App development can seem daunting. But we’re all about cutting those calories, working out, and getting lean. And because motivation and support are key to any workout program we thought we’d take you with us, and share our journey to building the fastest and most predictable app development process.
First steps
So how does an app development team even get started? And what is Lean App Development anyways?
Lean app development is simple (says the developer who’s been in the industry for over 20 years). Lean app development = lean startup + agile. Huh? Well, you take the lean startup methodology and then add in the agile development approach. Okay… Then, apply it to building modern and scalable applications in an iterative (but well structured) environment. Easy right? We thought so too.
Three golden rules
Let’s break it down. There are three golden rules of lean app development:
- Identify a tangible, clear, and concise end goal of the project, then always ensure every decision serves that goal
- Focus on building only core functionality first using the Minimum Viable Product (MVP approach)
- Focus on the key users needs/wants/pains/motivations and what they care about, not the wishes of others (such as clients/boss/investors)
Questions at every step
Whenever we take on a new project these three golden rules always have to be considered, written down, and agreed upon. And all that needs to be done before a single line of code is written. During every aspect of the build, we come back to three key questions:
- Does it serve the end goal?
- Is this part of the MVP?
- Does it answer a key need/want/pain/motivation?
We know app development isn’t as simple as it sounds, and the idea of lean app development may be new to a lot of people. So we’re going to use this blog post to kickstart a series, taking you through everything you need to know about lean app development and how we use the Lean App Development process to build apps. In the next post we’ll dive into Agile and Lean processes and show you how to use the best parts of each methodology. Stay tuned for more!
