4 questions to ask a development firm to see if they’re right for you

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Our customers often share stories with us about other developers. And of course, since they’re coming to us for support rather than sticking with those firms, many of these stories aren’t great. 

They often reveal that some developers avoid telling their clients the full truth about certain elements of the app production process. Or that they just don’t take the time to understand the business needs of their customers, which means they are not as well-equipped to build an app that helps achieve those goals. 

One simple example that happens all the time: Customers who come to us saying they were told by their previous developers that Apple iOS approvals take 30 days to complete. Which is not true, and in fact if you follow Apple’s guidelines properly, approvals typically only take about 24 hours. But not every firm has a specialist on their team who makes sure every platform-specific requirement is met. 

This is why it’s important that you work with a best-in-class development team. They should not only be straight with you about the development process, but also design your app so that it fits seamlessly into your overall business plan, helping you actualize key objectives. 

To figure out whether a development team is telling you everything you need to know, we suggest you focus your planning and assessment on four areas:

Is your timeline realistic?

We often hear from customers that they were promised a completely unrealistic development timeline just so the dev firm in question could win the work. A responsible product and app development company will not promise you the moon. 

And you can’t always make things move faster by throwing more people at it. Putting 25 developers on a project that only requires 10 won’t cut the time in half. Proper software development doesn’t happen overnight and you should be wary of people who say that it does. 

Tell me about your other projects?

Most firms (including ours) don’t list every client on a website. But if you want to determine whether a team has the experience to create a high-quality mobile app or custom software for you, they should have no problem providing you with glowing references from their top clients. 

Once they offer them up, make sure those references can be trusted. For instance, if a development team has only worked with a referring client for a short period (e.g. two to three months) that’s not a long enough timeframe for the client to have determined whether the developer has created what they need. 

How many active projects do you have?

By learning about the other current projects a developer already has on the go, you can gauge whether or not they seem equipped to take on your app development needs. 

For instance, at Vog we have 80 people in our company working together on about 22 projects concurrently. This is a decent ratio. 

But if a developer tells you, “we have five staff who are working on 20 projects,” something is not adding up. It is also very possible that the firm is outsourcing some of the actual development work (see the next question). 

Tell me about your staff, and do you outsource your work?

People are the heart and soul of any organization. So if you are looking for a way to measure the efficacy of a development team, start by learning more about their staff. 

Ask for bios, read up about the people on LinkedIn, or even ask for a discussion to meet the people who will work on your software or app. Seeing that there are enough people with the right experience will reassure you that it’s not being farmed out the second it lands the developer.

Another important element of the people conversation is outsourcing. Many development teams depend on contract or freelance talent who are usually based overseas. This then leads to security and quality risks that should not be ignored. 

At Vog, we don’t outsource development at all. All our work is done 100% in-house. 

Hopefully, with these questions in hand, you are now better equipped to determine whether a development team is being fully honest with you — and worth hiring to build your app. 

How developers become (and remain) best-in-class

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Making the final decision to hire a development team to build custom software or an app for your business can be a nerve-racking experience for those who aren’t technical themselves. 

Maybe you’re not sure your developer — or the company you’re hiring — has all the skills needed. Or maybe what’s making you uncomfortable is that you don’t know what you don’t know, and thus don’t know to ask your developer if they know it.

That feeling sucks, but rest assured you aren’t alone in feeling it. We’ve had many clients come to us because they thought they had a great dev, only to learn later that nothing was getting done properly, on-time, or on-budget. We’ve also been brought in to fix a problem –– or even create a whole new app –– because a client was previously burned by an offshore team that wasn’t current on technical knowledge, or they didn’t understand the business goals.

If you are thinking if hiring a developer, consider asking these two questions:

  1. Does your team provide business insight as well as development support?
  2. How do I know your developers are best-in-class with up-to-date knowledge?

Question #1 matters because your application doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You need it to serve a specific business purpose –– which means your development team needs to intimately understand that purpose and help you achieve it, throughout the creation and launch of your app. 

