Planning is absolutely essential when you're building a piece of software. Whether you're expecting to do the brunt of the labor yourself or you will be outsourcing these efforts, it's crucial to have a clear sense of your timeline, costs, and more.

When you have a new idea, it can be tempting to hop right into the development phase. However, you're more likely than not to run into expensive and time-consuming problems if you don't create an overarching plan of attack for your project.

Are you wondering what steps you'll need to take to plan for and develop your next software project? Let's take a look.

It might seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people skip the all-important step of creating a cohesive and solid concept for their new product. Maybe you are constantly coming up with new ideas for awesome apps and have to choose between them, or maybe you know you want to create an app but aren't sure for what purpose.

It's important to realize that there are more than four million apps on the App Store and Google Play. This means that you don't want to simply revamp something that already exists in multiple iterations. That being said, your app could be the next big thing if you come up with an idea that combines existing ideas and adds new features that users can't get anywhere else.

Some of the most popular apps have emerged because the creators made apps that solved problems they had personally. All successful businesses solve a consumer's problem, and software products are no exception. If you're struggling to come up with the perfect idea, consider problems you see around you that need a solution and whether or not you could provide that fix with your app.

Once you've come up with an idea (or a short list of ideas) that you're happy with, it's not time to press play yet. First, you need to validate the idea with 

There are several questions you'll want to answer as a part of this step in the process, including:

Who is my target demographic? Who do I expect will use this product?

What kind of data will go into the product, and what will the output be?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the competition's products? What functionalities and features do they offer?

Are there regulations and laws surrounding this type of app?

Once you have confidence that your app has a target audience and that your idea is viable, you can move on to the next stages. If you realize that your idea doesn't actually hold water, don't worry. Simply return to step one and continue generating and analyzing ideas until you find the right project concept.

It's worth taking your time to get this part of the process right. After all, it doesn't matter how sleek your design is or how great the 

 is if there isn't a market out there that wants to use your product.

It's been said that one hour of planning can save ten hours of doing. When it comes to software development, thorough planning can also save a lot of money.

You'll want to be meticulous in the planning stage and create a complete timeline of how your project will unfold. It can feel frustrating to spend so long on planning when you're eager to get your awesome idea to launch, but you can avoid a lot of hangups and obstacles down the road if you spend some time making a map for the project.

As a part of planning, you'll want to outline all of the necessary steps that need to be taken and break them down into tasks, subtasks, and steps. You'll want to determine exactly what roles you'll need to fill when it comes to building a team and who will be responsible for what tasks. The more clearly you can define the work that needs to be done and the resources that you will need, the better you can estimate an accurate timeline and budget.

To get a little more specific, here are some of the things you'll want to get a handle on during the planning phase of your project:

Building a general timeline and delineating the primary stages of development

Conceptualizing the team you will need to build and how you plan on building your team

Breaking down what needs to be done into tasks and subtasks and assigning who will be responsible for what

How you plan on communicating with your team and investors

Estimates for how long it will take and how much it will cost

Your anticipated release dates and the different types of releases

Remember, building a timeline isn't a set it and forget it type of thing. This is something you want to revisit frequently. It's best to treat your timeline as a living document rather than something that is carved in stone– an important part of the process is a willingness to be adaptable and flexible when necessary.

Once you have a thorough plan for your project, you'll need to pull together your dream team. It's worth noting that it can be pretty time-consuming to recruit the right people for the project, but it's also so important that you really don't want to rush this part of the project.

You have a number of options when it comes to building a team.

The first option is to build an in-house team

. This means you're hiring employees, paying payroll taxes, potentially offering benefits, etc. As you might imagine, this isn't a practical or accessible option to many small app developers, but bigger companies might choose to build their own team on staff.

The second option is hiring a collection of freelancers to create your app

. This can be a relatively affordable way to produce your software project if all goes well. If you run into issues with one or more of the people you hire, though, it can end up being an enormous headache at best and a catastrophe at worst.

Thirdly, you can hire a full-service software development company to build your product

. There are a lot of benefits to choosing this option– for one, you're hiring a team of experts that have a history of working together and producing great products. If you string together a team of freelancers, on the other hand, you are essentially gambling on their ability to work well together as a team. Hiring a software development company also offers more predictability when it comes to quality, precise quotes for projects, and ongoing maintenance and support services than freelancers.

