This guide breaks down what affects development timelines, how long it takes to develop, create, or build an app, and how businesses can accelerate the process without sacrificing quality.

Organizations that want accurate planning and faster execution often work with experienced teams offering professional app development services rather than guessing timelines or relying on inexperienced developers.

1. What Determines How Long It Takes to Code an App?

The phrase “how long does it take to code an app” can be misleading because coding is only one part of the broader app development lifecycle. The total development timeline is influenced by several factors including:

• Project scope and feature complexity
• Platform choice (iOS, Android, Web, or all three)
• Third-party integrations and APIs
• UX/UI design requirements
• Compliance and security needs
• Team size and experience level

With these factors in mind, app development typically includes seven phases:

1. Discovery and product strategy
2. UX and UI design
3. Frontend coding
4. Backend development
5. Integrations and infrastructure
6. Testing and QA
7. Deployment and launch

This entire lifecycle contributes to the overall app development timeline, not just the coding phase.

2. How Long Does It Take to Develop, Create, and Build an App?

Although every project is different, the following are standard industry ranges used by software development teams worldwide:

Simple Applications: 2 to 3 Months

Simple projects have minimal backend logic and limited feature sets. Examples include:

• Directory apps
• Tracking (e.g. goals, inventory, receipts) and scanning apps
• Booking and event apps
• Single-function internal business productivity tools

These apps often ship quickly because they require fewer integrations and rely on straightforward UX patterns.  For many businesses, a mobile app might be a simple “wrapper”, where we build a basic smartphone or tablet app to allow employees to upload and download relevant data to / from the company’s already existing database.

Medium Complexity Apps: 3 to 6 Months

Most commercial apps fall into this category, including:

• Subscription platforms
• Contractor / field apps
• Health, fitness and coaching apps
• Social media / community apps
• Learning / course apps
• Marketplaces with payments

These projects typically include authentication, custom backends, notifications, third-party integrations, and administrative dashboards.

Complex or Enterprise Apps: 6 to 12+ Months

Large-scale systems require advanced infrastructure and ongoing iteration. These include:

• Healthcare and HIPAA compliant apps
• Learning and education platforms
• Real-time communications apps (chat, voice, video)
• Enterprise inventory or logistics systems
• Full-scale SaaS products

These systems often need intensive testing, integrations, and scalability planning, extending timelines sometimes beyond one year.

3. Breakdown of the App Development Timeline

To better understand how long it takes to build an app, here is a realistic breakdown of each phase:

Phase 1: Discovery & Planning (2 to 6 Weeks)

During this stage, teams define scope, user personas, requirements, architecture, and budget. This phase prevents costly rework later.

Phase 2: UX/UI Design (3 to 6 Weeks)

Design delivers screens, user flows, wireframes, and visual prototypes. Strong UX reduces training time and support needs after launch.

Phase 3: Coding & Engineering (8 to 36+ Weeks)

This includes frontend and backend development, API integrations, and cloud setup. Complex systems require parallel development across multiple teams.

Phase 4: Testing & QA (2 to 5 Weeks)

Testing ensures compatibility, performance, and stability across devices. Skipping QA is one of the fastest ways to hurt user retention.

Phase 5: Launch & Deployment (1 to 3 Weeks)

This includes App Store and Play Store submissions, server deployments, analytics setup, and final compliance checks.

4. What Speeds Up or Slows Down the Timeline?

Several variables can accelerate or delay app development:

• Platform choice: iOS + Android takes longer than one platform
• Backend/CMS:  Large databases with multiple CMS role types adds complexity
• Integrations: payments, maps, messaging, AI, etc. add time
• Compliance: finance, healthcare, and enterprise have stricter requirements
• Scope changes: mid-project pivots extend timelines significantly
• Team experience: senior teams move faster than freelancers

Businesses can reduce timelines by starting with an MVP, optimizing scope, and using proven cross-platform frameworks. Teams like Epic Business Apps help clients make those decisions early so development remains efficient.

5. Common Mistakes Affecting App Development Timelines

Most delays are avoidable. The most common mistakes include:

• Starting without clear requirements
• Constant feature changes during development
• Underestimating backend complexity
• Choosing the wrong tech stack
• Skipping QA for speed

Many successful apps launched as minimum viable products, validated their market, and then expanded. This approach reduces risk and accelerates timelines.

