Out of many things in software and technology, one segment that has indeed prospered in recent years is mobile apps. As per the Business of Apps stats, Google Play experienced 111.3 billion downloads in 2021, whereas iOS had 32.3 billion downloads.
Now, imagine this period’s craze and rapidness of mobile app development, and it will surpass these numbers in upcoming times, no doubt.
But out of all these numbers, have you ever imagined how a mobile app development team structure works? What are the roles and responsibilities they are entitled to? These facts are essential as mobile app developers are the ones behind creating unified mobile apps.
Let’s discuss and get insights into the mobile app development structure and other essential details:
Table of Contents
What is Mobile App Development?
Mobile app development is a vision turned reality following a full-fledged process. It includes application planning, analyzing competitors and prototypes, designing wireframes, front-end, and backend development, running multiple tests, and submitting to the Play Store.
It’s all about building software that fits the targeted device while enabling backend services for quick and comprehensive data access via APIs.
For a successful and high-performing mobile app development, you must pay closer attention to details such as screen sizes, hardware requirements, UI/UX, look and feel of the app, security measures, and many others.
Mobile App Development Team Structure
When selectors pick a cricket team, let’s say for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023-24 against Australia, they aim to pick a complete team. It includes fast and spin bowlers, all-rounders, opening and middle-order batters, and a wicketkeeper.
All players’ selection is based on their skill level, experience, and performance, hoping to do well, irrespective of the condition and situation.
Likewise, when a mobile app development company decides to build a robust and agile mobile app development team, they tend to fill all the necessary positions, all with relevant skills and experiences. Let’s talk about those high-profile positions and their entitled vital responsibilities:
Project/Product Manager
When you first approach a mobile app development firm with your app idea, the CEO or the CMO, after a successful agreement, will assign a project manager to help you from start to finish with your app development procedure.
A Project Manager or PM is an experienced person who comes on board with tons of experience in the same field. They possess leadership, time, and team management skills with various projects in their corporate journey, which led them to the designation.
Moreover, a Project Manager must have familiarity and decent experience with multiple programming languages and frameworks. Also, they should know how to use various project management tools to ensure seamless mobile app development within the team.
A Project Manager is responsible for the following
-> Assign assignments to the development team members accordingly.
-> Helping them understand the project’s requirements, deadlines, general terms, and priority level
-> Ensure pinpoint estimation of the project and try capitalizing it in the best possible ways
-> Quick adapt to last-minute plan changes as per app requirements
-> Ensure effective and seamless communication between team members and clients
People often need clarification from the Project Manager and Product Manager. But, a Product Manager is more of a strategist who sees the data and analytics part of a project and shares the information with the mobile app development team to make things better from the beginning.
A Product Manager is responsible for the following
-> Run competitor analysis and keep the team up-to-date with the current market trends.
-> Determine app benefits, core features, and target users across regions
-> Recognize the user’s vital problems regarding the app and offer optimal solutions accordingly.
-> Compile a result-driven business plan for app development
UI/UX Designer
So far, you must have gone through many articles and blogs regarding UI/UX. Well, both are different areas of service with different purposes. UX defines how users interact with the product, while UI refers to the product’s visual part.
The preeminent goal of a UI/UX designer
is to build an intuitive and eye-catching user-friendly interface for a web and mobile application.
A UI/UX designer’s responsibilities include the following
-> Duly examines the user flow of an app and creates wireframes
-> Create a user persona and visual prototype
-> Build easy-to-navigate user interfaces
-> Make changes to the user interfaces according to the client’s requirements
Android and iOS App Developer
The Android and iOS operating systems are based on various programming languages and have different requirements. As a renowned mobile app development agency, you must build a qualitative Android and iOS development team.
Android and iOS developers’ jobs are to take care of the technical part of mobile app development.