Conceptual designing is the next step in your project plan. It's not time yet to start playing around with color schemes, typography, and other aesthetic considerations. Instead, you'll want to focus first on the architecture and functionality of the project. By making UX decisions that make your software easier to navigate and intuitive for your user, you're setting yourself up for success.

Once you have your project's architecture done, you can start thinking about the user interface and how you can make your app visually appealing to your users.

UI and UX are key to your project's success or failure. 

 that have a bad user experience on a site are less likely to return to it, which means that you really want to get it right the first time.

As a part of your design process, there are a lot of different 

tools to help you build wireframes and prototypes

. There are options available for all budgets, ranging from simple and free to powerful and pretty pricey.

Now it's time to take your design and documentation and transform it into an actual piece of software. It might feel like it took a long time to get to this stage, but you'll be glad you did all of the front-loaded work to make this step in the process as seamless as possible.

Developing your product will be one of the longest parts of the project. You might find it useful to break this part down into two different stages: 

 (MVP) is an increasingly popular step in the software development process. Rather than setting out to create your finished product from the get-go, creating an MVP can end up saving you time and money in the long run. When you release your polished finished product and skip the MVP stage, you might find that you have to work backward to make costly and time-consuming changes.

When you make an MVP, you're creating an early version of your product that only has the most essential features necessary to test the product with users. This is a stripped-down, bare-bones version of the final product you expect to offer down the road that you can use to collect data and feedback about your product 

 you launch it with all the bells and whistles.

Not all app creators choose to build an MVP, but it can be very useful as a part of the final development process. Through the data and feedback collected, developers can help fix any app problems or make changes. This is also when you can add any additional features that weren't considered essential enough to be included in the MVP.

Testing your product can involve a quality assurance team and your developers working together to ensure that there aren't any errors in the code and that the final product meets all of your initial business goals. It's worth putting in quite a bit of time and energy at this stage, as it will greatly impact the quality of your final product.

User acceptance is one of the most vital tests you'll want to perform

. This is when you enlist a group of users that would realistically use your app and have them explore your product first-hand. You can then gather data about their experience, including personal interviews, in order to gain valuable insight into how users view your product. From this stage, you can incorporate any changes you've determined are worth making to your final product before launch.

Before you launch, there are a number of steps you'll want to take.

Building awareness among your target audience through social media campaigns, email campaigns, or other marketing tactics

Setting up a competitive pricing model for your app

Considering having a soft launch to earn early customers and receive more feedback

9. Launching Your Software Development Product

Now you've reached the most exciting part of the process– launching your product! As a part of this stage, you'll want to create a communications plan for your team, fully train your employees, and ensure perfect timing. Ideally, all of the phases of the launch will happen simultaneously.

Your hard work isn't done once you've launched your product. You'll want to set up a plan for regular software updates and further polish the product based on the needs of your end-users.

Finding the Right Team to Help Create Your Next Software Development Project

No matter how amazing your idea is, you'll find that the final product can only be as strong as the team that creates it. For this reason, the "building your team" phase of software development is perhaps one of the most essential. You'll want to make sure that you seriously consider the pros and cons of the different options here, which, for most people, will come down to hiring a team of freelancers or hiring a software development company.

At Planetary, we specialize in helping our clients turn their ideas into reality. Working with huge companies like Google, Amazon, and Univision, as well as small startups, our team of experts is made up of the very best people for the job around the globe. If you think we might be the right fit for your next software development project, 

10 Steps to Plan Your Next Software Development Project

If you're putting together a team to build software for your company, you might feel a bit overwhelmed by all the different titles and roles in the industry.

When you're creating your hierarchy of engineers, the difference between a software architect vs. a principal software engineer might seem difficult to determine.

The reality is that different titles can be used for various roles depending on the company in question. Both principal software engineers and software architects, however, are at the top of the skill ladder when it comes to the technical aspect of the software development process.

Let's take a deeper dive into the difference between these two job titles and the hierarchy of technical engineering jobs as a whole.

