The path to success in the tech niche starts with a sound business plan. If you are on the threshold of launching a new app, you need to create solutions that take care of the current needs and those to arise in the future. If you want to maximize the value of your app, you must design and develop it for future business needs and service offerings rather than just a “right now” solution.
This article focuses on the tips to build an app that can be revised and upgraded to meet future needs without a complete redo.
Some Industry Statistics to Keep in Mind
- The global mobile application market size stood at USD 154.05 billion in 2019 and is projected to expand at a rate (CAGR) of 11.5 per cent annually.
- In 2020 app store spend to hit $143 billion worldwide, an increase of 20 per cent year-over-year
- Ninety-two per cent of time spent on mobile is spent using apps.
Six Ways to Build an App for the Future
Considerations in the Planning Phase
Before you start working on your project, conduct a business analysis to gain insights into the current and future needs of the potential app users. An excellent analysis includes objective competitive solutions, consumer demand projections, and the project’s key objectives and benefits. If you fail to understand where the future market will be and the trends that will shape the app industry, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Once you have understood your current and future target market needs, evaluate the goals of the solution you are setting out to create. This step guarantees specific pain points are met for the app to stay relevant in the future.
An ideal use scenario summarizes how individuals will use the app both now and into the future. Writing user scenarios help in defining the necessary features and functionalities that you must include in your application. Determine what groups and people will be using the app and for how long, then draft a user scenario for every role. You should also determine if multiple users will use the app at once and if their roles are similar or different.
Use Cloud Storage Services
Unlike traditional file storage, cloud storage services can be accessed from anywhere globally with an internet connection. Storage space is practically infinite and users can benefit from the fast delivery of resources at a data center geographically located closest to them.
Stateless and Decentralized Architecture
Keep your APIs stateless to achieve maximum scalability. A stateless app is an application program that doesn’t save client data generated in one session for use in the next session with that client. When an app’s components are stateless, they can easily be redeployed in case of failure and scaled out to accommodate load changes. Stateless apps are ideal for high traffic because the data model boosts performance and the server loads. Such apps can also be connected to other apps through APIs.
Decentralized architecture is a growing design pattern when building scalable web apps. You can leverage Microservices to spate applications into decentralized systems that allow you to develop, test, maintain and upgrade individual web services as separates components without affecting the workflow or entire app.
Decentralized architecture comes with several benefits, including faster time to reach the market, improved security, and faster load times. More importantly, the decentralized architecture enables you to scale up applications in real-time without disrupting the end-user.
Consider Managed Data Services
Caching enables effortless scalability both now and in the future. If you are developing an app for remote-based users, consider implementing some aspects of caching to avoid having to re-fetch data from the database. Apart from allowing for faster data retrieval, caching also reduces data loading costs and removes the need to go back to the original database.
One way to increase your app’s usability in the future is to leverage multiple databases. Don’t feel locked into using a single database, for fear of added costs or complexity, the contrary may actually be cheaper and better performance in the long run. Combining SQL and NoSQL is an effective way to increase your app’s scalability. Besides, using them in combination can also boost reliability, consistency and ensure data integrity.
Your user’s profile data is probably more suited to a managed NoSQL database, such as AWS Dynamo DB, or Google’s Firestore whereas tabular data should be stored in a more traditional relational database such as AWS RDS.
Have A Thorough Test Suite
Having a thorough test suite to run every time there is a new update to the mobile operating systems, e.g. Android or IOS will save hours or days, even weeks of otherwise manual labor, and likely angry users. This should be considered a critical part of your development roadmap to ensure your app works well under future platforms and means you can spot the issues before your users do.
You should also ensure your app works well and as expected under increasing load, and the only way to determine if the app will be scalable is to conduct load testing before deploying. Your goal should be to use a simulation of expected future data and traffic to see how then the app will measure up. Load testing helps shine a spotlight on areas that need improvement to nib potential scalability issues before you deploy.
Consider Integration and Security Needs
The successful apps of yesterday are obsolete today because their design didn’t live up to the future’s integration needs and security challenges. When building an app, strive to address the current security, integration, and deployment needs and those that may arise in the future. As the threats posed by cybercriminals become complex each day, strive to familiarize yourself with the security trends and integrate ideal features to mitigate the risks.
Why Is It Essential to Build Scalable Modern Apps?
Today’s users expect faster data load times, minimal disruption, and high availability 24/7. An ideal app should be built to offer scalability that accommodates any surge in traffic accessing web content without disruptions to the user experience. If your app fails to upgrade to meet the needs of future users, they will simply abandon your app for a scalable option that provides a better user experience.
Get Professional Help from Tucanoo Solutions Ltd
You should not wait until your app serves all the needs of the current users. Begin carrying out load, performance, and scalability tests to ensure the app stays relevant and meets future needs. An app that is scalable and allows for future upgrades to provide a good user experience for existing and new users, enhance growth, and offer better ROI. If you expect your future users to grow into thousands and millions, proper planning and execution are required from the beginning. If you need help getting started, contact us today.
