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How Long Does It Take to Develop an App? Complete Steps and Timeline Estimation
Technology is advancing at a faster rate and the need of the customers is also subjected to variations. Today, the companies need to develop certain measures and different innovative mobile applications which would be able to tackle the needs and demands of the market. The customers look forward to reliability, convenience and the value that they receive from a particular product. Companies also seek to build the type of mobile applications which would cater their needs. The most important step for the companies to build an effective and efficient app is the timeline and the time period of its making. A strategic approach and detailed planning is required to build an efficient and desirable app. The process starts with conducting marketing survey and further analysis of the market demands. The elucidation of the timeline and the complete steps in the app development process is mentioned below.
Timeline estimation
A detailed analysis of the process and the requirements for the development of an app can ease the load of the process to some extent. The following stages are follows:
Planning
The planning stage usually continues for 2-3 weeks and it is a primary or fundamental step in the app development process. Planning is a process where the details regarding the app development and how to develop is made. It takes into consideration the estimated project plan and the budget available and further makes reservations for other important processes.
Analysis of the business
This stage continues for a period of 2-3 weeks and in this stage of the app development, the business and the companies go on a survey and try to analyse the aspects related to business. The business tries to figure out the market demands and the needs and demands of the consumer and accordingly take decision. This is done with the help of the business analysts who provide consultation and do a detailed analysis and try to create a report on the niche market and the general markets. The business objective and goal are also determined in detail in this stage only, the company analyses its own business and the resources that it possess and further try to create a strategic business plan so as to align it with the business goal. The project documentation is the crucial process int this stage where all the functionality of all the apps is described in detail.
Design and development phase
After the planning and the business analysis process over, the actual design and development of the app begins. The design stage is also further divided into various stages like:
UX design
This aspect of designing phase is carried out for a period of 2-3 weeks. This phase is dedicated to the user experience. Several steps as to how the user interface would work and the different screens and buttons to be incorporated in order to provide a smooth and simpler navigation feature is determined here.
UI design
This stage of the application development process takes more time than the design process, i.e., 3-4 weeks as the focus is here on the visuality of the app; how the app looks whereas in the UX design stage the focus was on how the app would work. The interface, buttons, screens and the layout of the app plays a major role as it is the only aspect which could easily draw the attention of the users. The UI design developers try to incorporate all the things which would make the app flexible and elicit a large no of users to its platform.
App development
After all the planning work is completed, the process of the app development begins. This stage takes a period of around 8-10 weeks as here the actual coding of the app is taken place. The team of developers get divided into smaller teams and work simultaneously on the back end, front end and the testing phase in order to alleviate the timeline of the app development. The development phase is further divided into various process. They are as follows:
Back-end development
The development of back end continues for a period of 6-8 weeks. It facilitates the storage of the data in a data base and is related to the work with the app server. The back end consists of all the data stored in the data base but it does not consist of any kind of the assets related information rather it consists of the direction as to how to organize and further make the display of the data which is received from the client app server. The server used for back-end development should be secure as it consists the critical data and the data related to the payments.
Front end development
This stage involves a lot of discussions and brainstorming among the teams. It continues for a period of 6-8 weeks. After the structure of the database is ready via the back-end development process, the front-end development is carried out simultaneously. The data base created by the back-end developers is further analysed and taken into consideration in the front-end development process and management of the functionality of the various tasks.
Testing
The testing stage is the most crucial stage in the app development process. It takes around 2 weeks. In this stage various components of the app are connected and made to work together. If the testing team find any bugs in the app, then immediately it goes to the developers and is rectified and finally tested. This stage involves a reverse role between the developers and the testers as the testers send the work to the developers after any bug is found.
Launch of the product
The finalization and the launching of the app takes a time period of around 1 week. Here, the app is finally tested and after analysing all the major components of the app, and if found bug free, the app is finally sent for the launch process. Considering the demand, the app is made available to the users and also the company further looks into the post launch process, i.e., the maintenance and the support to the users.