It's not enough to have a ‘wow’ app idea to achieve market success. Even if your application is meant to be the one that breaks the ground, flips the script, and moves the needle, it’s only the first step. The ability to execute that idea effectively is what truly determines an app's success. So, it is no wonder that for appreneurs, the right mobile app development team is instrumental in turning a business idea into a powerful and useful mobile app.
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for creating the perfect structure for your software development team. Each project requires a unique team composition assembled based on the scope, app complexity, and deadlines. Today, we will shed more light on the mobile app development team structure and roles to help you navigate the deep waters of the mobile app development world.
Why you need a well-structured A-team for your development process
For emerging companies, a mobile application development team is more than just a set of employees. A strong team can help startups storm the problem, ascend to the top, and promote long-term product success.
Faster time to market
A team with clearly defined roles and responsibilities makes sure that tasks are assigned and completed efficiently — as opposed to a motley crew of jack-of-all-trades where mission-critical tasks are tacked onto other responsibilities. A well-structured team also prevents task duplication, breaks down bottlenecks, and accounts for potential challenges early on to prevent project failures down the road.
Lower cost
Tech projects are notoriously known for going over budget and over time, which is detrimental to startups with limited resources. However, budget overruns are less down to the company initially investing a lot in software development, as much as they are due to the company trimming the fat by skimping on the right tech skills.
Spending on the right positions and talent helps startups minimize costly rework and save costs in the long run. Also, an experienced team with diverse perspectives and skills can bring innovative ideas to the table, giving startups new revenue opportunities.
Competitive edge
On average, around 20% of startups fail because they get outcompeted. To build an edge over your competitors, you need a product that offers more than the competition — either in terms of user experience, value, or innovation. Whichever it is, the right software team with the know-how and experience can help you achieve that competitive advantage.
Success with investors
While it’s the initial idea that can put you on the investor’s radar, it’s your ability to execute the idea successfully that tips the funding scales in your favor. A well-rounded mobile application development team with diverse skills and hands-on domain expertise is a green flag for investors, indicating that your startup entails reduced risk and can put the money to good use.
Higher adaptability
Startups operate in a dynamic landscape that sometimes feels more downward than upward. With a cohesive team on board, it’s easier to bounce back from setbacks and pivot as you already have the skills to maneuver.
Your winning mobile app development team structure
When it comes to a mobile app project, a random collection of individuals won’t do the trick. You need a dedicated app development team hand-picked according to your project, scope, complexity, budget, and deadlines.
Let's assume you're up for developing a healthcare mobile app for Android and iOS. In this case, your mobile development team structure will likely include the following specialists:
- A project or product manager
- A business analyst
- An iOS developer
- An Android developer
- A backend developer
- A QA engineer
Depending on your app's specific features and requirements, you might also need a dedicated AI engineer or IoT-savvy developer, but we will keep the structure to the minimum.
Key responsibilities of product and project managers
A vast majority of people often say product and project managers in the same breath. While both are manager roles, the product and project managers are responsible for different aspects of a mobile app development project.
To elaborate, a product manager contributes to and owns product strategies, analyzes market data to assess the viability of your future mobile app, and gauges market demand. Alternatively, a project manager oversees the app development process from start to finish. Specifically, a project manager continuously makes sure the project stays on track, ensuring the project goes as planned while meeting all the deadlines and budget requirements.
Simply, the difference between these roles lies in what they manage – a product or a project. A product needs to satisfy all users' demands and be valuable, while a project needs to be a precise software development roadmap with fixed deadlines.