Question #2 is an open-ended question that will shed light on how the team works and stays current. Best practice advice can change over time, so the answer to this question will help you gauge expertise. You don’t need to know how to code, but knowing how a company approaches sharing insight and learning internally is an indicator that you’re in good hands.

In this article we’re breaking down ways you can gauge answers to both questions, and we’ll share some insight as to how we approach these.

1. Your business needs should drive the conversation

When we meet a client, one of our first questions is: Why do you need this app built? 

Asking this question to start out is important because it gives us an opportunity to hear about the pain points or opportunities that have inspired you to want to build an app.

We have a few different types of developers on our team, and the answer also provides detail for our solutions architect to consider when structuring the app. We want to provide solutions to real problems, and avoid replicating any problems that may already exist in your workflow.

At this point in the process, we still haven’t talked about code. A good development team will function like a business partner, and not just a technical support resource. So when you are assessing who you should work with these qualities should be high up on your list.

Once we understand the business needs we can then start to make recommendations on what type of app you need. 

You should be concerned if your app developers are not trying to deeply understand you and your business goals as the primary drivers of the process.

2. Your developer should have a process for sharing insight

Being a developer can be a tough job. Platforms change, there are always many ways to tackle a problem, and best-practice approaches will evolve over time.

The ways in which your developers stay on top of changes will distinguish bad, from good, from great.

For example, Apple released iOS 15 this fall and for consumers and end-users it doesn’t mean much other than faster, more stable operation. But for developers, iOS 15 is the biggest change in four years and has several changes for workflow and development features. At Vog App Developers, we stay on top of changes like this by building in opportunities to share learning and news across the company.

For instance, each of our platform teams have their own learning group that meets weekly to discuss  industry innovation they have learned about and are implementing in their projects. In this way, every member of the team is aware of any new changes to iOS or Android operating systems, for example. 

We also have a policy called the “the rule of two” that we employ. Not only is every developer educating themselves and others on their team about industry updates, but we have documentation practices in place that ensure a second developer can pick up where the first developer leaves off in a project. How? Because they’re all following the same development techniques and process. 

This helps us ensure both quality control and uninterrupted timelines if a developer has to take part in a project started by someone else.

Internal knowledge sharing is important, so we recommend you ask the development team you’re considering hiring how they keep up with change.

Staying on top of industry standards

In addition to the experiential knowledge and insight our development teams glean in their day-to-day work, they also turn to regularly updated industry tools to stay current. For example, our devs routinely engage with the following resources:

So again, before you engage a development team, have a conversation with them and ask how they are keeping up with industry trends and changes. 

Their knowledge will make all the difference for your app and your related business objectives.

Here’s what your app development team should look like

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When you build or renovate a house, you depend on a multi-talented team of professionals –– with different, but complementary skill sets –– to get the job done. 

The same is true of app development. 

For instance, if you are building a new home you will likely hire an architectural team to manage structural design and decisions. In app development, an equivalent role would be a solutions architect who figures out the best way to structure your application, based on your business and technical needs. 

Once the structural design of your home is established, you probably require a construction team to pour concrete and build a foundation. Comparatively, there are developers who focus on pre-work to establish the bedrock or back-end of your application before the rest of the build takes place. 

Metaphors aside, the structure (and of course quality) of your development team will make or break the success of your project. The talent involved in creating your company’s app and managing the overall development process determines the quality of your end-product and whether it is delivered on time and on budget. 

The structure of an ideal app development team

While there are some projects that require specialty resources, most of the time an efficient app-building team is made up of eight to 12 people. 

Here’s a breakdown of the key roles they fulfill:

Your primary app development contact

We call the main client contact on our team your customer experience manager. They are your point person. They function as the liaison between your team and ours, making sure you are kept informed about the development process and any relevant business insights.

As important as technical knowledge and skill are, strong communication and reciprocal engagement is very important in executing a project that meets your needs. 

