Challenge
According to the statistics, almost 100% of potential buyers prefer making purchases via mobile apps rather than websites. This can be explained by stronger security, easier navigability, and more convenient on-the-go purchasing. To stay relevant to the buyers’ needs, our client decided to build its own cross-platform mobile application without having to choose between the Android and iOS parts of their target audience. The initial goal was to extend the capacity and functionality of the existing website in the future mobile app. The implementation of the client’s objective implied the completion of the following tasks:
- upgrading sale and purchase features;
- enhancement of the search feature;
- interface design refinement;
- adding the save favourites feature;
- adding tools for convenient communication between users;
- improvement of the app’s performance compared to that of the website;
- incorporation of advanced in-app analytics.
Modsen team has been developing cross-platform mobile solutions for years, which inevitably results in the enhanced velocity, meticulousness, and accuracy of the development process.
Development process
Requirements processing:
The initial stage of gathering and analyzing the client’s needs and wants can never be overestimated as it lays the foundation of the whole development process. To approach this phase comprehensively, our team conducted a series of consultations and drafted up a document underlining the key goals of the mobile marketplace development project, the required product features, and other significant details our partner had pointed out.Discovery Phase:
Although Modsen specialists got plenty of information during consultations to process, the discovery phase allowed us to put ourselves into the client’s shoes by conducting in-depth research of the household goods selling industry, identifying major competitors in the market, their strengths, and weaknesses. Apart from the external research, we delved into the company’s internal challenges to see potential points of growth and derive valuable data-driven insights.
Having all the information at hand, our team outlined KPIs crucial for this very product. Among them the ability to handle large customer flow without delay, ensuring sensitive data and transaction security, quality verification of seller companies operating within the marketplace, intuitive navigability, and efficient in-app product search.
The discovery phase concluded with a presentation of the essential findings and challenge solutions to the client with a view to getting their approval.Planning:
After the successful completion of the previous project development stage, Modsen team got down to planning, which implied creating a document outlining the precise information on the milestones, challenges, risks, deadline dates, and resources required for efficient project implementation. The plan draft was submitted to the client and having received the feedback, it was altered into the final strategic document.Team assembly:
According to the project scope defined in the plan, Modsen CTO compiled a team encompassing 4 React Native engineers, 1 PM, 1 BA, 2 UI/UX designers, and 3 QA testers. At Modsen, we reject rigid team formation structures and always go for agile approach which allows us to scale the number of specialists up and down or change the team composition in case unexpected challenges arise. This time the client took an active part in the project team formation process by holding interviews with particular specialists to ensure the highest quality of the final software product.Design:
The 2 UI/UX designers allocated for the project were tasked with building an intuitive marketplace app interface that would help customers easily and quickly find the items they’ve been looking for using convenient UX features and app layout. The design phase Modsen design experts launched included several stages:- UX research
- Building a UX strategy
- Wireframing
- Visual design
- Testing
Upon completing the work on each of the elements, the Figma-based app design was ready to be handed over to developer engineers and incorporated into the future app.Coding:
React Native has proved itself to be one of the most efficient tools when it comes to cross-platform mobile app development. It allows building two apps from a single codebase, reusing almost 90% of it. 10% goes for the incorporation of native components of iOS and Android platforms. The 4 RN senior Modsen engineers engaged in the marketplace app building enjoyed 5+ years of relevant expertise in employing the framework and its cutting-edge solutions and tools for high-quality cost-effective software development.Testing:
To ensure the finest quality of the final product, our team conducted comprehensive assurance testing, encompassing functionality, usability, and cross-platform compatibility tests. Apart from manual ones, Modsen QAs conducted a series of automated tests to streamline the speed and eliminate the chance of human error. Upon implementation of primary and secondary test scenarios, the QA specialists drafted a report highlighting the identified bugs and inefficiencies to be fixed by the team of project engineers.Integration:
The complex yet exciting and challenging app development process was finished off by submitting the work to the client with subsequent transferring of the code, documentation, and usability guides. The household goods selling marketplace app was launched smoothly in September 2022, showing great performance and positively affecting the client’s business indicators.Servicing:
During the 3 months following the launch, our team was there to give advice and support to our partner in terms of software use and servicing. It is the usual practice Modsen team sticks to as we perfectly understand the importance of proper free-of-charge tech guidance during the first months of the app’s lifecycle.