DEV Community: SolveIt

How To Make Your M-Commerce App Successful

SolveIt — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 08:24:48 +0000

At the dawn of e-commerce, this definition was quite comprehensive and meant using any device for making online purchases.

However, in recent years, the number of sales from mobile devices has increased so much that a new definition, mobile commerce (m-commerce), has emerged.

What is the difference between electronic commerce and mobile commerce, and is it important to separate them? Keep reading our article to learn about the latest trends in m-commerce and the keys to a successful mobile commerce app.

Some Statistics

In 2021, the number of smartphone users worldwide has reached almost 4 billion. This is half of the entire population of the Earth.

And in 2020 alone, overall mobile purchases totaled $336.98 million. This is 2.5 times more than in 2018.

Undoubtedly, the reason for such changes lies in the temporary lack of alternatives. The coronavirus pandemic has made its own adjustments in the usual pace of life in general and in the way of shopping in particular. Because of self-isolation, both businesses and customers have moved and set up online.

It is expected that by 2022, 65% of all online purchases will be made from mobile devices.

Recent Trends

With the unprecedented growth in the number of retail mobile applications, the buyers’ demands grew as well. Nothing is surprising here: the higher the competition, the higher the expectations for service providers. People want to buy in stores that offer a wide range of products with their detailed descriptions, fast delivery, convenient search tool and payment methods — and no less. In addition, one wants to make purchases quickly, and for this purpose, nothing better than a smartphone or tablet was invented.

Moreover, it is now possible to make purchases in both separate applications of online stores and inside services familiar to users for a long time. In recent years, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and other major platforms have implemented a buy button in their mobile apps to prevent users from clicking through multiple external links.

This offshoot of mobile commerce even got its name: social commerce. The rapidly developing direction fully embodies the optimization of retail business.

The position of retail on social networks is still rather precarious: comparably few users begin to consider social networks not only a content source, but also a marketplace.

Indeed, the implementation of side functions is not always beneficial for applications, as users initially download them for one specific purpose. Still, the retail in the mentioned applications keeps developing and attracting new followers. At the same time, it is very unlikely that most users will completely prefer social networks over online stores, which is good for the latter.

Key Differences

Is there such a big difference between mobile and e-commerce?

The key difference between e- and m-commerce is the device that serves as an intermediary between the buyer and the seller. It is that simple: if a transaction is made via a computer or laptop, we are talking about e-commerce. When a smartphone or tablet is used, it is m-commerce.

It stands to mention that many online stores have both a mobile application and a website, i.e., presented on different platforms.

In light of this, we can deduce that mobile commerce is a faster and more modern version of e-commerce. Mobile devices are making the interaction between the buyer and the seller more convenient than ever.

Indeed, business owners have long been placing greater emphasis on mobile apps in a bid to attract users to them. A striking example is AliExpress: back in 2009, this giant was originally a website; however, today the functionality of the site is much poorer than that of a mobile application. In the application, the user will find much more attractive discounts, built-in games, and unique promotions that encourage them to come back for purchases more often.

Of course, hardly anyone will be able to launch a successful m-commerce application nearly as that one. However, looking after general trends in m-commerce app development will help you determine the direction to move in. If market leaders focus on mobile applications, then this direction is the most profitable and promising.

Yet still, it is not always advisable for a small business to look up to giant platforms. The latter have been on the market for a long time and do not need additional advertising: for them, the issue of customer trust and loyalty is not so critical.

What if you still need to earn the trust of buyers when you decide to build an m-commerce app? First, take care of users’ safety.

How to Make M-Commerce App For Your Business

Security of M-Commerce

The safety of the user and their desire to keep shopping in a particular store go hand in hand. Security heads the list of m-commerce app features for success. Protecting consumer’s data is a top concern of a mobile commerce business owner. No one wants to become a victim of identity theft or illegal write-offs.

Any transaction made from a mobile device includes three components, namely:

• User — the party making the purchase
• Server — the side of the mobile application owner
• Connection — the connecting link between the first two, which ensures their adequate
interaction

None of these components should have security issues. Ensure continuous transaction protection and use secure protocols. The user, on the other hand, should be able to configure multi-factor authentication and have control over the geolocation function.

