Understanding app development in a nutshell

Over the past couple of years I have had the chance to work with clients, particularly in retail, to train and embed useful apps for their employees and customers - apps such as clientelling or sharing best practice. App development is not easy (and is incredibly complex in some cases) especially when it is not an out of the box solution tweaked around the edges. I am not a technology expert - I don't code - but I do work with folks who do > very well! In my last couple of projects, I have played a changed and adoption role which included helping to explain to myself and stakeholders across the business what it takes to deliver, adopt and impact user experience and - ultimately - business performance with successful applications.

I would like to share a 4-box framework that helps to simplify the thinking around key things that need to be considered when developing an application. I recently used this framework to help different technical and non-technical stakeholders, like procurement, to understand the key components of effort. It can also be helpful to guide decisions around:

• the scope of project funding
• structuring internal and external resource plans and costs
• adding depth to the project plan and approach
• broadly communicating app development to non-tech savvy stakeholders

There is a lot of work that goes on within each of these boxes as any consultant will tell you, but in essence this is the type of effort needed.

Here is a high-level explanation of each box to keep in mind:

1. Project and solution ownership. All projects need a person who owns the vision for the solution and is constantly prioritising effort based on user/customer, business and technology capacity and capabilities. They work very closely with those who are developing the app and the team managing change management and adoption. They will also lead efforts through the life of the app - remember, giving birth to an app is just the beginning, and some may need to be nurtured and improved over time based on user feedback.
2. App development. This box will include those who are coding and also designing the digital user experience. There will be a team of engineers who will be doing the coding and also checking with users if what is being developed meets expectations. This can include mobile app development.
3. Infrastructure and analytics. The data gained from app usage can be used to complement or drive the outcomes that the app is supporting. These outcomes could be things like customer satisfaction through the use of the app, or behavioural changes of employees due to the use of the app. This requires a different skill set and capabilities than software development and should be considered as a separate type of effort to budget for. Sometimes these skills are tucked away in the business, and sometimes they are built into cloud platforms that might be used.
4. Change and adoption management. There is always an impact to changing how users to do things. It will be up to the change and adoption team to mitigate the impact of change and maximise adoption and achieve the business benefits. Designing change management plans should start by understanding the business and user outcome that the app will support. Activities here include internal/external marketing campaigns, training courses, technical support readiness, internet accessibility, device provisioning, usage monitoring, impact to business KPI’s.

Try using this framework for the next project where you 'need an app'.