Software architects usually focus on high-level structural considerations and software interactions. Usually, people in this role are knowledgable and experienced software engineers with a firm grasp on building long-lasting, sustainable software through a deep understanding of the best practices.

, it's common for one person to focus on the business side of things while the other focuses on the technical aspects. The person in the role of the tech partner will usually take care of engineering, architecture, planning, bug-fixing, testing, and everyone on both the front end and the back end.

As the startup gets bigger and grows, though, more people join the team, and this partner might become the technological manager and then 

an architect or a principal software engineer– whichever he thinks fits his role best. Even though his job title has been shifting, though, he has actually been an architect for the entire time he's been building the startup.

It's worth noting that architects don't always code, and they aren't always programmers. That being said, many professional software developers recommend that architects know how to write code even if it isn't a part of their job responsibilities. The benefits of knowing how to write code as a software architect include:

Allowing the architect to verify the code the developers wrote identifies deviations and matches with the design.

Giving the architect the ability to make a prototype or write a proof of concepts.

Helping the architect learn about new features or changes.

Having another pair of hands to help out when there are deadlines to meet.

Helping the architect empathize with programmers when they make mistakes because they have experience with coding themselves.

If all of this isn't confusing enough, some teams have a senior software engineer that is actually more of an engineer even though their title says otherwise. Basically, the role of an architect isn't universally designed, and anyone that designs a system or a product can be referred to as an architect.

Architects are often responsible for designing products, managing development teams, and customer communication. A normal path for a software architect is to start as a low-level engineer or programmer before working up to this executive-level role.

Some of the skills that are necessary in order to work as a software architect include:

There are also a number of different specializations that software architects can focus on. These include:

Are you wondering what your budget should look like if you want to build custom software? This guide looks at 

Software engineers are programmers that are well-versed and experienced in developing software both efficiently and effectively. A principal software engineer is usually very high up in 

, and they tend to take on large-scale projects. Rather than spending their time writing individual bits of code, these engineers are able to focus on things like:

In a typical team hierarchy, the head of engineering in an organization would be in charge of creating a product that fits within the vision of the senior architect. Generally, software engineers will learn about software architecture if they receive a college degree.

The role of a principal software engineer is to develop and test software that is built in order to achieve the goals of a company. Overseeing the technical aspects of software projects, the principal software engineer works to develop teams that help a company create the software they need to thrive.

Essential skills required to work as a principal software engineer include:

Excellent leadership and management skills

Expertise in a number of different high-level programming languages

Strong communication skills, both verbal and written

Problem-solving skills to identify, analyze, and fix technical issues

Analytical skills to understand how to meet the needs of the end-user

There are typically four levels of software engineers, which are junior, middle, senior, and principal. Principal engineers sit at the top of this hierarchy and are the highest-ranking title for software engineers. Usually, only one person fills this role and is responsible for overseeing all of the projects in the engineering department.

Architect vs. Principal Software Engineer: What's the Difference?

Parsing out the difference between a software architect and a software engineer can feel like splitting hairs, but they are two separate roles for a reason. Perhaps the most straightforward way to understand how these titles differ is that architects are responsible for producing the plans for a project, while engineers follow through and build the software based on those plans.

A simple way to describe what distinguishes these roles from one another is the fact that software architects are usually a bit more on the business side of things, while software engineers are more on the technical side of things.

That being said, these titles won't necessarily mean the same thing in small and mid-sized businesses or other private companies. There's a lot more leeway on smaller teams, but the corporate environment requires detailed job titles and a more structured hierarchy of roles. This means that you might come across a principal software architect in a smaller company that ultimately is more of an engineer than an architect in their job description and duties.

In some cases, then, these job titles are actually interchangeable to a certain degree. When an individual starts working as an engineer for a tech company, they might specialize in managing and planning high-quality software 

 producing this product. As they gain more experience and become more specialized, they can move on to either a senior architect role or a senior engineer role.

What About Programmers– Where Do They Fit In?

Programmers are individuals that write code and understand the concepts of functions, looping, logic control, and more. They might write collections of scripts rather than finished software packages, though programmers can also build things like database-driven apps or websites.