Payment Methods

Manual input is the worst enemy of a smartphone user. Especially when it comes to entering bank card details when paying for goods. This is a frequent occasion when shopping on websites.

One of the significant advantages of m-commerce apps is the ability to pay not only with a bank card, but also using mobile electronic wallets (Apple Pay, Android Pay), which allows avoiding typing errors and saves time.

More About Saving Time

We mentioned earlier that half of the world's population has a smartphone. Unfortunately, not all devices support the latest versions of applications and operating systems, which can affect the speed of loading screens. Try to make m-commerce app for your business as light as possible: a long catalog loading will certainly leave a negative impression on the buyer.

Time is money. You should also make sure that the application works adequately with a weak Internet connection. Loss of connection, especially during payment, will not cause users anything but frustration.

User Comfort

All the above is another reminder not to underestimate the importance of the overall user experience, that is, the comfort when interacting with the application.

We have already mentioned that you should try to look at the application from different angles: through the eyes of both the consumer and the business owner. The user must understand that, from your end, you are aimed not only at making a profit, but also at building long-term relationships with them. This will be facilitated by surveys about the quality of service, feedback forms, and a welcome guide when the user runs the application for the first time.

When a client comes up with an idea for an m-commerce app, we always look ahead. Through our experience, we see what the client cannot see: the future. Yes, we can assume what awaits the project in perspective: users' reaction to certain features, the convenience of making purchases in a store, and how to promote such a project.

Most often, m-commerce business owners have no idea what difficulties may arise in the future. They are in love with the idea itself and often do not see possible problems. Our mission is not just to sell the service, but to help the client optimize the budget, make the mobile application convenient and successful, anticipate and prevent possible problems on the project.

— Karina Suboch, Business Development Manager at SolveIt

Tracking Statistics

Retail mobile apps offer convenient tools for tracking analytics. While websites require connecting external tools for tracking business statistics, such as Google Analytics, mobile solutions allow you to analyze KPIs without third-party services. You can learn about:

• Most popular product categories
• Time spent in the app
• Conversion rate
• Used mobile traffic, etc.

As a result, you will get to know your target audience better and understand what exactly it needs. By learning more about your customers, you can earn their loyalty.

The mobile app enables close customer engagement thanks to custom bug reports and social media integrations. In addition, if you enable authorization via Facebook or Gmail, this will simplify the registration of new users.

Conclusion

Business owners invest in retail mobile applications development for many reasons. Apps provide higher ROI, increase conversion, as well as customer loyalty and engagement, help in promotion, and make your brand more recognizable.

A retail app is an essential attribute of a modern business. Why develop it is no longer a question: how to develop an m-commerce app is instead. Soon, about two-thirds of online purchases will be made through mobile devices, and we see this as a good reason to start developing an m-commerce application.

At SolveIt, we will help you make your business profitable and recognizable, as well as develop a successful m-commerce strategy. Contact us, and together we will think over all the details of your project.

How to Start an Online Retail Business

SolveIt — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 08:50:57 +0000

There are already too many online stores! Why start another one?

Undeniably, there are numerous stores on the Internet. But you must agree that few of them are attractive enough to purchase there, not to mention coming back.

If you think about how to start an online retail business, in other words — do e-commerce, there is no reason to give up this idea. But first, do comprehensive research, study the issue thoroughly, and take a few important steps. Check them out in our guide.

Let's return to the first point: there are too many online stores. Is this a reason to doubt? Not at all, as online platforms would not be so popular if e-commerce was not a profitable business. More than 70% of people make purchases on the Internet at least once a month.

What can really scare an aspiring retailer is the high competition in the market and the fear of wasted efforts. Therefore, the first step to take when one decides to start an online retail business would be:

1. Study the Market and Competitors

There are two possible options:

• You already occupy your niche, and you know exactly what you will sell
• You are only deciding on the domain of your business

In the first case, carefully analyze your competitors’ offers. What do their stores look like? What could you have done differently? What would you have left unchanged? Or suddenly you turn out to be the pioneer in your niche; if so, hats off to you.