Key responsibilities of product managers include:
- Conducting market research
- Finding out your USP and core features
- Analyzing the target audience
- Identifying what problems users have and how the app can address them
- Creating a business plan and defining a product roadmap
- Tracking industry trends
Contrastingly, project managers are responsible for:
- Estimating your project and planning sprints
- Prioritizing the tasks
- Assigning tasks to the application development team
- Rallying the teams around a common goal
- Maintaining project documentation
- Bridging the gap between clients and their development teams
- Making changes to the development plan
- Managing the project's deadlines and staying within the budget
Essentially, the list of soft skills for a product manager and a project manager is the same, but their hard skills are different. For example, a project manager deals with project management and should know their way around planning and scheduling tools, while a product manager deals with a product and has to utilize various analytics tools like Google Analytics, Data.ai, Firebase, etc.
If a project is relatively simple, startups don't need to have both managers on the team, as one specialist can wear both hats, taking on the combined responsibilities. However, if a project is complex and has a large scope, it's better to hire a product manager and a project manager to share the load. Usually, startups prefer to hire a product manager internally but can also outsource this task to a mobile app development company.
Key responsibilities of business analysts
Every project kicks off with the discovery stage, where you solidify and put your app idea on paper. Business analysts ensure you develop a comprehensive understanding of the future solution, align it with current market needs, and gather tech requirements for future implementation.
Together with other team members, they run interviews, workshops, and meetings with stakeholders to gain a deeper understanding of their needs. Business analysts then jot down these requirements, developing clear and concise documentation for your business and technology teams.
Also, business analysts ensure the development cost doesn't go sky-high. They help the development team prioritize high-value product features so you don't have to spend money and effort on bloated products.
Business analysts are usually in charge of:
- Running the discovery process
- Conducting market research
- Gathering software requirements
- Creating tech documentation
- Formulating the main backlog
- Selecting app metrics
- Establishing effective communication between the business and tech teams
Considering their responsibilities, business analysts should have the following soft skills:
- Commercial awareness
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Fundamental analytical and decision-making abilities
- Proactivity, energy, and enthusiasm
- Ability to turn complex data into meaningful and digestible stories
The list of hard skills may vary from company to company. Usually, business analysts are required to have hands-on experience in SQL and Excel and to be familiar with data visualization tools. They should also be able to analyze data in Python or R. Domain knowledge and experience managing Agile projects are also welcome.
Key responsibilities of UI/UX designers
Thoughtful, accessible, and engaging app design that resonates with the target audience is necessary for a product to attract and retain users. UI/UX designers are the specialists behind intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that balance aesthetics and functionality.
UI/UX designers' roles include:
- Conducting qualitative and quantitative user research
- Creating user personas
- Structuring information architecture, user journey map, user task flow
- Creating visual prototypes and app wireframes
- Running usability testing
- Analyzing users' feedback and incorporating it into the app design
Taking into account what a UI/UX designer does, they should have the following essential tech skills:
- Experience with design tools like Sketch, Figma, Adobe Photoshop, etc.
- Familiarity with wireframing, UX research, UI prototyping, and interaction design
- Tuned into the coding practices to be on the same page with developers
Related: How to design a mobile app: Step-by-step guide to the app design process
Key responsibilities of Android and iOS developers
Mobile app developers transform final designs into fully functioning mobile applications. The primary responsibility of a mobile developer can be formulated as “to build a mobile app,” but their role encompasses much more.
iOS and Android developers are brought into the fold to:
- Turn design layouts into high-quality code
- Ensure the quality, performance, and responsiveness of the app
- Integrate with platform-specific services such as ApplePay, HealthKit, Google Maps, and more.
- Fix bugs and implement app updates
Since there are different tools and technologies for every mobile operating platform, let's look at the foundational skills that are vital for iOS and Android developers.
| Basic skills for an iOS developer | Basic skills for an Android developer |
|---|---|
| Mastery of Objective-C and Swift | Mastery of Kotlin and Java |
| Knowledge of Xcode IDE and Apple Human Interface Guidelines | Knowledge of Android Studio and Material Designs |
| Knowledge of the latest trends in building apps for the latest generations of iPadOS and iOS | Ability to develop an app that works with a wide range of Android versions, devices, and screen sizes |
Healthcare projects often require cross-platform development expertise instead of iOS and Android developers. Cross-platform apps cover both platforms at once, allowing companies to reach a broader range of patients and healthcare providers.
