Your client is unique. Of course, they may do something similar to what other companies do, and it may look like other companies in many ways. But their workers are their workers, their office space is their office space, and their clients are their clients. In other words: unique. A unique business will run into problems specific to its team and workflow. Subsequently, it’s often difficult to find a pre-packaged enterprise software solution that can meet all of a company’s precise needs.
So let’s say they’ve reached the point that they understand the need to hire an enterprise mobile application developer: now what? They’ll present you with their problem, and it’s your job to solve it…but no one will tell you how.
Three basic questions need to be answered to identify a quality enterprise solution:
Who are your users or stakeholders? What are their characteristics? Are they tech savvy? Young, old, averse to learning new technologies? Does their expertise involve a great deal of technology, or a non-technological skill (like forestry)? You need to design a product that effectively streamlines workflow, increases productivity, can be easily integrated into the existing system, and it can’t be intimidating.
Where do they work? Location is important; it determines the format that’s actually going to smooth out the workflow. Are they connected online in an office, are they on the road with limited access to reliable internet, or perhaps their time is split between the two? If you design an application for laptops and notebooks, yet the employees are rarely able to sit down, then your solution will be of absolutely no use to them: and no one will care that you made the deadline and the budget.
What are their workflows? Understand that this question lies at the heart of your solution. An enterprise mobile application is only going to be worth the time, money, and effort put in if the users are actually going to use it. Understand that this process will take time, involve step-by-step analysis from a hands-on approach, and will require intensive analysis in order to understand the problem and design a satisfactory solution. When the developer has acquired a thorough understanding of what the day-to-day of the users looks like, only then can they begin to identify problematic areas in workflow and begin to devise methods to streamline them.
Answering these three questions will guarantee the precise engineering of your client’s requirements. Being meticulous can be tedious, but the outcome will be worth it when you produce a usable, intuitive solution that multiplies productivity, and have a faithful client for life.