Note: This blog on web app development has been updated for 2022. New points and insights related to web app development have been added. Happy reading!
Web apps are changing the way we work, get entertained, and interact with others. Web applications like Zoom, Netflix, and Canva have become household names but they wouldn't have achieved much if the applications were feature-scarce, loaded with bugs, and challenged performance-wise.
Being the leading PHP development company in India, Techosquare has vast experience in building web applications. To help entrepreneurs and businesses build powerful web apps, we decided to document the web application development stages crucial to evolving game-changing website applications. Let’s put the spotlight on the most commonly followed web application development process:
The number of steps in the web application development process can vary between 5 and 9. But on average, 8 crucial steps are involved in the web app development model. The same are as follows:
Entrepreneurs and businesses mostly start with a set of ideas when they think of launching a web application. These ideas slowly evolve into a detailed document in which application goals, features, technology, budget, vision, and future plans are listed out.
By going through this document, the development team gets a clear understanding of your app objectives, key goals, target audience, focus industry, milestones, and other critical elements. This document is followed up by discussions and questionnaires that help web developers get further clarity into project goals.
Once the application development team has 100% clarity on everything project related, the proposal is prepared to document everything that will be delivered.
In Stage 1, both teams reached an understanding about the envisioned web application. Now, it's time to create the roadmap that will be followed to build it. With the help of insights gathered in the previous stage of the web app development model, developers create a blueprint including flowcharts and sketches that helps determine the overall structure of the web application.
Flowcharts - also known as Sitemaps - show the relationship between different web pages and help understand how the inner structure of your website will look like & work. Wireframes are often used for a visual representation of the UI. Top web app development teams keep clients in loop during this stage to make sure that the core of the application comes out correctly.
Depending on the complexity of the web application, the time spent on Stage 2 will vary. If creating a Minimum Viable Product, be prepared to dedicate around 2 weeks on this.
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Web application users don’t know what happens behind the frontend of the app and how things work. All they interact with is the design part of the application. Stage3 is all about perfecting the design & interactive elements of the web application. Designers work with color schemes, graphics, icons, templates, user experience, style guides, transitions, buttons, and much more to finalize the design aspect of the web application.
After finalizing the initial mockups, they are shared with clients for review & feedback. The design iterations and mockup changes go on until the client gives a thumbs-up to everything. While the design team is busy with the mockups and refinement, the development team is mostly engaged with the programming part. So, Stage3 and Stage4 usually move ahead alongside each other.
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If Stage3 is crafting the aesthetics of a car, Stage4 is about putting together the engine. App programming makes the envisioned features function and builds the value component for the customers. In this stage, frameworks are developed, APIs deployed, app features built, security layers added, payment gateways integrated, and lots of other capabilities crafted.
While coding complex web applications is a time-consuming process, a lot depends on the technologies opted. Some technology stacks benefit from libraries that have capabilities that can be tweaked and integrated with ease. A lot also depends on the experience and expertise of the web programmers working on your web application. Stage 4 forms the biggest chunk of the web application model!
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Copy and labeling are less than 5% of the application development work but without it, it is hard to make sense of everything you have built. User experience and user interface greatly depend on the talent of the Information Architect and Copywriter engaged for the project. Usability and simplicity must be the epicenter of this step in the web app development process.
Stage5 is about finalizing the headlines, captions, labeling, copy, and everything else that’s in the text form. The collaboration of designer, developer, copywriter, and IA is critical to executing all the copy in the right place!
Testing the application after everything seems good-to-go is the most important aspect of the web app development model. That’s because there are hundreds of things that can go wrong even after you think every inch of the application has been executed correctly.
Even after double testing everything, it is a good idea to launch your web application initially in the beta version. If the stakes are high and resources are less, the web application can be unfolded in phases to different audience groups.
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Be it a simple business website or complex web application, every digital product needs routine checkups and enhancements. With the passage of time, you will want to undertake product pivots, integrate new features, and launch the App Version 2. This is why your app development agreement should talk about application maintenance, after-delivery support, and future upgrades.
Depending on your goals, building a web application from scratch using modern technologies and frameworks can cost you somewhere between a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. On average, a custom web application development firm charges anywhere between $10,000- $50,000 for an application with modern capabilities.
If you are planning something bigger from scratch, be prepared to shell out a decent amount of money on web app development. Outsourcing your development work to countries like India can however save almost 40% of your budget.
Since it’s pretty hard to determine the exact cost of web application development without looking at customer goals and requirements, we recommend requesting a free quote.
Above are the major stages involved in the web app development process. It is possible that you will come across another web app development process with more stages but it will most probably be divisions of the same stages.
Refer above web application development model while building your web app to make sure that nothing critical escapes the purview of your web app design & development team.
Ready to develop your web application and need to speak with an experienced team of designers & developers? Email us at info@techosquare.com to discuss your app goals today!
