App design is trending at the moment; people are jumping at the chance to become the next 'app-reneur'. Fruit Ninja, the simple-yet-addictive game created by Halfbrick, last year hit more than a billion downloads, so the revenue would add up to mind boggling figures! It seems easy, doesn't it? Come up with the idea and then get other people to build it. However, there is a lot of planning involved with creating the app; and in my mind it's just as demanding as creating a small business. In this post, we have done the research and set out six easy tips for creating your own app.

1. Brainstorm a unique idea

This creates the solid base for your project - the idea that you will build upon to create a super app that everyone will want. Ask yourself these questions: 

• What problem are you solving? 
• Is there a lucrative unmet pain point you can solve for customers? 
• What devices will your app be accessed on - should you prototype a web app (cheaper and faster) before you go mobile? 
• Is your product idea location-based? 
• Who are your competitors? 
• What makes you different from everyone else? 
• What will be great and new about the app? 
• What features are need to have?
• Why will people use it? 
• How much effort are you willing to invest (time, money, people)? 
• Build that solid base, without the foundation of a strong idea, the whole project may crumble under the weight of everything else.

2. Create a clear and concise action plan and brief

So you have your idea. Now what? Just like any designed object, you need to have a clear and concise brief so that everyone who reads it will understand what you are trying to create. Before we get to the graphics and functionality, think about your business strategy and planning required work activities. Consider how you can validate your idea and test it before you spend your savings building an app no one wants.

• What kind of budget do you have? 
• Think about your target customer (outline who are they, behavioural characteristics), will you charge for your app? Or is it free? 
• How will you fund the development process? 
• Who's going to help you make it and can you pay them?
• How will you promote it once it's built? 
• Are you prepared to fail if you launch and you don't get the traction you expect?

You need to know exactly what you want your app to do and the content you need to create it. For the more basic apps, you need to think what graphics do you need to create and what functionality do you want on the app. It gets more confusing if you want to produce a game. What are the game mechanics? If you have an amazing brief and clear direction, you will end up spending less money as many designers work on an hourly rate. Here are the App Design Strategies that Apple promotes to their iOS developers to get you started on the quest of creating the perfect brief.

3. Bringing your concept to life with code and design

First get an app logo / icon. Then find an app designer/developer who shares your vision and can bring your app idea to life. Once your app is developed, the next crucial step is launching an app effectively to reach your target audience, which involves strategic planning and marketing to ensure your app gains traction upon release.This stage can get expensive, developers and coders who use lean startup methodologies expounded by thought leader-developer-founder - Eric Ries, are your best bet to develop, test, iterate ideas will help you get the best bang for your buck. What your looking for is a minimum viable product you can validate and then scale. And be prepared to pivot if you can't validate the idea, the next iteration of your idea is just around the corner so be persistent. In fact you should read up on his blog posts and apply his ideas to your whole business concept. In a nutshell his approach is about getting to failure faster so you can build a sustainable awesome product loved by your customers.

Will it be pretty? Sourcing kickass graphics for the app

According to a few sources online, a nice but simple app will take about a week's worth of time. If you are looking at a traditional design agency, you would have to expect about $6,000 for the graphic design alone.

If you design with DesignCrowd, you can set up an app design contest for $249, in which you can expect around 10+ designs to choose from with a money back guarantee. Increase the budget and get more submissions. If you are creating a game that is graphics driven, you'll require multiple graphics and this will take a lot longer to create and require a bigger budget.

Coding for the app

The coding is much more expensive and more time consuming that the creation of the graphics, usually taking twice as long - the more graphics involved the more that is involved in the coding. You can find app coders online, or if you want to try through DesignCrowd, you may find someone who is able to create the app and code it. To do this, create a freelance project on DesignCrowd stating you want coding done and see what comes up. Set the budget at about twice the amount of money that you have set for the Graphics and you should be set to get a few responses. You can also explore other options such as no code backend builders which can significantly reduce development time and complexity, offering seamless integration without the need for extensive coding knowledge.

And if you're planning to use Xamarin, engaging a Xamarin app development company can be a strategic move in this process, providing the expertise needed to navigate the complexities of app development efficiently, from ideation to launch.

4. Testing of the project and debugging

Once you are happy with what the coders and designers have produced it's time to compile and test it out on your iOS device. If you have a bunch of friends that are willing to be testers it makes your life a little easier and development a little cheaper. Remember you also need to have real potential customers testing your app too. Implementing effective mobile games user acquisition strategies is crucial for attracting and retaining players, ensuring your app stands out in a competitive market. If someone finds a bug within the app, note it down and see if other people are having the same issue. If someone is finding it difficult to navigate around the app, ask them about what they think will fix it. Keep in touch with your coder and designer, as they will need to be able to fix things up when you need them to be fixed.

In case you require additional expertise, especially for backend improvements or specific features, consider the option to hire Node js developers. Their skills in server-side scripting can be invaluable in enhancing the functionality and performance of your app. And in case you're exploring flutter mobile app development for your next project, it's essential to also test both the design and backend functionalities to ensure a seamless user experience.

5. Making it live

You have your app, and now you are happy that nothing is wrong with it and are ready to take that leap into making your project live. There are guidelines which can be found here which outline the minimum standard that you will have to abide by. If your coder isn't an iOS developer, you will need to shell out the $99/year to become one so you can upload the app to iTunes. Your app has to meet the criteria of Apple's guidelines and once approved the app will appear on the iTunes app store.

6. The front end is just the surface

Creating an app looking from the outside into the realm of the app creation may look simple and easy to do. However, there are a lot of things that go on behind the scene and it can get very complex and expensive (time, money, attention). Streamlining the process by which we mean taking an agile approach to developing the business and product concept is very important and will give you the greatest chance of success. Idea, execution and a testing mentality is crucial, keep the feature set lean until you've proven the concept.

Expect to spend about $2,000 - $6,000 on a simple app, for a complex game say $10k+ easily. If you can design and code and have the time to do things yourself, all you would have to pay is the $100 iOS developer fee and you are good to go.

To hear first hand what app creation entails, watch Dave McKinney, the CEO and founder of FilterSquad, share his story of getting an app to market (researching, testing, launching, funding and more). He had a #1 chart topping song on iTunes in multiple territories, and then applied his learnings marketing on the iTunes store to create an app called Discovr that, as the name suggests is a streaming service that help its users find new apps, music, films and friends streaming service.

Good luck with your project and share your tips and resources for building apps in the comments below!

This article was originally published on July 4, 2012

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Written by Josh Borja on Monday, May 2, 2016

Josh has worked as a graphic designer at DesignCrowd, and is currently an in-house graphic designer for two community groups - Harbour City Bears and Penrith Musical Comedy Company. He credits both groups as being important in helping shape who he is. He says graphic design is a tool getting him to where he wants to be.