Balance Mobile App Development Quality, Speed and Cost

The time-honored triple constraint remains a hallmark of many projects, especially those in the mobile app development world. Project managers and their teams regularly struggle to meet three critical criterion in any initiative: quality, speed, and cost. The best PMs know how to balance all three; ensuring the fast delivery of an excellent software product with a minimal outlay of expenses. 

When a mobile app development team enjoys a copious amount of resources – like those part of a successful digital agency builder – balancing quality with the speed of development becomes the focus. In short, the PM or ScrumMaster works to ensure an excellent app gets built as quickly as possible. It requires a well-organized project combined with a deft touch to keep developers engaged and stakeholders satisfied. 

So let’s look more closely at how to balance overall quality against rapid development in any mobile app project. Leverage these insights to transform a great idea into a compelling mobile app faster than ever before. It remains the best way for the app to quickly make a meaningful impact on the App Store or Google Play. 

In Mobile App Development, Time is of The Essence 

Mr. Spock would agree: when it comes to mobile app development, time is of the essence. Why? Because the strong demand for captivating mobile apps requires faster development cycles to quickly meet this need. Digital agencies faced with this growing demand increasingly rely on modern software development methodologies to add velocity to their mobile app engineering process. 

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Adopting concepts like continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) provide mobile app shops with the process maturity necessary to craft high-quality software with dispatch. Another organizational methodology, DevOps combines a unique team structure with a variety of automation tools to optimize software development processes. Any shop needs to consider CI, CD, and DevOps for a mature and fast approach for crafting best of breed mobile apps. Let’s take a closer look at all three in more detail.

Continuous Integration Automates Builds and Testing 

Simply stated, CI automates some of the more time-consuming aspects of any software development process, most notably application testing and builds. It also usually leverages a cloud-based architecture and virtualization for development, QA, and production environments, a DevOps approach making it suitable for automation. Note that this server environment aspect of CI sometimes relates more closely to desktop and web software development and might not always be applicable for some mobile app shops.

A CI environment quickly detects if any checked-in code changes break the build, informing the development team in an almost instantaneous fashion. This approach ensures any issues get discovered with the utmost speed, helping to streamline the entire process. 

Shops with a non-automated process must wait until a build happens before discovering any integration problems. In the end, this approach became obsolete once automated building and testing tools became available. 

Continuous Delivery Automates The Software Release Process 

CD takes a similar automated approach as CI, but this time involving a mobile app’s release process. After passing through CI, code changes are delivered to a staging environment for final delivery. In the case of a mobile app, CD effectively becomes the last step before an app gets submitted to the App Store and Google Play where Apple’s or Alphabet’s internal teams vets the app before making it available for purchase and download. 

Again, this automated process saves time while ensuring build quality when compared to a manual effort. It also plays a key role in engendering the trust of the user, with mobile apps generally enjoying regular updates for fixes and new features. CD and CI remain a critical component of any mature software development process. 

DevOps Also Provides Automation Support

As noted earlier, DevOps includes a unique approach to team structure, combining developers with network administrators and business stakeholders into one group. However, its use of automation to manage the virtualized server environments used in software development attracts adherents whether or not they also reorganize their internal teams. 

In a mobile app development scenario, DevOps automates certain tasks, like checking for library dependencies or provisioning virtual servers used in development. It also integrates with other CI-based functionality, like build and test automation. The key benefit from CI, CD, and DevOps simply relates to automation making certain tasks faster and less prone to errors. 

Other Tips For Making Mobile App Development Faster 

Beyond automation, check out these other quick hit strategies for supercharging your company’s mobile app development process:

• Craft wireframes for the UI and UX
• Build a minimum viable product (MVP)
• Hire experienced mobile developers
• Partner with a digital agency well-versed in mobile app development
• Leverage existing programming libraries and SDKs when possible

If your company needs advice on optimizing its mobile app development process, connect with the experts at NineTwoThree. We boast significant experience in iOS and Android development all while using state of the art software development methodologies and procedures. Schedule a time to discuss your specific needs with our experienced and talented team.

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