Otherwise, if you have nothing but a desire to act, before you start a retail business in the field of e-commerce, we suggest using business intelligence tools that will help you identify general trends in consumer demand based on various criteria. Try some of these:

• Google Trends
• Statista
• Keyword Surfer Chrome extension
• Similarweb website and Chrome extension

2. Get to Know Your Target Audience

What are the needs of your potential customer? Their age, interests, income? Drawing up a detailed customer profiling will help you better understand your target audience, their needs — and find a way to meet them.

If you already have a website with Google Analytics installed, then you can easily conduct an in-depth analysis of your audience. In the “Audience” tab, you will see the information about your customers’ places of residence, devices used, categories of purchased goods, and other parameters of interest.

Having these parameters analyzed, the question of how to start an e-commerce business will be almost resolved.

You will see your store visit statistics on the chart.

3. Register Business

Settle all legal issues. Different countries have different business registration procedures, so there is no universal guide here. The operations you definitely need to conduct after deciding on the store domain is:

• Sound out the taxation procedure
• Register a trademark
• Obtain the licenses and permits required in your area

If you are in doubt about your own abilities, you can always seek the help of a specialist. It is much easier to start a small online retail business if you have someone to rely on.

4. Consider Your Brand Concept

Proper brand positioning will help build strong relationships with your customer and sell retail online more efficiently. Make the name of your online store memorable, but clear and self-explanatory.

Of course, it is better if the brand name is your invention. However, artificial intelligence has already stepped far enough to help you even with this issue. Namelix is a useful naming tool. All you need to do is enter a few keywords, set the length and the desired style of the name.

The designer will create a logo that matches your store’s theme. Consider the psychology of color when deciding on the color scheme of the logo and the future site/application.

Don't forget to register your brand trademark. This will protect the logo, fonts of your choice, and unique content from copying.

5. Develop a Business Plan

You need a business plan, regardless of the size of your business, the industry, the store’s theme, and the production volume. Having set specific goals at the very beginning (we already wrote about the importance of numbers here), later on, you will understand that you are going in the right direction or doing something wrong. You should consider not only how to start an online store, but also how to proceed.

Review your progress regularly and record your achievements. This will help you understand the rate of your development and identify trends depending on various factors, such as time of year.

6. Decide on a Supplier

Are you selling your own-produced goods or are you going to arrange supplies? Pay attention to this issue as well.

If you have a product supplier, you need to work out the legal side of your cooperation and organize logistics. Try to make it as fast and inexpensive as you can.

If the question of finding a supplier is not relevant for you, the next step would be to start setting up your production, purchasing raw materials, and looking for a warehouse. Perhaps you, as a manufacturer, know more about this than we do, so the main thing here is not to lose sight of anything.

7. Start an Online Retail Store

Finally, it is time to put your platform online. Many online stores are created using builders that offer a ready-made software solution, such as Wix, Shopify, and WooCommerce. These platforms provide a ready-made template that you just need to fill with items. CMS allow you to create an online store with minimal investment and HTML and CSS skills. Many people use builders for reasons of economy and usability.

However, the builders offer limited functionality, and their inexpensiveness is rather conditional. You will have to pay for many useful modules; the domain name and hosting will add costs too.

The soundest way is to entrust the development to specialists. An online store created from scratch will favorably distinguish you among similar sites on well-known CMS. Find a development company to take on your project from scratch.

SolveIt will not only provide MVP development services for your business, but also delivers subsequent technical support.

Take care of payment methods convenient for your customers. Integrate payment systems into your online store and think over delivery methods.

Despite all the negative aspects of COVID-19, it was not an obstacle for those who have long wanted to start an online store. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, they say; those who took a risk and moved into the online retail business in this period generate even larger amounts than they could before the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of people to stay at home and shop online. As a result, marketplaces and online stores experienced unprecedented traffic growth in the second quarter of 2020. It was even higher than peak visits during sales days. In June 2020, online stores worldwide were visited nearly 22 billion times, compared with 16.07 billion visits in January 2020, Statista calculated.

