15 Essential questions to ask when hiring mobile app developer
[box type=”info” align=”” class=”” width=””]Hiring mobile app developer can be a daunting task. And there is no room for mistakes.
Afterall, the success of your mobile app venture depends on the product. You hire a wrong mobile app developer and your venture in striding on the path to doom.
According to a research, 37% of the projects fail due to a poor team.
So, what do we do? Well, ask questions! And it is important for you to ask right questions.
We prepared this list of 15 questions to help you understand how to hire a mobile app developer.
Read on.[/box]
1. Have you created mobile apps in my industry?
They will have tons of apps to show you, dozens of game apps to dazzle you but don’t get carried away. Push for relevant app examples in your industry or whatever they think is closest to your concept. And don’t forget to ask them about the problems they know about your industry and how (if they have) they have solved them. Always choose to work with a developer who is interested in your industry and have the demonstrable experience to back up there claims.
2. Can you provide a reference list of current and past clients?
The real feedback will come from there client. Ask for references or ask them to do an intro mail to there past or present clients. Get on a quick call with there clients and take feedback. More you do that better decisions you will make.
3. Give me an example of one of your most successful app. How will you measure the success of my app?
Always ask them about there “The” top app. Download it, play around with it and ask questions. Ask them why according to them it’s their top app? What makes that app top their charts? Also, ask them what do they think will make your app successful ( pointers please).
4. Do you do mobile app development on multiple platforms?
Maybe you are starting your app only on iOS but your plans might change in the future. You don’t want to get a shock if your developers tell you that they don’t do Android apps or web apps. Ask them what platforms they don’t work or work for.
5: What is your app development process? Do you follow Agile app development?
Knowing the app development process for your shortlisted app developer will help you understand how the whole development cycle gonna go. We highly recommend working with app developers who prefer Agile App Development process. Agile is an incremental way of developing software. The Agile approach focuses on customer involvement, flexible planning, regular feedback, and most importantly, managing risks and change requests in an efficient way. Any good turnkey mobile application development company will cover the entire gamut of application development; requirement framing, UI/UX designing, code development, and then maintenance. Ask the developer to take you through the process. Your background (tech/non-tech) doesn’t matter, you will be easily able to understand the process.
6. What will be your communication plan during the app development process?
The answer to this question will help you plan things in a more practical way. Ask them how many times in the week they will catch up with you for updates. When they will give you builds to test. How the feedbacks will be incorporated. What will be the typical duration of these meetings etc. This will help you plan yourself well in advance. If possible insist on a MoM after each meeting so that you know what you should expect int he next meeting.
7: What is the experience level of your developers who will be working on my app?
The mobile app development agency that you shortlisted might be great. But what you need to know who is going to work on your project specifically. Don’t hesitate to ask for app developers profile. Check the developer’s profile and see for relevant development-education credentials. If there will be a project manager involved (who will be your single point of contact) then request a meeting with that person. (Just imagine this person to be your “CTO/Cofounder” as you will spend more time with him than anybody else till your project is over)
8. Whats your app design process? Can you share some of your design samples from my industry?
DESIGN. DESIGN.DESIGN. Yes, that’s in caps. Yes, I am shouting. To drive the point that design should be at the core of everything you are going to do with your app. App users will not be interested in knowing if your code is commented or it is akin to poetry. They will interact with your design. That’s the first thing they will see.
So, tell your mobile app developer to help you understand their design philosophy and show you some app design from your industry.
9. What according to you possibly be my app revenue channels?
Don’t make this as an important criterion to zero upon the right app developer. It’s just that they have a lot of experience and they have executed so many mobile app project in the past, that their views will be very helpful to you. Don’t forget to take a note of the suggestion made by them.
10. Which mobile app analytics tools do you recommend for my app?
Mobile app analytics is an essential ingredient in measuring and monitoring the success of your app. A good mobile app developer should recommend one of the free or paid mobile app analytics tools to be integrated into your app. You can also check our detailed study of top 5 mobile app analytics tools here.
11. What is your app testing strategy?
A bug-free app is what users want and that is what you should build. This is only possible if the mobile app developer has a great app testing team/process in place. Apart from having your own app focus group you should ask your app developer to help you understand what they will do to ensure a bug-free and robust app. The app developer should provide a detailed explanation of how they conduct an extensive beta test to remove out any glitches. Also, do ask about there process/timeline of fixing the identified bugs.
12. How do you manage updates or upgrade the apps?
Don’t think submitting the app is the end of it. At regular intervals, you will have release updates, fix reported bugs, maybe add new features and functionality or even update your design.
Coming up with an app support and maintenance program should be an important aspect of hiring mobile app developer. Be sure to work out a monthly payment plan for the post-launch support. Also, make sure that you use a good hosting service provider for your backend server.
13. Will you help me to submit my mobile app to app stores?
App submission is often a long and step by step process. This needs to be carefully executed. Your app developer should be well versed in the process and should be able to guide you through the app submission process. There will be some graphics and content writing requirement which you might have to provide. Ask for a “Launch Checklist” well in advance so that you can plan your mobile app marketing.
14.What are your fees and payment terms?
This is the most important question for hiring mobile app developer. The mobile app developers work on the various type of commercial models. Ranging from hourly to equity-based model. You need to figure out what suits you best. To help you understand here are the different types of engagement models:-
Fixed Cost: If you have your app idea ready in the form of a complete feature list document then this model is for you. Post signing the NDA, you can share the details with the developer and they will give you a fixed cost and timeline for your project.
Hire Mode: If you are not sure of what features to include in your app or do not have any ready feature list document then you will have to hire the developer on a monthly/hourly basis and get your app done.
Hybrid Model: A combination of both Hire/Fixed model is applied to situations where there is a certain scope of work which is well defined but there are some elements which need research cannot be quantified in terms of time.
Equity-Based Model: Not many but some of the app developers will be happy to work on an equity-based model. IT can be a partial or full equity model. It’s rare to find such kind of mobile app developer but if you do then just go ahead grab the opportunity.
15. Where is your development team located?
A lot of companies outsource there engineering to East Europe or Asia. Though this not a point of concern but just in case you would like to be closely involved in your app development process then this might bring up a challenge for you. Working in different time zones might bring up some communication challenge for you. Asking this question upfront might help you clear up your doubts and avoid any surprises later.
Hope you liked this detailed article about hiring mobile app developer and we are sure it will help you in finding the right mobile app developer. We have also put together a questionnaire template which you can send across to your shortlisted app developers and ask them to fill it up.
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Do let us know in the comment section if this helped you. And when you are ready with your then do get in touch and we will be happy to publish a review of your app. For any other query, you can mail us on hola@appedus.com.
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