OCTOBER 19, 2022
18 min read
There hardly exists a sphere of human activities untouched by mobile applications. Apps fit the swift pace of life entirely. We get used to the level of comfort mobile services provide anywhere and at any time. Finances, payments, and banking domains follow the tendency. Among many apps DashDevs has developed together with clients for 8 years, there were a mean bunch of projects from the fintech domain. If you want to create a fintech mobile app from scratch and are eager to know some hints, this mobile app development guide may be helpful for you.
Tips and Tricks for Successful Mobile App Development
A successful application project is distinguished by quality standards and efficient stages from start to completion, whereas a failed project lacks these. Developers must retain the quality, utility, and user-friendliness of the applications while increasing the effectiveness of project development.
That is why, in order to provide a high-quality result, it is necessary to have a professional guide to create mobile apps that can enhance your application development procedure. If you want to go into mobile app development, you need to apply proactive techniques and make your app development process run more efficiently and successfully.
Continue reading and you will find some of the best mobile app development tips for improving your application development process below.
Draw a hypothesis and add some passion
When it comes to creating a project, the first thing everyone thinks of is a concept. Hence, we provide you with a beginners guide to mobile app development.
Sometimes inspiration comes and a wonderful idea flashes across your head. You’ve had this “eureka” moment. But not all of the time. When it comes to the app, your goal is to identify a method for expanding or a problem to solve. The concept should be appealing to potential app users. Consider what individuals like the most or what they want to get rid of. Here are a few cases of people’s financial problems and desires.
Pains
- We don’t like it when banks impose our conditions.
- We hate standing in long queues to make payments.
- We’ve all experienced an ATM malfunction at the wrong time.
- We don’t want to pay a lot of money for our transactions.
Gains
- We want to know that our money is secure.
- We prefer to make our own financial decisions.
- We want a comprehensive picture of our financial situation.
- We prefer to save money.
- And we enjoy spending them much more.
After you’ve conceived of your app, it’s time to figure out what are mobile app development tips and tricks and how to make the application distinctive and appealing. It is up to you to decide how much time and money you want to put into the development process of the app. Your task is to investigate the market, learn about the industry’s norms and laws, and understand the preferences of your potential clients.
You should also specify which mobile platforms your application will support and how it will be monetized. It is also necessary to define the flow and duties. You’d figure out which duties you could perform alone and which you needed to outsource.
You may employ a full-cycle vendor to assist you with business analysis, business strategy, design, software development, app release, and support from the beginning. Otherwise, you may choose from a variety of companies to order certain services at any time. However, as the app owner, you are the one who drives and governs these processes.
DO’s
- Ensure that the hypothesis does not reflect your single point of view while developing it. If you plan to promote your app in the near future, be aware of and embrace diverse points of view in order to provide value to your app users.
- You can eavesdrop on inspiring notions from related threads, sectors, and enterprises.
- You should create a list of all of your ideas. Even rejected ideas should be documented. The history of your development may assist individuals or vendors in understanding your plan regardless of when they join you.
DON’Ts
- Avoid taking a bottleneck approach. Be open-minded and consider your concept from several perspectives.
- Do not be scared to get rid of bad ideas. Adhering to the first hypothesis tooth and nail is ineffective. If you notice that concept isn’t actually working, modify it.
- Be prepared to invest and lose some money on bad ideas early on. These are lessons that keep you safe from major failures. Consider what you can lose if you continue to create a worthless app.
- Do not copy the concept. It may appear to be a straightforward task to create a clone of a successful product, but it is not. That popular app will be your biggest rival. To succeed, you will need to outcompete a product that already has a reputation and trust.
Examples
It is essential to research the financial habits and practices of the regions you intend to visit. In other words, in the United States, individuals are accustomed to saving for college.
Test the waters and seek information
Without solid knowledge in the background, your app will not rise to a level. Conduct all necessary research to back up your idea.
What information should be researched before diving into app development?
- Look at your competition and what they’ve done.
- Define market expectations and consumer desires.
- Look for patterns and trends.
- Examine the functionality or comparable apps in the app stores.
- Investigate the field for available solutions, APIs, and technology.
- Examine the industry’s legislative requirements, constraints, and prohibitions.
- Do all of the aforesaid research for the related domains as well.
This is only the beginning of our mobile app developer guide. Nonetheless, this is the bare minimum required to plan for future app development. Information serves as the basis for you and your partners to create a one-of-a-kind product or service.
DO’s
- Find industry specialists with whom you can collaborate and from whom you can get important tips to know before developing a mobile app, and protect yourself against failure, especially when dealing with money.