Cross-platform developers should be proficient in:
- React Native framework
- Cross-platform app development platforms like Xamarin, Flutter, or Ionic
Key responsibilities of backend developers
Backend developers are the experts responsible for the server-side logic and infrastructure of software applications. They work behind the scenes, setting up data processing, storage, and communication with the app’s front end.
Key responsibilities of backend developers include:
- Storing, securing, and sharing data with the correct user
- Creating and maintaining APIs
- Building frameworks and the app architecture
- Working with databases, IDEs, and collaboration services
- Integrating the application with other systems, such as payment gateways, email services, and third-party APIs
- Implementing security measures to protect the application
As a rule, backend developers are experienced in the following tools and technologies:
- Programming languages like PHP, Python, Java, .NET, Ruby, or others
- Database management systems like MySQL and Oracle SQL
- Code versioning tools like Git
Key responsibilities of QA engineers
Quality assurance engineers keep a close watch over the product’s quality, making sure no bugs slip through the cracks. Involved in every stage of the app development process, QA engineers flag and report any issues — potential or existing — that can hamper the development process.
QA engineers' key responsibilities include:
- Validating software requirements during the planning stage, ensuring they are testable and measurable.
- Identifying quality requirements for digital products
- Identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities in the app
- Creating test plans
- Executing manual and automated app testing
- Keeping track of test progress and test cases
- Documenting and managing bugs
A highly skilled QA specialist is the one that:
- Possesses proven knowledge of QA testing tools like Appium, Robotium, and TestComplete
- Knows their way around bug tracking platforms like Jira or Trello
- Has hands-on knowledge of global and industry compliance standards, such as HIPAA, GDPR, FDA, PIPEDA, PCI DSS, and others.
From idea to launch: the stages of mobile app development and the team behind it
To accelerate time to market and de-risk your idea, you should build an MVP before investing in a full-fledged application. An MVP is a version of the app that includes just the basic functionality that solves the primary pain points of the target audience. The MVP mobile app development process usually consists of 6 steps that run iteratively and may overlap. These steps include:
- Product discovery
- Development planning
- MVP design
- MVP development and testing
- Launch and post-launch monitoring
- Scaling
The specific software development team structure will vary depending on the stage of the app development process.
Product discovery
The discovery phase is the initial stage of the project that informs further development efforts. At this stage, project stakeholders conduct multiple research to validate the app idea and gather the necessary data to identify the app's unique value, understand the target audience, and size up competitors. Based on the insights received from the research, the UI/UX team maps out the user flow to identify potential opportunities and explore different app features.
The product discovery team then determines an optimal set of product features, prepares high-level system architecture, and develops low-fidelity prototypes to test the designs and uncover potential usability issues early in the development process.
At the discovery stage, project stakeholders also determine relevant compliance and data security requirements.
People involved: business analyst, software architect, project/product manager, UI/UX designer.
Development planning
Once software requirements are solidified, the development team scopes your project and matches it with the right development approach. At this stage, your team also develops your app’s architecture, considering its scalability, security, and ease of maintenance.
This stage is where you can validate your app idea by analyzing initial users' feedback using a low-fidelity prototype. Based on the outcomes of the idea validation process, your team may either pivot or start to create a medium-fidelity app prototype that will include your app's flow and UX design.
Based on the discovery stage, your project manager also prepares the estimation, timeline, and team composition.
People involved: project/product manager, UI/UX designer, iOS and Android developers, backend developer, and QA engineer.
MVP design
At this stage, your team starts developing a detailed user interface and creating a high-fidelity prototype. As a rule, this prototype is interactive so that testers can analyze the app's navigation and usability to fix usability bugs and improve the user experience early in the development process. Once the prototype is validated, your UI/UX team prepares the final layouts and hands them over to the development team.