6. Final Answer: How Long Does It Really Take to Code an App?

Here is the final timeline summary:

• Simple apps: 2 to 3 months
• Medium complexity apps: 3 to 6 months
• Complex apps: 6 to 12+ months

If you are evaluating how long it will take to build your idea, the most accurate way to estimate is through structured planning and technical scoping. Our team offers clarity through strategy, design, and development services for startups, growing businesses, and enterprises.

To see real project timelines and delivered work, view some of our portfolio here: Our Development Work

Conclusion

Coding an app involves far more than writing code. It requires structured planning, design, backend engineering, testing, and deployment. By understanding what affects timelines, businesses can set realistic expectations and build more successful digital products.

If you have an app idea and want to know how long it will take to develop, our team at Epic Apps can provide timeline estimates, cost projections, MVP planning, and full-cycle development support.

Both options can be valuable. The key is understanding when each one makes sense and where the tradeoffs begin to matter.

This guide breaks down bespoke applications versus off-the-shelf solutions from a practical business perspective so you can make a confident decision that supports long term growth.

Businesses that require full control over functionality, integrations, and scalability often choose to work with experienced teams offering bespoke application development rather than adapting their operations to generic software platforms.

1. Understanding Bespoke Software

Before comparing the two approaches, it helps to clearly understand what bespoke software actually is and what separates it from standard commercial tools.

Definition of Bespoke Software

Bespoke software refers to applications that are designed and built specifically for a single business. Rather than purchasing a prebuilt product and adapting internal workflows to match it, bespoke application development starts with your processes, goals, and constraints.

In simple terms, a bespoke application is software created to fit your business instead of forcing your business to fit the software.

Meaning of Bespoke Software in a Business Context

The meaning of bespoke software goes beyond customization. It represents ownership and intent. When a company chooses bespoke software development, it is deciding to treat technology as a strategic asset rather than a generic utility.

Bespoke software systems are built to solve real operational problems, eliminate inefficiencies, and support how a business actually runs today while remaining flexible enough to evolve tomorrow.

Key Characteristics of Bespoke Applications

Most bespoke application software shares a few defining traits.

• Purpose built around specific workflows
• Clean integration with existing systems
• Scales without licensing constraints
• Full control over features and data
• Evolves based on business priorities

Because bespoke applications are not bound to a third party product roadmap, they can adapt quickly as the business grows or changes direction.

2. Overview of Off-the-Shelf Solutions

Off-the-shelf software is often the first option businesses explore, especially during early growth stages.

What Are Off-the-Shelf Applications?

Off-the-shelf applications are prebuilt software products designed for broad use across many industries. They are typically available via subscription or license and can be deployed quickly with minimal setup.

Examples include accounting software, CRM platforms, project management tools, and ecommerce systems.

Advantages of Off-the-Shelf Solutions

Off-the-shelf solutions provide clear benefits in the right scenarios.

• Lower upfront cost
• Fast deployment and setup
• Established reliability through widespread use
• Vendor managed updates and maintenance
• Large user communities and documentation

For startups or teams with simple requirements, off-the-shelf software can deliver immediate value without significant investment.

Limitations of Off-the-Shelf Applications

As businesses grow, the limitations of off-the-shelf solutions often become more apparent.

• Limited customization options
• Unused features that still add cost
• Workflow compromises and manual workarounds
• Integration challenges with proprietary systems
• Recurring fees that increase over time

These limitations rarely appear on day one. They tend to surface when a business starts scaling, adding complexity, or differentiating its operations.

3. Advantages of Bespoke Software Development

At this stage, many organizations begin exploring professional app development services to ensure their software aligns with business goals, technical requirements, and future growth plans.

Bespoke software development takes a fundamentally different approach by aligning technology directly with business objectives.

Customization to Unique Needs

One of the most important benefits of bespoke software is complete alignment with your workflows. Every feature is designed intentionally, eliminating unnecessary steps and reducing friction across teams.

Instead of adjusting how your business operates to accommodate software limitations, bespoke application development removes those limitations entirely.

