How to Develop Your First Mobile App with No Experience

How to Develop Your First Mobile App with No Experience
How to Develop Your First Mobile App with No Experience. Image source: Pixabay

“The mobile device has become our communications hub, our diary, our entertainment portal, our primary source of media consumption, our wallet, and our gateway to real-time information tailored to our needs. The revolution is now!” said Nehal Mehta, the Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures.

‘The revolution is now!’ the statement couldn’t be more accurate. In the era of digitalization, smartphones are the technology of tomorrow. For businesses to succeed in our present-day market, it’s essential to have a mobile presence via a mobile application.

Gone is the time when desktops were the sole rulers in the tech industry. Nowadays, various platforms exist, targeting a different group of people. The two most preferred platforms for app development are Android and iOS.

So, you’re looking to join the trend and want mobile app services? The innovations in technology allow you to design an app without learning programming skills. Here are steps to take to create your app even if you have no experience:

Do Market Research

Have an idea for a mobile app? The next step is researching the competition and making sure the app is something the people need. If an app exists with a similar concept, it tells you two things:

  1. Your app is viable, and there is a need for it.
  2. There is competition to beat!

Instead of being discouraged to see similar apps, you should be happy to know that your idea was a good one. Now, you can work to improve the design and offer better solutions to the users’ problems than the existing app. Maybe the current app is outdated, or the publisher stopped upgrading it. What you need to do is think of ways to beat the competition.

To surpass your competitors, browse the app stores for both iOS and Android and observe the following:

  • The competitors’ app’s name
  • Features
  • Monetization strategies
  • The publisher
  • Last update date
  • Ratings and Reviews
  • Number of downloads

Researching the competition will give an idea of what features to add to your app design, what the target audience wants, how to improve your plans and more. The results will form the foundation for your next move.

Get Feedback from Friends and Family

Part of market research is validating the app idea. Before you can work on the design, ensure whether the people need your app.

You can conduct surveys on different social media platforms or ask your friends and family. Consult as many people as possible to see if your idea is something they need and would use.

Additionally, it will also get your app visibility before the launch, which would help in the marketing phase of app development.

Write out the Features You Want

You did your research, asked the audience for validation, now work out the kinks, and decide the features you want to add.

Use your imagination and think of the final app design, how it will work, how the users will navigate, and other add-ons you want to include. Note what the users will be able to do on your app like signing up via email or social media, customizing their profile, adding a profile image, and more.

The list doesn’t need to be concrete, but it should be sufficient enough to provide an outline for you to move on with the design.

Make Design Mockups

Mockups help in visualizing the idea in mind. With the features sorted, you can work on how the app will look, how the users will interact with the app, how intuitive and user-friendly it is, and more.

When designing the mockups, it helps in picturing yourself using the app. Ask yourself the following questions to perfect your mockup:

  • How many screens do you need to display the information?
  • How would the navigation work? Is it a tab bar at the bottom or a slide menu on the side?
  • Is the navigation intuitive and natural? If you need to work to find something within the app, it means you need to change a few things around.
  • How convenient is it to use the app? Think about the user experience to improve the usability of your design.

Use App Design Templates or Hire an Experienced Developer

When you have a final app design in hand, the next step is deciding to build the app yourself or hiring a development firm.

Many development companies offer consultation and sit with their clients to polish the idea and how to best turn it into a reality. They will help in understanding the details of development, the best features to add, and more.

Contrarily, if you don’t want to spend cash on a firm, then you can use app development platforms to build the app yourself. Here are some platforms where you don’t need to know how to code to design an application:

  • AppyPie
  • AppMakr
  • Kinetise
  • Nativ
  • Andromo
  • GameSalad
  • GoodBarber

Many of these DIY app builders have drag and drop features that allow non-developers to create their applications without the need for coding.

Ready to Build Your App?

One of the essential facts you need to consider when developing your first app is that not everything will be perfect in the first try. You will face challenges that will make your head pound and situations will arise where you will think it’s hopeless. But consulting the relevant people will help you get through the hurdles.

Understand what you want for your app! Whether you are working on the idea yourself or hiring a mobile app development company, knowing what you want in the app will ensure it is a success.