#startupadvice Archives

Cross-Functional Teams Building Better Digital Product

Posted on 07/05/202102/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Did you ever feel like your organization is working in silos? Designers want to deliver meaningful experiences, the Marketing team is keen on entering a new vertical while sales are focussed on bringing in more and more leads, but all of this happens in isolation. Even though the roles of each of these departments are varying in nature, their priorities and end goals must be clear and consistent. Otherwise, it’s a sheer wastage of the business’s resources spent across different directions. Cross-functional teams foster cohesion within the company, reduce wastage of valuable resources and enable you to maximize your efforts in order to accomplish goals faster.

More often than not, the underlying reason why companies struggle with building better digital products is how they prioritize milestones and the linear approach, where work is passed from one team to another without fully channeling the skill and expertise of each discipline.

Building a digital product requires a team effort. Each discipline has a role to play and sometimes, these roles are overlapping. A great idea can come from any person and any team. Organizations looking to grow with agility and speed need to build cross-functional teams and bring them to the center stage. When the skill of each discipline is valued, their perspective is heard and every discipline is represented at the table, it results in quality solutions.

So, What is a Cross-functional Team, anyway?

A Cross-functional team brings people together from different functional expertise. By mutually exploring the prospects of a project and through shared expertise the team accomplishes a common goal.

There are so many crucial roles in digital product design and development– Designers, Product Managers, Business Analysts, Engineers, Quality Analysts, Marketing Specialists, and the list goes on.

The approach behind a cross-functional team is to gather a good mix of people from various disciplines to work on a project together. It is about brainstorming ideas, uncovering different and unique perspectives, and channeling an umbrella of expertise towards achieving one common goal – how to build a unique digital solution.

The idea behind cross-functional teams stems from agile methodology. Every discipline deserves a seat at the table regardless that their department’s primary phase is underway.

What’s the need for a Cross-functional Team?

When teams collaborate together in every phase and stage of creating a digital product, the result is impactful. In a cross-functional team, each person understands the role of other team members and views the product not only from the perspective of his/ her field but as an entire product and as a team effort.

Having a Cross-functional team is extremely crucial because every person brings so much value to the table. When a diverse set of people come together, a problem is approached in all possible ways and we are able to uncover unique perspectives.

For instance, when an Engineer has a seat at the table right when the project kicks off, identifying the best technology to build a product becomes easy. While others in the team may not be technically adept, an Engineer brings a different level of technical understanding to the front, especially when they have worked with cutting-edge technologies in the past.

As a full-cycle app development company, we believe in agile development with cross-functional teams. By building cross-functional teams, we were not only able to reduce the cycle time in new product development, but our teams also demonstrated flexibility in adapting to changing market needs and were able to develop innovative solutions at a faster pace.

While the number of Designers involved in a project will be more in the Design phase and the number of Engineers will rapidly increase in the Development phase, having representatives from each discipline throughout the app development process regardless of the phase adds a lot of value to the product.

The approach behind a cross-functional team resonates quite well with the practices of DevOps.

DevOps can be seen as a cultural perspective on how teams should be engaged in working the right way.

In today’s fast-paced world, with more advanced projects coming up, the need to move faster and be agile is ever-growing. DevOps addresses this concern – it makes development, operations, and other groups within an organization come together, collaborate closely on shared goals, and deliver software faster and more reliably.

Just like DevOps emphasizes close collaboration between software development and operations, having a cross-functional team for the entire product-development process improves collaboration across disciplines like Strategy, Design, Development, Testing and results in quality outcomes.

Benefits of Cross-functional Teams in Digital Product Development

The advantages of a cross-functional team in digital product development are manifold.

When all disciplines collaborate closely and everyone is invested in maximizing their contributions towards the project, it results in the best product possible.

1. Knowledge Sharing

The key idea behind accomplishing goals through interdisciplinary work is the exceptional variety of talent figuring out how to create something that is meaningful and brings value to end-users.

Confronting new perspectives, learning from others, and looking at things holistically impact the quality of solution and results in a robust product.

