We aim to make sure that doesn’t happen. As app developers, we focus on ROI-driven development. We are not your yes-people – we’re here to be consultants to you, and we’ll work with you until your app is primed to generate real ROI and growth for your business. Before starting development, we’ll work to gain a detailed understanding of your business model and market so we can make smart decisions in developing your app. And at every stage of the development process, we’ll be keeping our eyes on the overarching goals of your business and how your mobile app serves those objectives.
In keeping, we proudly practice Agile mobile development. Agile is a software development methodology that eschews detailed plans in favor of creating working software as early as possible in the development process. The core principles of Agile are outlined in the Agile Manifesto, something that every app developer at Rootstrap basically has tattooed on their heart:
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Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
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Working software over comprehensive documentation
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Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
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Responding to change over following a plan
To understand Agile in practice, take the analogy of building a car. Traditional development approaches, such as Waterfall development, structure software development as a linear process building towards a single finished product. First, you plan out the car, draw up schematics, and prepare for manufacturing. Then, you build each individual car part. Finally, you assemble them into a functional car.
Agile takes a different approach, orienting the development process around core function instead of detailed plans. In Agile, you wouldn’t start by making all the individual parts of a car – you’d start by creating something that moves you forward. In other words, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – something quick to build that accomplishes the core function of the app, if only partially. Say, a skateboard.
In this analogy, we build the skateboard because it achieves the basic functionality of the product: movement. With our skateboard MVP, we can test the product with real users and get their feedback. We can then incorporate that feedback into the next iteration – say, a bicycle. Something that still performs the core function on its own, but does it better than the last iteration. After another round of testing, we’d build the finished product: a car.
Why go to all this trouble? Because it allows us to start testing the product with users at the beginning of development instead of the end. Leaving testing to the end means you’re flying blind until you’ve built the entire product. There’s no way to know if people actually want what you’re building. If they don’t, you’re dead in the water.
Whether we’re building a mobile app for a first-time entrepreneur or an enterprise company, we’ve found this Agile, iterative approach to be the best way to achieve reliable ROI. In fact, here’s what Tony Robbins himself had to say about our process:
“I reviewed the app and it’s totally spectacular. The approach that you took and the guidance you provided throughout the Rootstrap process has been phenomenal. I’m looking forward to continuing as partners!”
– Tony Robbins, CEO