People involved: project/product manager, UI/UX designer.
MVP development and testing
Your development team brings product designs into reality, building your app in small iterations and polishing its functionality with each cycle. Along with the development team, your QA team covers each functionality with tests, validating the usability, performance, and security of your solution.
If you need to get your app to the market as soon as possible and have the financial resources, you can engage more developers and IT specialists to help develop your app faster.
People involved: project/product manager, UI/UX designer, iOS and Android developers, backend developer, and QA engineer.
Related: Full guide on how to build an MVP
Launch and post-launch maintenance
Once your application is live, the development team continuously monitors its performance, fixes issues, and gathers user feedback. Based on the collected insights, the team prioritizes nice-to-have features to be implemented in the next product version. Together with the team, you also monitor product metrics to get insights into the reach and impact of the product launch.
People involved: project manager, product manager, iOS and Android developers, backend developer, and QA engineer.
Scaling
When your product starts gaining traction, your software development team members adjust its code and architecture to ensure it doesn’t crumble under the load. Based on the user feedback, your team also implements new product features.
People involved: business analyst, software architect, product/project manager, UI/UX designer, iOS and Android developers, backend developer, and QA engineer.
How much does it cost to hire a mobile app development team?
Securing a rockstar team of mobile application development experts is an investment, and the cost can vary based on multiple variables. Understanding key cost drivers is essential for budgeting and planning your mobile app development project successfully.
Seniority level (expertise)
Naturally, hiring development experts with 5+ years of battle-tested experience will cost you more than a team of junior developers. Although you might be tempted to cut corners, keep in mind that investing in experienced developers can pay off in the long run, as their expertise translates into a high-quality product, a smoother development process, and fewer costly mistakes.
Hiring model
Essentially, there are five hiring models you can use when assembling a development team:
- In-house hiring — recruiting full-time specialists directly for your company’s internal team. Employing in-house developers means that you take care of the management and every development stage.
- A dedicated team — hiring an entire team of IT specialists from a third-party mobile app development company. Dedicated developers work exclusively on your project and interact with your in-house team.
- Staff augmentation — addressing specific talent gaps in your existing in-house development team by hiring external specialists. Augmented specialists become a temporary part of your team.
- Outsourcing — farming out the whole app development process or its specific stages to a third-party tech partner.
All engagement models have their pros and cons, so you should pick what floats your boat. Usually, in-house hiring is pretty expensive and time-consuming, while outsourced talent is faster and cheaper to land.
Location of the development team
The geographical location of your chosen software development team also impacts the costs. Teams located in places with a higher cost of living and greater demand for tech talent, such as North America, typically charge around $120-$200 per hour. Developers from more affordable tech hubs, such as Europe and Latin America, often offer competitive rates that range between $50-$120 with no quality trade-offs.
Project complexity
More complex projects with a larger number of features, integrations, cutting-edge techs, and screens typically guzzle up more development time and resources, leading to higher costs. Such projects demand a team with a wide range of skills and experience, hence higher labor costs.
Also, complex projects are more prone to unexpected challenges than simple ones, so the inherent risks can add to the cost.
Number of platforms
If you’re planning on developing a standalone application for each platform (iOS, Android, and web), your development team needs to build separate codebases and platform-specific features, which will lead to increased development time and costs. Cross-platform development can help you cover all target platforms with a single codebase, but it has certain limitations and added complexity regarding performance, platform-specific features, and testing.
Kickstart your mobile app development with Orangesoft
Hiring the right team to build your mobile app solution is critical to launching a successful mobile app. The right team will have the skills, experience, vision, and passion to bring your app idea to life. As a tech partner with over 13 years of experience, Orangesoft has mobile app development teams ready to deliver high-quality, secure, and compliant mobile apps that address the needs of your company, target audience, and security standards.
Contact our mobile app development company to discuss the talent you need to turn your idea into a full-scale mobile product.
