Developing and introducing a product always involves certain risks, but a properly chosen strategy and consistent follow-up can significantly reduce them. The success of a product is measured by its benefits for customers and the company. That is why it is so important to understand what value the digital product will offer. Then is focusing on values the best strategy? What questions do you need to ask and what do you need to know for the product to succeed?
What should you focus on in the software development process?
Product improvement’s main goal is to achieve success for the whole company. However, when planning, define your business goals carefully. If you don’t have any of them, try to think about it with your team or by yourself before you start working on developing the product. As a software house, we will get to know your assumptions and be ready to create a project that will meet your requirements and bring you the expected business value. During our cooperation, we will invite you and your team to a workshop process, thanks to which we will confront your goals with best suited technological solutions. During the workshops, we also discuss the goals, thanks to working together we can redesign them or create new ones.
Why planning is important in a software development process?
Before we focus directly on developing a new product, the entire strategy, and action – a plan must first be prepared. Decisions made at this stage will affect the length of the whole process, its efficiency, and costs. A critical step is to start with a brief, i.e., a document that contains all the necessary questions about the project: the general outline of the construction and the expectations of the originators. The answers allow us to get to know your goals and effectively start cooperation. Based on a brief we also estimate the project valuation. The more details you provide in the brief, the more accurate we will estimate the costs. At this stage, you need to answer a series of questions about the new product to match solutions and proposals for your project.
The brief is also the first element of the product development process, which we explain in our ProcessBook. Although the process itself consists of several stages, it is based on the brief that we can determine the further course of work, which allows us to stick to the timeline and customer guidelines.
Why fine communication with the Project Manager is crucial for the whole process?
Taking the business risk related to product improvement, it is worth focusing on team-oriented adequately to expectations and the latest technical solutions.
At Applover, thanks to many completed projects and hundreds of hours spent on improving the product development process, we have specified appropriate team roles to optimize product development. The primary source of contact with the client is the Project Manager, who introduces the project’s specifics, coordinates the development team, and is responsible for communication.
A project manager’s role is to watch over
the customers’ needs and accompany them during the software development process. Whenever needed, we explain programming jargon and make sure that the customer perfectly understands the features and technical solutions proposed by our team.
How will I know what’s going on with my project during the development process?
Transparency and direct cooperation with the client are crucial to us. This is why our project managers include using such tools as Slack, Google Drive, and emails. Slack is an application that allows real-time contact in everyday matters. It enables simple file sharing and direct communication between the client, project manager, and the rest of the team. For communication, we also use traditional emails, in which we send all the summaries and essential documents. Our clients have direct contact with the project manager and the team to know what’s going on with the project and what the team is working on at the moment.
What does the software development workflow look like?
Work organization is one of the components that ultimately contribute to the success of a project. That is why it is so important to optimize it as much as possible. In their work, our project managers include using such tools as Jira. Daily, with developers and designers, they also use Figma, Adobe XD, Gitlab, and Hubstaff, which allow for maximum project organization and team coordination. Jira helps organize the work of developers and designers. Hubstaff, on the other hand, allows for precise control over the time the team spends on the project. Effective management is possible, thanks to many task management tools.
At the beginning of the process, our project managers organize planning meetings, during which they plan each stage of work on the project. Every week or every two weeks, we organize sprints—meetings where we work on the workflow and things that need to be done. Clients can also take part in such discussions. Besides, the team meets with the project manager daily to know the progress and provide the client with the latest information every day. Thanks to the planning and proper project management, the realization of the project is possible on time.
Who is your target group?
Determining who your clients are, what their needs are, and what is driving the decision-making process will not only make the scope of work on the project smaller but will also translate into a better marketing plan and increase the value of the created product.
However, determining the target group’s value and the product itself enables more effective implementation at each creation stage. The development stage, technological and functional, will focus on matching the details for a given group. When work on user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) – checking under the target group will take the final form. The team that will work on the project consists of experienced specialists who will help you create a product perfectly suited to the specific target group. You can read more about the roles in the development process here.
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Do you want to find out more about how to develop your product effectively?
Talk to our team!Why you should focus on the advantages and disadvantages of the product?
During product development, you need to get to know similar products on the market. Focus the research on both their positive aspects as well as the areas that are worth developing further. This will help you answer the question: why should someone decide on your product, and you will also learn all the doubts and areas that can be improved.
Try to put yourself in the customer’s role and answer the question: why should someone use this product. In this way, you will determine the unique value of the product. This will allow you to learn how your product stands out from the competition, what exactly it is and how it can be developed.
Can you prevent the loss of customer interest?
After analyzing your product’s potential customers’ preferences and behaviors, you should distinguish when the customer may decide to resign from the product. The behavior of most customers can be explained by the mechanism of the conversion funnel, which consists of:
- building recognition,
- arousing interest,
- encouraging action, and
- encouraging purchase.
While detailing the values that the customer is guided at each of the stages, you will be able to focus on the usable layer of the product. User experience (UX) design is an important stage in the process. If you want to find out more about why it is so crucial and what are the hottest UX/UI trends right now, check out our new TrendBook.
The process of matching the product to the customer is strongly dependent on the values that guide the selection and use of the product. The following questions will certainly help to narrow down the process:
- What is the path of decisions made by the recipients using your current channels?
- At what stage do most people abandon the key path for you?
- From what sources will you gain interest in the product?
- Which sources contribute to the increase in the rejection rate?
The answers you get will allow you and the UX/UI development team to create a project that reduces the likelihood of customer abandonment as much as possible. Predicting behavior and reasons for possible opt-outs will allow you to develop solutions and address possible reasons for opting out of using your product specifically.
Do you know the worth of your product?
When introducing and developing your products, you need to remember that by focusing on values you respond to the customers’ needs. It is the greatest challenge to bring these activities to the most effective level. If you get stuck at any stage during the creation of answers, go back to those based on value creation, revise them if necessary. Then, establish a plan of action. While working with us you can count on the support of top tech experts, who are at your disposal throughout the process and will be happy to answer any questions or doubts.
