7 surprising things about web based application development

Are you considering hiring an angularjs developer for web based application development? Or perhaps your company determined a need for an on-premise web app to facilitate or automate some processes? If that’s the case, you probably have a certain business idea on your mind and a more or less vague sense of what the final product should include and the technologies it requires. The one thing you don’t realize is that if you don’t deal with web app development on a daily basis, most of these assumptions are going to have to be revised.

  • #1 Web based application development? So how much is it going to cost?

 

Some time ago, we wrote a piece on various pricing methods software houses offer to their customers , where we pit and the time and material methods against each other. The former method refers to a situation when the customer wants to pay a certain fixed amount . Such customers usually hand over detailed functional specifications where all the requirements are written down (so called waterfall approach). The software house is forced to develop an app knowing that any potential problems that may arise in the future and slow down the development won’t give them the right to demand more money. Thus, one can’t be surprised that they tend to overcharge. The latter one’s goal is to build the best product possible taking into consideration all potential ideas to improve that developers and stakeholders of the product could come up with during the development process. And no one really knows the extent to which the product concept will change over time, especially when it comes to startups that usually greatly benefit from the iterative development where subsequent product versions are tested with potential customers and improved upon. Learning the basics of Agile methodologies such as Scrum, which Sensinum happens to employ, is a great way to understand how modern app development evolves to make up for the uncertainties of web app projects. So what is the answer to the question above? The answer is that there is no answer. The fixed price vs time and material debate is sure heated. But a web based application development is impossible to assess unless a functional specification is prepared. Developing software really makes one appreciate the answer „it depends”, which causes both parties to discuss things and constantly come up with improvements. Thus, the time and material method may prove really beneficial for the customer when their cooperation with the software house goes well, allowing for such a creative exchange of ideas. Another interesting alternative is the fixed budget method.

 

  • #2 What you can see vs what you can do

 

Beautifully designed web and mobile apps such as CodepenSketch or Macaw are the final result every customer wants to see from their software developer. But at the same time they take the attention away from the core logic every good application needs to run properly. Regardless of whether you make hybrid mobile app using frameworks such as Ionic, or an Angular web app, unless all it does is take written input from the user, developing the logic takes much more time than designing. Using the Agile approach, developers often come up with the so called user stories to describe the functionalities of an app in simple words and then they apply software patterns such as Model-View-Controller to put them into the technical context. Every new feature requires the developer to spend considerable amount of time to create the logic behind it. And as each feature changes the way the UI works, the initial design changes over time and final decisions about it are  made at later stages. Therefore, an app, which is almost ready feature-wise, may appear completely unfinished to the „naked eye” of an average user, who only sees the outermost layer.

  • #3 The importance of great UI

 

Having said that, you should never forget the importance of great design. If you share the opinion of some entrepreneurs that believe that they can save by having an in-house designer take care of the frontend of the app, you should reconsider that. App development is different than coding a static website. The more complicated its logic is, the tighter the relationship between frontend and backend tends to be. Angularjs developer uses the Angular framework that influences the way the entire code structure is composed. As your app grows in popularity and features, such frameworks are indispensable in order to keep control of the data. When it comes to app development, you should never think of frontend and backend as two completely separate layers. The best and in most cases only possible option is for the software house to take care of both.

  • #4 Making a mobile app or hiring an angularjs developer

 

Have you decided to spend more money and develop a mobile app for each of your mobile platforms of choice? Then, I guess, a web app is no longer necessary. You couldn’t have been more wrong. In most cases, users tend to expect web apps. The popularity of mobile browsing is growing and building mobile web apps is very useful as they can be accessed across all devices without any modifications. Some users are willing to sacrifice some of the speed native apps provide to avoid the necessity of installing new software. It’s in your business to not let them down. The good news is that if you start with a web app, you can create a mobile app equivalent really quickly. Especially if you decide to use the services of an angularjs developer and make a non-native HTML5 mobile app using Ionic. A mobile app like this will run the same across all platforms, including the most popular ones, that is iOS and Android.

  • #5 Avoid afterthoughts and think of scalability

 

SaaS application development is an area densely populated by all sorts of startups. They build them as the barrier to entry is low and cloud ensures cheap storage to handle the customer data. When you combine that with the Lean methodology (which, by the way, we absolutely love), which encourages entrepreneurs to release their products fast and test them with real users, you end up with a lot of rushed apps. Software built without scalability in mind. If you can test your startup idea without spending a penny, that’s brilliant. But when you develop the actual program that you’re going to improve on in the future, don’t build on weak foundations. You’re going to realize that you made a mistake the very same moment you try to make some improvements. A software house that provides quality web application development services will make decisions regarding the technology stack and app architecture with scalability, including its data integration capabilities, in mind.

  • #6 Avoid afterthoughts and think of integration

 

Integration is another area, where you’re going to experience painful afterthoughts unless you plan well from the start. Especially when your goal is to enter the B2B market. Companies are increasingly more interested in SaaS solutions. More often than not, however, they require a way to integrate the app with their own on-premise software at least to the extent, which will allows them to exchange data. In some areas, such as sales, the ability to integrate the app with legacy software and other apps is so important, that a robust API simply has to be developed from the start. For some apps such as SalesForce it’s an important competitive advantage. For the buyers, a lack of it is a deal breaker. Learn more about the importance of web application development services that provide data integration

  • #7 Don’t pay with your time. Use money instead

 

Sometimes, a company that considers hiring a software house to develop an app eventually decides to do that in-house instead. Most of the time the development process ends up being multiplied by three or four. You need to consider criteria such as time to market. Is delaying the launch of your app going to hurt your business greatly? This may be the case in niche markets where the cost of switching from one solution to another may be too high. Most of the time, it’s better to pay with money rather than your time.

 

To recap

 

Web based application development is an ever-changing field, which requires considerable knowledge to understand all of its nitty gritty. You don’t have to be an angularjs developer. But learning the basics of how it works will still aid you greatly. You’ll be able to make better business decisions regarding your software assets and cooperate with developers to create quality products.

Sensinum is a Polish software house with a goal of providing the best software development services to companies, marketing agencies and teams. Looking for a subcontractor or a software house team to help you in your own project? Sensinum is the best possible answer. Our proficient developers regularly work on highly advanced projects and won’t hesitate to support yours. If you’re wondering how we can help you, contact us and consult your software idea for free.

Read our 10 reasons why digital marketing and expert it subcontractor are a perfect match article to learn more about what skilled it subcontractor, or more specifically software subcontractor can do for you.

Sensinum Team
Sensinum Team