You’re ready to create an app for your brand, and to get the best possible results you’ve decided to hire a team of software engineering consultants. The question is: which experts should you choose? App development is a booming business. Over the past four years, mobile use has grown five times, and apps are predicted to hit over $70 billion in revenue by 2017. The number of app developers is growing as well, with registered iOS developers alone just shy of 10 million. It's important to ask your app development company the right questions. Before committing to a project that may run into the tens or hundreds of thousands, it’s essential to conduct a thorough interview to find a consulting team that’s the right fit for your needs. Here are a few of the most important questions you should be asking.

1. Yeti LLC, 2016. 1
Five questions
to ask an app
development
company

2. Yeti LLC, 2016. 2
You’re ready to create an app for your brand, and to get
the best possible results you’ve decided to hire a team of
software engineering consultants.
The question is: which experts should you choose?
OVERVIEW

3. Yeti LLC, 2016. 3
OVERVIEW
App development is a booming business. Over the past four years,
mobile use has grown five times, and apps are predicted to hit over
$70 billion in revenue by 2017.
The number of app developers is growing as well, with registered
iOS developers alone just shy of 10 million.

4. Yeti LLC, 2016. 4
OVERVIEW
It’s important to ask your app development company
the right questions.
Before committing to a project that may run into the tens or
hundreds of thousands, it’s essential to conduct a thorough interview
to find a consulting team that’s the right fit for your needs. Here are
a few of the most important questions you should be asking.

5. Yeti LLC, 2016. 5
Inquiring about the company’s history and asking for testimonials
from past clients can give you insight into how much relevant
experience the firm has, and whether they’ve successfully pulled
off similar projects in the past.
Another big point to clarify is exactly who will be doing the work.
In-house design and usability teams are always a big plus, because
you’ll be working with a cohesive team of experienced experts
instead of individual freelancers who may have never worked
together before.
WHAT IS YOUR AGENCY’S BACKSTORY?
1

6. Yeti LLC, 2016. 6
WHAT ARE YOUR SERVICES?
2
The next step is to find out if the firm
has the technical capabilities required to
create an app with the feature set you are
seeking. For instance, if you want an app
that can send promotional offers to a user
when they are within a certain radius of
your store, you’ll need a firm that’s familiar
with incorporating Bluetooth Low-Energy
technology into their apps.
Which platforms do they develop
apps for? Do they develop native apps,
apps using a cross-platform mobile
framework, HTML5 apps, or HTML5
apps in native wrappers? How do they
handle capabilities that are available on
one platform but not another? Getting
to know the tools and frameworks they
use will help you understand their skills
and limitations.

7. Yeti LLC, 2016. 7
WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS—AND WHY?
3
Ask them to describe each phase of the development process,
from planning and discovery all the way to testing and deployment.
Do they use rapid prototyping during the design process? How
often do their engineers, product managers, and designers actually
get their hands on the app throughout the development process?
Ask for a typical case study to show you how they’ve approached
app design in the past. Case studies are a great tool for ensuring that
your working styles are compatible.

8. Yeti LLC, 2016. 8
HOW WILL WE WORK TOGETHER?
4
Asking about communication processes
is another way to ensure compatibility.
How often and by what means will they
keep in touch? How is communication
handled if any issues come up between
meetings?
It’s important to get to know each other and clearly
define work & communication processes to establish
working chemistry right off the bat & successfully
integrate their processes into your workflow.

9. Yeti LLC, 2016. 9
One crucial but often forgotten
part of the app development process
is maintenance and updates.
In order to improve and update the
app, analytics need to be collected.
How can users submit crash reports
and feedback, and how often will their
feedback be reviewed? How often will
updates be released?
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE APP IS RELEASED?
5

10. Yeti LLC, 2016. 10
It’s tempting to choose an app development
company based on questions about budget,
but before budget talks, be sure to ask the
right questions to find out whether the
firm is a good fit for your company’s needs,
brand, and work style.

11. Yeti LLC, 2016. 11
Yeti collaborates with industry leaders to design, develop, and ship
the products that shape the future. Leaders from industries such
as robotics, IoT hardware development, virtual reality experiences,
data science analytics, and community building applications
partner with Yeti to define and solve problems. Our team designs,
prototypes, and builds effective solutions, elegantly delivered
through an iterative process that continuously evolves the product.
For more information, visit us on the web at yeti.co.
Additional Resources: The Product Design Process Guide
Video: Intro To Agile Development
Webinar: Taking Your Product Idea To The Next Level