5 Questions to Ask a Mobile App Developer Before You Start

When I’m talking with potential ArcTouch clients, they often share mistakes they made when they first engaged with a previous mobile app developer. Usually, they just didn’t ask the right questions.

With that in mind, here are five questions you should always ask before you start a project with any mobile app design and development company.

1. Will I own the code?

Some app development firms offer a discount rate if they retain the rights to your app’s code during and after a project. There are a couple of reasons why this is a terrible idea for any business:

• If you ever want to make a change to your app, your developer can effectively hold you hostage, charge any rate they want for fixes and schedule the work when it is convenient for them.

• You’d lose total ownership of that intellectual property, which might be a problem for you down the road if your company is looking for investors or wants to be acquired.

Everyone’s on a budget — but giving up ownership of the code is a bad way to save a few bucks.

2. What product management process will you use?

From strategy to design to development, we highly recommend any mobile app developer use an Agile methodology on your project. Traditional fixed project development processes with concrete specifications locked in stone don’t provide the flexibility that you need to maximize your budget and meet your business goals.

Agile process fosters collaboration between team members. You should expect regular check-ins with your development team, whether you’re involved in active project stand-ups or get separate demos/updates from your project lead. And you should see progress on a weekly basis, if not more frequently (ArcTouch provides daily feedback on most projects).

Agile also gives you and your team the opportunity to be flexible during design and development. With each short-term “sprint,” the team will constantly test and iterate. Changes in the market, new technologies that become available, or things you learn during testing can be applied to the next iteration. Things move too fast these days — you need a partner with a flexible product management process to keep up.

3. How will you estimate costs and schedule for my project?

Every client we’ve ever worked with wants to know what their app is going to cost and how long it’s going to take. But the clients we have the most success with understand that getting an accurate estimate doesn’t happen in a five-minute phone call.

Ideally, scoping a project starts with a collaborative discovery session between you and your development firm. At ArcTouch, we use 3-5 day strategy sessions to delve into the business opportunity and understand the customer/user, then define the MVP (minimum viable product) feature set that will deliver the greatest business value. Once we have alignment with our partners on that MVP feature set, we can more accurately scope the project for both time and cost.

Even without having a formal strategy session, you’ll need alignment with a firm on a detailed set of product requirements. The more time you and a firm put into that upfront definition, the more likely you’ll stay on budget and on schedule.

Be wary of any firms that offer low-ball bids after a brief phone call — they may be desperate for new business, probably don’t understand your needs and will deliver sub-par quality. Their hope is to hook you early and make up the difference later. It will cost you a lot more in the end if your app needs big changes — or worse, a redo. We’ve inherited plenty of distressed projects from other app developers that were in crisis because of this situation.

4. If I’m not happy with how a project is progressing, can I get out of the contract?

Make sure you have the ability to get out of any agreement with a development firm if you’re unhappy with the work you see or with the project’s progress. At any point, you should be able to take ownership of the work that’s been done — including any designs and code — and move on.

5. Can I talk to 3 of your current customers?

Asking this question is just common sense for anyone vetting different service providers. If a mobile app developer has a hard time giving you three good references, it’s time to look elsewhere.