It is worth noting that the answer to this question isn’t always as simple as it may initially seem. Using a software development service to build your mobile app is mostly project-dependent. And while that seems to answer the question at a high level, the topic of this article requires a little more exploration.

 If you are considering developing a mobile application for your company, plenty of options are available. This article will explore the benefits of a mobile app development service and consider the choice of hiring outside help or keeping things in-house.

Mobile App Development Services 

As you might guess, mobile application development services are in the business of making mobile applications. This statement may seem obvious, but it is worth noting that, like any other business, not all mobile application development services are the same or are the right fit for every project.

 Mobile application development services do much more than just create an application for a client. They are involved with every step of the development cycle, from ideation to launch and sustainment.

 These companies have skilled and specialized employees with the right combination of expertise and training. Some mobile application development services specialize in a particular operating system (OS), while a larger firm may handle multiple OSs and other software applications.

Using a Mobile App Development Service 

For most decision-makers, no matter the size of the company or the scope of the mobile app project, one of the biggest concerns is budget. Budget and time are forever factors on a project and, for many, a source of stress. Keeping a mobile application project in-house can help reduce the project’s overall cost, but it could impact the company and the employees tasked with the work in other ways.

 It might make sense to task employees with the right skill sets to develop the mobile application for smaller projects. Despite the split in time between their routine jobs and the mobile app project, the cost savings could ultimately be worth it. However, it is tough to replace a team of experts solely focused on the mobile app, despite the probable increase in the overall budget.

 It is worth noting that hiring a freelancer falls under the same category as outsourcing a mobile app development project. Many skilled freelancers can complete a mobile application project. However, one person will always have difficulty matching the skills that a dedicated team brings to the table. Still, if a freelancer fits your project, they should be considered.

Benefits of a Dedicated Team 

There are many benefits to hiring a mobile application development team. Potentially the most apparent benefit is experience. Even a relatively young mobile application development company will have experienced individuals on its team. One of the best ways to judge the merits of a mobile application development service is to view its portfolio of work. The types and number of projects completed are significant indicators if the company is the right fit for your mobile app.

 When you hire a mobile application service, you hire a team of dedicated individuals who specialize in each of the major areas typically associated with a mobile app development project. These areas include design, development, testing, and sustainment.

 Better mobile application development services bring more to the table than just the needed skills and expertise. The team members assigned to the project will get to know the company, the culture, the employees, and most importantly, the target audience of the mobile application. This process does take some time as outside individuals won’t know the company as well as its employees do. However, the time and effort are well worth it, resulting in a mobile application that meets customers’ needs.

Consider Dogtown Media

Dogtown Media understands how important your mobile application is to your business. We are more than just developers your hire. We are your partners, working in lockstep with you to create the best mobile application possible for your business that connects with your target audience.

We get to know not just your project but your company and the people who make it a success. Take advantage of our free consultation to speak to our mobile application development experts.

Designing and developing a new application is often an exciting project. Critical elements to get right are knowing your customer’s needs, the technology to use, and the sustainment plan. However, there are two elements that your customers will use every time they engage with your application: User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX).

UI and UX are two different but connected design features of an application’s development. Despite the two terms being used somewhat interchangeably, they are different. It is crucial to get each one correct to provide the best experience possible for your customers. And further, to stay ahead of developing app dev trends, we’ve made it a top priority staff only the most highly qualified UX app design team, ensuring to our Dogtown Media clients they are in safe hands. 

So, if you’re looking to get a better understanding of UI/UX, how it can influence your upcoming app, or how it greatly impacts app retention, we’re here to help!

What is UI/UX

UI and UX are two principles that have been around for a while, especially UX. Generally, both take a human-first approach to development and functionality instead of a technical one. Individually, however, UI and UX focus on different aspects of an application’s visual design.

• UI – User interface design is the primary way a person interacts with a digital product. Typically, UI is very visual and uses a combination of colors, images, and buttons that consumers use to navigate through an application.