- Try to find an answer to the smallest query you can think of.
- Documentation and conclusions should be produced at each level of your investigation.
- The most important aspect of research is accurately processing the acquired data, using numerous ways to analyze information, and obtaining systemized outcomes with definitive conclusions.
DON’Ts
- Don’t be frightened to rock the foundations and question your essential beliefs. It is preferable to be data-driven and aware of hazards than to languish in ignorance and erroneous notions.
- Data should not be limited. It is not uncommon for service providers to request more research and investigations, or to reveal unprocessed data. Our advice is to allow them to undertake further study and offer them additional facts. To comprehend the bigger picture, you need as many different points of view and perspectives as possible.
With these tips for successful mobile app development you will create your own buyer personas and characteristics. After that you must examine their expectations and compare them to the capabilities offered by competitors’ applications. Such a comparison may indicate the difference between user expectations that are met and requests that are not met by features. Use that gap to provide your app’s users with peerless functionality.
Consulting a lawyer about the legal requirements and legal constraints of your app usage may save you time and money, as well as protect you from punishment.
You will know the sensitive and private data protection standards for users’ sensitive information storage and will construct the backend using the relevant technologies. Alternatively, you will apply early-bird for the licenses and certifications required to provide financial services via the app.
Researching crossing industries is not only the way to build the board view on the topic. It also helps to find better solutions or user experience.
Examples
- When researching the banking market, our team looked into investing apps, budgeting apps, cost monitoring apps, digital wallets, and… apps for dating. Dashdevs professionals examined which features consumers liked and which were inconvenient to use in order to prevent typical blunders. Dating applications include creative matching algorithms and appealing UI solutions, such as swiping. So, while creating your app, you should think about augmenting the banking app with common and appealing features to make it more enjoyable and straightforward for users.
- We also examined the psychology of money. Knowing how users spend their money, what their habits are, and what patterns they follow may help you pick and prioritize app features. You will have a deeper understanding of your users’ needs and perhaps teach them something.
When you understand the industry and know all the tips for creating a mobile app, you may devise promotional and marketing methods to penetrate the market. Pay attention to the relevancy of your marketing operations as well as the present stage of growth. Determine your efforts and channels for attracting people to use your app.
Create an image and find your brand voice
Typically, the research step is followed by branding and naming. In this mobile app creation guide we advise an app owner to invest his heart and soul into developing a name, style, image, and voice for a future app.
If you outsource this part, cooperate as closely as possible with your vendor. People have varied experiences and backgrounds, so what is obvious to you may not be so apparent to those around you.
DO’s
- Describe your vision in detail and use several ways to explain it properly.
- Be patient when asking and answering questions.
- Before accepting or rejecting ideas, thoroughly consider them.
- Create brand identity documentation as soon as there will be a large number of employees involved in subsequent app design and development.
- Put things as clearly and simply as possible. Create and explain your brand’s voice, compose the style guide, and build style scapes.
- Create different styles so that you have alternatives. Create many concepts to test out different styles with your idea.
DON’Ts
- Don’t be a stumbling barrier or obstinate. Explain what you mean to others and attempt to understand why you are provided with this or that option.
- This is a typical error when aesthetic aspects do not match the name or user assumptions about the industry. Use some specific colors that are better for banks than others. The others, which are not usual for this field, may look terrible.
- Make your mark. Define your design strategy, whether you follow trends or are a designated decision-maker. Assign design choices to a trained specialist. The opinions of non-experts are not as important since they may be constrained by a lack of background, information, or experience in creating enterprise mobile apps.
- Don’t limit your design testing to friends and family.
Examples
- If a designer offers you a logo that meets your goals, appeals to your target audience, and matches current trends, but you don’t like it, give it a chance. A focus group can help you test that logo. If you know how to enhance this version, please explain why you think it should be updated. Real-world tests are an efficient approach to app assessment.
- You will utilize rigid, straight lines rather than curves while designing a financial app. The bank handles financial transactions. It should be associated with something tangible, trustworthy, and dependable in people’s minds. Curves convey spiritual, artistic, and cerebral ideas. Children’s drawings are not appropriate for digital banks unless you are developing a financial app for children.
- If you just have one design and it fails to attract real people, you will have to restart the design process. You will have more alternatives to appeal to if you generate several concepts. The first concept should be vibrant, the second should be black-and-grey, and the third should be light and minimalistic.
Test, test again, and keep testing
The app’s concept, name, and design require validation from actual people. We mean the target demographic, typical buyer profiles, and not just your friends and family. If your app is aimed at the current market, solicit feedback from focus groups, activists, and trend-setters in the sector.
