A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO

How to Ideate for Your App

“There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they can become something more” – Nick Fury.

I think quoting this memorable line from The Avengers is the best way to start this section and make you understand the density of an idea.

Nick Fury didn’t just form a group of superheroes because it was super exciting. No, he grouped them because he saw them as the solution for the world’s problems. And he was right. Year after year, some issues will arise, and it is up to the Avengers to solve them.

So if you are thinking of creating an idea for your mobile app, we suggest that you start by looking at the problems existing in the market.

E.g.:- Travellers often visit other countries and mostly, the country’s native language is unknown or not knowledgeable to them. So, there exists a problem.

You have to do market research, which you will learn further down the topic, and understand the clusters of people experiencing this problem, the country, the language, etc.

If you like this idea, then you can work on this. But never constrain your idea to a bare minimum, one. Brainstorm and try to come up with a handful. Because when you follow through further steps, the useless will filter out, and you will get a scalable and profitable app idea.

Is Your App Idea Doable?

Your app idea might be one that will solve crucial problems and have the potential to become a superstar debutant. But you should revise your idea to make sure it is practical or not.

It has to be realistic and viable.

There is no point in cooking up an idea that cannot be created with the available technologies. You are allowed to think big, and you should. But you must know the limitations of the technologies available.

Follow up to the next step to better understand the feasibility/viability of your idea.

Market Research

Market research is one of the most crucial steps in the ideation process. This step will either lift you or break you, and it all depends on how you do it. So it is vital to dedicate a significant amount of time to this section before moving on to the next step.

How to do it?

1. Look for competitors

Yes, your idea might be unique, solving an existing problem. But there is no point in creating an app when your competitors provide the same service you have in mind. You have a shot if your app can provide something no other competitors can.

2. Identify the industry of each idea

This is yet another important part to look into. You should track the trajectory of each industry your idea falls in. Identifying those industries that provide a healthy ground for growth is your task. The future of your app is all about growing, so you must find those ideas in domains where there is a sure possibility of growth.

Documenting these will help you further down the road when you are sitting in front of a potential investor. These documents show your investors that you have done deep research into the industry and will build trust in them.

Remove those ideas that do not bear any fruits in the future and read on.

3. Narrow down your customers

You now have fewer ideas than when you started this ebook. And these ideas have passed every hurdle. Now it is time to find your target audience.

If your ideas can solve a problem, we know that a specific group of people will need your product. But now, it is time for you to learn more about them.

Your research should also give you a good idea of your potential customers. Consider the following:

• Age
• Occupational or Title
• Earnings
• Gender
• The location
• Level of education
• Relationship or family status

Focus on attaining the above-listed data. These data are essential because they will help you strategise your marketing plans. And also, it will help you prioritise the features for your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which you will learn in detail in the coming sections.

Try to revisit this collected data. Time and market wait for no one. You must be keen to look into any changes happening in the marketplace. And if you can, collect some additional information by talking to focus groups within your target market.

There is only one thing constant in this world: change. The marketplace is no exemption.

With the market research done, you may be left with 1 or 2 ideas to work with. Let’s filter it. If you are having trouble choosing, follow these steps to pick the right one.

• • Pick that one idea that you understand better

The better you understand your idea, the better you can innovate. You will know what features to be added and what to be excluded. You will learn how your app needs to work.

• • Pick that idea that is easier to explain and understand

Your idea should be easy for you to explain and easy for others to understand. This is crucial because, at some point, you will be sitting in front of an angel investor or a venture capitalist, trying to convince them to invest in your app. If you stumble while explaining or if your potential investors didn’t understand what you meant, then and there, you lose your funding.

• • Pick the one that fits your budget

Understand which one is more expensive. Of course, you can get investors to fund you. But it is always best to start low for safety. We will discuss more in the budget section of this ebook.
Now that you have picked your idea, it is time for you to look into the technical and non-technical parts involved in the process. Read on.