To create a profitable business, one needs to follow the recommendations listed in the article. Special attention should be paid to the quality development, filling the site and mobile application with content, and fast dropshipping, as this is what attracts visitors. An aesthetically pleasing and usable application is a huge success.

Many countries are gradually exempt from self-isolation, however, the stores moving online and people’s urge to buy there continues to grow. The active growth of the e-commerce market, which began in 2020, does not slow down in 2021. In Russia alone, according to the BI agency Data Insight, over the past year, the market volume grew by 58% and amounted to 2.7 trillion rubles, and its fourfold growth is expected by 2015.

— Veronica Rudman, Business Development Manager at SolveIt

8. Fill Your Store With Goods

Attractive photos and catchy product descriptions get the lion’s share of an online store’s successful sales.

Photographing goods is a real science. To be recognized by customers, you would like to develop your own style of creating photos (e.g., using a special angle or background).

Take the effort to distribute the products into categories and write comprehensive descriptions. Let all the information about the product be in one place so that the customer does not have to look for missing data in other sources. Otherwise, the customer may accidentally stumble upon a competitor — and buy from them, having completely forgotten about you.

9. Start Marketing Your Store

For higher sales and involvement, include promoting your store on social media (SMM) in your marketing plan. Most Internet users have accounts on social networks, making the latter an effective tool for promotion. It is important to accompany posts on Instagram and Facebook with readable texts: find a copywriter to create them, or master the writing skill yourself.

Note: on social networks, you need to not only attract users to your site, but also share useful and interesting information. Otherwise, your page will look like an advertising banner, which is not very welcome.

Do not underestimate the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). Two online stores can be found on the first and twentieth pages of search results, respectively, with their contents almost identical. This is due to SEO optimization — or lack of it. Learn more about business advertising in one of our previous articles.

Conclusion

In this article, we have listed the basic steps to online retail business if you decide to start an online retail store. Having launched a retail business and gained enough experience, you will definitely find what to complement our list with.

Our last tip is: don’t postpone the creation of an online store if you have already made a decision. You can wait for the right moment to fulfill your plan as long as it takes, and there will always be reasons for starting another time. But remember: the success of your idea depends only on you!

SolveIt will gladly take over the development of the website and mobile application so that you can pay as much attention to business development and earning revenue as possible. Contact us in any convenient way, and we will answer all of your questions.

How E-Commerce Software Can Help Your Business

SolveIt — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 13:16:20 +0000

For most people, online shopping has long become a habit, and with the COVID-19 pandemic onset, going online has turned out to be the only chance for a business to survive. This has resulted in an increased demand for apps development.

But we know what business owners care about the most: what if the app doesn't pay off? How to beat competitors? How to stand out and not waste budget?

Read the answers to these and other questions in this article with a comment from the SolveIt expert.

How E-Commerce Software Can Improve Your Business

Even with the easing of coronavirus restrictions, people are not in a hurry to get back offline: making purchases on the Internet is faster and more convenient. Thus, by 2021 the share of sales through mobile applications of all sales on the Internet increased to 53.9% compared to 34.5% in 2017. E-commerce has become more relevant than ever.

Screenshot: statista.com

Perhaps, there is no particular need to give a dictionary definition of e-commerce, as these words speak from themselves. However, we will clarify: electronic commerce, or e-commerce, is the sale of goods and services via the Internet, that is, any transaction made from a device connected to the network.

Today, our task is to explain how can e-commerce help a business grow and specify the ways e-commerce can improve business.

And a few more important numbers: according to smartinsights.com, about two-thirds of all Internet users make online purchases on their smartphones, and 89% of them use mobile applications for it. In this case, both the client and the business win.

Below we will give several strong arguments in favor of developing a mobile e-commerce application, give you reasons why e-commerce software help, and will try to dispel your doubts on this issue.

What To Start With?

As a business owner, you can perfectly understand all the benefits of your own software solution and still hesitate to go for its development. Or you have already made this decision, but do not know where exactly to start.
The good news: you already know more than you think — at least what the application should not be like.

