The Bright Future of Mobile
Mobile applications are predicted to generate an astonishing $188.9 billion in annual revenue by 2020–and the profits are only predicted to rise. This fact, combined with increased consumer demand, has convinced many companies of the need to develop their own mobile applications. Some businesses are turning to nearshore development services to help simplify the process.
How Nearshore Software Development Improves Mobile Applications
Nearshore development services have played a leading role in the mobile application development boom of the last decade. The major tech companies have long had extensive development teams with a range of experience. However, these outsourcing partners have allowed small and medium-sized businesses to develop their own mobile applications and reach new customers, while also allowing large tech firms to rapidly scale their capabilities.
Whether it is conducting market research, ensuring software quality, or making sure that the user experience is flawless, these companies have a lot to offer for mobile development.
Choosing the Right Mobile Platforms
One of the reasons that nearshore software development has become so popular in the mobile application world is because they offer multiple services. They often play the role of trusted advisors in addition to simply sourcing candidates for a development project. This is especially important when it comes to mobile development.
The first, and one of the most important, decisions that an executive must make is to determine which mobile platform an application will be released on first. Depending on the target customer base, development may be concentrated on either iOS, Android, Windows, or another mobile operating system.
The challenge stems from the fact that each of these mobile operating systems has widely different development requirements. This means that companies with a limited budget must choose one particular platform for their early release, with additional development being funded through the revenue generated on the first mobile platform.
A nearshore development service can help businesses identify the best mobile platform. They do this by conducting market research, helping managers determine their target audience, researching the programming needs of each platform, and identifying their customer’s preferred hardware. Development teams should consider targeting no more than two mobile operating systems at a time in order to maximize their results and reduce unnecessary development costs.
Improve QA Testing
Experienced managers understand that coding mistakes and bugs are an inevitability; even the most talented and trusted software engineers make mistakes. In fact, the well-respected book Code Complete estimated there are an average of “about 15-50 errors per 1000 lines of delivered code.”
Since coding mistakes are unavoidable, managers should ensure that thorough quality assurance testing is completed during every software development cycle. Quality assurance, frequently referred to as QA testing, is the process of testing software to ensure that it is free of bugs, that it functions as intended, and that no major security vulnerabilities are present.
Nearshore development services help companies avoid costly mistakes and buggy software rollouts through professional QA testing. Manual testers are typically brought on board to serve as mock end users and they do an excellent job of testing the software functionality. A software developer engineer in test, on the other hand, is a highly-specialized contractor who can write programs that actively search for errors in delivered code and suggests quick fixes. By including an extensive testing process at the tail end of the software development cycle, managers help ensure that their software is accepted by end users, that their company’s reputation is intact, and that their consumer’s data is protected from malicious actors.
How to Improve User Experience and Interface Design
Another major benefit provided by working with a nearshore software development partner is the focus on the end-user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Modern consumers are tech-savvy and have high expectations when it comes to software. That is why astute businesses put so much of a focus on great UX and UI design for every product they release.
One of the companies that has consistently nailed the UX and UI aspects of their mobile software is Airbnb. The property rental platform is one of the best examples of beautiful design in both its desktop site and mobile application.
Companies can enhance their mobile application’s UX and UI design by working with a nearshore development partner with a reputation for producing beautiful, intuitive, and easy-to-use products for a large market. Companies interested in UX/UI design should look for outsourcing services that have a process for integrating these considerations into the entire software development cycle. This includes everything from the planning and conceptualization stages all the way to QA testing.
Avoid Unnecessary Features
The biggest challenge during the planning and conceptualization stage of a software development project is determining which features are necessary and which are a waste of development resources. This is made even more difficult because traditional market research tools, like survey and focus groups, fail to accurately grasp consumer needs.
Time and time again companies have found that customers typically ask for a wide array of features during market research studies. However, the most successful products are those that offer simplicity and a limited amount of high-quality, in-demand features.
Nearshore software outsourcing can help businesses avoid feature fatigue and concentrate their development efforts on a small number of must-have features. This can help reduce budgets and the time it takes to bring software to market. The best way to eliminate these unnecessary features and produce a streamlined product is to involve end-users in every step of the development cycle.
Many nearshore partners specialize in Agile development methodologies, which focus on creating a prototype software that can be released to select consumers very early in the process. This provides developers with invaluable insight into customer needs and helps narrow the software’s focus to those elements which are most needed by its end users.
A Solution Through Outsourcing
Many modern businesses feel that they must develop their own mobile applications in order to succeed in the smartphone era. Sometimes these apps are developed for customers, while many other businesses have begun investing in enterprise apps for employee use. This increased demand for mobile development has led many companies to partner with nearshore development services.
These firms help companies conduct market research and focus their development efforts efficiently. In addition, nearshore software development companies offer much-needed quality assurance testing and UI/UX design assistance to ensure that mobile applications meet user demands and function smoothly.
