How to Select a Mobile App Development Agency for Your Project?

For most businesses now having a mobile app, presence is synonymous with having a solid digital footprint. Since businesses increasingly rely on digital interactions and campaigns and mobile apps have become the single-most-important digital marketing channel, The demand for a start-to-end app development firm that creates strategic mobile solutions is continuously rising.

But sadly, the demand and availability of expertise are not in sync, at least in the app development universe. This is one of the key reasons one needs to research to find the best app development firms and figure out how they can make value to their app projects.

Is there any time-tested formula for hiring an app development agency? How go about hiring app developers with the right skills, experience, and portfolio? Well, based upon the experience of many app projects across the niches, here we have come up with some tested and tried methods to hire app developers for your app project.

Figure Out All Your Project Requirements

Before reaching out to the experts or specialists, the first and foremost thing to do is to figure out all the requirements for your app project. Make a detailed project requirement document that mentions the following things.

• Mention the app idea and explain its value propositions, key features, and user experience attributes.
• Mention the target OS and device platforms and whether you will develop a native app, a cross-platform app, or just a hybrid one.
• According to the target platform and app type, figure out the technology stack, tools, and skills required for the app project.
• If possible, come up with a brief wireframe design to give a basic idea of how the app will look.
• Mention the proposed timeline for the app project and how you are figuring out to achieve the same.
• Last but not least, mention the approximate app development budget for the project.

Know Where to Find the Accomplished Development Agencies

Accomplished and expert developers are not easier to get by. It will help if you put solid research to find and approach them. There are some well-known resources and destinations to find the best development companies and individual developers with high skill levels in one place. Let’s have a look at a few of them.

• The B2B review platforms like GoodFirms and Clutch are great destinations to come across the most accomplished development companies with skilled resources across different technologies.
• Developer community platforms like GitHub and StackOverflow are other widely acclaimed platforms where you can find several experienced developers with excellent ratings, consistent reviews, and a lot of regular activities.
• Search across leading job boards like LinkedIn, Naukri, Glassdoor, and several others to find different IT employers with specific skill focuses.
• Simple Google Search, besides browsing many blogs and articles from different tech publications and companies, will also give you an idea of the leading names across other technologies.

Do Not Take the Portfolio at Face Value

Now it is very likely that you have shortlisted some development agencies or developers for your project and are about to begin your evaluation. So, the first thing that comes to your mind is checking the portfolio of their previous work. Now every development company showcases their most well-known projects or reputed brands in their portfolio.

Should you take this portfolio for granted? No, you should not, and you should go deeper into their work and what their clients say about the respective development team. Here we mention a few things you should consider when evaluating the app portfolio.

• First of all, consider how similar these apps are to your proposed app project.
• Does the portfolio cover all the technologies, skills, and tools you need for your app project?
• Does the same development team still handle the maintenance and updates? If not, why did it switch hands?
• What do the clients of these projects say about the execution and the respective development team behind it?
• What is the satisfaction and appreciation level for all the completed projects in the portfolio?

Take a Closer Look at the Development Process

Many app projects start experiencing fault lines because of not adhering to the proper development practices and processes. It is essential to discuss the development methodology suitable for your app project and how it can be executed. The correct development process and methodology can be one of significant contributors to the success of an app project. For the development process, you should take into consideration the following things.

• Do you need an incremental development method like MVP for your app project? If yes, is the company versed enough to adhere to MVP development practices?
• If you opt for the Agile Scrum development method, how much experience does the company or the development team have with similar projects?
• Is the development process transparently laid out before you, well in advance?
• What about the role of project managers in facilitating iterations and communication within the project from your side?

Consider the Post-Launch Support & Maintenance

Unlike other digital platforms, mobile app projects require continuous value additions and frequent updates. Hence, post-launch support and maintenance are of seminal importance for the success of an app. Suppose the development company finishes building the app without any commitment to future maintenance responsibilities. In that case, your app project in the hands of a separate maintenance team can face serious difficulties.

This is why most successful and widely acclaimed app projects always try to figure out the maintenance and updates well in advance. Hence they try to build a long-term relationship with the development company instead of making it a one-off journey. This is something that you can easily evaluate by talking to their previous clients mentioned in the portfolio or just by inquiring how many projects they continue to provide support for.

Make Sure About the Ownership of the Source Code

The app’s code remains the intellectual property, and as a product owner, you should take complete ownership of the same. This is why you must ensure that the source code is duly transferred to you when discussing the execution of an app project. This will save your project from unnecessary intrusions or legal difficulties in the long run.

Give Priority to Quality Over Pricing

Many app projects to get a cost advantage just fall prey to compromises on development quality. This is something that you should be aware of from the very beginning. When you give more priority to pricing than the app’s quality and performance, you may pay more for course correction and feature enhancements. This is why instead of trying to fix things later, you should rather have your focus fixed on the quality from the very beginning.

Wrapping Up

Selecting a great development agency or a team can be extremely easier when you have these considerations in mind. These have been tested and tried across numerous successful app projects. Here we have put together several successful hiring principles to ensure success for your app project.

About Author:
Juned Ghanchi is the Co-Founder and CMO at IndianAppDevelopers, a mobile app development company that has a specialized team of app developers in India who provides Android and iOS application development for all business domains. Juned is always looking for new mobile technologies ideas and shares them with others through blogs.