The Art of the App Store: The Business of Apple Development

5

Plotting the Stages of Development

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• Understanding traits of successful leadership
• Understanding roles and responsibilities of those on your team
• Starting with a “controlling idea” or vision for your app
• Making the best of agile development
• Using scheduling techniques aimed at reducing risk
• Discovering outsourcing, localization, and communication tips
• Understanding all stages of development
• Discovering marketing tips for a successful launch

Development of a new app can be a daunting task, particularly for the uninitiated. At its root is typically fear — of failure, of success, of cost overruns, of the unknown. As correctly spelled out in many motivational books, the only way to master fear is to take action — in this case, by putting aside any misgivings and getting to work. Mistakes are inevitable during application development, but to best mitigate them, you should rely on a fairly systematic process of iteration and agile development throughout. Such a process is spelled out in this chapter, with suggested reading noted in the (unlikely) chance that you are left wanting more information.

Before diving into the details of this chapter, you should be aware of the creative process. Working with new platforms such as multitouch iOS devices has a very “Wild West” sort of feel to it — exciting, new, and lawless. With relatively very little history behind touch devices, opportunities for new user interface (UI) design and ways to interact still abound. Unlike ...