The details person

Another team member you’ll frequently engage with is our project coordinator. They serve as the subject matter expert on our team, keeping track of all the small details you share that will inspire development decisions.

The success of a development process depends on us truly understanding your business challenges and goals, so that we can build an app that provides you with actionable solutions.

The keep-everything-on-track manager

While the coordinator makes sure our team has the background information required, our project manager oversees the technical aspects of the development process. From timelines to budgets to workflow, they make sure our developers are on the right path and have everything they need to tackle the job.

With client engagement, subject matter insight and day-to-day task/people management taken care of, let’s talk about the team members who build your app:

The developers 

Not all app developers do the same thing. 

Most focus on a specific type of work, which is why we group development roles into a few key categories:

  1. There will be one or two backend developers who create the overall structure and functionality of your app, by writing code that speaks to relevant servers. Backend work happens in the foundation of the app, and behind the scenes. It’s critical to make the app function, but it’s different than a frontend developer who will make the public-facing components of the app.
  2. Depending on whether you are creating an iPhone and/or Android app, we will have iOS and Android developers build the elements of your application that engage with the respective operating systems.
  3. We assign a UX/UI (User Experience/User Interface) developer to design the aesthetic and experiential elements of the app that users will see and engage with. 
  4. We bring on a front-end developer to create the web, mobile, or public-facing structure and content, as well as ensure everything is responsive. Front-end developers will build and create everything the users see rather than the code that runs the site or app. If the app is using WordPress as a platform, we’ll also ask our WordPress developers to build out functionality.

What makes a best-in-class development team? 

We organize our team this way because it is the best way to build custom software and mobile applications.

We need to glean a deep understanding of why you want and need an app to be built, as well as the problems we’re helping to solve so that we can ensure our build doesn’t replicate or create new challenges for you. 

This includes both a listening process –– where we learn from you –– and an educational process during which we provide informed, experienced suggestions on how to achieve your business objectives via the application. 

Ultimately, a best-in-class team takes the time to engage the right people to solve a problem, together.

What type of app do I need?

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There are many ways to categorize apps, but if you’re not technical or don’t speak developer, it can be overwhelming to know what to ask for.

Do you need a native app or Android? Or perhaps a hybrid mobile app that uses an iOS wrapper so it can be used on an iPhone? Not sure? We don’t blame you. 

So how about we keep this simple, and talk about three different kinds of apps we typically build so you know what works best for your business.

In this article, we’re going to organize apps based on the way they function or serve the people who engage them. There are three:

  1. A standalone app
  2. A user-to-computer app
  3. A user-to-user app

Because our approach to app development is based on the business needs of our clients, we find these categories help us determine usability, ranging from an interface and architectural standpoint, to the way we design user management and the kind of data transfer capabilities we include (or not). 

Let’s explore what each type of app has to offer. 

1. The standalone app

The least common type of app we build functions completely on its own –– it does not share information with external sources and doesn’t even need to be connected to the internet. 

A simple example of a standalone app is one that you likely use daily: The Calculator app that is included with every smartphone or tablet. 

Or in a healthcare context, it might be an app that reminds you to take medication. 

These apps do one thing really well, and they don’t require data to be fed to them regularly to function.

Some key questions we ask when it a client is looking for a standalone app include: 

  • Is there no requirement (at this time) for the app to communicate to other users? 
  • Depending on what your app does, will it require a server to host data? 
  • Will your app solve a purpose for a specific user on their phone or their device that eliminates an immediate need?

It’s important to note that if you are considering a standalone app, but then hope to scale the product over time –– perhaps enabling communication between users, for instance –– we would have to build an entirely different app.

If you think you might want an app to communicate with users, or access data at some point in the future, you’re better off going with option two or three below.

2. The user-to-computer app

This product type sends and receives data from external servers or computers. Its function requires a connection in order to provide utility for its users.

That said, users of this kind of app do not communicate back and forth with one another.