Technology

Ever wondered what drives your favourite apps forward?
The technology does the heavy lifting to keep the app performance intact.

Choosing the best technology that suits your app can be tricky.

What is a mobile app development tech stack?

A tech stack combines frameworks, programming languages and tools that let you build a fully functional mobile app from scratch. The structure of a tech stack includes three components: Front-end, Backend and Middleware.

Choosing the right tech stack can help you save time, build the app the way you want it and ensure optimal performance, providing a clutter-free experience for your users.

Here’s the deal:

Choosing the right tech stack to create your app will eventually improve your bottom line. Because good tech also means your app is glitch-free, seamless and high-performing, and a flawless app experience could attract more users.

Mobile App Development Frameworks

A mobile app development framework is a platform that includes the tools and software, compilers, debugging tools, and programming interfaces used to build a mobile app.

Top Frameworks for Mobile App Development

Choosing the right framework for your app

So, you’ve got an idea about the most popular frameworks to build your mobile app. The next question would be how to choose the framework that suits your needs? Choosing the proper framework may seem complicated, but it is not a hard nut to crack!

Here are some crucial factors to consider while choosing the best framework to build your mobile application from the ground up.

• Your project type: You should have a clear idea about your project’s type, size, and scope. For example, if the plan is to build an MVP before the major release of your app, then choose an MVP-friendly framework that fits your budget. Rather than just throwing the dice, create a detailed outline of your project before getting started with development.
• Development cost: You might have a light or deep pocket, but consider the approximate development cost before choosing the framework. You can rope in an expert to estimate your requirements and set a cap for development costs.
• Expertise: Good products that you see – from Uber to Instagram – are the effort of experienced tech teams. A team with immense expertise understands the nuances of your app’s technical side and helps you at every stage of development – from ideation to maintenance. Plus, you can draw opinions from tech experts on the framework of your app.
• Time to market: Time to market is the time taken for your app to be available for the consumer markets. If you want to launch your app faster, go for a developer-friendly framework with a shorter learning curve and a single codebase to facilitate quicker development. Creating an MVP will be an ideal option if you’re looking for a shorter time to market.
• Scalability: The scalability of your app determines its growth rate. If you’re looking for rapid growth, embrace technologies that have the potential for scaling up quickly. For instance, frameworks like React and node.js have perfect scalability.
• Security: Your app might collect sensitive data ranging from payment details to demographic information from the users. Your app may require superlative data security to avoid any possibility of a data breach. Pick a framework that ensures maximum security for user data.

Planning Your Budget

According to a survey conducted by Clutch, the median cost ranges between roughly $38K to $171K. And the cost per hour ranges from $35 to $150+. So, you don’t want your money to run out in the middle of the development process.

Having a clear and concise idea of how much you have and where to spend it, will help you save some time and money. With proper planning, you avoid a potential budget crisis.

Factors Affecting Your Budget

1. The complexity of your app: The more complex your app is, the more resources it needs, the more time it will take to finish, thereby increasing your cost.
2. Customising your app features: Start with MVP and prioritise your features. The market research you have done will help you here in prioritising the features.
3. You and your team: Without a top-notch team, you will see the resources being wasted, and consequently, your money being wasted. They will stumble at times and lag your work, at which point you might see your purse lightening.
4. Geographic location: Yes, the geographic location of your team indeed has an impact on the cost of the app development. This is why more and more companies are shifting their focus to India.
5. App maintenance and upgradation costs: New and new technologies are popping up every day. Your app must be up to date with these technologies. Upgrading with time is essential to provide a better user experience.
6. Q/A testing: Adopting an agile methodology of quality assurance testing for your app development project also ensures that your team is kept on their toes at all times, and this will lead to more optimal results.

Funding Your App Idea

You either have some amount to contribute to the development stage, or you have none. Either way, you will have to raise enough funds to transfer your app idea into a profitable mobile app. And you can raise it by approaching investors or by following a self-funding business model.

