8 Steps to Design an Android User Interface (UI)

By John Houghton on January 9, 2014

We previously discussed about how to design an iPhone app UI, and now we’ll discuss how to design an Android app.  The good news with Android is that Google doesn’t need to approve your app.  The bad news is that you have enough rope to hang yourself.  A poorly-designed app is enough to cast a death sentence upon the whole project.  When you start to get traction the first set of negative reviews will do you in.  Design is the most visible element of your project, so it behooves you to invest heavily here and do it right.

1. Read Android’s Design Guidelines.  You can find Android’s design guides online if you query: Android Design.  You’ll […]

Tale of a Costly Offshore Mobile App Development Experience

By John Houghton on January 7, 2014

As you may have read from previous blog posts, my company did an extensive search of many countries for mobile developer talent, both for iOS and Android.  Read my article, 12 Countries for Recruiting Mobile App Developers.  We sent out hundreds of solicitations via LinkedIn, got good responses, screened them, and it seemed that we’d found the perfect candidate.  We’ll refer to him here as Lukas.  While the name of the developer has been changed, the timelines and figures presented here have not been changed.  Lukas said he had made over 50 apps, had a Master’s Degree in Computer Science, and we were able to verify one app of his on the iTunes store.  It […]

12 Countries for Recruiting Mobile App Developers

By John Houghton on January 6, 2014

As I’ve said before, my company is always looking for top developers, so I thought I would share an exercise we did last year to target countries for recruiting.  The first thing I should say is that there are good and bad developers in every country.  The key to finding good developers is knowing someone you trust and getting referred by them; however, a lot of folks don’t know any developers, or the developers in question are all booked up (there is a shortage of talented developers).  When you find a good team, the metrics discussed here might not matter or even apply, so take this data with a grain of salt.  If you wanted […]

5 Things to Look For in Offshore Mobile Developers

By John Houghton on January 6, 2014

Screening offshore developers can be tricky.  Let me share some best practices.  To screen new talent at our company, we come up with small non-critical assignments and give them out to new developers or teams that have already passed the first couple of rounds of non-technical screening.  The non-technical screening shows you if they can keep commitments, read assignments completely before starting, and show up to meetings on time.  Don’t put your new or inexperienced developers on a critical project.  The pitfall here is if one of these new developers or teams is working on a critical project, they might blow through your deadlines and budget, leaving you in a bad spot.  Give them a […]

Should I Offshore My Company’s Mobile App Development?

By John Houghton on January 6, 2014

As the head of a mobile app development company, I’m always looking to find and mentor new developer talent both onshore and offshore.  In this article I’ll be sharing some best practices for offshore hiring.  In case you didn’t know it, there has been a shortage of talented mobile developers since mobile apps took off in 2008.  The first thing I should say is that you should be offshoring only if you have the extra resources to find and manage a good team.  In effect, what you are doing is using your time to find and manage offshore resources, which almost always requires more time than finding and managing local resources.  The idea is that […]

How to Build a Mobile App Development Team

By John Houghton on January 3, 2014

When many people say they want to develop a mobile app, they look for a development team (coders), but they really should be looking to build a well-rounded team with different development disciplines. Only when the team is properly staffed with the right skill sets does the app have a chance at success.  

One of the main roles that people neglect are functional roles, i.e. the product managers.  A product manager on a mobile project is similar to a brand manager on a consumer product.  They are in charge of the strategy for that particular product and they should have a lot of experience in the software industry.

Whether hiring for an internal or external project, […]

How Much Does it Cost to Move an iOS App to Android?

By John Houghton on December 9, 2013

Suppose you have an iOS app (iPhone/iPad/iPod) that you’ve developed.  It’s already out on the market, and now you want to do the same thing on Android, essentially move it over.  How much cost or effort will it take?

Basically, it’s about the same coding effort as it was to develop the original iOS app.  You see, iOS apps are written in Objective-C, but Android apps are written in Java.  The languages are totally different and use different libraries.  The things you can leverage are the look and feel of the user interface, and since you’ve been through the development process once, chances are, the Android rewrite will be quicker.

Why hasn’t anyone figured out how to […]

Should You Force Users to Login to Your App?

By John Houghton on October 1, 2013

This question goes back before apps and even before internet software.  Now the question is raised in the context of apps.  Should you let users browse and take advantage of app features before requiring them to sign in, or force them to create a profile and login first?

On the one hand, giving users an early taste of your app and what it can do can be a great enticement, helping them to develop a connection so that they return.  On the other hand, if you make them login, there is a treasure trove of data that can be collected, which is hard for some app developers to resist.

What should you do?  Having developed software all […]

The Importance of Mobile Usability

By John Houghton on July 18, 2013

More than anything you should consider mobile usability when designing an app.  There is nothing worse for an app than having a user try to figure it out, get frustrated, and then leave a low rating or bad review.  It only takes a few of those to ruin your rating and banish your app to the bottom of the heap.

While mobile usability may seem simple and intuitive, it takes a lot of expertise.  It’s similar to the example of the Olympic athlete and how effortless they make their feats appear.  Good apps make it look easy, but it took a lot of work to get there.  Apple says:

“In our experience, users really respond […]

The Key to Developing Successful Mobile Apps

By John Houghton on July 15, 2013

Every day dozens of new hopefuls decide to develop their app ideas.  I’m not surprised that so many fail due to lack of experience.  One of the biggest mistakes they make is that they believe that a developer (or team of developers) is all that is needed to build their apps from start to finish.  While developers are essential, there are other roles necessary to make the project successful.  One of the key roles necessary for app development is that of a Product Manager.  This important role is most commonly missing on the mobile development team, causing apps to fail in the marketplace.

Have you ever downloaded a new app, only to be dumbfounded about how […]