Change angle

Look at the situation through the eyes of an ordinary user. First off, having become interested in a product or service, you will probably go for online research. And you will find many (or at least a few, depending on the specifics of your request) themed sites and applications.

Like everyone else, you appreciate a user-friendly interface, and you certainly will not return to an application that barely loads content and constantly gives errors.

If it runs like clockwork, has easy payment options, fast order processing, and contains relevant information, then it is highly probable that you will make a purchase there again.

Having noted what kind of application — the face of your business — you would not want to use, it's time to ask yourself what it should be like.

Understand the customer

A mobile application is a kind of way to “attach” a customer to your store. Most smartphones have about 30 applications installed, of which about 10 are used daily. Even if your shopping app is not among the latter, the user's habit of seeing its logo on the desktop will inevitably increase their loyalty to the store and stimulate repeat purchases.

Fear of missing out makes users regularly monitor updates on social media and news sites, as well as online stores. Human psychology is something to make use of when it comes to how e-commerce can help business.

Set specific goals

To better understand your goals as a business owner and, accordingly, to make them look more real and feasible, vague “increase sales” and “foster customer loyalty” are not enough.

Analyze the current performance of your business and estimate by how much you want to improve it — yes, with specific numbers. For example: “Now I have 20 new customers a month, and with the help of the application I want to reach 100.” Define specific KPIs.

Imagine that thanks to an app, these numbers will become reality — and you will no longer want to give up the idea of developing it.

Follow our expert's opinion:

The fact that a business can no longer stay beyond the digital environment is an open secret. Some business owners are still trying to stay offline, looking with envy at competitors who are investing in the development of their mobile applications and e-commerce websites.

Of course, we are observing an increase in demand for e-commerce software development, and there are several reasons for this:

The influx of new buyers. During the self-isolation, the number of buyers in mobile applications increased by 33%, which is 25% more than in 2019.

Distant work. In Russia alone, according to the latest Rosstat data, at the end of the pandemic, about 5.7 million people will continue to work remotely. This means that the frequency of in-app purchases is unlikely to decrease anytime soon.

Self-isolation. Forced isolation has also forced users to go online either way.

The pandemic has contributed to even greater growth in the already steadily developing e-commerce market, which has led to an increase in the number of market players and new offers. Your task is to follow trends wisely. Before developing a product, conduct an in-depth analysis to understand what exactly your consumer needs.

— Polina Kovchuk, Business Development Manager at SolveIt

But you may still have concerns.

What If The Investments Do Not Pay Off?

A custom app is an investment in your business, which is not free. Bear in mind that everything is not limited to development: a ready solution requires follow-up technical support and regular updates.

The payback of the application directly depends on your willingness to constantly invest in improving the buyers’ comfort.

Anyway, the buyer has much more confidence in a store with its own application. For them, the app means that you at least care about the buyer’s impression of your store and are willing to invest — and are investing — in improving the quality of your services.

How To Become More Visible?

And, of course, do not ignore marketing costs. Spending money on development makes little sense if no one knows about the final product. Any application, even the most flawless one, needs a proper presentation and branding.

You can contact a marketing agency for promotion, which is likely to cost you a pretty penny, or order both development and marketing services from the same company. The second option is less frequent, however, it has the right to exist. We have some experience in promoting our products: the SolveIt team developed the YMaster application and launched a successful advertising campaign for it. See more in our case.

What Other Benefits Are There?

There are some more points of how e-commerce software can help your business. Additional arguments in favor of developing a mobile e-commerce application are:

Easy Feedback
If a user can share their gratitude, suggestion, or complaint about a product, they will feel their value — because your relationship with a customer does not end with a purchase.

Convenient Business Analysis
As a business owner, you need to track app downloads and user engagement to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your storefront. An e-commerce website can improve your business significantly in terms of business processes.

Notifying Users…
…about anything. About new products in the catalog, promotions, bonuses, placing an order, filled cart — so that you are always in sight.

Conclusion

Only businesses present on the Internet can compete now. A high-quality mobile application with useful features brings you closer to the client, and you better take advantage of it.

Ordering iOS and Android app development services for e-commerce, you are investing in the growth of your business. Numbers don't lie: users are eager to make in-app purchases and willingly come back if you could make this experience pleasant for them.

