Part 4: The Significance of Design
Thus far in our six-part series regarding the aspects to look for in a mobile app developer, we have touched on the importance of relationships, why you should review client references and what to look for when reviewing portfolios. Today’s installment will touch on the significance of putting design before development and coding.
In the world of mobile apps, you might often come across a development company that isn’t as concerned with the design side of development as they are with the programming or coding side. If your business has considered a company such as that, you may want to revisit your candidates and here is why: mobile app design is multi-faceted.
Application design actually consists of two things – user interface and user experience. Whereas user interface refers to the appearance of the app, user experience is about the flow of the app.
In order to provide the best user experience possible, a mobile app development company must grasp the concept of what the business does, what their target audience wants in an app, and how their users actually use the app.
Having a proper understanding of those three elements of behavior will allow the app developer to create a design that is aesthetically pleasing to the user, but also simple enough for them to use immediately upon downloading, without the need to read a tutorial. The app’s design should be slick and seamless, for that is the recipe to start accumulating conversions. Diving straight into programming apps, while quite common, is the wrong method for mobile app development. Deciding on a development company who is known for doing so is not going to help your app become successful.
Instead, search for a developer who does the design before the coding. You can do this by analyzing previous projects to see if any are similar to what you’re looking for. If you were able to find something similar to what you have envisioned that was designed by the potential developer, download it and use it to gauge its functionality. This will help you get a feel for how simple and seamless they can create an app.
The last thing you would want to do regarding the search for a design-oriented developer is learn their development process. If their methods don’t jive with creating a quality design before programming begins, your search should continue.
In tasking WASP with the duty of creating your mobile app, you need not concern yourself with whether or not design will be completed before the programming. We fully understand the importance of design before coding. In fact, you can even check out our development process here!