2. Alignment on Goals

In a cross-functional team, people look beyond their roles and responsibilities and are focused on accomplishing the common goal. There is total alignment on set milestones and people collaborate together to achieve them in the best way possible.

3. Less Handovers

When you collaborate across disciplines and everyone is present throughout the product development lifecycle, it minimizes handovers and speeds up the processes.

4. Teamwork

Working together facilitates teamwork. It brings people closer and improves communication. It is easy to talk through the issues and brainstorm great ideas. Collaborating closely builds respect and trust in teammates.

5. Identifying issues

When a project is handled by a cross-functional team, everyone is up to date with the project’s progress. When people work at the same time and don’t focus solely on their disciplines, it is easy to identify bugs and flag issues that may trouble the user.

6. Iteration

As mentioned above, cross-functional teams are up to date with all the issues within a project, which implies, making changes to the design or the code becomes easy. Testing and iteration can be done at the same time and it saves a lot of time, effort, and money.

7. Positive customer experience

While there are many different roles in an organization, each of these functions exists to serve the customer. By encouraging effective communication across teams, it becomes easy to provide a meaningful tailored customer experience.

8. Increased Innovation

When a group of people from different functional expertise comes together to solve a common problem, it is relatively easy to generate creative and overall solutions.

Companies that use cross-functional teams include marketing perceptions, sales conversations, product usage data, and other relevant sources of information into keen consideration when making product decisions which result in smarter decision making. The power of cross-functional teams is to drive better decision-making through business-wide learning.

Challenges faced by Cross-functional Teams

Effective cross-functional team collaboration is the key to tackle an organization’s biggest problems. However, there are certain problems with cross-functional teams and sometimes they can be difficult to manage.

Conflicting Goals

Each discipline comes with a set of roles and responsibilities. Oftentimes, when functional experts from different teams come together, they tend to give less priority to the project and are more focused on their own goals.

In such cases, it is essential for leaders to identify strategic goals to make sure there is clarity of purpose and the whole team is alined, on the goals of the team or the company.

Too much or too little Communication

With a cross-functional team, it is crucial to decide the right measure of communication. Too many unnecessary meetings lead to loss of time and can harm productivity while little communication regarding the project status and dulication can negatively impact a project.

Choosing Ideas

In a cross-functional team, you may give up on good ideas when others don’t like them.

While sometimes, it becomes easy to let go of complicated ideas and work more efficiently. This is where Discovery Workshop and operating in an agile manner comes into the picture. Scrum Methodology helps cross-functional teams encounter the biggest challenges and achieve great outcomes.

Leadership

In a self-organizing team with no clear leader, there is a possibility that the team may get lost and feel there is no clarity of purpose. It is essential to have a leader that can provide sufficient oversight so that small problems do not snowball into a bigger crisis and the team is able to collaborate efficiently.

Conclusion

Cross-functional teams often struggle because the organization lacks a structured approach. Teams are affected by insufficient oversight, conflicting goals, lack of accountability, and the organization’s failure to measure the impact of cross-functional collaboration.

Corporate structures are reorganizing themselves into cross-functional teams since the advantages are many. It may take time to adopt the cross-functional team approach to building products but it has nearly three times the success rates and is worth the rewards.

Strategies to Reduce Mobile App Development Cost for Startups

Posted on 26/10/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

The competition in the app market is too high for you to compromise with the quality of your app. But with high quality comes high costs and when we say high costs, we mean it. This may be a reason why most people avoid app development altogether – which, in turn, does more harm than benefiting.

The world is going mobile rapidly so it becomes important to make your place in the same world. Businesses have doubled their revenues and sales with the help of their mobile app. So, when you see at the long term benefits, these initial investments seem quite worth it.

However, mobile app development cost can still be high for startups since the capital is limited and there is not much to offer. But that shouldn’t stop any startup from reaping the benefits of having an app. For the same, we figured out some great strategies to help you reduce app development cost.

We will discuss the mistakes you can avoid to reduce app development cost and some strategies to reduce app development costs.

