I’m not going to start this post off with the cliche “If you build it, they will come” but…

But many people do think that way; for them, there isn’t much space between the epiphany and the first version of their product. Or their app.

In many ways, building an app is a lot like building a business. At least it is for Dalip Jaggi, the founder of Devise Interactive.

Dalip has helped many businesses develop their brands and a central part of that process for many of his clients is the development of an app as well. For Dalip, an app can be a central part of a company’s branding and a conduit for continued communication between his clients and their customers. In other words, developing a quality app is critical.

And how do you develop a quality app?

It’s not an easy task but for Dalip, who shared the app development process that he uses when working with his clients with members of the CSUF Entrepreneurship community Wednesday night in Irvine, but by and large the process is not too dissimilar to that of lean startup.

When Dalip first starts working with a client on the building of an app he helps the client determine what their goals are for their app. Do they want users of their app to be able to purchase their products? Do they want users to use the app to find out information about their upcoming tour schedule? Do they want users to be able to use the app to communicate with them?

All those scenarios and the countless other use cases for apps require different solutions. And once the ultimate goal of the app is discerned Dalip and his team get to work on creating a wire frame, or basic structure of how the different pages of the app will interact with one another. This is an iterative process and there are no design elements introduced at this time because there are inevitably so many changes that take place.

The wire frame stage is where clients start to see their vision come to life. They are able to make informed decisions on what they want each page to do and how they interact with one another.

Once the wire frame is complete, then Dalip and his team get to work on the design of the app. Lots of decisions are made at this stage as well with the goal of staying consistent with the client’s branding as well as creating an app that is intuitive to use and achieves the overall goal of the client.

But that’s not the end of it! Once the app has been built then Dalip gets to work on a plan of action to get as many targeted customers to download the app and use it. This includes the implementation of robust analytics to see how people are using the app in addition to the marketing plan for getting people to use it.

There’s obviously a lot more to it than that, and the whole process can take a long time, especially if changes are made (which is why doing a good job at the wireframe stage is so important). While Dalip has created an app for a client in less than three days, the reality of the situation is that it will take weeks, if not months, to create an effective app.

Information like this can be found all the time at the Center for Entrepreneurship, CSUF Startup Incubator, and at our events. For a full list of events hosted by us, please visit: http://bit.ly/CSUFEntrepreneurEvents

And if you are ready to start your business and work with someone like Dalip then you should definitely consider becoming the next resident at the CSUF Startup Incubator. For more information on the CSUF Startup Incubator, including how to become a resident and learn the right way to go from concept to launch, please go to this page or contact a representative at csufentrepreneurship@fullerton.edu.