How to test the idea
- Landing page with integrated analytics.
- Waiting lists and early-bird pre-orders.
- Questionnaire-based mass mailing campaign.
- A/B testing and prototyping.
You can check use cases if you properly listen to your focus groups and follow the beginner guide to developing a mobile app. You then identify their significance for potential app users and use this knowledge in your app.
Even if you enjoy the first hypothesis and design, it is possible that the original concept will require revisions. It is neither nice nor evil. It is a methodical approach to creating a budgeting app. Be adaptable and sensitive to users’ and market demands.
DO’s
- When presenting your insights to focus groups, make sure that all of the functionality is evident and clear to the participants. Alternatively, you may need to explain some aspects.
- It is critical to obtain well-reasoned feedback while working with the community. If someone says they enjoy anything in your app, ask them why, how they feel, and what they appreciate about it. The same is true for unfavorable opinions. Always inquire about what you can do to improve the software.
- Gather input, organize and evaluate it, and assign it a status and priority to make things right.
DON’Ts
- When evaluating your hypothesis, keep in mind that you do not want to market the future product to focus groups. This is not the appropriate moment. You must pay attention to what others think and say about your first concept.
- However, you should not rush to alter everything in your app to accommodate every piece of criticism. Examine the feedback to see if it reflects popular opinion and meets your objectives.
Controversial difference between MVP and MSP
You will develop the scope of features to implement your minimal viable and minimum sellable items after reviewing your ideas (MVP and MSP). You select the fewest functionality for your app’s feasible version. It might also be a waiting-list app. With a sellable app, your consumers decide which features entice them to purchase the software. These versions might be the same. However, in order to generate income from your software, you may need to invest additional resources in its development before releasing it. In any case, when developing your MVP, test it again for both relevant technical solutions and salability.
User expectations and market needs drive the functionality of your app. You take your pains and emotions, read the developer guide to building a mobile app carefully, and convert them into productivity. You should also follow new trends. Trending technologies such as data science, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) may be required for your banking app.
Banking app features
- Saving money automatically
- Setting limits on cards
- Creating virtual cards
- Control of the budget and spendings
- Notifications and alerts on activities
- Instant receipts to share
- Locking the card if lost or stolen
- Person-to-person payments
- Quick access to the balance
- Communication with personal assistants (Customer service)
- Lower interests for transactions abroad
- Lower currency exchange rates
- Branch and ATM locator
- Personalized offers, and
- So forth.
DO’s
- When it comes to the technological aspects of mobile applications for fintech, you should focus on payment security and sensitive information collection and processing.
- Keep an eye out for salable qualities such as intuitive UI, usability, and understandability of complicated financial data.
- Examine whether it offers users relevant experiences and values.
DON’Ts
- Be prepared for surprises and changes. You may discover unanticipated use cases or salable features.
Examples
If you need to deploy an app rapidly but are still in the development stage, you may consider delivering an MVP with a waiting list. You can give out awards or discounts to the first 100 app users. Users may download your app, authorize and likely complete verification, and gain access to the early bird list. They will be notified once your development is complete. Hence, they will be the first to test the feature.
The reverse of reliability and performance
The next step of the user guide on how to create a simple mobile application is being all set to go. It is difficult to resist the desire to let your software soar free on its own. You should ensure the product’s quality before releasing it. Your app should be stable and secure to use. It should not go down.
The fundamentals of app testing are the same as those of idea verification. Try to cover your versions with as many different sorts of testing as possible. Check for flaws in the UX, UI, scenarios, end-to-end logic, app performance, server load, and whatever you want. Users will lose faith and money if your program does not perform as intended.
DO’s
- Create test documentation and test cases. You must understand how your app’s essential functionality works and have confirmation of those facts.
- Test on real devices with different models.
- Perform load testing. Examine how your app server will handle a large number of requests or a million active users.
- Perform unit testing.
- Perform automated testing.
- Check the app’s version compatibility. Examine how your updates affect previous versions of the program. Ensure that users of previous versions may continue to use their apps.
DON’Ts
- Do not skip testing. No matter how complicated your app functionality, the app should work. Users won’t use the crashing applications, especially digital banks.
- Do not skip regression testing of the versions before release. If you do the minor updates or fixes, test them.
- Do not be lazy to test additional app features.
- Don’t ignore testing. Examine how secure and reliable your solution is. Test the app with core functionality.
- Stop adding ‘just a few, simple, minor changes’ the latest minutes before release. Keep balance. Best may be the enemy of the good. Your ‘tiny’ updates may crash the release version of the app, or influence the release date.
