We all know the kind of pressure that IT developers are under these days, with time-to-market expectations being higher than ever. Customers, funding partners, and COO’s all expect devs to be able to bring an app to market within a very narrow timeframe, which can lead to significant pressures on the people doing the legwork.
However, there is no need to panic. By simply understanding the right tricks and tools of the trade, you can create your flawless digital product and release it to market in a timely fashion. Here’s what you need to know to improve your app’s time-to-market.
Keep communicating
The best possible TTM depends largely on being able to get the product right (or as close to right as possible) the first time around. This means staying in constant communication with the rest of your team and your users to ensure that the product you are building does not stray too far away from the original mission. Communication can also ensure that errors are picked up upon quickly and downtime is reduced.
Workflow management is everything
When it comes to getting a flawless digital product out there, a lot of it is down to you and how you choose to manage your workflow. Workflow management means a lot of things. For one, it means being able to identify which processes could be ongoing simultaneously, instead of waiting to complete one task before you head to the next one. It means looking at the main causes of bottlenecks in the development process and pre-empting these in the future. With better workflow management, you will save huge amounts of time.
Don’t forget about your website
If you offer any kind of digital product or service, your app should complement or direct people to your main website. That is why it is crucial to ensure that your browser website is flawless, responsive, and ready to go before your app is. For this, many companies turn to experts. Turnkey software providers can offer ready-made software and features that you can add to your website in an instant, instead of developing it all yourself. Let’s take a look at the online poker platform example. Instead of creating highly complex services yourself, you can use a turnkey provider like Pronet Gaming to get readymade gaming, payments, and security software that can easily be added to your existing product. This is one hugely impactful way to reduce your TTM.
Flatten the approval process
If you have ever developed any time of digital product before, you probably already know about how cumbersome the approval process can be. It feels like your product is held up in limbo for eternity, as it is endlessly bounced back and forth between different teams and departments, each with their own (often contradictory) opinions. If you have a large number of stakeholders, shortening your approval process is imperative. Have clear-set parameters and secure cast-iron agreements for speedy approval from the smallest possible number of people. This is guaranteed to get your product out there quicker. Apple app store already understands this, which is why they have been drastically slashing their own approval periods for new products.
We all understand the need for speed in app development. However, that does not mean you have to rush your product. All it means is doing a bit of forward planning to prevent delays. By following these tips, you can do just that.