If you are still in doubt, contact us, and we will calculate the cost of your project.

SolveIt Launches a New Website

SolveIt — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:07:57 +0000

SolveIt, a mobile and web development company, is launching its revamped website. A complete site redesign was made, and new expertise, services, and cases were added due to the company’s growth.

SolveIt has been developing mobile apps and providing mobile application design services since 2016. Over the five years of existence, the company has expanded significantly, so it was decided to develop a new website to reflect these changes. SolveIt technical architects, marketers, and UX/UI designers worked on navigation and usability. The site redesign and updating took six months.

The SolveIt site update is quite an event, and here is why:

New Design

The modern, minimalistic design is devoid of bulky elements and heavy animations, which the old site was overloaded with.

A unique color scheme has appeared: SolveIt designers have developed a new corporate style using shades of gray and yellow.

Site pages differ in color. This makes it easier for the visitor to structure information and focus on what really matters. The pages “Expertise,” “Services,” “How we work,” and “Blog” have a dark background. This solution makes the light homepage brighter and more expressive.

Display on Mobile Devices

The developers paid special attention to the mobile version of solveit.dev. Using its own website as an example, the company demonstrates its ability to create user-friendly smartphone interfaces.

At the same time, the new design was not specially adapted for tablets: few people use them to visit the site. The web version provides tablet owners with a complete user experience, so they will not have any trouble while on the site.

Revised Structure

Navigation has become more logical and intuitive. Visitors can quickly and easily find a detailed description of the services, a list of technologies used, engagement models, and a company portfolio. One can choose the portfolio display mode: as a carousel or a standard list.

Localization

SolveIt is an international company focused on the countries of Europe and North America. Currently, the site has full-fledged English and Russian versions, and two more, French and German, will be added soon. Additional language versions will make the site clear and convenient for clients from different countries.

Website Optimization

The site was developed to meet the new Google standards, Core Web Vitals, which clearly set out the requirements for websites. Optimization of all indicators helped increase the site loading speed and make it more user-friendly.

Visit https://solveit.dev/ and share your impressions!

TOP 7 Soft Skills For IT Specialists

SolveIt — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 14:34:55 +0000

The demand for IT specialists is growing every day and the competition is increasing. Professional skills are no longer enough to build a career in a good company. Employers have also begun to pay attention to soft skills. In this article we will talk with SolveIt's Head of HR about the importance of soft skills in the IT industry, what soft skills are necessary and how to improve them.

Skills can be divided into two categories:

Hard skills are technical skills directly related to professional qualifications that can be proven by certifications.
Soft skills are personal skills that do not relate to a specific position but increase the professional level of employees.

Why does an IT specialist need soft skills?

1. Increase the probability of a successful interview

If an employer needs to choose between two candidates with the same “hard” skills, the choice will be made in favor of the one who also has good “soft” skills. It is more advantageous for the company to hire a qualified employee who also knows how to manage the work process and build good communication with colleagues.
A variety of professional courses are emerging that are graduating more and more newcomers to the job search. Soft skills will help you reach your potential and prove yourself.

2. Increase the probability of career growth

Developed skills increase the probability of career growth because responsibility becomes higher when a new position is obtained. A Manager differs from a Junior employee not only in experience, but also in the ability to make important decisions and build business communication.

3. Improve internal processes

In 2017, Google conducted an interesting study that identified the best teams within the company. According to the results, it turned out that employees of the most productive teams are people with a high level of soft skills.

Top 7 Soft skills list for IT specialist + advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

1. Communication

This is negotiating, the ability to find compromises and great teamwork. Many companies hold internal events to discuss problems, solutions, and new ideas. These skills are necessary to communicate with colleagues, share experience and knowledge.

How to improve?

Communicate more and discuss work issues with your colleagues. Everyone on the team is working on a common cause, so don't be shy about asking your colleagues for help.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

To improve your communication skills, try to take the lead in conversations with colleagues or friends more often. And also use active listening techniques – eye contact, reaction to individual words, jokes, clarification, etc.

