Can you really plan success for your new, exciting idea?
When it comes to developing a new software project, the answer is “yes.” By focusing on the right things as you plan, you can have a completed roadmap of success.
This means never rushing to market without doing your homework first.
These “right” things are:
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Realistic expectations
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Product goals/market research
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Human and monetary budgets
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User research methods
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A web development partner.
This post will walk you through these five important factors and help to get in the right mindset from the start.
1. Be Realistic About Your Project
Many business owners choose to take a risky path by attempting to develop products fast and cheap. They can do so, sure, but only if they get real about their expectations. Many don’t, so “under-resourcing” and “underfunding” resulting from a lack of proper planning are top reasons why software projects fail.
“Getting realistic about expectations” means planning the budget, timeline, and human resources after a meeting with developers and other stakeholders. They will give you an idea of how much time and money are needed to create a successful product before you make a decision.
So, a word of caution: trying to get a software development project done fast and cheap might result in something that needs a lot of reworks. Find out what kind of resources you need, and you’ll save tons of money in the long term.
2. Product Goals
At this point, we learn more about how to shape the future product by defining its place in the market. It means setting a few specific goals when it comes to customer needs, possible issues, and competitors.
Ask these questions to define product goals:
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Why are we developing this product?
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What customer needs will this product help to meet? What issues will it resolve?
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How will this product be different - and better - from competitors?
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What are our biggest competitors?
Setting product goals is essentially conducting market research. By answering these questions, you’re creating the roadmap for successful project implementation. That roadmap will also help with understanding how to make a competitive product.
Pro-tip: Doing product research is often called “the discovery phase.” Consider using web development companies that provide Research-as-a-Service — it means they cover most market-related research requirements.
3. Human and Monetary Budgets
Once you’re done with setting product goals, doing market research, and preparing the budget, the next step is to gather a team and plan finances for each milestone (project stage).
When it comes to the team, assemble a group of talented individuals - web developers, designers, UX researchers, content writers, etc. - to complete the project. These people will be responsible for doing their part on a specific project milestone.
As for the finances, plan the budget for each project milestone according to your financial capabilities. For example, here are typical milestones for an app development project that businesses plan for:
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Project planning [cost] - making the roadmap of the entire project
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User research [cost] - discovering more about the experiences of people with your product (more on this in the next section)
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Prototyping of user flows [cost] - creating interactive visualizations of the future app
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Graphic design [cost] - designing user interfaces
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Coding the app [cost] - developing a functional version
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Quality testing [cost] - confirming that the app works flawlessly on every platform (iOS, Android)
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Deployment [cost] - releasing the application on app stores
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Support & updates [cost] - keeping the app working and improving based on user feedback and market standards.
By dividing a project this way, you’ll reduce the chance of going over the budget and undermining a successful delivery. Having the resources clearly defined also helps with getting support from investors and other stakeholders.
4. User Research Methods
When a digital product like an app has its users engaged and converting, it’s not luck or magic. Every successful product is based on a deep understanding of the intended user, their needs, problems, and goals.
That understanding comes from user experience (UX) research. The goal of UX research is to help you understand what happens when your product is used by people. It does so with these methods:
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Interviews. Having a conversation with people who used a product to find out about their experiences
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Questionnaires and surveys. Online tools for gathering user feedback with open- and closed-ended questions
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Usability tests. Asking users to complete tasks by using a product and observing them to determine potential issues, etc.
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A/B tests. Comparing the performance of two designs of the same product by randomly showing each version to an equal number of users.
Each UX research method can give you lots of information to make better product decisions. For example, it will determine which features your potential users are likely to find valuable or unhelpful.
5. A Reliable Web Development Partner
The expertise and experience of your chosen web development partner can make or break your project. Here are some instances showing how they save software development projects:
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Experienced developers won’t accept complex, unfriendly user interfaces that might lead to project abandonment or a lack of user engagement
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They won’t throw a product “over the wall” before it’s completely ready for production just for the sake of meeting your deadlines
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They use an Agile software development strategy to ensure that the product stays true to what target users initially wanted
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They won’t move on to other projects once the product is moved into production. For a defined period, they’ll continue to work on support and issue resolution to ensure complete market readiness.
Try to find a web development company with a proven record of being reliable. This means it has a list of positive testimonials from clients and a nice portfolio.
The Bottom Line
Starting a new web development project is both exciting and terrifying. Challenges will come in plenty even on the planning stage, not to mention the implementation. By taking care of these five things, however, you’ll make every project much easier to do.