9 out of 10 startups fail because they don’t meet market needs. If you want to be the remaining one, it is important to study your competitors and test your idea with an MVP app (minimum viable product) beforehand.
A professional and responsible development team is a big contribution to the successful release of your app. While MVP app makers are working on polishing your solution, you can step back and focus on audience research and operational processes, like financial and marketing strategies.
Imagine that you can just find people who will listen carefully to your idea and then turn it into a user-friendly solution with an easy-to-navigate interface, improved experience and a big conversion rate. Sounds like a dream? It can be reality!
To help you choose your Mister Right, we collected 5 tips for finding a good developer for an MVP of your project. Enjoy!
Hire a full cycle team
Being a startup owner with an app idea, you will face two main options: either hire separate freelancers for each task of MVP, or find a team of developers who will assume responsibility for all elements.
Many people consider freelancers cheaper, but it is not necessarily true. If you count the time you will spend connecting separate outsourcers with each other and establishing communication, it will add a lot to the final price. Honestly, it’s not worth it.
For those who value their time, we recommend choosing a full-cycle team of MVP app makers, because it is convenient and budget-friendly. Full cycle development means that your app will be taken care of from top to bottom – from an idea to the successful release of the app.
For example, the Purrweb team includes 80 multitalented Front and Backend developers, UI/UX designers, QA (quality assurance) engineers, UX-copywriters, illustrators and project managers, so you don’t need to hire anyone else.
Evaluate their experience
Tip #2 is to pretend you are a private investigator and perform a background check on your future developer. Try to Google a company’s name and see what you can discover.
First of all, access their portfolio and reviews from their previous customers. You can use professional resources, like Clutch, GoodFirms, or even more basic such as LinkedIn or even Google.Maps if they have an office somewhere on the planet.
Reviews on Clutch are transparent – you can see what real projects were done, how much they cost and what company it was for. Pay attention that a developer has reviews from verified accounts (bottom left)
In addition to this, you can check the portfolio of your MVP app maker-to-be. For that, you can use the same resource – Clutch, or other ones, like Dribble or Behance.
On Behance you can check UX/UI projects of the team with the description and a closer look at all elements of the interface.
Also, some companies run blogs on websites to showcase their experience and share their knowledge, so check these out as well. And don’t forget about social media! Plus, the world of startups is small, so if you personally know their previous clients, don’t hesitate to ask about their work.
Discuss operational systems
Before you begin development, you should decide what your MVP app startup needs and what operational systems you are aiming for. If you want to work with both Apple iOS and Google Android markets, consider hiring a team that works with React Native.
React Native is a framework for building native apps using a shared codebase for both Apple iOS and Google Android systems and a huge library with native-like elements.
React Native is a good solution for startupers who value time and cost-efficiency without sacrificing quality. Ask your developer more about this option!
Even if you decide to start with one operational system, let’s say iOS, you can come back later and request Android service for a reduced price. While React Native will help to smoothly and quickly transfer your app to another system.
Contact the team
Yep, it might sound very basic, but remember that you can have a couple of meetings with the company to better understand their attitude and methods of work. These meetings will not oblige you to sign the contract and you can politely decline. Your contractor is like a date – they look exactly like they do on the Internet and everything is perfect, but just doesn’t click. Sometimes it happens, and that’s why it is necessary to meet your contractor in-person or over Zoom, Skype or Google Meets before making the decision and signing any papers.
Also, during the personal meeting you can ask about their experience again and learn what industries they have worked with.
Talk about price beforehand
No one likes extra fees, especially when they come up during the development process. Always discuss the final price of the work and make sure you mention it in the contract.
Of course, the cost of launching an MVP app is an individual thing that depends on the length and complexity of your project, but believe us, after a couple of briefings, every company can estimate your total. Developers are usually paid hourly and it only takes an understanding of the workload to calculate how long it will take and give you a price for your MPV.
At Purrweb, we’re voting for transparency and always discuss the estimated final price with our clients beforehand. For example, you can ask: ‘How do you know how long UI/UX Design services will take?’ Well, it’s easy and we have a straight-forward formula for it:
- We identify all the user scenarios of a product;
- Count the number of screens needed to design each scenario;
- Estimate how long it will take to execute the breakdown and calculate the workload.
MVP development timeline
After you have chosen your full-cycle development team with exciting real reviews, it’s time to start building your MVP. The overall process takes 3 to 4 months, from the first meeting to the release.
👆🏻 Note: that’s our timeline and for some other companies it might take longer.
But what services will be done exactly? Let’s break it down! Here is the table with the description of stages your future MVP app will undergo.
| Stages | What you do | What do we do | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation and definition of the development roadmap | Participate in briefings to tell about your idea and tour around your project. Share info about competitors and interface ideas if you have them. | Examine your idea and estimate the timeframe and costs. The main goal is to dive in and learn every corner of your project. | ⁓2-3 days |
| Define main usage scenarios and map the user’s journey to plan the interface. | |||
| Prioritize features for the app | |||
| UI/UX design | Choose from suggested variant and approve ones you like | Plan UI/UX design that suits your idea the best, create a UI-kit and present our ideas to you | ⁓3-4 weeks |
| Development QA testing |
Sit back and relax | Develop your app’s architecture from front and back and perform QA testings, searching for and closing all potential bugs before the launch. | ⁓10 weeks |
| Release! | |||
Important note: we start the development as soon as you approve the interface layouts. This allows us to meet a 3-4 months deadline. All timelines are estimated and depend on how multidimensional your idea is.
The good news is that while MVP app makers are working hard on your solution, you can dedicate this time to solve all remaining issues with funds and advertising, or just have a rest and gather your strength before the release. Or you can stay involved in the development process, it’s totally up to you.
Conclusions
MVP app is not a prototype – it’s your first fully-functioning product and everything in it should be planned and well-organized. Finding the right developer seriously contributes to the success of your idea. Professional contractors will develop mindful and cutting-edge solutions that you can use to collect feedback and raise funds. Then, if you want to pivot or add something, they will gladly help you change the features or the architecture of the app.
To find a perfect MVP app maker, follow our 5 tips:
- Prefer full-cycle team over developers. A well-managed team of professionals will have no problems with deadlines or internal communication and eventually it will save you time.
- Check their experience. Access reviews and portfolios with previous cases to see if your attitudes match.
- Choose a team who works with React Native if you are targeting a broader market. This decision will allow you to execute an app for both iOS and Android with no harm to your budget.
- Talk to the team in-person or online before hiring them.
- Discuss and record costs before the development to avoid hidden fees.
We know that a business idea should be tested as soon as possible, so it is inappropriate to spend years for development. The average timeline for an MVP development at Purrweb is 3-4 months, but more precisely the deadline is determined on a case-by-case basis. If you are looking for a full stack of developers with wide experience in UI/UX design, we will be ready to help. Just reach out to us!