• UX – User experience design focuses on the overall experience of using an application feels for both first-time users and loyal customers. UX identifies areas for improvement and pain points for consumers to create better design solutions.

As a dedicated iPhone app developer in San Francisco, we often time break down the relationship between UI and UX as such: UI is the steering wheel, seat, pedals, and dashboard, while UX is how it feels to drive the vehicle.

Why is UI/UX Important for your App?

It is essential to get all the elements of an application correct. From your customer’s perspective, their interaction and engagement with your application, and whether they enjoy it or not, are driven almost entirely by the UI and UX. This factor is especially true for mobile applications. An application can be a functional and technical marvel. However, if it is designed poorly and provides a miserable experience for your customers, the application will not succeed.

From a competition standpoint, UI and UX are essential to attracting customers, but more importantly, keeping them using your application. This factor is exceptionally relevant for startups and small businesses.

Top Three UI/UX Tips for Your App

Both UI and UX decisions and considerations start early in the development process. Here are a few tips to get the UI and UX right for your application.

• Knowing your audience might seem like it goes without saying, but it doesn’t. It is challenging to get the UI and UX correct if you don’t know who you are designing the application for, what problems it solves, or what services it provides. The most effective way to know your audience is to conduct user research.

• Wireframing is a tried-and-true method to create sample application variations. Comprehensive wireframing efforts test the look and feel of an application, useability, and some functionality. Due diligence with wireframing can save time and money during the development of the application.

• Deciding on an overall visual style and maintaining that approach throughout the application development provides uniformity. These elements include a color palette, design atheistic, and theme. Consistency is the main takeaway, and every design decision should be made to support the overall visual style.

Additional UI/UX Tips for Your App

And once you’ve knocked out the basics of UI/UX in your app, here are two additional considerations:

• Simplistic designs tend to be better accepted by customers. This approach does not apply to every application. However, cluttered, cumbersome, and clunky UI tends to be poorly received. If your application is difficult to use, your customers will find a similar application that isn’t. An effective way to determine if the design is working or not is to test iterations with potential customers – not necessarily members of your team.

• Don’t overlook or underestimate the onboarding experience. The UI is the first element a new customer will interact with. However, it will not be long – minutes, perhaps – before that person decides if the UI/UX works. If your application is complex for new users, or the customer needs some guidance getting started, a muddled or non-existent onboarding means losing customers. Additionally, provide an option to skip the onboarding as some customers just want to get in and go.

Next Steps

UI and UX are essential parts of an application. It is the most crucial part from a customer’s perspective, as this is the only way they will engage with your application.

Dogtown Media uses intuitive UI/UX design for our client’s applications. Our design team creates innovative and customer-focused user interfaces that enhance and compliments the overall user experience. Contact us today for a free consultation to see how we can incorporate UI/UX into your applications.

You may not have realized, but the legislation that dictates how organizations store, manage and transfer the personally identifiable information of their customers is drastically changing leading to some serious changes in the world of mobile application development. Led by new legislations frameworks such as CCPA and GDRP (and more coming online every day) it seems the days where organizations can neglect the liability in how to use customer data are coming to a close. It seems that new legislation is cracking down on poor behavior around the management of sensitive data and is being enforced with heavy lawsuits, aimed to get organizations to shape up. 

Overview of the CCPA

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a California state statute that provided increased privacy protections for citizens of California.

A summary of the responsibilities for organizations to comply with CCPA are as follows:

• The right to know how your personal information is being collected by a business and how it is used and shared;
• The right to request the deletion of personal information collected from them
• The right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising their rights regarding CCPA

It’s important to note, that the “request to deletion” clause of CCPA legislation is a new aspect of privacy protection legislation that is radically reshaping how organizations consider how they store, manage and transmit personal data. Consider a scenario where an organization stores client data within their internal management systems with the intention to use that data down the road for future purchases of client identification. With the addition of the right to be deleted clause of the CCPA, now at any time a client can request to have their sensitive data deleted.