Mistakes to avoid to reduce app development cost for startups

According to many researches, the cost of actual app development almost always exceeds the budget allocation for the project. There are some hidden costs in the entire app development process that needs to be identified and removed to reduce app development cost.

We tried to find some mistakes that can cause the cost of app development to rise. Let’s see if you are aware of any of them.

Mistake 1. Wrong UI/UX and QA Testing Cost estimates

This would probably be the first mistake that you can make. The cost of UI/UX depends largely on how many devices, OS and features are involved in your app. It also involves the type of designing an app will have. Simple designs and features are less costly than complex designs and too many features.

Another place where the costs increase is the testing stage. For every device and every OS, independent testing is done. For this, it is advised that a conservative number of testing should be done before launching the app. Once the app is launched, the feedback can be used to decide whether further testing is required or not.

Mistake 2. Not Taking into account the cost of updates

There is a common misconception that you only need to launch updates when something needs to be changed. In reality, the mobile app needs updates for improving the interface and fixes any bugs. There are also UI tests that need to be run so that the user experience is enhanced.

As per the AnyPresence survey conducted for enterprise apps, it was revealed that 80% of the apps were updated twice a year and some of them were updated twice a month. These apps show great performance and have a high rate of active users.

The mistake made here is that most app startups don’t consider the costs that incur post app launch. So planning for these big and small updates are some ways to reduce app development costs for enterprises.

Mistake 3. Not Being Able to Decide Between Native and Hybrid app development

As a startup, you may not be aware of the difference between a native app and a hybrid app. And when going for app development, knowing the difference between these two types of apps is important. Once you know the difference you will be able to decide which is better for you, hybrid vs native apps. Also, the cost of app development is different for both types of apps.

Well, a native app is built from scratch and is developed for a particular platform. This means that the cost of development will be charged twice, one for Android and one for iOS. But the native apps have high performance and provides the better user experience.

Whereas a hybrid app is built for multiple platforms and gives more of a web app feel. The quality of apps differ from native apps since its built for multi-device and developed at the same time. The one-time development method reduces app development cost for hybrid apps.

In this situation, you must be aware of what’s going on with your app. You should be aware of the type of app that you are getting and the costs involved in the development process.

Mistake 4. Ignoring The cost of Adding Latest Features

Sometimes there may come a need to add some latest features to your mobile app and then you will be the inventor of the feature. You can resell it to many companies after licensing it and earn huge profits. But that may also be costing heavy. Of course, the benefits are going to be there but there again comes a factor of cost.

If you ask your developers to build something that hasn’t ever been built in the market before, you are putting yourself in a position of cost overrun possibility. Here comes another issue that the developers can cause. Most developers would not warn you if you are unknowingly adding cost to your app development project.

This is why working with a genuine app development company is important. There are many companies like Anteelo, that help in finding ways to reduce app development for enterprises. These are the companies any startup should be working with for their app development.

Mistake 5. Not Considering Implementation costs

Even after identifying all other costs, you may forget the cost of implementing everything. For an app, there are different features that need to be added and this depends on the type of app it is. For instance, an e-commerce app will have features like payment gateway, the category of products, wishlist and a lot more. All of these features will have to be implemented, maintained and improved.

To ignore implementation costs will be a serious issue since it comes under the hidden costs of app development. To reduce app development cost, keep in mind that these factors also contribute to the overall cost of app development.

These were some serious mistakes to avoid to reduce app development cost for startups in 2019-2020. Now we move on to the strategies or tips to decrease mobile app development cost.

Strategies to reduce app development cost for startups

Almost all the startups planning to go mobile have been asking ‘How to reduce app development cost?’ Even though the cost of app development cannot be slashed 50% yet there are some ways we can reduce it enough to make it affordable. Here we will see some incredible ways to reduce the app development cost.

MVP

Minimum Viable Product or MVP is built with fewer features and at low cost than the original product. You can get an MVP built and release it publicly. You can avoid wasting time and money on building the original app in the first attempt and use the MVP to raise money for your app. Once you do that you will gain profits and feedback to work with for the original product.