Primary skills an Android App developer must possess
-> Vast knowledge of Java and Kotlin
-> In-hand experience using multiple IDEs for Android apps
-> They must possess the high-end ability to create Android apps of different versions for multiple screens and devices
Primary skills an iOS App developer must possess
-> Vast knowledge of Objective-C and Swift
-> experience in using the Xcode IDE — the primary development environment for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS apps
-> Agility in making iOS apps as per the latest market standards and requirements
Cross-Platform Developer
Today, you can create a cross-platform app with a write-once, run-anytime code configuration across any platform. The cross-platform approach has significantly reduced development costs and sped up mobile app development procedures. Due to the increasing demand for such apps, you must aim to hire a few cross-platform developers.
Primary skills a Cross-platform developer must possess
-> Vital knowledge and experience in React Native and Laravel
-> Hands-on experience in using the Xamarin, Flutter, or Ionic platforms
Backend Developer
While picking backend developers for your mobile app development team, you must conduct multiple interview rounds, which is a crucial aspect of mobile app development. A backend developer duly manages all the server work, cloud storage, and operational logic.
A Backend developer is responsible for the following
-> High-end knowledge and experience with programming languages like Python, Java, .NET, PHP, or Ruby
-> Agile and hands-on experience os using Git and other essential tools
Quality Assurance Engineer
The primary task of a quality assurance (QA) engineer is to monitor every stage and layer of mobile app development. They check this to be sure the design, prototypes, and mobile software adhere to all the client’s requirements.
The role and importance of QA engineer enthusiasts in app development are equal to that of a developer. They reveal the app’s flaws and bugs on time to help developers repair every issue before the project deadlines.
Roles of Mobile App Developers
Mobile app development is not only about coding; it revolves around many essential factors determining its core values and future in the digital marketplace.
Let’s have a firm look into those criteria that hold high value in any mobile app development:
App Discovery
This is the initial stage of mobile app development, where you define app goals, run competitor analysis, identify what values it will hold, feature requirements, identify the target audience, and visualize your app by sketching mockups.
Idea Validation
In this segment, the primary focus should be on determining your active and paid users and confirming your app’s relevance by analyzing initial user experiences.
UI/UX Strategy
We have already discussed the UI/UX term and its work functionalities in mobile app development. Here, the team works to create a high-end prototype of the application to make it intuitive and interactive simultaneously.
Design & Development
The design and development stage includes coding and excelling in designing a minimum viable product (MVP).
The UI/UX designers and app developers work alongside the decided roadmap, ensuring smooth and seamless app design and development.
Testing & Improvement
This final stage involves analyzing the user experience to fix all bugs and errors and changing all required prospects to make your app the best among its competitors.
You can add new features to develop a fully functional and flourishing app.
Mobile App Developers Hiring Models
Now that you know the mobile app development team structure and core roles of mobile app developers in app development, let’s figure out what option you have for hiring mobile app developers for your upcoming segments:
Hire In-house Developers
In-house mobile app development team members are specialists who work from your office, dedicatedly full-time, only on your project.
When you go for this option, you control your mobile app development process and make changes accordingly and within your budget.
Hire a Dedicated Team
A dedicated mobile app development team is a bunch of remote IT specialists you can hire through a third-party service provider.
It includes designers, developers, and QA engineers who work under a project manager. They collaborate with your in-house developers and the remaining third-party service provider employees.
Hire Freelancers
Freelancers are a bunch of mobile app developers who work on multiple projects simultaneously and come with a fixed setup price base.
They can be well-experienced in Android and its relevant prospects, iOS, or sometimes both. You can contact freelancers directly from various social media sites like LinkedIn.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing to a third-party organization is optimal for delegating your entire project implementation from A to Z. It means you entrust your app’s implementation to a third-party development company.
Bottom Line
Is it too much to digest, or is it the standard procedure? You are the jury here, and I hope you will make a fair decision. However, mobile app development is a hectic task, that’s for sure.
And coping with a mobile app development team is like dealing with highly talented, tech-savvy individuals under a single roof throughout the entire process.
You don’t have to worry, as we at Metizsoft Solutions feature a supremely talented ad agile mobile app development team whom you can hire and get your work done.
You can hire mobile app developers from us hourly, monthly, or part-time at a budget-friendly price.
