How to Outsource App Development? Find Your Agency Match

Apps. Every day, these fun and handy little bundles of code are waiting for us to click their colorful and engaging icons for work and play. So it makes sense for businesses to create apps to help their customers access the products and services they deliver. But what's the best way to go about creating an app for your business? And how do you choose the best app development team to make your app?

Here's a quick guide to outsourcing app development.

Why Outsource Your App Development?

• Cost efficiency. You could invest money to recruit and build your own app development team inside your organization. But why spend all that time and money engaging with human resources when you can engage ready-made teams of software developers who are already experts in app development? 

• Access to talent. There are literally thousands of app developers out there waiting to build your killer-app idea. Outsourcing your mobile app project gives you access to a greater talent pool at a more affordable cost than building a team from the ground up. Plus, when you outsource software development, you can adjust the scale of your app development to match your business requirements. 

• Resource prioritization. Outsourcing allows you to focus on the thing you're best at: running your business. Not only that, but the best app development teams can also act as consultants, helping you to define the scope and budget of your app.

Bottom line: By outsourcing your app development, you pay less and gain more than setting up an app development team in your organization from scratch. Plus, by engaging a team whose sole purpose is app development, you leverage their high productivity to achieve faster time to market. 

Costs Involved and Pitfalls to Avoid

Many things will affect the overall cost of developing an app, but the bottom line is this: The more complex an app, the more expensive it will be to develop. So, you will need to consider whether the revenue you'll generate from customers using your app will be greater than the cost of producing the app in the first place.

There are ways to reduce costs, of course. You can purchase "off-the-shelf" apps, but they only offer basic functionality and won't stand out from the crowd. If you're serious about creating an engaging and innovative app, you'll need a bespoke app with all the bells and whistles that meets your requirements, looks great, and performs like a dream. A custom app will cost more but potentially deliver more value.

You could look at engaging app developers in Eastern Europe or India, where app development costs can be cheaper. Still, there are tradeoffs regarding quality, time to market, language barriers, and dealing with time zones. So what might, at first, seem like a cheaper app development deal can cost you more in the long term.  

Bottom line: You get what you pay for. If you want a potential customer to download or even pay for your app, you'll want to develop a reliable app that looks great and helps your customer in some way that will make them wonder how they ever lived without your app in the first place.  

Preparing for App Development

First and foremost, before you do anything, you need to understand why you want to develop an app in the first place:

• What are the business goals of the app?

• Will the app help your customers in some way?

• Will it provide a tool or service that your customers will want to use?

• Will the app help you find new customers or make more sales?

• Will the app promote or enhance your brand in some way?

• Will the app make you money?

If you think your app will do some or all of these things, it's time to come up with a plan and a budget. 

At this stage, key questions to consider:

• Will the app support iOS, Android, or both?

• Will the app be a one-off project or require ongoing development and support?

• By when do you need the app to be ready to go to market?

• What’s the app’s overall scope and budget?

Once these questions have been answered, it's time to find your perfect app development team. 

How to Choose the Best App Developer for Your Project

When you decide to outsource software development, there are many things to consider when choosing the best app developer for your project:

• Does the app developer have a proven user research strategy to ensure your app meets your user's needs?

• Do they have great examples of creative and engaging user experiences and intuitive user interfaces?

• Does the app developer have experience working with a range of clients, and more specifically, clients with a similar profile as your own business?

• Will the app created for your business undergo extensive quality assurance and A/B testing?

If your chosen app development team answers yes to all these questions, you're well on the way to creating the best app with the best user experience for your clients. 

Why Choose Big Human?

Big Human has the experience and resources to create quality apps for both iOS and Android. We employ a user-first approach to mobile app development where your brand,user needs and experience are intertwined with your app design. For instance, many of our apps are created natively for web, iOS and Android applications via React, saving clients time and money. 

We actively work with clients to conduct quality assurance and A/B testing to deliver a faultless, innovative, and engaging app experience. Plus, we offer ongoing support for your app after it goes live.

 Big Human believes in the power of collaboration to bring a client's unique ideas to life. We can help you plan and design your app, ensuring it is cost-effective and delivered on-scope, on budget, and on time. 

 Whether you’re a startup or an established retail leader, you can trust Big Human's track record in building app-based custom shops and marketplaces. 

Big Human is a product design studio that develops custom mobile apps for organizations of all sizes, from mid-sized businesses to Fortune 500 companies.