6 steps to faster enterprise app development: from mobile app prototype to product launch
These enterprise application development tips will have you prototyping, developing and launching a mobile app in double time
A faster design/development cycle can get an enterprise app off to a more profitable start. But streamlining the unwieldy enterprise application development cycle can sometimes seem to be little more than a software development pipe-dream.
That said, there are ways of making rapid mobile app prototyping a reality, even in an enterprise scenario. Check out these 6 mobile app prototyping insights, from Lean-inspired approaches to faking a start-up mentality, that will help you build enterprise apps faster.
Apply start-up thinking to grown-up business
Sometimes, being first to market makes the difference between an industry-changing app and one that gets lost in the noise. Mobile app demand, both for B2C and B2B, is fast-moving and voracious; in contrast, mobile app development lifecycles are often lengthier than their web equivalents. And they can be even longer when combined with the legacy IT systems found in most large organizations.
To keep up with the tempo of the app market, enterprises need to start to think and act like start-ups. What does that mean? It means finding ways to emulate the flexibility and reactivity of a 3 man team, even if you’re in a company with thousands of employees.
Take those cheesy start-up mantras — “fail forward” and “done is better than perfect”, for example — and build them into the mobile app development team culture. David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom, writing in Forbes, have some indispensible tips for building a start-up mentality in larger companies.
“A startup mentality focuses the mind, challenges the body, and can be good for the soul.” Shawn Parr, Fast Company
Keep mobile app development cycles Lean
It’s not enough just to think like a start-up, of course; you have to work like one too. By now, everyone has heard of Eric Ries’ Lean Start-up revolution. Applying Lean activities can be difficult in an enterprise where development cycles are lengthy.
But Lean practices can be introduced at every stage of the mobile app development lifecycle, even in legacy-bound businesses.
- Use realistic interactive prototypes to involve end users in the process of requirements elicitation
- Commit to implementing agile design and development practices, such as Scrum
- Eliminate wasteful practices — that means cutting out hierarchy and sign-offs wherever possible, and giving autonomy to the mobile dev team
- Test the app with users at every stage of the development cycle. Even testing a static wireframe can speed up the development process overall
- Use a prototyping tool to iterate and re-iterate. You’ll be constantly failing with these app iterations, but failing faster and cheaper and, most importantly, before app launch.