Are you building a web app on your own? Be sure to check out 

Both engineers and architects will typically begin their career journey in lower-level engineering roles. Once they have gained enough experience and expertise, the career path deviates between managing code or managing people. 

While the precise path in different companies can vary quite a bit, let's take a look at the standard stages an individual takes when they work their way up to a role as a principal software engineer or architect.

Competence in one core language and an understanding of the foundations of programming. This is entry-level with anywhere from no previous experience to two years of experience.

Able to write code correctly with minimal supervision and quickly learn from mistakes. These engineers understand the full workflow from design to completion. Usually, people in this role have two to six years of experience or more.

Extremely reliable and able to take on projects of medium complexity. Great decision maker that excels at debugging. Senior engineers in this role usually have five to eight years of experience or more.

Takes on additional responsibilities, including managerial tasks and providing technical direction to a team. These professionals usually have seven years or more of experience.

Tons of technical and emotional maturity with a history of tech lead roles. These people have shown their expertise in at least one domain. Normally, they have six to nine years of experience or more.

At this point, the career path splits into two potential roads. The first is technical, which is better suited for individuals that want to manage code. The second is managerial, for people that would rather manage people than code.

Software engineer careers can continue along a technical track after an individual has spent about a decade working their way up in the industry.

These technical track careers include:﻿

A history of launching quality projects and the ability to improve existing systems. With expert knowledge of the codebase, these people have proven themselves as problem-solvers and high-level engineers. Usually, you need ten or more years of experience to fill this role.

Highly competent and possessing the ability to anticipate technological change. These people have the skills to solve any emergency, and they have a history of delivering products that result from cross-team collaboration. Senior staff engineers usually have about twelve years of experience at least.

Able to provide overarching technical direction and identify potential technical problems ahead of time. These people are recognized for their expertise in their industry and have deep knowledge in their particular areas of specialization. Principal engineers and architects usually have fourteen or more years of experience.

As you can see, the principal engineer and architect are in the exact same spot in the hierarchy– at the top. Even though the roles can consist of different types of tasks, they are both high-level roles achieved after a long time of proving oneself in the industry.

For people that are more interested in managing people than code, there are a number of higher-level positions in many companies. 

Manages a large team that oversees tech leads and clears bottlenecks in development. These professionals usually have at least nine years of experience.

Nurtures talent, keeps the company ahead of the curve technologically, and manages engineers. Engineering directors normally have ten or more years of experience.

With years of experience managing engineering teams, they are highly effective communicators that work with the CTO to fulfill the company's vision. They usually have about twelve to fifteen years of experience.

Gives direction and strategy at an organizational level and oversees the evolution and growth of the technological aspects of a company. These professionals typically have fifteen to twenty years of experience.

Curious to know how many developers you're going to need to build your web app? Check out 

Is It Better to Build a Team or Hire a Software Development Company?

The decision to build an in-house team versus finding the right software development company to create your software can greatly impact your final product and budget. Building a full-fledged team might make sense for some organizations that focus on building software as a central part of their mission. On the other hand, hiring a team for the job might be the best option for smaller companies or those that aren't specifically software development companies.

If you're ready to take your digital product concept into the next phase of realization, hiring a development partner can allow you to have access to a cohesive, experienced team without needing to add more people to your payroll. This can allow you to work with a wide range of experts you might not otherwise have access to. Additionally, it is generally less expensive than hiring an in-house team.

Do you have a digital product you're ready to transform from an idea into a reality? 

Software Architect vs. Principal Software Engineer: What's the Difference?

The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic instigated a massive surge in the market value of the mHealth industry, which has led many IT startups to throw their hat in the ring in the form of healthcare startups.

By some estimates, the mobile healthcare app market is predicted to exceed 

. Considering this relatively young market was valued at more than $45B in 2020, you can see why many companies and entrepreneurs have been flirting with the idea of creating mobile healthcare apps.

Creating healthcare apps come along with some very particular considerations, though. Before you begin development, you will want to familiarize yourself with the laws and regulations surrounding digital health data and ensure that any app you make will be compliant in the countries you offer it.

That said, let's jump in and look at what you should know about developing a healthcare mobile app.