An example of a user-to-computer app is an entertainment-focused service like Netflix. Users stream or download video from the company’s server, but are not going to regularly chat with other Netflix viewers, or talk to Netflix support about the shows or movies they are viewing. 

Investment in video-based, streaming mobile apps is likely to continue to rise as consumers reported a 54% increase using this type of app in 2020, according to Global Web Index. But the user-to-computer model is highly applicable to a variety of other industries as well: 

  • From an enterprise perspective you may want to build this type of app for internal document management control or safety processes.
  • In healthcare, it’s great for providing medical records to patients.
  • And in financial services the model is the basis for banking or fintech apps where clients can check balances, make transactions and more 

3. The user-to-user app

Finally, the most complex type of app we build is centred on user-to-user interaction. 

Think: Uber. 

In this case, there is a user-to-computer function because you can access a database behind the scenes to see historical rides or billing information. And there is also a user-to-user function where customers (riders) can connect with drivers in real-time.

Apps that are this user-focused are more applicable to some industries than others. For instance, most finance apps are one-way platforms and thus a user-to-computer model suits them best. 

But in the growing healthcare application space, the user-to-user functionality works quite well. 

To give you an example of something we built:

We developed a personalized senior home care app that connected several different user groups: administrators who oversaw scheduling, home care providers, patients and patient family members. 

Not only did they need to be able to communicate seamlessly, but we also had to prepare for a variety of potential circumstances that might affect the efficiency of the service provided:

  • What happens if a caregiver doesn’t get an order? Who would need to know about it?
  • What happens if a caregiver is off for the day or sick? 
  • How does rescheduling work? 
  • What about customer cancelation?

No matter what type of app we build, questions like these –– that follow the entire potential user journey and consider the specific type of user solutions required –– are paramount. And the answers inform both the development and business strategy we move forward with.

Let’s talk timelines –– here’s how long it takes to build an app

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We can talk all day about custom software development and mobile apps. We can talk about artificial intelligence unlocking business value. Or automation and structured data. 

But in most cases clients want to know two things: What does it cost to create an app and how long will it take?

They’re the key questions we get, every time.

How much does it cost to build an app? There are general ranges, but the short answer is that it depends on the number of features you need and the complexity of the app. 

As for the time required to build an app, that’s what we’re going to unpack in this article.

On average, most of the applications designed by our team — which tend to range from medium- to larger-sized projects — take anywhere from five to 10 months to complete. Business needs are driving app development, and in many cases timelines are driven by our clients.

Invest the time to get it right

Discussing timelines is a critical part of every project. Without disciplined project management and transparent, continuous conversation between a developer and an organization on progress, hurdles, and objectives, there is little to no chance for success.

Well-scoped timelines come from a thoughtful and strategic conversation about your business needs, and what success looks like. 

In the development of an application and/or custom software, we set milestones for development and our customer experience teams will keep you informed about what we’re working on, what we need from you, and any schedule changes.

We are capable of sprints to deliver on short timelines, but often there are factors within our client’s world that slow that process down. Maybe you need multiple stakeholders to provide input. Or your data isn’t yet organized or accessible for an app. Sometimes you just don’t know what you don’t know until we talk it out and provide strategic counsel on the benefits and risks of certain decisions.

A delay in making a decision by a week can have a domino effect, so we spend the upfront time to understand your business goals and come up with realistic timelines.

If another app developer is telling you they can have your app ready in a few weeks or months and they haven’t done a thorough review of your business, goals and potential challenges then you end up paying for it in the long-run.

Onboarding and project kick-off is where our process begins. At Vog App Developers, we start with a high-level discussion to understand the problem or opportunity your application will address, as well as the specific audiences or user groups it will serve. Armed with this insight, we can then move on to development, testing and deployment –– altogether, there’s a lot to get done. 

If you seek a faster than average timeline for the development of your app, there are options that can speed things up, but they come at a cost.