Readymade templates

How to reduce app development cost? Go for readymade templates. As good as building things from scratch is, it’s not very cost effective. There are many templates that are present online for use and would fit perfectly with any app. Using these readymade templates will reduce the time and cost of the app development process.

Regular troubleshooting

Even after the launch of the app, it will require constant improvements and fixes. Hiring an expert for that would a good idea since they can provide tips to decrease mobile app development costs throughout the process. Keep in mind that if you hire cheap freelance developers from far away places then you might have to spend a whole lot of money in redoing the app in case things go downhill.

Access Mobile-specific features

Every device has some built-in features such as the camera, GPS, call options, etc. Employing them into the app may seem a good idea but there are two issues to face. First, not every device has the same features which mean the app may not function for some users. Secondly, adding these features incurs a cost which can be simply avoided if there is no need for those features. For instance, a news app does not need to access the GPS so it can be skipped.

Regular communication flow

We cannot stress enough on the fact that regular and continuous flow of communication between you and the developers is essential. This regular communication will make things more clear for both you and the developers. It also helps in keeping a track record of how the process is going.

UI/UX Simplicity

One of the strategies to reduce app development costs is to go for simple yet elegant designs. A simple UI design is very important especially for new users since adaptation becomes easy. Most apps and websites are opting for a minimalistic design which is extremely cheap to design. Complex designs and too many features will not only confuse the users but also will add unnecessary costs to the project.

Hire skilled testers

If you want to save cost and time then hiring an expert team of testers is the best investment. At Anteelo, we practice an agile testing process so that there are less cost and less time in the testing process. This is one area you should invest in properly since it will only enhance the over app experience for the users.

Don’t hurry the process

Most of the times developers hurry the client in order to finish the project early but that may not be the right way. Unless and until you are working with a team of experts, you cannot hurry the development process. The reason is that in case of any mistakes, there will be an extra cost incurred. It will be a wise choice to go slow and deal with each part of the development patiently.

Outsource app development

One of the biggest reasons why businesses outsource is to lower the mobile app development cost. You see, when you get an app developed in eastern nations like the USA or Australia, the average hours of development is in the range of $100 – $120, while in the case of eastern nations it is $60 – $80 per hour. The difference is very massive.

So this was our take on how to reduce app development cost for startups. Want to get an app developed by us? Contact our team of developers.

Startups Invest In Android App Development-Reasons

Posted on 13/01/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

You as an entrepreneur would only want what’s best for your business in the long run, right? Well, one piece of advice that we could venture you in is to go for the most popular mobile app development platform globally – Android. One has to take into consideration several benefits of Android apps for business growth to conjecture why it is the right choice. Ipso facto, we should better get started with the statistics proving as a solid cornerstone to our argument on why Android apps for business are a viable option. With Android 11 getting prepared to offer its set of benefits to the businesses, the time is all the more of the essence here for choosing Android as a go-to approach for mobile app development for startups.

Since numbers work the best when calculating profitable pursuits for businesses, this graph below representing the market share of OS platforms is evidence enough. It is clear that Android has more voraciously captured the global market and has become the first choice of many hardware companies as well as users in general.

More statistics such as Google Play made almost 3x more first-time app installs in the third quarter of 2019 than the App Store, amounting to $21.6 billion during the quarter – a change that accounted for an 11% YoY increase from Q3 2018, are what make people invest in Android.

In fact, according to Sensor Tower reports, the Play Store generated $7.7 billion in revenue in Q3 2019, an increase of 24% YoY from $6.2 billion in Q3 2018 – a reason that justifies the android app development cost across genres.

What Makes Android The Best Choice for Mobile App Development for Startups

If you are still skeptical and unsure as to why develop an Android app for your startup then, here are some reasons that might convince you to firm your decision:

1. Greater user base

Today, most users across the world are using android mobiles. And from what we have read so far, this is surely the truth. The majority of users globally use Android-powered devices as compared to its contenders, which gives you a large pool of potential users.

Moreover, not having an android app for business means losing limitless business opportunities. No business can afford such a loss, especially when there’s a cut-throat competition going on in the market. Thus, it is advisable to look for Android application developers to convert your website into an app.