Let it go and release
When the application architecture process is finished, it’s time to submit your project to app stores and meet reality. Typically, app owners pique the attention of their target audience through marketing activities and social media campaigns. It is not sufficient to just release the software. People should be aware that the app exists. It is the responsibility of the app owner to persuade people to download the app.
DO’s
- Analytics should also be included. You must analyze how users use your app, and you must collect not only feedback but also actual facts.
- Respond to reviews on marketplaces to establish trust.
- Select the best moment to launch your app.
- Release the app on all platforms at the same time. Make sure your iOS and Android mobile app development access all the functionality concurrently.
- Align marketing initiatives with the launch.
DON’Ts
- Don’t forget to run the app through regression testing before releasing it.
- Remember to optimize your app for the app store so that users can easily find it.
- When preparing a release, keep the Apple Store review in mind. You’ll have to wait a little longer.
Examples
- If you are releasing a banking app with the primary capability of budget management, you might use the start of the new year as the release date. It is a period when people are setting personal growth objectives.
- If your app includes a tax calculator, you should launch it at the start of the tax year.
Lavish celebrations and life after release
If you envision a large champagne celebration and an endless stream of money following your app’s debut, pinch yourself because you’re dreaming. Your work will continue even after the release. Implement a digital marketing plan that includes using social media, your website, and other avenues to attract new users.
People like expressing their views. Give people the option of providing feedback on your product or service. You will be in charge of creating the background for updates.
DO’s
- Have a great celebration and then take some time to relax. You’ll be able to stay motivated if you and your team take a step back from the pre-release chaos.
DON’Ts
- Don’t just celebrate. Remember about another area worth the efforts is the analysis of reviews, comments, statistics, and user behavior.
Examples
In our mobile application development guide we recommend that you address not only technical issues but also user experience concerns. Make a note of good and negative comments, assess its relevance to your goal, and turn them into a to-do list for future improvements.
Pace on the way to perfection
You will have food for thought regarding changes if you listen to your users and the market, study technology advancements, and track your rivals’ successes. Knowing the environment, you may update your software to provide an innovative offering for a prolonged length of time.
With enhancements, an app owner should use assessment methods comparable to focus group input. Arrange your data, evaluate it, and prioritize it.
Prior to enhancing your app, strive to match your company’s resources to the scale of work necessary. Big data and data analysis methods will assist you in this endeavor. For example, suppose your software becomes popular. But do you have the resources to handle a large-scale mobile application? Or does the potential gain outweigh the costs?
DO’s
- You should resolve the flaws that affect the app’s performance and endanger the user experience.
- Initially, pay off your pre-release technical bills.
- Allow for a rollback if something goes wrong with the upgraded version of your program.
DON’Ts
- If your app gets famous, you should have some extra load balancers to deal with the flow of users.
- Don’t implement every piece of input. Check to see whether a remark is worth your time.
- Consider your version compatibility. Continue to support previous versions.
Examples
Fintech applications work with sensitive information. They should store all the editions of Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and users acceptance of these documents as well. You should track that you did not lose such information after updates. The same is with chats history. Try not to wipe the older data with the new version launch.
Effective work means going above and beyond the norm
We have released numerous financial apps, and we know that inspiration fades quickly. To construct a fantastic glass palace, one must sweat blood and get their hands filthy. We know this from personal experience. DashDevs advocate for a data-driven strategy and planned actions.
DO’s
- If you want to build a valuable app, you should offer a dependable, unique solution that answers the users’ pain points.
- Proactively anticipate or forecast the outcome.
- Prepare to grow and tackle new difficulties.
DON’Ts
- You should not go down that path alone; instead, solicit the assistance of an experienced software solution partnership to join your team. DashDevs is ready to work with you to turn your idea into a genuine program!
Examples
Dozens is a massive project and digital bank released by DashDevs. Our strategy is to work as a technical partner with clients. We don’t just provide development services; we also advise app owners through the app building process. In our blog, we provide some instances of our methodologies used when developing fintech apps and this digital bank. On our website, you can get a closer look at Dozens and other DashDevs’ successful projects.
Conclusion
If you are learning mobile app development, a guide solution manual was created right for you! The development process is a difficult procedure that demands a significant amount of work, time, and money. If you are creating an application, it is critical to integrate a strong and inventive project management style in order to optimize your app development process and respond to the ever-changing market dynamics and client expectations.
You must put the above-mentioned methods and tips to develop ecommerce mobile applications into action, and we are confident that they will help you improve your application processes and provide unparalleled outcomes for your business and customers.
If you still don’t understand anything or are afraid of making mistakes during the development process, contact DashDevs managers, who will answer any queries you have!