While considering investors, whoever they are, should have a genuine interest in helping you build your mobile app rather than just funding you. There are some qualities you should look into the investors before approaching them. They are

1. Help you set your goals
2. Help you with their experience and knowledge
3. Help you in making the right decision
4. Patience with investment

Research about the investor and also, their previous investments. You can contact the business they are investing in to know more about your investor’s character and personality. Following are the four key essential qualities of a good investor.

With that in mind, we now can look into the types of investors. There are mainly two types of investors:

Now whoever may be the investors, you will have to sit with them, confer with them, and have to convince them that they are investing in something reliable and profitable. And here is where the market research you did earlier is going to help you.

Now there are also some downsides of getting investors for funding your business. We need to be realistic here. If you’re taking on equity investment, you should be ambitious about your growth plans and your targets for sales.

So here are a few alternatives for you to raise your required fund.

1. Self-funded business model
2. Grant funding
3. Crowdfunding
4. Peer to peer lending
5. Asking your friends and family

The last one may seem a bit unorthodox, but if the budget you have in mind is low and achievable through your friends and family, it is a viable option. Crowdfunding and grant funding are also effective mediums to acquire funds.

How to acquire fund

Now that you know who the investors are, it’s time to acquire your fund from them.

Irrespective of what you choose or who you choose, you have to consider the fact that there are others like you aiming for the same thing, Funding. Investors usually get hundreds of deals every month but are moved only by very few. Thus, it would be best to help your app stand out from the crowd.

We recommend that you have these five things in place before you go out and talk to investors because it will help increase your chances of success.

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So, now you know where to trim and how to plan your budget. You know the types of investors, where to look for them, and acquiring funding.

NeoITO is keen on helping startups build their dream products. You can contact us with your Idea, documented research papers, etc., and we will help you turn your idea into an amazing app.

Now let’s learn how to find the right developers for your app and all the processes included in the app development.

Finding the Right Developers

Now that you have checked your pocket and got a clear idea of what you have at your disposal, it’s time to find your A-team.

The need for the right personnel for the job cannot be stressed enough. The money you spent gathering the talent you require is not a liability; it’s an asset.

The right developers can give you the product of your dreams, and they won’t crumble under pressure. You can either go for freelance developers or app development companies.

But there are certain key points you should remember while you start hiring your dream team. They are as follows.

Do your research

You should be aware of what you need and where is the right place to find what you need. In the technology-driven world, the options for an app development company or an app developer seem to be endless.

Understanding what you want and then searching for the people who can deliver is a positive way of filtering the talent ocean.

Compatibility

While searching for the app developers, you can check whether it is just another paycheck for them or are they really interested in what you do. The people who can understand your vision and mission will work for you more enthusiastically. They would be loyal to your cause and always have your back in any situation.

Evaluate properly

Your app requires a specific set of skills, look for the people with those skills and whether they can deliver what they claim. Tweak the hiring process to get the best team for your app development.

Check references

Checking for references is a great way to verify the claimed expertise of the person or company you are planning to hire. There is also a detail you have to be aware of: always check the credibility of the references.

Build bridges

This one is mainly for the people looking for assistance from an app development company. Making the one app isn’t your final project; there will be future projects where you might need the same level of expertise or something more.

Building relations can always benefit you and your company. As your project scales, you need more updates and development, and you want them to stick with you throughout the whole journey.

Be foresighted

You need to be a visionary while hiring. A true visionary is a person who takes the future into account. Hiring for your current requirement is a hasty move.

Once the person is done with the work you hired him for, he will be a dormant workforce till you find him a job he can do. Other than going through all these complications, you can choose a person who can contribute to the company in more than one aspect.

Creativity

Creative design and talent have always created a market for themselves. App development is not just a backend process; it also has a front end that interacts with the user.

