What do I need to do to get comparable quotes from app developers?
Getting quotes from a few developers completely makes sense but it can be very difficult to ensure that, when you are comparing quotes, you are actually comparing apples with apples. Each development company will ask different questions resulting in different information and understanding. On several occasions we’ve not won client projects because other companies are offering something quite different (and inferior) to what we were proposing. Often those clients end up coming back to us but only after they’ve wasted some time and money.
Here are a few things that you can do to mitigate that.
Provide a clear sense of what you want built and the features required to give your app the competitive advantage.
Make sure you have this all in writing so everyone can work from the same document. It makes it easier to edit and update once things change because you have more information.
Ask yourself:
- What problem am I trying to solve?
- Who are the target audience?
- What is the ideal user journey for each user type? In other words what does each user need to be able to do on my app? Write this out as a series of steps. We can use this to work out how we can deliver these steps technically.
- How will it make money?
- What is informing your decisions? (Have you done any research?)
Useful things to know before building your app that will also inform the features of your app.
- Who are your competitors? (locally and internationally.)
- What differentiates your app from theirs? Are you are bringing an international app to your country? Are you targeting a different market? Are you simplifying a process? Are you creating access for a different market?
- Who is going to do the designs?
- How will it make money?
- Will you need to own the entire solution, or are there existing platforms that can provide some of the functionality that the app can use?
It is okay if you do not have all the answers, that is where we come in. We are more than happy to help you figure it out, we just want to make sure these are things you have at least thought about. A prototype is a great way to get to a clear idea of what you want and ensuring you are getting suitable and comparable quotes from each company.
You can read about what makes the prototype process so useful and what goes intot the process here.