At face value, that may not seem like a challenge, however, when we take a closer look at how organizations to store, manage and transmit client data, this can become a major challenge. Often when organizations manage client data, it leads to multiple backups, data offloading, and data warehousing. In short, it can be a major challenge for organizations to effectively delete the client data in question.

So, what does this mean for the organization if they have trouble fielding these deletion requests? Well, this can, unfortunately, lead to major compliance failures, and ultimately a slew of hefty fines if organizations are found to fall outside compliance. 

Overview of GDPR

And the CCPA isn’t the only data privacy compliance legislation of its kind. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) offers a similar legislative framework but provides protection for citizens of the European Union.

A summary of the responsibilities for organizations to comply with GDPR are as follows:

• Conduct an information audit for EU personal data
• Inform your customers why you’re processing their data
• Assess your data processing activities and improve the protection
• Make sure you have a data processing agreement with your vendors
• Appoint a data protection officer (if necessary)
• Designate a representative in the European Union
• Know what to do if there is a data breach
• Comply with cross-border transfer laws (if applicable)

Again, just like the CCPA, the GDRP legislation states that citizens of the European Union under GDPR have the right to request the deletion of their sensitive personal from organizations that store their personal data.

CCPA Fines

Fines under the CCPA framework states that the maximum civil penalty is $2500 for every unintentional violation and $7,500 for every intentional violation of the law.
This might seem like a small fee for large organizations but when you consider that this fine is per violation those numbers can add up quickly.

Take for example an organization that unintentionally exposes 1,000records and sustains a CCPA fine. Here, the fine would total 2500 multiplied by 1000 totaling 2.5M dollars. This is where an infraction can radically change the future of one’s business.

 GDPR Fines

For GDPR the fines structures differ a bit. With GDPR organizations who are found to not comply with GDPR can sustain a fine of up to fines of up to €20 million ($24.1 million) or 4% of annual global turnover (whichever is higher).

Here, organizations only have to be concerned with a one-time fine, however, that fine can be extremely challenging for organizations to pay while remaining viable. 

The Future of App Development

With all of this said, it’s critically important to consider compliance when developing a new application. Take, for example, the case of Delta.

In 2012, Delta was issued a notice by the Attorney-General, indicating that Delta was violating CalOPPA, for its negligence in presenting a Privacy Policy notification and making it accessible through the application.

When we look at CCPA, if that app released by Delta was downloaded by 10,000 consumers, under CalOPPA ($2,500 per violation), the penalty could be upwards of $25 million. This is a big price tag for an application infraction.

The bottom line is to enter the development process with compliance as a priority. And better yet, partnering with a matured development agency that has built it’s organizational process around addressing compliance is a great place to start.

If you’re looking to develop your next mHelath app or artificial intelligence app, consider reaching out to the trusted team at Dogtown Media today.

At Dogtown Media, we specialize in mobile app development, grounded with expert knowledge in the internet of things, fintech, medical tech and user interface design. We are determined to take on your next project and create an app that will help your business grow.

Clutch, a company that publishes unbiased reviews of B2B companies, has featured us once again in a recent press release of top California mobile app development companies.  We’re excited to share that we have been featured highly in their directory list of the top mobile app developers in California. This honor adds to our previous recognition as a top California Mobile App Development Company on DesignRush.

Clutch’s ranking algorithm takes many pieces of information into account when displaying companies on their directory pages; the most important part of Clutch’s ranking algorithm is client reviews. To date, we have received over 20 positive reviews. Our clients aren’t shy to share their successes with Clutch:

“Dogtown Media developed a solution for a project considered impossible to do in the tech world.”

“They were extremely responsive and supportive and I never felt like I was working on anything on my own.”

“Their work has made my life easier by automating features in the app that I was doing manually.”

In addition to our feature on Clutch, we were also mentioned on their sister-site, The Manifest.  We are pleased to announce that we were listed as one of the top mobile app development companies in the world on The Manifest.

Here at Dogtown Media, we are ready to improve your business by creating vital apps that will allow your business to access your consumers at all times.  Our team will work directly with your business to assess how to stand apart from competitors as well. We look forward to taking on your next project!