But, if you thoroughly research and understand your market, you’ll get to a product-market fit and prevent that from happening to your web app.
If you want to learn more, we recently hosted Davor Culjak, co-founder of user research and design agency Resonate, on The Roadmap and discussed why product-market fit is so important:
In short, researching your market is the essential first step that will lay a strong foundation for the rest of your web app development process.
And that’s why you should never skip it.
Key tips for market research
Do competitive analysis – competitive analysis, i.e. analyzing your competitors and their products, is a key part of market research and will help you better position and differentiate your product
Identify user segments – you should break down your target audience into user segments for more targeted and specific insights and feedback
Engage directly with your target audience – make sure you get feedback from your web app’s target audience to validate your market research
Create a software requirements specification (SRS) document
Creating a software requirement specification (SRS) document is a non-negotiable step in the web app development process.
And there’s a very good reason for that.
Projects that have clear requirements before starting development are a staggering 97% more likely to succeedthan projects that don’t.
But, what goes in an SRS document, anyway?
The SRS covers all the requirements for your web app – think of it like a blueprint for your web app.
Here are the elements a typical SRS document contains:
But, by far the 2 most important elements here are your app’s functionaland non-functional requirements.
In simple terms, functional requirements cover what your app does while non-functional requirements cover how it does it.
Having both types of requirements laid out clearly will help you easily align your development team.
It will also help you avoid scope creep and act as a handy reference point during development.
And that’s why it’s so important.
Key tips for creating an SRS
Be clear and concise – your SRS document should written in simple, concise language to avoid misunderstandings down the line
Do a feasibility study – doing a feasibility study will ensure your requirements are realistic and can actually be made into a working web app
Use visual aids – visual aids like flowcharts and diagrams will help your whole team better understand complex requirements and processes
Design your web app’s UI
Your web app’s user interface (UI) design is one of its most important elements, if not the most important.
One of the reasons it’s important is because it reflects your brand, so create a logo and branding elements that will fit the UI carefully and make them memorable.
Also, a well-designed UI and a great user experience (UX) can mean the difference between success and failure.
And that’s not just idle talk.
94% of users’ first impressions of a website are design-related – the same logic applies to web apps and a bad design will drive users away.
So, it’s no surprise that for every $1 invested in UX design, you get $100 in return – that’s an incredible ROI of 9,900%!
We won’t get deeper into each step here, but we’ll leave you with this important tip – you should iterate based on user feedback after each step.
That’s the best way to create a web app that’s truly user-friendly and gives them a great experience.
And a great UX is key to its success.
Key tips for designing your web app’s UI
Create a design system – creating a design system, i.e. a collection of reusable components (typography, color schemes etc.), will ensure your web app has a consistent look and feel
Follow accessibility guidelines – make sure you follow the latest accessibility guidelines so that all users, including those with disabilities, can use it without friction
Do thorough UX research – UX research is the best way to create a user-friendly web app that actually meets their needs and can succeed in the market
Choose the right tech stack
Choosing the right tech stack is a crucial step in the web app development process.
And making the wrong choice can completely derail its development.
But, what exactly is a tech stack, anyway? And how do you pick the right one?
To pick the right tech stack, you need to consider several factors, like:
Your web app’s requirements
Your team’s expertise
Scalability
Performance
For example, if you want to build a high-performance web app, your top choices should be frameworks like React and Angular (front-end) and Django and Node.js (back-end).
But, what’s even more important is choosing tools your team has experience with and has used before.
This will speed up development and get your web app to market faster.
And that’s exactly what you should be looking for.
Key tips for choosing the right web app tech stack
Pick tools and technologies your team is familiar with – using tools and technologies your team has already worked with will significantly speed up development
Choose a scalable tech stack – the tech stack you choose should be scalable and easily handle an increase in data volumes and traffic as your web app grows
Pay attention to integration – make sure your tech stack can easily integrate with other systems and services like third-party APIs
Develop your web app’s front-end and back-end
This step is where everything comes together and your web app goes from idea to reality.
Here, your engineers will take your requirements and design and turn them into a functional and usable web app.
They’ll build your app’s front-end, back-end, and the APIs that connect them.
For reference, here’s the difference between the front-end and back-end:
A hard launch is a good choice if you’ve thoroughly validated your idea and you’re confident your app is stable and ready for a wide audience.
On the other hand, a soft launch is the better choice if you need more data and you prefer iterative development and improvement.
Ultimately, your choice will come down to your specific needs and the situation in your target market.
Key tips for launching your web app
Set up customer support channels – you should have a customer support system in place before you launch your web app so you can quickly solve any issues they run into
Build a community – building a community through forums, social media, or email marketing will help you generate interest and get early users more easily
Set up tutorials and product demos – tutorials and product demos are will help your users learn how your web app works and they’re essential, especially if you have a complex product
Web app development process: FAQs
Your choice of programming language for your web app depends on a number of factors, such as:
Compatibility with your requirements
Your team’s expertise
Scalability of the language
But, the most important factor is your team’s expertise – choosing a language they’re already familiar with will significantly speed up development.
There’s no simple answer to this question.
The cost of your web app’s development can vary wildly, depending on:
The type of web app you’re building
The team building the app
Its complexity
Updating and maintenance costs
But, on average, here’s how much web app development usually costs:
Tarek is our go-to expert for all things JavaScript, especially React. A proud graduate of the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Organization and Informatics, he’s honed his craft on some of our toughest projects while managing to lead our JS team at the same time. Pretty impressive, right?
Outside the office, you’ll find him dominating in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike. He'll also often daydream about his ideal workspace in the picturesque hills of Zagorje near Trakoscan castle with a Starlink connection, so he's always ready for action.