Ask about the team who will work on your app

App development is a black box to many. Some companies promise a small army will work on an app, and in some cases extra bodies can help. But in almost every case, a strategic build with the right kind of developers will yield better returns.

If you are shortlisting a developer to build your custom software and mobile apps, there are three questions you should ask:

  • How many resources are dedicated to your project? 
  • How many senior developers are taking part in the project? 
  • Will any of the work be outsourced?

Outsourcing is increasingly common in the development industry, to offset cost, flexibility and speed to market. In 2020, nearly 14 percent of IT budgets were allocated to outsourced labour, according to a study by Computer Economics. 

At Vog App Developers, however, we keep 100 percent of our work in-house to ensure quality control and limit the degrees of separation between our clients and the people actually working on their app. 

Develop a Minimum Viable Product

The concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has been around for more than a decade in tech, but for many of the companies we work with it’s still a new idea.

An MVP is intended to create and launch a technology product (in this case, your app) that integrates only the most required features. No bells and whistles, which means less complexity and thus a shorter development time frame — in theory.  

An app focused on a MVP would still solve the core problem that was outlined during your business planning process, but will likely not offer any extra features. Some glitches may even occur, which hopefully early adopters/users of the app will understand and forgive because they know an enhanced version of the application is set to come in future. Your fully functioning app still needs to be built out, of course. 

As well as potentially bringing your app to market faster, MVPs can also provide an opportunity to “run mini-experiments” that test your target audience’s initial response to the key components of the platform.

While not the right fit for every business, MVPs are one way we can get to market faster with an app as its purpose is to test or collect feedback and data on usage before making assumptions on how people will actually use the product.

Ask if your developer will use third-party code

Some software development firms regularly purchase or even copy code or scripts that have been developed by an external source –– then modify them for the project they are working on, to cut back on labour and time. In doing so they can save two or three months of development work. 

You should ask your developer what is being written from scratch, and what is being repurposed from existing code.

Though we build almost all products from the ground up, on occasion we will purchase and use third-party templates or plugins. We do it only when we know it’s the best option for our clients’ needs and timeline, and only when the code fits the client’s needs. We disclose when we do this transparently with our clients.

What matters most as you evaluate your application’s development timeline, is that you are experiencing open communication with your developer. Ask yourself if they seem to be honestly explaining the strategic reasons for resource allocation, product options and outsourced labour or coding decisions. 

If you want an app but don’t know what to ask, here’s everything you need to do to plan for success. Want to talk about timelines? Contact us and we can provide a quote and timeline specific to your business.

How much does it cost to build an app?

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It’s the question we get asked more than any other. 

Yes, we get asked what business needs are driving app development, and we are often asked what a company needs to do to make an app successful. But above all else, the six words we get most often are: How much does an app cost?

While there are some general ranges you can plan for (see below), the short answer is that it depends on the features you need and the complexity of the app.

In this article we’ll cover the primary considerations that drive cost for custom app development. If you’re looking for specific pricing for an app for your company, contact us and we can provide a quote specific to your business.

Variable cost elements

Considering the many functionalities and features that determine the ultimate price of an app, it’s important to discuss variable details with a developer. Variables include: timeline, payment expectations, server and operational needs, as well as any potential extra charges that might arise.

Your developer should also work with you to determine how future costs can be reduced based on your specific needs, he says. 

There are cases where server costs can be mitigated by making sure an app doesn’t pull on the server all the time. Implementing something like Amazon Web Services (AWS) can also lower operating costs. Or in the case where a business needs to move a lot of data, data transfer can be optimized to lower cost.

Of course the price of labour is also a factor to consider. Many firms outsource much of the actual development work done on apps. In 2019, the global outsourcing market was worth $92.5 billion, according to Statista, and cost reduction is the primary reason why companies farm out labour, says a Deloitte survey. 

Vog does not outsource any of its labour because quality control is easier to manage in-house and many clients prefer to engage directly with the people who are working on their app.