Scalability and Flexibility

Bespoke applications are designed with growth in mind. As your organization expands, your software can evolve without forcing migrations, upgrades, or expensive licensing changes.

New features, integrations, and user roles can be added incrementally, allowing the software to scale alongside the business rather than become a bottleneck.

Long Term Cost Efficiency

While bespoke software typically requires a higher initial investment, it often delivers stronger long term value.

• No per user licensing fees
• No payment for unused features
• Development focused on business priorities
• Controlled technical debt

For businesses with complex operations or long term growth plans, bespoke software application development often results in a lower total cost of ownership over time.

Enhanced Security Features

Security is another major advantage of bespoke software systems. Because the application is built specifically for your organization, security controls can be tailored to your data sensitivity and compliance requirements.

Custom authentication, role based access, and internal security rules are easier to implement when you control the entire application stack.

4. Comparing the Two Approaches

Choosing between bespoke and off-the-shelf solutions requires looking beyond surface level features and pricing.

Cost Analysis: Bespoke vs Off-the-Shelf

Off-the-shelf solutions usually appear more affordable upfront. Bespoke applications require a larger initial investment.

However, when factoring in subscription fees, customization costs, integrations, and operational inefficiencies, the long term financial picture often favors bespoke software for growing businesses.

Time to Market Considerations

Off-the-shelf software can be deployed quickly, which makes it appealing for short term needs or proof of concept stages.

Bespoke application development takes longer due to planning, design, and testing. That additional time often results in faster adoption and fewer adjustments after launch because the solution is built correctly from the start.

Integration and Compatibility

Integration is where bespoke applications often outperform prebuilt tools.

Bespoke software is designed to connect directly with your existing systems, data sources, and workflows. Off-the-shelf solutions may require third party connectors or manual processes that introduce friction and risk.

User Experience and Customization

User experience is frequently overlooked but has a major impact on productivity.

Bespoke applications can be designed around how users actually work, reducing training time and minimizing errors. Off-the-shelf tools must serve a broad audience, which often leads to cluttered interfaces and unnecessary complexity.

5. Real World Use Cases

Understanding how businesses apply each approach helps clarify when one option is a better fit.

Successful Bespoke Application Examples

Bespoke applications are often chosen when software directly impacts revenue, efficiency, or customer experience.

• A logistics company building a custom routing and inventory platform
• A healthcare organization developing secure internal systems
• An ecommerce brand creating custom order and fulfillment workflows

In these cases, bespoke software becomes a competitive advantage rather than a background tool.

Successful Off-the-Shelf Solution Examples

Off-the-shelf solutions work well for standardized functions.

• Accounting and bookkeeping platforms
• Email marketing tools
• Basic project management systems

For non differentiating processes, prebuilt software often delivers sufficient value without unnecessary investment.

6. Making the Right Choice for Your Business

There is no universal answer. The right decision depends on how critical the software is to your operations and growth.

Bespoke application development is often the right choice when workflows are unique, systems are tightly integrated, or software plays a direct role in revenue generation.

Off-the-shelf software makes sense when requirements are standard, budgets are limited, or speed is the primary concern. Many businesses successfully use a hybrid approach, relying on off-the-shelf tools for general tasks while investing in bespoke software for core operations.

If your software plays a critical role in operations, customer experience, or revenue, partnering with a team that delivers scalable app development solutions can help ensure your technology grows with your business rather than holding it back.

Conclusion: Finding the Best Fit for Your Needs

Bespoke applications and off-the-shelf solutions both serve important roles in modern businesses. The difference lies in how closely the software aligns with your goals and how well it supports growth over time.

Bespoke software offers precision, scalability, and control. Off-the-shelf solutions offer speed, accessibility, and lower upfront cost. Understanding the strengths and limitations of each approach allows you to choose a solution that supports both your current needs and future direction.

For businesses that view technology as a long term investment rather than a short term fix, bespoke application development can transform software from a constraint into a competitive advantage.

As developers, our goal is to bring your vision to life. However, it’s crucial to recognize when an idea, in its current form, could lead to a financial and operational quagmire. In this article, we’ll explore what a tarpit idea looks like, why it can be so dangerous, and how you can refine your vision to create a successful, sustainable project.

What is a Tarpit Idea?

A tarpit idea is a concept that may initially seem attractive but is fraught with complexities, risks, and hidden costs that can quickly escalate. These projects often share common characteristics:

1. Overambitious Scope: The project aims to solve too many problems at once or attempts to incorporate every possible feature, making it difficult to execute efficiently.
   
2. Undefined Target Audience: The project lacks a clear understanding of who the end-users are and what they truly need, leading to a product that tries to please everyone but ends up appealing to no one.
   
3. Lack of Differentiation: The idea does not offer a unique value proposition or fails to stand out from existing solutions, making it difficult to compete in the market.
   
4. Underestimated Complexity: The technical or logistical challenges are downplayed or not fully understood, leading to delays, budget overruns, and ultimately, a product that doesn’t meet expectations.

The Financial Risks of a Tarpit Idea

One of the most significant dangers of a tarpit idea is its potential to drain resources without delivering a return on investment. For small businesses and entrepreneurs, this can be particularly devastating. Here are some ways in which a tarpit idea can lead to financial hardship:

• Extended Development Timelines: As complexities arise, the development process can drag on, increasing costs far beyond the initial budget.
  
• Pivoting Costs: Realizing mid-project that the concept needs a significant shift can lead to additional expenses, whether it’s redesigning features, altering the user interface, or even starting from scratch.
  
• Market Misalignment: If the final product doesn’t resonate with its intended audience, you may face low adoption rates, forcing you to invest even more in marketing or further development to salvage the project.
  

How to Avoid the Tarpit

To ensure your project doesn’t become a tarpit, consider the following strategies:

1. Start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Focus on the core functionality that solves a specific problem for a defined audience. This approach allows you to test your concept with minimal investment and gather feedback to inform future development.
   
2. Conduct Thorough Market Research: Before diving into development, ensure there’s a genuine need for your product. Understand your target audience, their pain points, and how your solution can provide value.
   
3. Prioritize Features: Break down your idea into must-have features and nice-to-have features. Start with the essentials and add more complex features only after validating the initial product.
   
4. Be Open to Feedback and Iteration: As you develop your product, stay flexible. Listen to user feedback and be willing to make changes to better align with market needs. This approach reduces the risk of creating something that doesn’t meet user expectations.
   
5. Set Realistic Expectations: Both in terms of time and budget, setting realistic expectations is key. Understand that complex projects take time, and be prepared to invest in multiple phases of development rather than expecting a perfect solution immediately.
   
6. Work with Experienced Developers: Partnering with a development team that has experience with similar projects can help you identify potential pitfalls early on. They can offer valuable insights and guidance, ensuring your idea is feasible and aligned with your business goals.

Conclusion

The excitement of bringing a new idea to life is one of the most rewarding aspects of working in software development. However, it’s essential to approach every project with a critical eye. By recognizing the signs of a tarpit idea and taking steps to refine your concept, you can avoid the pitfalls that have led many promising projects to financial ruin.

As a Denver app developer, Epic Business Apps is committed to helping you navigate the challenges of software development. We believe that with the right strategy and guidance, every great idea can become a successful, sustainable product. If you’re ready to turn your vision into reality, we’re here to help—be legendary!

With the increasing adoption of cloud-hosted software, many in-house applications have the potential to be converted into highly successful SaaS solutions. This article explores when and how to make this transformation effectively.

When to Consider Transforming Your In-House Software into SaaS

The decision to turn your custom software into a separate SaaS platform should be driven by strategic goals and market potential. Here are some indicators that it might be time to consider this transformation:

1. Proven Internal Success: If your custom software has significantly improved your company’s productivity and efficiency, it likely has the potential to do the same for other businesses in your industry.
2. Industry Demand: Identify if there is a demand for solutions that address the same productivity challenges your software solves. If other companies are seeking similar improvements, your software could fill a crucial gap in the market.
3. Revenue Diversification: Developing a SaaS platform can provide a new, recurring revenue stream. This can be particularly advantageous for businesses looking to diversify their income sources and reduce reliance on a single revenue channel.
4. Scalability Potential: SaaS allows for scalability without the limitations of physical infrastructure. If your software can handle multiple users or clients simultaneously, it is well-suited for a SaaS model.

How to Transform Your In-House Software into SaaS

Transforming your in-house software into a SaaS solution involves several critical steps. Here’s a roadmap to guide you through the process:

1. Market Research and Feasibility Analysis: Start by conducting thorough market research to understand the demand for your SaaS offering. Analyze competitors, identify your target audience, and assess the feasibility of the transition.  Having a very good understanding of what your potential customers indicate they would pay for your SaaS platform.  This step is crucial for ensuring there is a viable market for your new SaaS solution.
2. Define Your SaaS Model: Clearly define your SaaS business model, including pricing strategies, subscription plans, and service tiers. Consider offering free trials or freemium versions to attract new users. Your pricing strategy should be competitive while providing value to your customers.
3. Platform Redesign and Development: Transforming to a SaaS model often requires significant changes to your platform’s architecture. Ensure your platform is scalable, secure, and capable of handling multi-tenancy. Work with experienced developers to redesign and develop the necessary features and functionalities.
4. Data Migration and Integration: Plan for seamless data migration from your existing platform to the new SaaS environment. This includes ensuring data integrity, security, and compliance with relevant regulations. Additionally, integrate essential third-party services and APIs to enhance your platform’s capabilities.
5. Security and Compliance: SaaS platforms must adhere to strict security standards to protect customer data. Implement robust security measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits. Ensure compliance with general, or industry-specific, regulations such as GDPR, WCAG or HIPAA.
6. User Training and Support: Provide comprehensive training and support to your existing and new users. Develop detailed documentation, tutorials, and offer customer support to help users transition smoothly to the new SaaS platform.
7. Marketing and Launch Strategy: Develop a robust marketing strategy to promote your new SaaS offering. Utilize digital marketing channels, social media, and content marketing to reach your target audience. Plan a strategic launch to generate buzz and attract initial users.
8. Continuous Improvement: After the launch, continuously gather user feedback and monitor the platform’s performance. Use this data to make iterative improvements, add new features, and enhance the user experience. Regular updates and improvements are crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and staying competitive.

Conclusion

Transforming your in-house software into a SaaS platform can be a game-changer for small and mid-sized enterprises. It offers numerous benefits, including new revenue streams, enhanced market reach, and the ability to leverage your successful internal solution to help other businesses. By following a strategic approach and focusing on market research, platform development, and continuous improvement, businesses can successfully navigate this transformation and unlock new growth opportunities. If you are considering a conversion of your custom software to a SaaS solution, contact Epic Business Apps to discuss the possibilities.

Common Pitfalls and Simple Solutions

But having an SSL certificate attached to your domain requires diligent website administration to avoid a common pitfall. For small business owners or department heads, discovering that their website is suddenly offline can be extremely unsettling. This unexpected downtime is often due to an expired SSL certificate. Fortunately, this issue is easily avoidable.

The problem typically arises when the person who purchased the SSL certificate fails to set it to automatically renew. A year goes by, the certificate is about to expire, and the renewal process falls through the cracks. The responsible person may have left the company, or the renewal emails might have ended up in the junk mailbox.

To prevent this, it’s crucial to ensure that your SSL certificate is set to renew automatically. This simple step can save you from the hassle and potential loss associated with unexpected website downtime.

The Solution: Automatic Renewal

The simplest and most effective way to prevent unexpected SSL certificate expirations is to invest in an automatically renewing SSL certificate. This “set it and forget it” approach ensures that your SSL certificate is always up-to-date without requiring manual intervention.

For large business enterprise applications, many of the major cloud providers, such as AWS and Google Cloud, offer automatic certificate renewal as part of their managed service packages, often at no additional cost.

For smaller website hosting needs, providers like GoDaddy offer managed SSL renewal options that you can purchase, usually for a small fraction of the cost of the certificate itself. Even free SSL certificate options like Let’s Encrypt can be set up to automatically renew. Using Certbot, a free, open-source tool, your developer can configure a simple cron job on Unix-based systems or a scheduled task on Windows to regularly run the renewal process. This ensures continuous security and prevents unexpected downtime.

Conclusion

In summary, securing your website with an SSL certificate is essential for protecting your data and maintaining user trust. Opting for an automatically renewing SSL certificate is a smart, hassle-free way to keep your site secure and online, safeguarding your business against potential disruptions and security threats.   Invest in your website’s security today and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your SSL certificate will never lapse unexpectedly.

Mobile-optimized Website

Pros:

1. Accessibility.  Websites are available to all users who have an internet connection, immediately upon going live.  This can help launch your platform to a much broader audience, with much lower costs.
   
   
2. Maintenance savings.  Websites avoid costly, ongoing code updates in order to stay up to date with iOS or Android version updates.
   
   
3. Better discoverability.  Websites enable you to more easily, and affordably, market your website through free google analytics and organic search optimization.
   
   
4. Faster launch time.  Websites do not require going through the often cumbersome approval process of either Google Play or the App Store.  If either Google or Apple don’t like something about your mobile app, you will be entirely at their mercy to try and change your app to appease them.  
   
   
5. Avoids app store violations.  Websites avoid the nightmare scenario of suddenly being taken off the app stores because some element of your platform doesn’t conform to an unexpected update to Google or Apple’s privacy policies, terms of service, or unexplained content-violation.
   

Cons:

1. Slower Speeds.  Internet connections that are necessary to access a website can sometimes be slow for some users, creating a frustrating user experience. Since it’s not possible to cache large amounts of data to a person’s smartphone device, not only is uploading and downloading of simple information often slow and clunky, but it might also render the rest of your platform completely useless when they are offline.  
   
   
2. Less immersive.  Websites do not allow for seamless integration with most of the users’ smart phone native functionality, like GPS, Photos, Contacts, Camera/Video, Touch/Face ID, Bluetooth, and Push Notifications. 
   
   
3. Development costs for mobile optimization.  Depending on the exact nature of your platform’s content, the mobile-optimized website can sometimes require completely custom content display through what’s known as adaptive coding, versus the more standard (and less costly) mobile responsive approach.  Mobile website visitors, these days, have fairly limited patience levels for a less-than-optimized user interface. 

Native Mobile App

Pros:

1. Speed & Performance.  Mobile apps allow personal data and frequently accessed content to be cached on a mobile app, making the use of your platform not only faster, but even possible when the user is offline.  
   
   
2. Immersive user-experience.  Much better user engagement and retention can be achieved on a mobile app through targeted push notifications and integrations of commonly used smartphone functionality such as GPS, Photos, Contacts, and Camera/Video
   
   
3. Personalization.  From a user experience standpoint, mobile apps allow a user to set, and keep, more preferences and settings in place for regular use.  And from an engagement standpoint, users within the app can target each other better, based on all those same settings and preferences.
   
   
4. Trust & Safety.  Mobile apps foster more user-trust around safety and privacy.  Once an app is approved, there is less possibility of security concerns such as viruses and tracking, which are often hidden through the internet browsers that a website is accessed from.

Cons:

1. Maintenance costs.  Mobile apps are usually more costly for ongoing code updates that are required to stay up with iOS or Android version updates, revised privacy policies, and terms of service requirements.
   
   
2. Profit sharing with Google and Android. If your app allows for in-app purchases, or subscription-based fees to use your app, you will likely be giving the app stores at least 15% to 30% of your revenue.
   
   
3. SEO.  Mobile apps are more difficult to market directly, and organically, within the app stores.  Marketing a mobile app often takes more costly advertising than you can get from organic search optimization techniques behind a website.
   
   
4. Phone real estate creep.  This refers to the reluctance of some users to initially access your platform if they have to download yet another mobile app to their smartphone.  There’s a belief by some smartphone users that adding yet another mobile app to their phone is going to eat up valuable phone data storage, or somehow create more unwanted push notifications.

The Backend

Whether it’s a website, or native app, there will be an underlying database that stores all the information that is collected, or consumed by, the userbase of the platform.  The database is like the engine of your platform, and it plays an important role in determining both the content-value of the platform to users, as well as the overall monetary value of your intellectual property! 

The database is the brain behind everything, and once it’s properly coded, it can feed user consumption on as many websites or mobile apps as you desire. If you build a website with a properly designed database, adding mobile apps in the future becomes much easier.   And the reverse is true, as well.  

To enable the platform administrator’s ability to manage all that data, there is usually a web-friendly content management system (CMS).  The CMS is made up of simple web pages used to intuitively create, read, update and delete (‘CRUD’ in techspeak) all the information stored in the database.

The database and CMS are usually set up on a cloud-server environment such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud or Microsoft’s Azure.  Collectively, the CMS and database can be thought of as the “backend” of your platform. 

The Frontend

The “frontend” of your platform is the user interface from which your users will consume, or contribute, the data or content; either through navigating the various pages of the website, or the different screens on a mobile app. When you tackle your second platform, you can basically skip directly onto designing and developing the frontend that’s relevant for that platform, because you will have already completed the backend in your first platform.  

Launching on just one platform, you can more affordably gain expedited user feedback on the overall demand for the underlying premise of your platform.  In other words, is the content you are offering (even if it’s user-generated content) meeting the user needs, and is it relevant enough to spark engaged feedback on where to take the platform next.  Highly interested users are key to proving your concept, and naturally, also help focus your design and development efforts when rolling out the second platform.

So, if you’re not sure whether to launch with a website, or with a mobile app, just remember that you will gain valuable proof-of-concept insights, either way.   As well, the time and money spent on the fundamental building blocks of either platform will carry over when completing additional platforms.  In the second part of this post, we’ll help you to narrow it down further when we discuss the specific pros and cons of the website versus native mobile app.

It is difficult to make the right choice if you fear choosing wrongly.

Roy T. Bennett

Whether you’re a business enterprise, or an entrepreneur, when building a native mobile app, a web app, or a website platform, it’s essential to always focus your initial development efforts on creating an MVP.   An MVP focuses on the core process or pain point that your application seeks to improve for its users.   The MVP’s sole mission is to prove your concept; Does your new software deliver what its users need it to do?   That is the question the MVP must answer, and nothing else matters until it’s addressed.  

If the answer to that question is a resounding yes, then you begin to slowly build out more features and functionality, as well as design additional enhancements to the UX/UI

If the answer to that question is no, or ‘not really’, then you either 1) iterate until you address the initial user feedback, 2) pivot to a slightly different concept or use-case, or 3) scrap the software entirely, before you spend money to fully develop and market it.

Focusing on an MVP means simplifying the initial design and functionality of your application in order to quickly generate a reliable feedback loop from users.  Simplification might mean just designing a graphical prototype that illustrates what you intend to develop.  Or, simplification could mean coding out one or two of the core features of your application, but then only graphically displaying areas of functionality which subsequent, post-MVP versions would contain if your MVP feedback indicates it’s necessary.   This can better steer your development dollars to building out only those features that are most important to your intended user-base. 

Working on hundreds of projects over the past decade, Epic has seen the power of the MVP in creating a quicker path to the ultimate, final product launch that will completely engage its users!   So if you are looking for a detailed roadmap to successfully launch your next application, we’d love to hear from you.

Tuning up your business’s website should be an ongoing project, not one that you ignore and completely redesign once a decade.  So as you think about the health of your website today, even if you don’t currently have time to get into the finer details, we’d like to posit what we feel are the most important three website considerations to continually monitor and address. 

If you don’t have these three meat and potato elements dialed in, it’s pointless to discuss the more nuanced, User Experience and User Interface (UX/UI) design considerations.  Which, by the way, we’ll still tackle in another blog post in the future. 

While Google doesn’t reveal much about the elements in their search algorithm which determine your site’s internet search ranking, they have made clear that the following three items are extremely important factors in their algorithm.  Here they are; and for now, we focus on discussing just the ‘down and dirty’ basics of each.

Security

The first and easiest security consideration is to make sure your site has an encrypted connection using an SSL certificate. If you haven’t added one yet, add it immediately.  Make sure all of your domains and sub-domains are protected by your cert(s).  And if your cert(s) don’t automatically renew, make sure you don’t forget to renew every year.  Paying the nominal costs to a hosting provider to automatically renew and manage your SSL is money well spent.   Your search ranking will suffer badly without an SSL cert, and many potential visitors won’t even be able to open any page on your site. 

