How do you hire an app developer when you are a non-technical person? What are some do’s and don’ts that you should be aware of? Recently, we’ve gotten more and more requests to help save software projects from failing. The number of similar inquiries keeps increasing, so we decided to do something about it.
In this article, we’re gonna share with you how to hire an app developer as a non-technical person and what are some of the aspects that you should know before doing so. Want to be armed with the right knowledge to pick the perfect remote app developers for your project? Keep reading!
To succeed in launching a start-up or a new product, there are three key factors that come into play: Cost, Timing, and the Product itself. A mistake that most non-technical founders or teams make is that they end up hiring the wrong app developers due to their lack of technical knowledge. They are unable to assess the risk in a project and ultimately pick a team that is not able to properly execute their idea. We’ve seen many companies fail and waste hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars in the process.
That’s why we’ve decided to create this article to introduce you to the things that really matter when it comes to hiring software developers. We’ll first get started with the big picture to introduce you to six things to look at when hiring an app developer. Then we’ll delve deeper into each of these topics.
There are a ton of app developers out there competing for your business. You can easily find these developers with a simple query on Google for mobile app developers. However, there aren’t many developers that one can consider great. Most, in fact, are mediocre. When a software project fails, the reason for it typically falls into one of these categories: poor execution, usability or quality issues, not enough technical ability to solve problems, not enough budget to sustain the whole project, and many more. Your developers have a direct impact on every one of these reasons. So vetting your development company is incredibly important. When doing so, there are a few areas of competence to look at.
The right approach to product development can save you time and money while helping you to build a product that can actually succeed in the market. If you find a software developer that tries to sell you on building a feature-rich, complex product that will take a lot of time and money to build, run! A good developer isn’t afraid to say no to you because they care about building products that succeed. These developers will most likely tell you to get rid of some features so that they can get your product built faster and on the market sooner. Look into the Agile and Lean approach for this. Check out the Lean Startup methodology if you’re interested to learn more.
Design is how you solve users’ problems and communicate the features of an app. Thus, it’s critical to look at your developer’s design process. Some developers might not even have a design process. Some of them outsource the design process, which is fine if they know what they are doing. But some just design the app themselves without a proper process. If the mobile app developers you are talking to don’t have a design process or do the design themselves without professional help, once again, run! UI and UX are important pieces of your app, and if this is not done right, you are setting your app up for failure.
To build successful products repeatedly, you need an established process. What process your software developer follows determines your product’s chance to succeed. The two predominant software development methodologies today are Waterfall and Agile. The Waterfall model is one in which each phase of a product’s life cycle takes place in sequence so that the process flows steadily downwards through these phases like a waterfall. Agile takes an iterative approach to software development. Instead of handling all the planning upfront, Agile focuses on being lean and producing Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) over a set period while improving each iteration. Both methodologies have their own pros and cons, but we would suggest you go with Agile due to the benefits it provides. However, if the developer you are planning to engage does not have a clear process, you know the drill—run!
Great products are built by great teams. A good company will offer an experienced team with all the key members. Having a company that only provides you with developers means you will have to hire external designers, a UX company, and so on. These teams, being new to each other, will have to find a consensus on a daily basis. A solid team is like a well-oiled machine with everything in place and working together seamlessly. At the very least, look for these key members in the team that your developer is providing: designers, backend developers, frontend developers, and a project manager.
Onshore versus offshore. Where your developer is based affects not only the pricing but also the service you’ll get. Cost is probably one of the top deciding factors that most clients or entrepreneurs care about the most. Sometimes even more than the quality itself. Even though cost is important, quality could be the best way for you to reduce cost. Why do we say so? Because a broken app, even if it costs only $20,000, is expensive because you’ve wasted $20,000. While a working app that drives real business value and grows a company could be worth millions of dollars.
A good track record plays a big role, and big-name clients aren’t all that matter. Diving deeper into your due diligence is paramount to making the right choice. Find out who they work with and ask for testimonials and reviews. Get contact details and reach out to those whose projects were most similar to yours and ask for references. Do not just look at the portfolio; have a look at the apps that they’ve built and check if it is of the good quality that you are expecting.
By considering these six key areas, you’ll be better equipped to hire app developers who can bring your vision to life, even if you are a non-technical founder. Whether you need software developers or mobile app developers, following these guidelines will help ensure your project’s success.
