Are you getting ready to start a new software project? You have your work cut out for you. Software development is a long process, and it’s challenging to bring your software idea to life.
Whether you’re building software for your business or as a new startup, there’s a set of standard best practices to follow when building software. Keep reading to learn how to build software the right way.
Verify Demand
Before investing a lot of time and money in a software project, you need to answer one question. Is there anybody out there who wants to use your product?
One of the best tips to build software is to reach out to potential users of your software to ask them what they think. The chances are good that they have a different view of how your product can help. This feedback will help you refine your initial offering to appeal to more customers.
Find Developers
Once you know you have a viable product, you need a way to build it. The question is, do you hire people full-time or hire a software development company?
Hiring employees gives you more control over your team, but you might not have experience managing a project yourself. If this is the case, you might have trouble getting your product launched.
However, you can work with Squads, for example, to have your product managed by pros. It might be more expensive upfront, but you can be sure that you’ll have a successful product launch.
Choose Your Tech
Once you get your team together, it’s time to figure out what tech you need to make your app work. You likely don’t want to decide on this yourself. Make sure you consult with your developers to pick the right option.
For web applications, you’ll need to work with both front-end and back-end web frameworks. If you want a mobile app, you’ll need to pick between native and cross-platform development.
Develop Your Product
Once you decide on your tech, it’s time to develop your product. However, don’t start the tech right away. It’s essential to create wireframes of your product, so you get an idea of how it works.
Once your wireframes look right, you can start programming your project. Try to keep each version of your app simple to launch your most important features quickly.
Test Your Project
Once you finish programming product features, it’s time to test them with your users. Ask a group of potential customers to beta test your app. They’ll use your app in their own way, which will tell you a lot about what you need to change.
This is the final step before launching your app, so make sure to take care of any bugs before launching. You don’t want to launch a buggy software application and ruin your company’s reputation. Developers produce up to 50 bugs per 1000 lines of code, so don’t skip the bug testing phase.
Now You Know How to Build Software
Now that you have a better idea about how to build software, you can get started with your project. However, there are many little details that you’ll need to learn during the process, so make sure you keep learning.
If you want to learn more tips that will help you after you finish your software build, head to our blog to learn how to get your project out to the world.
Andrea Parker is a reporter for Zobuz. She previously worked at Huffington Post and Vanity Fair. Andrea is based in NYC and covers issues affecting her city. In addition to her severe coffee addiction, she’s a Netflix enthusiast, a red wine drinker, and a voracious reader.
