phase 1 : Product discovery and strategy
Like any good product, the application begins with an idea. A good starting point is to approach application development in product development mode.
Many product developers believe that a good initial idea guarantees product success. But in reality, this is not enough. Before you start working on the app, you need to test 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 know the end users in order to understand their needs and to be able to offer them a suitable solution by prioritizing the most important features. Defining your product strategy is an essential part of the process because it helps you keep your business goals in mind at every stage of developing your final product.
Determine your target category
Who are my users? Before you start developing your app, you need to answer this fundamental question. Conduct user research to understand your target users. Use target group demographics, behavior patterns, motivations and goals to create personas (typical users of your product). All decisions should be based on the needs and wants of the persona.
Do market research
Market research will tell you what the real demand is for your product and what the market is interested in. It will tell you what problems potential users are having and how you can help them.
Here are some tips for carrying out effective market research:
– Use Google Keyword Planner. This will help you determine how many people are searching for the solution you want to create and whether or not your app solves a common problem.
– Identify direct or indirect competitors. Determine how many customers your competitors have and which features are used the most. A detailed analysis of your competitors will help you understand what features similar products offer and what features are missing. While it is important to understand what your competitors are doing, you should not rely on existing competitors. The key to success is making sure your app is unique and solves user problems more effectively.
– Use “fake door” and “fake website” techniques to test hypotheses. Are users really willing to pay for this solution? There is no need to develop a product to answer this question. Create a web page that presents your idea and the main features of your product and invite users to enter their email address to try it. Measure conversion, such as number of signups, to see if users are actually interested.
Define success criteria
When designing a product or feature, product and application developers should always keep the company’s goals in mind. It is essential to clearly define the objective of a new application. Key performance indicators (KPI) are defined during this phase so that the success of the development process can be better assessed later.
It is also useful to speak with key stakeholders to better understand their expectations and define objectives more precisely. Tracking the right application metrics can help you focus on the clearest KPI and let you know if the application is on the right track.
phase 2 : Plan the design process
The desire to add every possible feature to a product or application is a common pitfall. Rather, it’s important to focus on the features that absolutely need to be included and not on every feature you want to include. Good planning makes it easier to give shape to your ideas before they even reach the production stage.
A project management methodology can be a valuable tool for organizing and bringing together all the components of a project.
Define the project framework
The project framework defines the specifications of the future product. The project framework includes the specific use cases to be covered and identifies the essential features that need to be developed. It lays the foundation for a minimum viable product (MVP).
Creating a roadmap
Roadmaps allow you to define the key elements of a product design and group them into different delivery stages. In this way, the individual product components and their respective completion dates can be clearly identified.
Agile and Lean UX project management methodologies help develop the application in an iterative cycle, breaking down the design and development work into different stages. Each cycle should include planning, design, development, validation and retrospective phases.
phase 3 : Ideation
During the ideation phase, the product team reviews a series of creative ideas to achieve the project’s goals. It is then a question of defining guidelines which will be followed at all stages of the development process.
Mapping the User Journey
The first step in designing an app is to determine how content and functionality will be delivered to users. A user journey map allows you to visualize the entire user journey through the application. It usually takes the form of a series of steps through which a person interacts with the product.
Here are some tips for creating a user journey map :
– Describe the flow and all functions. Describe how users will navigate the app and any essential functions they will use. The more detailed your flow is, the easier it will be to design your product accordingly.
– Remove all unnecessary functions. Keep only the functions that are absolutely essential for the user. Why do this? Because it will save you development resources and bring your product to market faster.
User Stories
A user story is a simple description of what a user wants to achieve using a product. When designing a product, avoid adding features without a user story to justify their importance.
phase 4 : Design and Development
The success of an app depends on the reaction of the target audience. Design is an important step in the application development process. This is because design not only defines the design of the application, but also how it will work for the end user. Apps that provide a good user experience are more likely to succeed.
Sketches and functional models
When creating app screens, designers rarely start with high-fidelity mockups. Often, they use pencil and paper to visualize the basic structure of each page. Next, a sketch corresponding to the product vision is created and the product team moves to the next step: wireframing, or creating a functional mock-up. This functional mockup is a digital version of the sketch, a low-fidelity mockup showing the visual structure of each page.
Visual design
The first seconds of a product’s life are essential to create a good impression on the user. The visual language of the product, including typography, colors, shapes, textures, animations and all other graphic elements, is crucial in this regard. This language should be consistent throughout the product.
Start by defining design principles, which are clear criteria for team members to make user-centered decisions. Then, as a team, take the time to create a style guide. This document is the only reference for designers and developers. It contains the graphics rules used in the product.
The prototyping
When the app design is almost finalized, the product team moves to the next step, prototyping. Prototypes are used to simulate different modes of interaction between the user and the product. The fidelity of the prototype must correspond to the state of your thinking. In most cases, it is appropriate to start with low-fidelity prototypes created from working (“clickable”) mockups, then move to high-fidelity prototypes that are closer in appearance and functionality to the final product .
Development
Here, the product team defines the technical architecture and selects the technology stack – you can use any language and framework you want to develop apps on Shopify, as the platform accepts them all.
Most development projects require both back-end and front-end work :
– Back-end development: This involves the creation of server-side objects that support the functionality of the product. This includes, for example, the development of database structures, data management business logic, APIs, etc.
– Front End Development: The front end is the application interface, the part of the application that is manipulated by the end user.
Phase 5: Testing the application
This testing phase includes two main groups: functional testing and non-functional testing.
Functional tests
The term “functional testing” encompasses all testing of the functionality and capabilities of an application. These tests are typically performed by quality assurance professionals, who perform a series of checks to ensure that the product performs as intended (i.e., is functional, reliable, and usable), report bugs and track fixes to validate them.
To optimize functional testing, a continuous integration process should be implemented. Continuous integration means that tests can be automated every time the source code is changed.
Non-functional tests
Non-functional testing allows you to verify the performance and usability of a product. The basic idea is to check whether the product offers an effective interaction design for the user. Usability testing can take a formal form, where researchers create a set of tasks, recruit participants, hold testing sessions and record them, or an informal form, such as guerrilla testing.
Phase 6: Post-launch activities
Application development is an iterative process that does not end with the launch of the application. After launch, time and resources should be dedicated to obtaining user feedback and improving the user experience (UX). This will also help you evaluate the long-term success of your app.
Use data analytics to better understand user behavior
Data analysis can help track user engagement and loyalty to a product. Better understand which features of your product are most appreciated by users. A better understanding of your users lets you know what new features to add to your development roadmap, improving your business in the long term.
Conduct contextual research
Contextual research is a type of field research in which UX professionals observe users in their natural environment and investigate how they use the product in their daily work. The goal of this type of research is to collect enough observations to truly understand users and their perspectives. The combination of contextual qualitative research and quantitative analysis allows you to focus on the next steps that are most important to the app development process and business growth.
conclusion
In conclusion, successful design of intelligent applications requires a strategic and thoughtful approach. By adopting an effective strategy, focusing on user experience and integrating innovative technologies, it is possible to create intelligent applications that meet user needs while remaining competitive in the market. Understanding emerging trends, adapting to technological changes and paying close attention to quality and safety are the keys to success in this evolving industry.
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