Average Time to Build a Software App: Things to Be Aware of At the Very Beginning
Timing matters.
This rule works in any industry, any type of occupation, any discovery. In the IT world, it finds its application, too:
- launch a revolutionary app faster than a potential competitor and win most of the market share;
- roll out a demanded product when potential customers need it most and become a market leader.
The list can continue, the rule remains the same: the time you invest in your software app, as well as the time when you launch it, has a great impact on your business success.
But how long it takes to build an app? And before we’ll highlight the significant details in this article, we need to tell you that the correct and accurate answer doesn’t exist.
The time you need to invest in your software app depends on multiple factors:
- Your requirements;
- Features’ complexity;
- Development team experience and expertise in a particular field;
- Software development methodology;
- Your initial budget etc.
There are much more factors that may impact software app development duration. But is the duration really important?
App development duration: a quick look from a different angle
More than 16 years ago Mark Zuckerberg started to work on Facemash, an initial version of Facebook. Do you think that 16 years ago Mark Zuckerberg was worried about app development time? No. He had an interesting fresh idea; he wanted to turn it into a popular web app. He did what he could at that very moment. So he started acting. And shortly, investors started offering him financial support and resources for further app growth.
Now, many years later, we know that Facebook is still on its development stage. We constantly get acquainted with new features, enjoy improved design, and watch Zuckerberg’s net income grows. Software engineers have been working on Facebook for more than 16 years, and they still do. The only difference is that now, Facebook is a full-featured product with 2.5 billion monthly active users. And its net worth is almost $508 billion.
There’s the same situation with unicorns like Uber or Airbnb; Shopify and Amazon are on the development stages, too.
If you really want to succeed, software development will be a never-ending story for you. Fortunately, once you get acquainted with its key stages, you can estimate the approximate time to invest to start making money with your app. And then, it’s just a matter of time and efforts when your app will join the list of the most successful products.
- Read also: Why to Build a Two-Sided Marketplace?
It may take from months to years to build a powerful and useful software app; it may take a decade to generate multi-million revenue with your app. However, you can start with a small basic solution, validate your idea, attract the investments and upgrade an app to a more advanced solution. And we will tell you how long each of the stages last.
3 steps to a full-featured app
So, you have a great idea and a minimum budget. What to start with and how long it takes? Follow our guide:
Stage 1. The Prototype
- App prototype development duration: 1 month
A prototype is an initial version of a product you want to build. An app’s prototype describes how the main screens look like and how they are connected. Also, it may demonstrate some of the key app’s features.
Creating a prototype is a great way to test your idea, to take a look at how it will look like on a user’s screen. It doesn’t require much development time and allows building a good basis for further progress.
- Read also: How to Make a Mobile App Prototype?
Once you’ve built a prototype, discuss it with your partners or friends. Edit it and change it, fix it and improve it. It is much cheaper to re-build a prototype than rewrite an app, so set the priorities properly.
Its an alpha-version of your product, so it may be even ugly. As one of the Linkedin’s founder said,
“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late”.
Stage 2: Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- MVP development duration: 4 to 6 months
When your prototype is polished well, it is time to proceed with the momentous step. MVP, or a Minimum Viable Product, is your chance to win users’ hearts and investors’ money with an attractive but simple solution. Within the shortest terms. With minimum budget.
MVP should contain essential features only. The goal is to launch it as soon as possible, measure users’ interest and collect the reviews. After the app’s potential evaluation, you as its founder can see clearly what real users need and how to satisfy their needs.
A tool we know so well and use so actively, Dropbox, started its path in the IT industry from an MVP. Dropbox’s founder, Drew Houston, wanted to build a safe and protected data storage for users worldwide. Simplicity was one of the priorities, so he started with a small and simple MVP that captured users’ interest immediately. Dropbox team started with creating a short video tutorial and got an immense volume of feedback. The potential users’ reaction proved that the app is on high demand; feedback was a source of answers on how to improve the app. What is prominent, the MVP helped the company to start collecting thousands and millions of dollars of investments. That’s an impressive example of a successful viable MVP!
Stage3: Feature-Rich App
- App development duration: 12 months
On this stage, you together with your development team turn an MVP to a powerful full-featured app. You augment the basic functionality with advanced features, improve the design, and constantly collect users’ feedback to know exactly how to improve the app.
Improvement is a never-ending process. So software development is.
- To keep users’ interest, you have to follow the latest mobile development trends.
- To keep your app useful, you have to constantly keep an eye on the industry’s tendencies.
- To attract the investments, you have to constantly prove your product is great, unique, demanded.
Thus, it is hard to estimate precisely how long software development process lasts.
But we can estimate the precise duration of MVP development. It’s 4 to 6 months, and it’s the most important stage of your product development.
If your goal is to build a viable app, once you focus on MVP, the huge amount of work is done. And if you start working on it right now, when the pandemic made people change their priorities, when numerous industries demand improvements and new solutions, when there’s a huge chance for a great product to succeed, you’ll start collecting your first investments in October-November 2020.
Sounds pretty attractive, doesn’t it?
But what to start with? And how MVP development looks like? Who do you need in your team?
We’ve collected the answers to these (and so much more!) questions in a more detailed report dedicated to app development time. Check it right now and don’t miss a chance to launch a revolutionary product when the world needs a hero!
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