Essential Questions to ask App Developers

Before you sign that contract, do you know the essential questions to ask App Developers to ensure you partner with the right people? Investing in an app is an important decision, not only because of the financial investment, but also because of the investment to your brand.

An app is more than just an extension of your business; it is often an area customers and potential customers will interact with your business and brand for the first time. The old adage is still true, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression.’

So before you put your brand and reputation in someone else’s hands, here are the essential questions you should have answered:

How long have you been designing and developing apps? - You want to work with a firm that isn’t going anywhere and has at least a few years of experience under their belt.

What are your core services? - Some businesses only provide app design. Others like LoungeLizard.com provide website design and development along with app design and development.

Is all work done in-house? - In some cases a firm might outsource certain aspects of the business. This can lead to issues where you are dealing with multiple parties to complete a project or even a lack of cohesiveness and understanding of technology and capabilities.

How big is your team and how long have they been together? - This follows suit with the above question. It takes time to understand not only the technology to create reliable solutions, but also how to work together in a creative and efficient way.

What platforms do you design for? – Some people are iOS designers, some are Android designers and some are both. Ideally you want to work with someone that puts your app initially in the best market for it, but can still provide a different version if needed for the other major platform.

Have you done projects similar to this that I can see? - You always want to review a business’s portfolio to see if they have provided the type of design and functionality you need.

Can you provide references? - This provides an opportunity to garner feedback from past clients on things like timeliness, responsiveness, overall satisfaction and staying within budget.

Do you use open source features or will anything have licensing fees? - Some software is open source and free to use while others have fees. Software with fees can be problematic if it is so unique that only a few people understand how to work with it. Open source is generally cheaper and widely familiar.

How important is user experience to your design process? - Today’s users’ rate user experience very highly so you want to make sure that it is a primary focus to your designer.

Do you design from templates or will it be a custom creation? - Custom projects are more expensive but also offer more flexibility. Make sure you know what you are paying for.

Can you walk me through your process? - You should be comfortable with how they work from start to finish.

Will my app be scalable if and when my business grows? - Don’t just design an app for today, think about tomorrow as well and what will happen when you add new products or services.

How often do we discuss the project during the various phases? - Communication is always important so understand how they like to do business and talk about what you prefer.

What is the estimated time to build this site? - Time is money!

Is there a project manager? How will you ensure my app is executed properly? - A good firm should have a project manager that is your point of contact as well as quality controls in place that ensure you are getting what you want.

How do you base your pricing? Is it hourly or flat fee? Do projects often go over budget? What is the policy for billing and payment? - These are all standard questions you should get answered, preferably in writing. Ideally your plan should be very detailed listing features and timeframes. If someone is overly general or doesn’t ask lots of questions - beware!

Is there any sort of warranty or maintenance plan? - Just about everything needs regular maintenance and support. Some firms provide this and some don’t, but you need to be prepared for it and have a plan for who will handle it.

How do you track the success of your projects? - Do they use analytics to track traffic, conversions or sales? Are those metrics built into the app? Will they show you how to use them?

Will you place it in stores for me? – This is another critical part of the process and you should know that they are able to launch the app successfully.

Do you have a launch plan? This question ties in with the above. Ask about what they do for a successful launch or do they just submit the app to Google Play or the Apple Store and hope for the best.

What if I want changes afterwards? - What is the policy for follow-up work and associated costs?

Who owns the rights to my app after it is built? - You want to own your app and have access to all the files. This should be non-negotiable.

When can you start on my project? - Look for a firm date to go with a good proposal. “Maybe in a few weeks” is a sign to look for someone else.

That wraps up our essential questions to ask App Developers As you can see, it is a fairly exhaustive list of questions, but it should be because this is a big decision.