The definitive guide for non-tech entrepreneurs to create a first mobile app

Nothing is doable without having a specific goal in mind. You have to find a purpose for your app before you get into development.

Your app idea should match the purpose and benefit your audience in solving their problems.

Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals and break down your goals into simple tasks/milestones before getting started.

Use Agile development methodology in your app development process to maximize productivity, minimize risks, and deliver the product faster.

After identifying an idea for your app, it's time to do your research to validate it.

Idea validation helps you understand whether there is a demand for the app you develop and how it solves the customer problems.

Competitive market research can also help you understand the problems that your competitors' users are having, and you can utilize this information to improve your app.

With market research, you can get an idea of the features you should include and what you shouldn't.

If there's no demand for a particular feature, you should not devote your time and effort to creating it even when your fiercest competitor has it in their app.

After extensive market research, you should now have a clear picture of the necessities to build your app and the features to include.

As mentioned earlier, you don't have to build an entire app feature in a single launch.

You can start with a minimum viable product (MVP) and add features as you go!

Identify all of the features to be included in your app and rank them in order of importance.

And you can add features to your app depending on this priority at each of the milestones you established earlier.

Remember SMART goal?

Now you have all the requirements in hand! Pass it on to your designer to create mockups and final designs for your app flow.

Also, if possible do UX research to identify the target users' needs and goals to enrich your app designs.

Transfer all the knowledge you have from the market research to your designer and work with them to produce the best result possible.

You could use design tools like Figma or Adobe XD to create your app design.

Once you create your design, have a design review meet with your team to analyze the workflow.

You must choose whether to develop an iOS app, an Android app, or both.

This can be solved by conducting thorough market research on your product.

If you found you have an almost equal demand on both platforms, it is wise to create both.

Are you decided on the platforms you are going to build your apps?

If you decided to create iOS and Android apps separately, you could use Native technologies like Swift and Kotlin.

Another option is to use cross-platform technology to create Android and iOS applications using a single code.

A few cross-platform technologies are Flutter, Xamarin, React Native, etc.

Be proactive in choosing your technology to make your app function better!

As we discussed earlier, there are multiple ways to develop your mobile app. Now, you should choose the method you prefer.

If you want to build a marketplace app like Uber, Airbnb, UberEats, Turo, Instacart, we offer readymade products that will help you.

Also, if you want a detailed process of creating each app, we provided a list of guides below to help you with it.

Can't make the right decision? Write to us at [email protected] to get in touch with our experts.

We're about to make your dream happen.

After you've weighed all of your options for mobile app development, it's time to create a minimal viable product (MVP).

An MVP contains features that are required for the app to function.

You can use your MVP to gauge interest in your product, get feedback, and scale it as your user base increases.

This way, you can minimize the risk of investing a large sum of money and effort into a product that won't last much longer.

Building an MVP is an integral part of agile development methodology.

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” — Steve Jobs

After developing your MVP, you should test the product quality before pushing it into the market.

Send the app build to your QA team so they may test it and provide feedback.

Diawi can be used to share the app build. It allows developers to share Android and iOS apps via a web link.

Basic functionalities, compatibility, user interface, accessibility, security, and other testing processes should be performed on your app.

🎉 Hurray!

You've put in all the effort. It's now time to submit your apps to the App Store and Play Store.

Both stores have different submission processes. However, to make the process easier, make sure you follow all of their instructions.

Here are the resources you should read before getting started with the submission:

✅ https://developer.android.com/studio/publish

✅ https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

Once published, your app will be available for your customers to download and use.