App Development:
Consider the Following: The type of app you want to develop will change based on how much content you have and how much control you want to have over the entire process. It’s important to realize that you can control costs if you can set out before hand in great detail the functional and design requirements before you develop your app.
Your App: Following on from our discussion and my understanding of the user experience is along the following lines. Individuals will do the following: 1.Log in, Set up: collect individuals, name, phone, e-mail, age, create group, invite friends to join, access/security level assignment by group or individually. 2. Open App: Describe what you are doing, send in or out invitations, see who is in your area (2 mile radius) on map and send text /phone message 3. Check clubs, availability, and pricing, ticketing, guess list, pass info to group or individuals 4. Marketing data collection, personal info, where they are, what clubs, what time, ability to communicate direct with individuals, i.e. special offers, drink promo`s, evouchers etc. All this would be very valuable to Clubs, drinks companies, and promoters. 5. On entering the club, message is sent to group, like wise it could also alert when you leave (I need to check GPS sensitivity if for example there are several clubs nearby.) Each message, photo sent possibly comes with link to club, directions etc. 6. When you switch app on, all photos, video, messages sent and received are stored on phone? Or web site until app switched off, you can then edit and post to any social media site. 7. App is switched off, anonymous data is sent to central server, for selling and market analysis.
Send me a list of any other requirements you will need it to do, or not do.
App Development:
Your App will require some if not all of the following components. I want you to consider these elements as I think they will be helpful in determine the user experience and functionality. Try as best you can to write up or illustrate how you want it to operate.
Basic table functionality – think about this as a hierarchy: the opening screen
has big topics and you click one and you now have a set of new lists to click on.
Database driven custom functionality – This basically is creatively parsing
out content. Imagine you simply search for a club to go to and have a whole load of content that you want to utilize. An example would be, say for example, is it open, is it within 2 miles of you, the opening times, ability to book direct, choose music style, pricing range, party nights, E-vouchers, all of which you want to organize and display differently. This can be done beyond the basic table format to make the app really work. Development on this gets more complex and starts to get into whether or not you want the data housed “native” (built into the app) or “dynamic” (built into an online web services). We’ll talk about that later.
Enhancement or Modification of the device firmware or hardware –
This means that you take certain functions of the phone, such as the alarm, camera, or flash, and enhance them.
Fully dynamic apps – Similar to the database driven apps, these apps are the
kind that rely purely on external information – Twitter, Weather Channel, Flipboard.Your app will have to operate in a similar way.
Custom utilities – Your app will need to be geared towards allowing the user to
input content in a specific way. Examples are Pages, Adobe Ideas, and Numbers.
Design – Where ever possible try and provide examples or create mock layouts
of each and every function.
App Development:
Development Costs Costs will vary depending on what devices you are developing for. (Apple and Android) Cost will be kept down when you provide all the content, clear direction, and examples app of what you want it to do. If you know your way around Photoshop, you can probably supply the graphics, which will keep a cap on costs. The additional costs are when you want GPS locators, Social media integration or bells and whistles like that.
Your app will require a native database and the cost will be in creating the logic
within the app and architecting all the usability. The content will usually be dropped in and then parsed accordingly. This tends to be front heavy since the data is what’s driving the app and the framework is very important.
You will need Web Services as I suspect you will be taking the content to a remote
access point so that you can update your app with an XML files instead of raw code changes. The degree to what you need will varies but we need to have this conversation with the developer before getting too deep, it can help you avoid major problems further down the development cycle.
You will need to build in Share Capabilities – This is mostly for social media
(twitter, facebook) and emailing, but there can be other integrations such as WordPress websites, for example, may be one. There are lots of options and most of these platforms have robust APIs to make it work well.
The design of your app is going to make a huge difference in your overall ROI and
user experience. The design will help convert viewers to downloads from the screenshots you decide to upload and will help people using your app feel more engaged. Investing in a good design is easily the best way to increase your margins on a 2-year timeline. You can use a web designer, but it will be better off finding a mobile app designer who understands user flow and the space restrictions. App designs usually come in packages, much the same way development does – you will need to buy a “suite” of .png and PSD files that fulfill all your needs. This includes all necessary screens and icons. You will be surprised at how many different pieces there are; the icon alone needs about 4 different sizings for a universal app (iPhone and iPad). The icons should be included in this entire package and you can probably
App Development: ask for screen shots if you want to have some that are better than doing a simple screen grab of your phone. If possible don’t skimp on design. Remember think less about the cost and more about what strategy will have the biggest ROI before investing.
Supporting Notes: The app development process can be broken out into three major parts – idea, layout and planning and design.
1. The Idea This is the first genesis of where the app will be going, how it will work and the engagement value it has for its users and the proposition it delivers for its potential paying customers. You need to be clear and articulate about this, as it will guide you and the developer from start to finish.
2. Functionality Layout It’s not enough to paint the broad strokes for a programmer, because they’re not going to deliver what you want. You need to invest a lot of your own time to go through the details. This step involves going through every single screen and understanding how all parts of the app interact with each other – If I press this button, what happens? You will be amazed how many steps and scenarios there are for even the simplest app. The amount of functionality that needs to be defined and built will also play a part in the cost of your app.
3. Design Unlike websites where you can often get someone who can design and code at once, apps usually require a team of people to complete. The nice thing about this is that the designer can be graphics, print, web, or whatever – the deliverables to the programmer will be images that he just pops into the appropriate areas. The design comes in typically once the programming and functionality have been defined – the designer gets a full list of what needs to be created. Design can make or break an app, so don’t skimp on this. You need a great icon, splash screens, tab icons, and dozens of other assets that need to be tied together.
App Development: