Mobile app development can be highly lucrative and fulfilling, but it can also be an enormous challenge.
The problem is that there are lots of obstacles that you really won’t notice unless you’ve been there.
That’s why hiring an experienced, reputable consultant is a smart move.
Mobile app consultants will be your guide, steering you toward the right path while helping you avoid the pitfalls. In other words, they can help you succeed.
But you can only reap these benefits if you hire the right consulting team to work with.
And this guide will show you how to do just that.
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What can a mobile app consulting agency do for you?
Before we explore how to find the right mobile app consulting agency, let’s discuss why you’d need one in the first place.
There are several tasks consultants can help take off your hands, so let’s go over them briefly.
Perform product discovery
One of the most critical tasks a mobile app consultant can help you with is validating your app idea through product discovery.
Going with the wrong or unprofitable app idea can be disastrous to your project. It’s one of the top causes of app failure, as the story of Quibi can attest.
Product discovery can help you avoid these failures by evaluating your app idea through market research and target audience analysis.
The idea here is to answer a simple question: are there enough users who actually want your app idea?
To do this, researchers use methods like questionnaires, surveys, and focus group discussions to get people’s opinions on your app idea.
Product discovery also involves analyzing potential competitors and finding out if profitable opportunities exist in the space.
The findings of this research can be used to adapt and refine the idea to fit the market better. Or, if there’s a complete mismatch, abandon the idea altogether.
Product discovery is especially useful to outsource to a consultant because it’s difficult to do on your own.
There’s always the risk of your biases affecting your judgment and analysis of your idea because you’re so invested in it.
A third party, like a consultant, can give you a clearer, more objective view.
Moreover, an agency will have extensive experience and expertise to help you spot opportunities and threats in your idea.
Plan the mobile app strategy
Once you have a winning idea, the next problem becomes apparent—how do you execute it?
This is where a mobile app strategy comes in. And a consultant can help you streamline this process.
Your mobile strategy is essentially the roadmap for building the app. It outlines the steps you’ll need to take—such as planning, design, and development—and the timelines required for each.
Creating a successful strategy is exceptionally difficult if you haven’t done it before. That’s because there are lots of factors and challenges that could hamper your project.
Fortunately, a mobile app consultant has the experience to answer these questions.
They can help you find the best approach, methodology, and schedule that fits your project’s requirements.
Their value is especially apparent when you encounter problems.
Consultants can help you plan contingencies into your strategy to minimize the cost and time impacts of unforeseen issues during development.
Select the right tech stack
Tech stack refers to the technologies, tools, and third-party libraries you’ll need to build an app. Picking the right one is essential to ensure your app runs as smoothly as possible.
It might seem trivial, but picking the right tech stack can be deceptively difficult. That’s because every technology has a quirk or limitation, and the wrong choice could hinder your project.
Take programming languages, for instance. Not all have the same security level, so some are more vulnerable than others.
If you’re developing mission-critical apps in fintech and healthcare niches, you’d want to use the most secure language. Not doing so will put your app at a bigger risk of hacks.
The problem is that figuring this out takes plenty of experience and technical knowledge. Thus, it’s critical to outsource the task to a mobile app consultant.
Consultants will look at your app’s features and technical requirements, then assemble a tech stack that complements that.
Moreover, consultants are usually updated with the newest and latest solutions that could help speed up or improve your app.
For instance, they might suggest using a third-party tool like Plaid to link to other financial institutions instead of coding it manually.
Furthermore, UX designers have techniques and methods at their disposal to ensure that your app gets the best design.
These include wireframes, mockups, and prototypes. They can also conduct proper usability testing to ensure they’re agreeable to your users.
Develop the mobile app
Consultants can also help you during the main event of development—coding the app itself.
This is useful if you lack the team or expertise required for your project.
For instance, if you plan to build a fintech app, you’d need more than developers. You’ll also require cybersecurity experts, financial consultants, and possibly data scientists.
Unless you’re a fintech-focused company, you probably don’t have these staff on your payroll.
Outsourcing development to an experienced and skilled agency also ensures that your app idea gets executed properly and efficiently.
Good teams will divide development into front and back ends and tackle them simultaneously.
More than the actual development, consultants can help you manage every aspect of creating a new app.
Agencies like DECODE use reliable project management methodologies and assign project managers to guarantee smooth coordination between teams.
Do testing and quality assurance
Testing is perhaps one of the most important yet overlooked parts of development.
The fact is that no app is 100% bug-free after coding. Thus, testing is essential to find major bugs and make the app as stable as possible when launched.
Outsourcing this critical task to a consultant with extensive testing experience makes sense.
But a consultant’s job begins even before a single line of code is written.
They can help plan your testing—which approaches to take, how to set up testing suites, and how to write test cases.
A properly defined testing lifecycle can help you smooth out your quality assurance.
This ensures you have a comprehensive program to analyze your app completely and uncover most bugs before launch.
Consultants can also help you pick the right manual or automated test methods since not all methods can cover every aspect of your app.
For instance, automated testing is great for repeatedly testing quantitative metrics like crash rate or latency. But it’s ill-equipped for more subjective metrics like usability.
Market the mobile app
A consultant job doesn’t end once the app gets launched. They can also help you market it so that users know it exists.
It’s understandable, though, as most development teams are focused on creating the app and not promoting it.
This is where consultants can be indispensable. They can help you craft a marketing plan during development. That way, once the app launches, you have campaigns ready for it.
Another critical task consultants can help with is app store optimization (ASO).
These techniques and best practices make your app more searchable and visible in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Good ASO can help the right people discover your app and boost your download volume.
More importantly, consultants can help you track the right metrics that let you see the effectiveness of your app marketing campaigns.
Knowing what works lets you double down on them to get more app users.
How to find a consulting agency that is right for you
Finding the right mobile app consultant is definitely a challenging proposition. But you can make the process easier by following a few tips and best practices.
First, start by determining why you need to get a consultant. Is it to handle the entire project or just parts of it?
Do you need help with a specific niche? And what’s your budget for it?
Knowing your needs can help you shortlist mobile app agencies that fit your criteria.
For instance, if you need help with developing a custom messaging app, find an agency with that experience.
But where do you find potential agencies? You can start by asking your network or colleagues if they can recommend any firms.
This is the preferred method as they’re already able to vouch for you, giving you a higher chance of good leads.
Otherwise, you can browse sites like Clutch or Glassdoor for leads.
When evaluating agencies, looking at their portfolio and case studies is important. These give you a huge clue about their work ethic, expertise, and technical knowledge.
Also, don’t forget to check their reviews and testimonials. These will tell you a great deal about their professionalism and, in some cases, if it’s a scam or not.
Finally, once you’ve shortlisted a few agencies, take the time to interview each. Ask the right questions, such as their development methodologies or if they offer post-launch support.
Hopefully, once you’ve completed this process, you’ll have picked the best agency from your list.
What can DECODE do for you?
DECODE is more than just a mobile app development agency. We’re more like consultants and partners, helping you turn your idea into a successful product.
We cover all aspects of mobile app development, from refining your idea to executing and maintaining it.
But where we excel best is product discovery.
During the product discovery phase, we’ll delve into your idea in great detail.
We’ll explore everything—who your users are, the problems you’re trying to solve, and the challenges you’ll face.
At the end of this process, you’ll get a list of killer features for your app and a detailed timeline and strategy for executing it.
And don’t worry—we insist on drafting a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) so that what we discuss is confidential.
And once you already have a validated app idea after product discovery, you’re halfway there. Now, all that’s left is to bring that idea to life.
DECODE can also help you here, thanks to our pool of more than 80 professionals across a wide range of skills and experiences.
Ready to bring your idea to life?
Get in touch with us today, and let’s talk about it!
A seasoned software engineering executive, Marin’s role combines his in-depth understanding of software engineering processes (particularly mobile) with product and business strategies. Humbly boasting 20+ years of international experience at the forefront of telecoms, Marin knows how to create and deliver state of the art software products to businesses of all sizes. Plus, his skills as a lifelong basketball player mean he can lead a team to victory.
When he’s not hopping from meeting to meeting, you’ll find Marin listening to indie rock, or scouring the latest IT news.
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