3 July 2018

7 Ways to Prepare for a Digital Project

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Lara Findlay

So you have decided to build an app or a digital product. This may be a new idea, or something you think can be digitised and streamline processes within your organisation. You may be eager to just get started and fire ahead with development. But what other considerations are there? Is there anything else you need to prepare before you approach a development team?

We’ve summarised 7 key considerations that we think you should be aware of and start planning before you begin talking with a development partner.

 

1. Do the research

Having an idea is one thing, but being able to communicate it with a development team is another.  Make sure you have done your research, have a business model or strategy in place for the app, and are able to communicate that well before you speak to a developer. Also ensure you consider all ongoing costs, including hosting, services and ongoing support and maintenance.

It can be tempting to start building your idea now and sort out the business plan later. This can cause catastrophic issues down the line, wasted development time and a lot of unnecessary stress.

2. Branding

Every app will have a particular look and feel, and this is usually based on your brand guidelines, and current design trends. In order to ensure you have a consistent online presence, we suggest making sure you have a brand in place before you begin any development.

3. Illustrations and Photography

Usually your development partner will work with you to design the app mocks and interfaces. However, if you’d like to add more personality you might need to source specific photography, illustrations and animations to bring your app to life.

Stock sites can be used to source photography, but you might want to find a photographer to produce photos that are bespoke to your platform.

This would usually be an additional project outside your development project, so this is something to consider early on.

4. Legals

It is more and more common for digital platforms of all shapes and sizes to have a privacy policy and terms and conditions, particularly in light of GDPR. This a necessity for apps that either collect user data (via user accounts), use maps, send push notifications or use the camera in any way.

There are many templates for these online, but we’d suggest getting these checked over by a lawyer. This can take time and money and should be considered early on.

5. Developer accounts and hosting

In order to build your platform, the developer team will need access to a few accounts. You will need to have a hosting provider for any data you store, and apps on the App Store and Google Play will need a developer account on each platform. Your development team should guide you through which accounts to set up, but you will need to make sure you have budgeted for these costs and set aside time to help set these up.
Find out more about ongoing costs of running a digital platform here.

6. Marketing and sales

Once your app is ready to launch, you will need to have a strategy in place for spreading the word and getting those all-important downloads. You may want to build an app sales website alongside the development of your app, and start planning out Google Ad and Social media campaigns. Running an app should be treated like running a business – you have to have a consistent plan in place in order to guarantee any results.

7. Find the right team

It’s essential you find the right team for your project. You may be weighing up hiring and managing your own developers, or bringing a full development team on board that can provide project management, design, UX and testing as a full package. Either way, different developers and teams have different approaches. Make sure you spend time scoping out the project with them and getting to know one another before you make any large commitments. Make sure you feel assured that they have the right experience and that you feel comfortable raising any questions or concerns with them.

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These 7 key considerations should give you a quick overview of things to research before you start building an app. Once you have considered all of these things and have a plan in place you will be ready to get started with your project!

 

If you have any questions about how to prepare for a digital project, we would be more than happy to help! Please get in touch today to chat to one of the GearedApp team,