If you’ve been quoted what seems to be a too-good-to-be-true price for an app, you should ask your developer where it’s being built and how quality control, security, and client service will work once the process starts. 

A tactic among some lower-quality app developers is to quote low to win business, and then skip over details, QA, and security requirements in the process. Vog has been brought in to multiple projects in order to fix code written by other developers when projects were outsourced or critical components were skipped. It’s ultimately cheaper to do it right the first time.

And if you’ve been quoted $20,000 or $30,000 for what you think should be a comprehensive app, the developer you’ve found is likely offshoring or cutting corners. 

If you’re looking for specific pricing for an app for your company, contact us and we can provide a quote specific to your business.

Payment and financing options 

Other common cost-related questions include payment timelines and financing options. Each developer is going to have her or his own payment guidelines. At Vog, we are flexible with clients so we might bill them in sprints, or if a client pays 30 percent upfront, they can then pay off the balance in monthly payments.

Financing is also an option through a partnered financial institution. The nice thing about going with financing is that your term can be over the course of up to 72 months, so you can finance your software for the long term.

This can be particularly helpful if a client is engaging the developer for a support contract, after their app has been built and launched. Support or maintenance fees typically range from $1,000 to $10,000 a month, primarily just based on hours required and if a team is going to be dedicated to your account.

Annual maintenance or support contracts will typically cover:

  • Server hosting charges
  • Maintaining stability and performance
  • Bug fixes and app updates
  • Developing new features 
  • Infrastructure and 3rd party API charges

All the factors that determine the final cost of your application –– not to mention ongoing support fees ––  might seem overwhelming. But a savvy and efficient developer should walk you through the variables and options available early on in the development planning phase, and help you access the best value for your project.

If you’re looking for specific pricing for an app for your company, contact us and we can provide a quote specific to your business.

Cost ranges for application development

Some examples of specific factors that influence an app’s price tag include: 

  • Moving data to a cloud environment for access and use within an app.
  • The number of platforms the app will live on (web, iOS, Android).
  • How it will use hardware features built into your smartphone, including GPS, augmented reality, and motion coprocessors.
  • Social media platform integration.
  • The complexity of the visual objects included in the application.
  • The level of support or ongoing maintenance it will need.

In general, apps and price ranges will typically fall into three overarching ranges:

Simple app pricing

Producing a simple app that provides basic features and perhaps two to four core functionalities, will typically cost between $60,000 to $100,000.

Standard app pricing

If you start building integrations with other platform providers that necessitate using APIs from platforms like Stripe or Google, this compounds the cost. The average price for creation of this type of iOS or Android app — that potentially includes a web component as well — is typically between $150,000 and $200,000.

Advanced app pricing

If the complexity of the app is more advanced and requires a platform to engage a more expansive set of user groups that also require different or complicated interactions, for example, then it typically costs between $200,000 and $500,000.

If you’re looking for specific pricing for an app for your company, contact us and we can provide a quote specific to your business.

So you want an app? Here’s everything you need to do to plan for success

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When we sit down with new clients, we aren’t just focused on the custom software or mobile app that needs to be built. We’re usually discussing their overall business goals, and how an app can strategically help achieve those objectives.

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Business needs drive increased demand for custom software development and mobile apps

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When clients who need a mobile app approach our CEO, Vince O’Gorman, around half of them can pinpoint their issue. 

“There’s usually a consistent problem that’s been bothering them and they’ve tried a few internal fixes, but realize they require a more fulsome mobile solution,” he says.

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Design a Successful App

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We get asked all the time,”What makes a successful app?” While this question can be hard to address, we wanted to give some tips on how your mobile application can be successful. We appreciate all our clients, and want them all to be able to succeed. From a design standpoint, there is ample that you can do to be successful. Let’s get started! Read more

Challenges of App Development

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Developing an application is difficult, and has its challenges. While some of the difficulty falls on the developer, there are challenges faced by the business wanting to develop an application as well.

What are these challenges you ask? Outlined here are 5 key challenges associated with app development.

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