Jul 2024
Building an app presents incredible opportunities, and that’s not just for tech disruptors. You can sell your product, grow your business, delight and engage customers, and even transform your customers’ experience. It's all possible with the right app development partner. But finding that partner means asking the right questions at the forefront—questions like the following.
Before diving into the specifics of your project, it’s crucial to understand the overall capabilities and expertise of your potential app development partner. The following questions will help you gauge these critical aspects.
This question helps you understand how the development company thinks. Worry less about the specific technology they use and more about whether the development company can clearly articulate their reason for using it and the benefits to you and your product. Unless you are already a technology pro, choose a partner based on their expertise. Let them use tools they know to get great results.
You don’t need an exact match or even a company that has developed a similar app. Still, your potential development partner should be able to draw parallels to their relevant work. Shared connection points, whether on the industry, product, or technical level, will increase the likelihood of your project’s success.
Asking your app development partner this question will give you insight into your project and its areas of expertise. To know whether it’s worth continuing down the development path, consider risks early on to develop a plan. The riskiest parts are those that will likely make or break the product.
This question helps you understand the development company’s experience with AI and other emerging technologies and their commitment to staying current in these rapidly evolving fields. A competent partner should be able to explain their approach to integrating new technologies. Look for a partner who can articulate the potential benefits and challenges of implementing AI and other new technologies in your project. They should demonstrate a balanced approach that leverages innovation while ensuring practical, user-focused solutions.
A great app is more than just code—it’s a solution to a problem or a means to achieve a business goal. These questions will help you understand how your potential partner approaches the strategic aspects of app development.
A strong app development partner should have a clear process for supporting digital product strategy. This process might include market research, user persona development, and competitive analysis. Understanding their approach will help you gauge how thoroughly they consider your app’s broader context.
Look for a development partner who integrates UI/UX design throughout the entire app development process, not just as an afterthought. A competent partner will explain how their UI/UX process helps transform your ideas into user experiences that are both functional and visually appealing.
An effective app development partner should systematically align design with user needs and business goals. They should conduct in-depth discussions to understand your product vision and objectives. Ask about their methods for gathering user insights, such as interviews, surveys, or usability testing. A strong partner will incorporate user feedback throughout the development process.
App development doesn’t end at launch. Ask about their approach to gathering user feedback, analyzing app performance, and planning for future updates and feature additions. A good partner will have a clear strategy for maintaining and evolving the app over time.
With technology evolving rapidly, it’s important to understand how a potential partner stays current and evaluates new technologies for inclusion in their digital product strategies. Look for a partner who demonstrates a thoughtful, strategic approach to technology adoption, rather than simply chasing the latest trends. They should be able to provide examples of how they’ve successfully incorporated new technologies into past projects to drive long-term value and competitiveness.
The success of your project often hinges on smooth collaboration and clear communication. These questions will help you understand how the development team operates and how they’ll keep you informed and involved throughout the process.
Most app development projects loosely break into several stages: discovery, design, development and testing, and deployment. Some companies choose to outsource one or more parts of this process. Seek to understand how the company will work with outside contractors, if at all.
Offshoring may offer reduced hourly rates, but consider other factors. Offshoring typically requires extra project management effort. Cultural differences can introduce risk to the project. Less cohesion and familiarity among team members can increase the total time required. Do these trade-offs decrease the price?
Multiple people will probably be involved in building your app, but you don’t want to have to navigate who the right contact is for what. There are also times when it’s more efficient to go right to the source when discussing technical or design challenges.
Make sure you can talk with developers and designers as needed, but that there is a project manager keeping tabs on your project—and who is your first point of contact for any needs.
Numerous ways to interact remotely include phone calls, video conferences, screen sharing, and collaborative online workspaces. The best app development partners take advantage of all these options, creating a virtual environment that’s as interactive and productive as in-person collaboration. Ideally, your app development partner provides seamless interaction, whether you are working through complex issues or getting answers to quick questions.
Electronic communication is equally essential for project management and knowledge capture. Many developers use tools such as GitHub, ZenHub, Asana, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or others to track project progress and facilitate team communication. These tools help ensure the project stays on track and team members remain aligned, regardless of their physical location. You might already have such a tool in place, and your potential app development partner should be on board with using it or integrating it with their existing systems to streamline project management and communication.
Look for a partner with a proven track record of successful collaboration who can clearly articulate their approach to maintaining strong communication in a distributed work environment.
The answer to this question should consider your personal preference. You want to ensure the frequency of status updates is compatible with your desire to receive them. As noted above, there are numerous ways for you to stay connected, and your chosen app development partner should be willing to adapt to your needs.
Big reveals make for good television on home renovation shows, but it’s not how you want to receive your product. It’s best to monitor your software throughout the project’s life, so you can make course corrections as needed.
The best app development shops work with agile methodologies, simultaneously building and testing small code sections. Expect to interact with the app early in the process and as your developer adds each piece of functionality.
Furthermore, you are likely the subject matter expert for your product, and your partner ought to rely on you for knowledge of your industry and customer. Your feedback, including help with testing the app during development, ensures that the best product is delivered.
Successful software projects are rarely defined completely and then built to that definition. You want a software development partner who can adapt to your needs. Ideally, your developer will provide you with a central point of contact throughout the project and expect things to shift while allowing flexibility to meet your changing priorities and timelines.
Understanding your project’s financial and legal aspects is crucial for avoiding surprises and ensuring a smooth development process. These questions will help clarify your app’s cost structure and ownership details of your digital product.
You want to be able to plan your time and budget for the length of the project. Ensure your development partner provides a written estimate so you can expressly agree on the expectations. Beyond the total cost, it’s essential to understand the pricing structure. The most common options are an hourly rate or a fixed cost, plus maintenance and support.
As the customer, you should own the finished product.
For the success of your project, take the time to find the right developer—one who:
Use these questions and considerations to help you learn more about potential app development partners before you choose.
For more resources, consider reading our free book, InspiringApps: A Business Perspective on Building Mobile Apps, to gain a foundational understanding of the business and technical considerations involved in building an app.
And, if you’re curious about how InspiringApps would respond to questions like the ones we’ve just shared, find our answers in Your Journey With InspiringApps.
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