Top books for developing Communication skills:

"Shyness: What It Is, What To Do About It", Philip G. Zimbardo
"How to Succeed with People: Remarkably easy ways to engage, influence and motivate almost anyone", Paul McGee
"How to Win Friends and Influence People", Dale Carnegie

2. Creativity and flexibility

It is the ability to adapt quickly to different conditions and find non-standard solutions to situations. In the process of working on a project, there are often changes and improvements that need to be responded quickly.

How to improve?

Find new approaches to solving old problems. Ask yourself: "How can we do things differently here?" and take on new and unfamiliar tasks. The more difficult the tasks will be, the faster you will learn.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

Ask for feedback from your lead or team members and adjust your behaviors. Develop a personalized plan for your development with a HR manager. Practice your new behaviors in a "safe" environment, with colleagues and friends who can give you constructive and honest feedback.

Top books for developing Creativity and Flexibility skills:

"How People Think", Dmitry Chernyshev
"The Agile Mind: How Your Brain Makes Creativity Happen", Estanislao Bachrach

3. Discipline

It is time management and the ability to prioritize tasks. When there are several projects going on in parallel, it is important to manage time and understand how to distribute your efforts.

How to improve?

Organize your tasks and prioritize each one. Business coach Brian Tracy used to say, "Eat the frog in the morning", which means doing the most difficult tasks at the beginning of the day.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

When setting goals for yourself and your employees to correctly formulate the task correctly and effectively perform it helps the well-known system SMART system, according to which the goals and objectives should be:

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Relevant
T - Time-bounded

Top books to improve self-discipline:

"Lifehack for every day", Igor Mann, Farid Karimov
"Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change", Timothy A. Pychyl
"The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It ", Kelly McGonigal

4. Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Soft Skill
It is observation and the ability to explain your point of view, focus on learning information, and the ability to apply analytical skills in different situations. While working on a project, unforeseen problems may arise; it is important not to panic, correctly assess the situation, and choose the right solutions.

How to improve?
Ask yourself specific questions more often, analyze and think through different solutions to problems and situations.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

Try to identify a difficult situation in the team, processes or non-standard tasks on the project, make and implement a plan to solve it.

Top books for developing Critical Thinking skill:

"BEHAVE: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst", Sapolsky Robert M.
"Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study", Tom Chatfield
"Thinking, Fast and Slow", Daniel Kahneman
"How Not to Be Wrong", Jordan Ellenberg

5. Mindfulness and ability to concentrate

You should first calculate where the problem might arise so you have time to fix it. An attentive professional gets more done in a day and doesn't waste time. To be as productive as possible, you need to focus on the task at hand and immerse yourself in it.

How to improve?

Do each task one at a time, following the list you made in advance. Try to concentrate all of your attention on doing a particular task.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

To always remain attentive and not "spread out" on several tasks is worth taking care of your emotional and physical state. Try to pay attention to your mood and body needs, if necessary, take breaks and rest from work.

It is also worth paying great attention to your workspace - it will be much easier for you to concentrate in a comfortable chair and space with fresh air and good lighting.

Top books for developing Mindfulness and Concentration skills:

“Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive“, Kevin Horsley
“A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science“, Oakley Barbara
“The Power of Forgetting: Six Essential Skills to Clear Out Brain Clutter and Become the Sharpest, Smartest You“, Byster Mike, Loberg Kristin

6. Proactivity

Being proactive means taking well-planned actions to achieve goals. It means focusing on the important, not just the urgent. A combination of the qualities such of being proactive, being aware and responsible.

How to improve?

Take on more responsibility and take on new tasks. Learn from small mistakes.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

Show initiative and take responsibility for training someone on the team. Offer specific innovations in project processes.

Top books for developing the Proactivity skill:

"Flipping the Switch: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the QBQ!", John G. Miller
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen Covey
"Screw It, Let's Do It", Richard Branson

7. Adaptability

Adaptability Soft Skill
The world around us is developing and changing every second. In IT, everything changes just as fast. Employees constantly have to learn about trends, rearrange and change processes and tasks according to new technologies.

How to improve?