The design and simplicity is not something you can turn a blind eye to. When you choose your developers, make sure from the previous projects that they have the unique creative touch in their works.

Aesthetics and UI have a bold say in how an app scales in the market.

Thinking outside the box

The pandemic has opened an effective way for entrepreneurs to find talent around the globe. Around the world, many skilled developers can be hired at much lower salaries than the local talent.

Earlier, communication has always posed a problem for outsourcing, but the growth of technology has bridged that gap.

A good team of developers can help you achieve your goals faster and more efficiently. Keep the above key points in my and choose your A-team.

Once you have the A-team, it’s time to draw the map.

Creating a Wireframe

A wireframe is the battle plan for your app. It is the backbone on which the app is built.

The wireframe has to be adjusted to incorporate the data obtained from the research. So creating a wireframe is the second step of a detailed plan.

Many developers have their way of creating a wireframe. Every project is unique in its own way, so there is no mandatory stepwise process for this. We are about to give you a glimpse of the typical way of creating a wireframe.

While making a wireframe for an app, you follow essentially nine steps. They are railings of a bridge between the app’s design and MVPs.

Map the flow

The first part of wireframing is designing how many pages the app requires to give a smooth user experience while ensuring maximum efficiency.

This is the user flow, the series of steps through which the user has to go to achieve a goal.

For example, let’s take a payments app. First, you log in, search for the recipient to send money, select the amount, enter credentials, and send money ( there are a whole lot of processes in between, for the time being, let’s not go into those messy complications).

Usually, this is drawn with the help of boxes and arrows to give a clear idea. Select a suitable design for the user flow.

Sketch the flow

Once you have the user flow, you can use drawing apps or the age-old method of drawing on paper to give a rough idea of the design of pages.

Creating the pages as a pictorial representation can be subjected to further analysis whether it fits the app theme or the use of the page can be well defined in this step.

What is the purpose of the page?

How does it help the user?

These two questions should always be on your mind designing the pages.

Mobile framing

Setting the screens for the app to function based on the available screen size, that is, the screen of large, medium and small phones is mobile framing.

Mobile framing is done to create a boundary in which the app’s functions need to be placed. Mainly the screen size of the Apple flagship phones is used as a default frame. It is optimal to start with the middle ranged screen as this is popularly used.

Creating a layout

The presentation of your app is vital for a seamless user experience.

So for arranging the content on your app, a layout is made in the form of box diagrams.

Studies have shown that people scan web content in an F-shaped pattern, so how you set the layout is how you want your user to process the information.

Familiar designs

Using familiar designs for app options creates a more effortless UI/UX experience. Minute creative changes to the usual designs in the app options can be made.

For example, increasing volume in a video playing app is the same bar for every video player. Still, it is different when you view it from a design perspective. We have to be very careful while creating such designs.

The idea is to make it simple for the people, not harder.

The actual copy

When everybody agrees with the design of the pages, it’s time to create a working copy with the real in-app options. This can further help you with filtering unnecessary options in the UI.

Once you use the real in-app options, you may find anomalies not present before. This step here helps you iterate those problems and rectify them efficiently.

Scaling to different screens

These wireframes are created generally for the middle range screens, so you have to check whether they can scale up to large screens and scale down lower screen sizes without losing their efficiency: the better the user experience, the greater chance of success for the app.

Maintaining the flow

Always look to maintain a smooth flow from one screen to another. Like in the Amazon app, you select the product, enter the address, and go to the payment page. The customer experience is flawless. So always try to maintain that flow.

Test properly

Try to cover every nook and corner of the design decisions for making it more optimal. Well designed wireframes make the visual interaction of the design easier.

The wireframes your team creates are the visual representation of your idea of an app, and you must convey your opinions and concerns to get the right “action plan”.

We just crossed the bridge of creating a wireframe. After successfully creating the wireframe, it’s time to make the prototypes and MVPs.