Mind the dev gap. How we can help you go from idea to app in 5 steps
Tags: webdev, agile, mvp
Published: 2021-08-17 12:06:34

At UPDIVISION, we help entrepreneurs, start-ups and enterprises bridge the gap between a good idea and successfully building their app. Because, trust us, one doesn`t automatically imply the other. Throughout our 10 years of working with businesses, we have developed a battle-tested process for minding the gap.  
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Our end-to-end process covers all the necessary steps for successfully building and delivering your app. From deploying and launching your MVP on the Big Day to staying by your side through continuous development. 
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Our proven process for building and maintaining complex mobile and web apps consists of five steps:

* First Impression Evaluation
* Product Discovery
* Technical Solution and MVP Estimates
* MVP Project Planning
* MVP Coding and Continuous Development 
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##1. FIRST IMPRESSION EVALUATION
###Four questions to get the big picture. How to strike up a productive conversation about the app you need to build.

The goal of the “first impression evaluation” is to see if we're a good fit (“first impression”) and to offer you a rough estimate (“evaluation”) based on our 10 years industry experience. We want to understand your business, your customers, your short-term and long-term goals in order to gain the big picture. For this purpose, we`ve come up with four key questions. 

[LEARN MORE IN OUR IN-DEPTH ARTICLE](https://dev.to/updivision/four-questions-to-get-the-big-picture-how-to-strike-up-a-productive-conversation-about-the-app-you-need-to-build-477o)
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##2. PRODUCT DISCOVERY

###From the back of the napkin to clickable prototypes

After getting clear on your goals, we turn them into screens, flows and user stories. Product Discovery is all about building your app`s UI/UX backbone, from the general layout of the content to actual design and mapping user interactions.

[LEARN MORE IN OUR IN-DEPTH ARTICLE](https://dev.to/updivision/from-the-back-of-the-napkin-to-clickable-prototypes-how-we-do-product-discovery-2lkd)
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##3. TECHNICAL SOLUTION & ESTIMATES

###Taking the “guess” our of guesswork

Next we put some numbers on it. We suggest the best technical solution for the job and based on this, we estimate the number of people, hours and, of course, the cost. When designing the technical architecture, we keep in mind aspects such as security, scalability and the type of app you want to build. Depending on project specifics, we estimate everything using planning poker and our developers` experience with similar projects. 

[LEARN MORE IN OUR IN-DEPTH ARTICLE](https://dev.to/updivision/taking-the-guess-out-of-guesswork-how-we-estimate-mvps-and-tech-solutions-8p8)
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##4. PROJECT PLANNING

###Foresight is better than hindsight 

Once we sorted out the what and the how, we plan for the worst and expect the best. The goal of project planning is to create a reliable roadmap for the project. From how features are prioritized and organized into tasks and sprints to actual milestones and the project timeline. We use the MoSCoW method to prioritize features and, based on these, the tasks within sprints. We keep our sprint boards tidy and our cards relevant and we use Gannt charts to map out progress.  

[LEARN MORE IN OUR IN-DEPTH ARTICLE](https://dev.to/updivision/foresight-is-better-than-hindsight-how-we-do-mvp-project-planning-at-updivision-3eck)
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##5. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

###It works on everyone's machine

Finally, the fun part. Once we have the user stories and wireframes, the estimated time and cost, the technology stack and a thorough plan to go by, we can start coding (after setting up the development environment; we know, nothing in software development is straightforward). We follow Gitflow rules to submit tidy code, we use pull request templates to make code review easier and we enforce coding standards to make code readable for our future selves and peers. We set up automatic pipelines for builds, tests and deployment and we write awesome documentation to keep everything organized and accessible.

[LEARN MORE IN OUR IN-DEPTH ARTICLE](https://dev.to/updivision/it-works-on-everyone-s-machine-how-we-code-mvps-and-continuously-develop-them-at-updivision-2a4o)
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##Ready to get started?      

If you’re a start-up looking for a technical partner to be there for the ride, look no further. We specialize in helping start-ups validate, launch and scale their MVP. [Contact us](https://updivision.com/contact) now to get your project off the ground.