2. Easy availability of resources

Android application development services are primarily based on the base language Java. The programming language, one taught at the graduate level as a compulsory subject, makes it extremely easy for every android app developer for startups (even freshers) to adopt and learn.

For a startup, the fact that they have to spend less time and money on developers’ training makes Android the best choice for their app needs.

3. Open-source platform

Android is an open-source platform. That implies Google doesn’t charge any fee for using this platform. In fact, Google provides Android app development tools and technology for free. Hardware device manufacturers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, etc., all use Android as their default OS. This is because the Android code is open-source and hence free.

This allows Android to capture the majority of the market. This also acts as a great factor in cutting the cost of the entire project. Although the android app development cost does vary from company to company depending upon multiple factors, the more devices you connect with the operating system, the greater would be the overall cost that your android app startup ideas will have to bear.

4. Compatibility with multiple devices

One of the biggest advantages of choosing an android app over iOS is that there’s no restriction on devices to be used for building an android app. You can build an app on Windows desktop, Mac as well as on Linux system. The fact that Android allows you to expand your brand across devices and systems makes it a go-to platform for all the sectors with interoperability needs.

As a matter of fact, Google provides application development tools and technologies for all. Moreover, submitting apps to Play Store is easier and the subscription fee of Google – $25 (one time) is much lower than that of iOS – $99 (per annum).

5. Faster deployment

The duration of deployment for iOS apps stretches up to weeks whereas making an android app live on the Play Store takes only a couple of hours.

This is why most android app development companies recommend choosing android as a platform. The android app development process must be a fast affair because the sooner the app is developed, the quicker the business will bloom.

6. Build a customizable app

Another interesting fact or rather a primary pro of choosing android application development services is that it allows the android app developers to customize the apps as per the business requirement. This means your business app development will get done with the right requirements which might not have been possible with any other platform.

In a nutshell, no matter whether you are a product-based company or a service-based company, having an Android app for business is a must. It will act as a channel to reach maximum customers and hence improve your sales.

7. Incredible graphics support

Another reason for choosing Android mobile app development for a startup is because it offers amazing graphics support by providing incredible features. In fact, this is what makes it a perfect choice for Game app development, and apps that will be more centered around the graphics. The platform also provides support for 2D and 3D graphics.

8. Easy integration

In terms of integration, Android is a great choice indeed. Ask any android app development company and they will tell you how easy it is to integrate third-party APIs with your Android app. The ease, in turn, positively impacts the total cost and time of the app development towards a downward way.

9. Heavy device fragmentation

Though it is true that fragmentation can lead to up to increased development cost and testing time, however, it has its own benefits to offer. The variety of devices that the Android ecosystem is made up of: smartphones, TV, home assistant devices, wearables, etc. inevitably points towards the big market all ripe and ready for you to target with your application. Unlike iOS, your app won’t be limited to just a set of devices.

10. Multiple network distribution

If you look at the advantages of the Android mobile app development for startups, you will find that the apps are not just limited to the Play Store. Meaning, you can publish your app on other app stores as well, namely Samsung Galaxy Store, MI store, and so on.

11. Higher ROI

Since you have such a wide market to target, the return of investment on your android app development for business would be instant and always on a higher end. From the time you publish your app on the store, there is a big pool of potential users you can tap into. All you need to do is devise a robust marketing and promotion strategy and follow best practices to get your app featured on the Play Store – processes that a sound android app development company can help you with.

12. Greater scalability

This is another strong reason why businesses aim for becoming Android based startups. The platform is not limited to just smartphones, but can also be integrated into devices running on other technologies like IoT, AR, and VR. This provides a larger scope of scalability for businesses. It is this versatility that shows why businesses across the globe are looking for skilled android app development companies for startups.

Though it is true that Android and iOS are tough competition for each other, and deciding which to choose can be difficult since they have their own benefits to offer to businesses. However, even if you choose the benefits of android apps for startups over iOS, you can always try cross-platform development to target multiple platforms for expanding your reach.