Make sure you have basic firewall, malware and spam protection.  Whether its free security plugin for a WordPress website like Wordfence, or protections in the code and server levels for custom websites, like many of those that we build using React frontends with Ruby on Rails backends.  If malware takes over your site, it could start spamming your contacts and/or spoofing your domain, among a host of other issues that could quickly spiral out of control. Subsequently, your domain could take a huge and immediate SEO hit.     

Mobile Responsive Design

Mobile device website traffic worldwide is now consistently over 50% of all searches .  Despite this, many small and medium size businesses still have websites that quickly ‘turn off’ any user the second that they land on their website from a mobile device. 

There are many benefits to having a responsive web design, but the most important one is that your internet search ranking will be MUCH greater with a responsive site!  In addition, visitors to your site will be more likely to stay longer on your site, and more likely to convert to being a ‘buyer’ of what you are selling (known as lower bounce rates and higher conversion rates, respectively). 

In a future blog we will take a deep dive into what the key design elements are which make a great mobile responsive website

Speed

Having a website that loads quickly is another huge factor in your search ranking.   There are several free, quick, and easy speed test tools out there.  The most used is probably Google PageSpeed Insights .   

To improve your website load speeds, there are a few main avenues to explore first.  Minimize large video and image files on your website, especially if they all have to load at one time, like on your home page.  Enable a Content Delivery Network (CDN).  Upgrade your website hosting server, including moving to a virtual private server.  Fix all broken links and redirects. 

For a very in-depth discussion about ways to improve website loading speeds check out this article on Hubspot.


A periodic website health check should always begin with these primary three considerations outlined above.  Dial these in, and you’ll have a huge head start on your competitors, before even spending much time on the design and SEO elements.

It started by carefully defining the requirements in the discovery scope process.

We then discussed the key milestones and deliverables that come after the discovery phase, in the design and development phase.

Now, as you transition to the website go-live or app launch phase, we will discuss how you might want to define exactly what success looks like for your particular software project.  This includes a discussion about the tools and metrics you can utilize to ensure that user feedback and engagement is leveraged to its fullest!

With any software, and especially mobile apps, the idea of simply ‘build it and they will come’ just doesn’t apply in the real world. So before launching a beta release of your software, or even a soft launch to the public, you should ask yourself a couple of key questions first:

What problem did you set out to create a solution for when you built this software?  Based on the answer to that question, how will you measure the initial success of that objective?  This will require that you set up user feedback loops in multiple places, both inside the software, and in your marketing efforts.

Here are a few common feedback mechanisms you can deploy within the software:

• Pop up messages that are appropriately timed in the UX journey that clearly show you appreciate any early user comments on what they like, and don’t like, using your software… and of course, what is it that they would really like to see in the next iteration of your software!
• Links within the appropriate places of the app or website, where users can immediately provide feedback along key moments of their user experience within your software. Offer incentives, if necessary, to obtain more in-depth, user feedback-like surveys.
• Analytics software embedded ‘behind the scenes’ in order to track user engagement levels within various features and functionality of the software. Examples of some commonly used software analytics are:

1) Google Analytics (free), App Store Connect

2) App Annie (paid, third-party software), Mix panel 

3) AWS AI services (AI) (paid, third-party software).  Easily integrated into your software, AI-type services can track user preferences and behaviors, and provide very personalized calls-to-action to the user.  These can take multiple forms, but AI-powered chat bots are just one of them.

No matter what type of feedback mechanisms you deploy, whenever you are soliciting user feedback, make sure that you have a way of responding (even if just to thank them for their feedback) so that you deepen the engagement and user relationship.  This can help turn any user into real advocates of your software’s mission, as well as encourage them to continue giving you feedback.

This also holds true for any mobile app reviews that you might receive on one of the two app stores.    For the first several hundred reviews, if not more, even something short and sweet like, “Thank you for the review and feedback!” will go a long way toward building more user engagement!

There are myriad ways to solicit user feedback the right way, and at the right time.  Contact us at Epic anytime for a free consult to discuss how we can help drive user engagement within your mobile app or website.

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” –Ken Blanchard