Medical apps can help to fulfill the needs of both medical professionals and patients. In most cases, apps will be designed for use by medical facilities and professionals or for patients.

For doctors and other healthcare workers, mHealth apps can:

Lower spending for both medical facilities and patients alike.

Improve communication between doctors and their patients.

Allow doctors to monitor patient's health remotely.

Help doctors schedule appointments and manage essential tasks.

Patients benefit from mHealth apps as well. They can receive remote assistance from medical professionals, easily pay online for their healthcare, and schedule appointments quickly and intuitively.

These apps can also improve the treatment process for patients by improving communication between physicians and patients. People can also save money through mHealth apps, as it often costs less to have a virtual appointment than an in-person visit.

Apps that are geared towards consumers rather than professionals can also help patients be more educated about medical issues, live a healthier lifestyle, and manage their prescriptions and appointments.

Different Types of Healthcare Mobile Apps

There are nearly 100,000 healthcare apps available on Google Play and the App Store. There are two general categories these apps can be split into: those built for professional use and those that are built to be used by patients.

Apps for Medical Facilities and Professional Use

Apps built for professional use are typically more complex than those created to be used by patients. 

Some common types of professional healthcare apps include:

: Allowing physicians and other healthcare professionals to communicate with their colleagues.

: Allowing medical professionals to schedule appointments and provide consultation digitally.

: The billing process can be streamlined through these apps, managing processes like accounting, claims management, patient registration, and payment processing.

: Allowing medical professionals to collect and update health records of their patients to help track treatment and patient health.

: Allowing the process of prescribing medication and outlining dosage instructions to be simplified between the patient and the doctor.

Are you wondering what the steps are to create an application? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to 

Healthcare apps can also make the lives of patients easier. Because they are designed for a consumer market, they tend to be simpler even though they have the potential to be very useful.

Some common types of patient-use healthcare apps include:

: Allows patients to check their symptoms, manage current chronic conditions, and receive recommendations or even treatment advice.

: Allows patients to have access to therapy and information to manage mental health, such as breathing exercises and pre-recorded meditations.

: Allows patients to stay on top of the medications they take by incorporating scheduling and reminder features. Some of these apps will even let users know where they can get the best deal locally on the medications they take.

: These apps aim to provide up-to-date medical educational information for people that want to learn more about healthcare.

: This broad umbrella category includes everything from brain training and self-improvement apps to fitness and wellness apps. There are countless apps aiming to make it easier to live a healthy lifestyle.

: These apps help users establish and maintain a diet that supports their overall health. This application might involve features like a food and health information database, a calorie counter, reminders, and meal planning tools.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Healthcare Mobile App?

The cost of developing a healthcare mobile app can range significantly depending on the specifics of the project. Depending on the features and functionalities of your app, the project could run you anywhere from $60,000 to $450,000.

According to the mHealth App Developer Economics study from 2017, the 

 for mHealth apps is $425,000. Other estimates provide a significantly less expensive range, stating that simple mHealth apps might only cost you between $60k and $80k.

According to one source, the estimated cost of creating an MVP for a telehealth app is $77,070, while the final price comes in a little over $182k.

Understanding how much it will cost to develop a healthcare mobile app is intrinsically linked with grasping the team requirements for the job. You will generally need people to fulfill the following roles in order to create an mHealth app:

You can piece this team together in a number of different ways:

Partnering with an app development company.

Hiring an in-house team will likely only make sense in specific circumstances, as it's definitely the most expensive way to create an app. When you are first starting out, having your own team on payroll probably isn't accessible. However, big corporations interested in developing their own apps might go this route.

This leads many people to choose the second option– hiring freelancers. This 

 work out great, but it is always a bit of a gamble. Even if you're happy with the work being produced by your freelancers, one person walking away before the job is done could leave you scrambling to 

Another option worth mentioning is outsourcing app development to freelancers in a country where the average freelance rates are cheaper than in the US. While this can be a way to save quite a bit of money on the development, you'll want to be wary of the risks of outsourcing your app development overseas. When developing a healthcare app, you will want to be particularly concerned about this because of all the country-specific compliance needs your app will have.

Finally, you can also partner with an app development company. There are a number of benefits to using an app development company to create a healthcare app, including:

Having access to expert technical knowledge.

