Creating your own formal app development process might not be your priority, especially if you’re eager to bring your idea to life. But a good organization and a rational approach to your development cycle are essential to define the different stages that will allow you to launch your application on the Shopify App Store .What does the app development process look like? What are the different phases and how should you organize your work on the different aspects of the application? If you are considering developing a new application, these are probably the questions you are asking yourself right now.This guide is for anyone who wants to follow a solid method for creating a new product.
Phase 1: Product discovery and strategy
Like any good product, an app starts with an idea. Approaching your application development in product development mode is a good start.Many product creators believe that a good initial idea guarantees the success of a product. But in reality, this is not enough. Before you start working on your app, you need to validate your idea.
You need to define exactly what you want to create, for whom and why.
The objective of the product discovery phase is to get to know your end users in order to understand their needs and be able to offer them the appropriate solution, by prioritizing the essential functionalities. Defining a product strategy is an essential part of the process, as it will help you keep your business goals in mind at every stage of developing your final product.
Identify your target audience“Who are my users? You must answer this fundamental question before you start developing your application. Conduct user research to understand your target audience. Use demographics, behavioral patterns, and the motivations and goals of your target group to create personas (typical users of your product). Each of your decisions should be made based on the needs and wants of your personas.
Do some market research
Market research will let you know the real demand or market interest for your product. It should tell you what problems your potential users are having and how you can help them.Here are some tips for conducting effective market research:When designing products or features, product or application developers should always keep their business goals in mind. It is crucial to have a clear objective for the new application. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) during this phase so that you can later better assess the success of your development process
You can also chat with key stakeholders to better understand their expectations and define your goals more precisely. By tracking the right application metrics, you can focus on the most telling KPIs that will tell you if your application is on track.
Phase 2: Planning the design process
A frequent pitfall is wanting to add all possible features to your product or application. It is important, on the contrary, to concentrate on those which absolutely must be included and not on all those which you would like to include. Good planning will make it easier for you to give shape to your idea before moving on to the creation phase.A project management method can be a valuable tool to organize yourself and bring together all the components of your project.