see, developing a mobile app with ready-made designs is much faster and easier than from scratch. But you still have a lot of work.
In case you’re interested, you can find projects from different designers for example on Dribbble.
Depending on where you are with your solution, see our blog posts related to different possible stages of the project:
Mobile app development with nothing but an idea
Changing the partner for my project in mobile app development