Reducing the likelihood of legal issues compared to hiring freelancers.

Understanding Compliance in Healthcare Mobile App Development

One very important consideration if you're thinking about developing a healthcare mobile app is compliance. As you might imagine, the healthcare industry is incredibly strict when it comes to privacy and legal regulations.

If you're considering launching your app in several different countries, you'll also want to research the regulations in each location. Each country has its own laws and regulations when it comes to healthcare.

Let's briefly overview some of the regulations you'll want to be aware of in the US, EU, and Canadian markets.

If you create an app for the US market that records, stores, and processes PHI (Protected Healthcare Information), you must be very careful to ensure that you are adhering to HIPAA regulations. These regulations were first enacted when Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

HIPAA regulations exist to protect the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of health information involved in electronic health care transactions. In 2013, the clauses of the HiTECH regulations were incorporated into the HIPAA Final Omnibus Rule, making it so HiTECH-compliant apps are equal to HIPAA-compliant apps.

Another confidentiality regulation in the US is CCPA. This has to do with how clients are informed about the type of data that is collected, erasing any collected data if the client requests it, and a lot more.

The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) also has a framework that is designed to protect user data in US healthcare apps. While it requires significant investment to use this collection of tools, standards, and technologies, nearly three-quarters of organizations believe following this framework to be the best practice in terms of cybersecurity.

In 2018, the European Union introduced personal data protection rules under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation.) Any and all healthcare apps that operate in the EU are required to comply with these regulations.

It's worth noting that the GDPR applies to both the company that collects the data as well as the company that processes the data.

If you plan to release a healthcare app in Canada that stores and processes personal data, it must comply with PIPEDA (The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act). The good news is that this law is very similar to the GDPR, so there's a good chance that an app you make for either the EU market or the Canadian market will be compliant under these respective regulations.

Tips For Developing a Healthcare Mobile App

If you have an idea for a healthcare mobile app, you're likely chomping at the bit to get started. Before you do, though, let's go over some important tips that will help make sure your app is as successful as possible.

Specifically Identify the Problem You're Solving

The key to any successful business is identifying a problem your target audience needs to be solved and solving it for them. Before you hop into the development phase, make sure you understand specifically what problem you're solving, including how and why you're solving it better than other apps that currently exist on the market.

When you're creating a healthcare app, you're going to want it to be as user-friendly as possible. Generally, the target demographic for health mobile apps is very broad, so you'll want to make sure that the interface and design appeal to as many people within your ideal audience as possible.

While you likely have a larger purpose for your app, you're probably also hoping to profit from the endeavor. There are a number of different monetization models, but you'll need to choose how to approach monetization before you start developing the app. Some of the common models for mHealth apps are:

: Offering a free app with some paid features that can be unlocked.

: Offering a free app but making money by showing ads to users.

: Offering the app for a one-time payment.

: Offering the app on a weekly, monthly, or yearly subscription.

Building a minimal viable product (MVP) is an essential step in app development. While you might try to skip building an MVP, it's important to help you get your app to market as fast as possible, helping you validate your idea and ensuring that the whole process is as cost-effective as possible.

Developing a Healthcare Mobile App: Cost, Tips, and Compliance

Even if you don't realize it, you likely encounter APIs constantly throughout the day. These Application Programming Interfaces constantly work behind the scenes to improve your digital experience. APIs can help you do everything from embedding Instagram photos in your app to allowing your customers to pay using PayPal.

If you're building a web app and facing the question of which API to use, you might feel pretty stumped. Maybe you feel pretty confident that you'll want to incorporate major APIs like the Facebook API or 

, but you also need some more specific interfaces at the core of your app. While using existing APIs can speed up the development process quite a bit, there are also some drawbacks and risks associated with going this route.

Wherever you are on your API discovery journey, let's look at the factors you'll want to consider to choose the best API for your web project.

What Is an API, and What Are Some Examples?

Insights

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10 Steps to Plan Your Next Software Development Project

Software Architect vs. Principal Software Engineer: What's the Difference?

Developing a Healthcare Mobile App: Cost, Tips, and Compliance

How to Choose The Best API For Your Web Project

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