How to make mobile and web apps that scale

We know every project is different and the environment our product will operate it is always changing. Over the last 10+ years we have created an approach to web and mobile app development that is flexible to changing requirements and aims to make sure we deliver the best possible product for end customers. We work closely with our partners from start to finish, integrating effortlessly with existing business structures to create products that people love.

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Every Project Is Unique

Getting Started

All products start the same - with words. Initially, we sit down to discuss all of the ideas we have on the table and define what the product will be. It’s a delicate point in the process, as it’s all too easy for loud voices and blocked ears to shutter an idea before it reaches its full potential.

At this stage, we forget the rules - anything is possible. By doing this, you can come up with something truly innovative. That's why we focus on figuring out and pinpointing exactly what the goals of your product are and what your users are expecting to get from the product.

Goals. We take the time to understand in detail what you want to achieve with your project.
User Stories. Craft detailed user stories to ensure you and we know what your users are expecting from your product.
Design. Wether we are working from your designs or creating them, we will ensure you are happy with the look and feel of your product.

Then once the goals and user stories are clearly defined and everyone is happy with the proposed product, we can start on the next stage of the development cylce.

Design your product

If you do not have designs for your product, do not fear as we can help you craft a design that you will love. Using top range industry design tools, we will work with you to create a design that you are happy with and that will make your product stand out from the crowd.

Build Fast & Ship Faster

After the design and requirements for the product are agreed on, then we can put fingers to keyboards and start development of your product. To do this we use the latest technologies and tools, alongside custom in house tools to ensure we can build your product fast and ship it even faster.

Here our goal is to work in an agile development method to get a working version of the product into the hands of users and other stakeholders as quickly as we can - without compromising on quality - shipping what is called an MVP. An MVP is a 'Minimum Viable Product' - a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development. The time frame for this stage can vary depending on the complexity of the product, but we typically measure this in weeks rather than months i.e. we want to get the product in customers hands quickly.

Using this development approach means that we can get feedback on the product from actual users. Then take this feedback and quickly make changes and adjustments to the product to refine on it's design and ease of use. Although development takes place at breakneck speeds using industry standard testing methods, code management and versioning, we ensure that the product is of the highest quality and if any issues arise we can quickly rollback to the previous stable version of the product.

Real Data From Real Users

By this stage we have our minimum viable product (MVP), and we're getting paying customers using your product. This is when data collection becomes essential. We can implement a range of custom or third party tools to collect data on how your users are using your product, and what they are doing with it.

Analyzing this data will help easily identify any pain points or issues that users are experiencing. Which we can then use to make decisions on how we can streamline the product to over come these issues.

Iteration & Adaption

Once we have release the minimum viable product and assessed the user data, we can take this information and iterate over the product. Now, with fewer assumptions we can deescalate the risks at this stage of development.

Each iteration on the product is unique and can focus on anything relating to the product. This could be a new feature, a new design, or a new way of doing something. We can then take this iteration and release it to the users to get feedback and repeat this cycle.

**Andrew Barrie** – Founder of Community Lab

Growing Together

Product growth starts with the product itself. To achieve growth, we recommend following the strategy for pirates: AARRR.

ACQUISITION
ACTIVATION
RETENTION
REFERRAL
REVENUE

We believe by following these steps you will watch your growth skyrocket.

Our aim is to make products that are loved by millions, and this aim throws up some interesting (although nice to have) problems. Everything we've produced has been created with the purpose of getting us to this point with as little risk as possible. That means not to prematurely optimize, so here we need to take time to ensure the product can operate at a large scale.

To do this we utilize industry standard cloud-based platforms from the likes of AWS, Google Cloud and Azure to ensure that your product can scale to meet the demands of your users. The platform we choose will depend on the requirements of your product, but we will ensure that the platform we choose is the best fit for your product.

Recent case studies

Here's a look at some of products we've brought to market recently

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