It is best to take your time with adaptation: break down the process into many small details, conducting them in such a way that you don't get tired. Adaptation is not only about adapting to new technologies, strategies, and methods, but also about working with colleagues.

Advice from SolveIt's Head of HR

All people have certain patterns of behavior. Analyze what they are for you, take feedback from your colleagues, and try to change them dramatically.

Surround yourself with people who are interested in the same things you are interested in. This will make it easier and faster for you to learn new things and adapt to change.

Top books for developing the Adaptability skill:

"Adaptability: Responding Effectively to Change", Allan Calarco
"Elasticity: Flexible Thinking in an Ever-Changing World", Leonard Mlodinov

Conclusion

To summarize, a person who has technical knowledge of all aspects but no essential soft skills is less likely to succeed than someone more charismatic with developed soft skills. ICIMS Hiring Insights (2017) founds that 94% of recruiters believe that an employee with stronger soft skills is more likely to be promoted to a leadership position than an employee with more experience but weaker important teamwork skills. So you need to develop these skills if you have a desire to advance your career, as they will allow you to stand out in job interviews and on the job. Decide on the skill you want to improve. Don't take on everything at once! It is better to act gradually, one by one. Then they will be effective.

Automation and artificial intelligence will lead to more jobs relying on interpersonal skills. Advances in technology have led to fewer tasks requiring hard skills, making IT soft skills a key differentiator in the workplace. Examples of this can already be seen today, Tesla has robots that manage themselves effectively, meaning that the driver of transportation will soon be a thing of the past. A study by Deloitte Access Economics predicts that by 2030, soft-skill occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs. So it's very important to improve your soft skills to stay competitive.

What to Choose: Freelancer or SME?

SolveIt — Fri, 21 May 2021 14:33:05 +0000

Freelancers or companies? It is the most important question for startups and small businesses. This article will tell you about how freelancers and companies work and it will help you to choose the right option.

Freelancers

Freelancers are independent workers, who work for themselves, without a company. They can choose a convenient work schedule, and also can work with several clients at the same time.

A freelancer creates a portfolio with skills, knowledge, completed projects, hourly price and contact information on freelance platforms. Clients can communicate with several candidates and hire the best variant for their projects.

The most popular freelance platforms

Guru
— Cost-effective
— Used by 3 million
— Feedback scores
— Flexible payment rates
Upwork
— For complex projects
— Long-term contract options
Freelancer.com
— General platform
— Communicate online
Peopleperhour
— International community
— Job ratings
— Huge range of services
Solidgigs
Weekly gig list
Courses and tools
Top opportunities

Engagement models

There are many payment models for freelancers. For example, prepayment or payment after completing the project. However, hourly rates remain the most popular model.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

SMEs companies strive to get an excellent reputation in the development market and find more potential clients. Obtaining a rating is extremely important for such companies that develop their own brand and value their reputation very much. To do better research, let’s take our SolveIt company as an example.

SMEs main features

Engagement models

Dedicated team. Clients hire their own flexible team with the necessary skills and monthly cost. Clients have maximum control over the development process.

Time and material. Clients are paid only for the working hours spent on their project. This model allows clients to finish a project faster and save budget.

Fixed price. A contract with fixed price is most often used for small projects with strictly limited functionality, which will definitely not be changed or supplemented.

Development Process

The first stage is Discovery. It includes discovery calls, defining components, defining user roles and epics. This stage is the Technical Lead and UX Lead responsibility. The client is given a project estimate, NDA and a proposal.
The second stage is Visual and technical design. This consists of processes such as competitive analysis, wireframes creating, technical architecture developing and microservices. Project manager, Technical Lead and UX Lead are responsible for this process. At the end of this stage, the client receives a flow diagram, prototypes, user stories and other.
The third stage is Development. One of the most important and time-consuming steps, which includes pre-alpha, alpha and beta developing, release candidate, production and quality assurance process. At this stage, CTO, Project Manager, developers and QA get involved.
The fourth step is Deployment and Maintenance. At this stage QA experts test the product, developers fix bugs and release the product to the stores. If the client needs initial promotion of the product, then marketers are also connected and help with the successful release.
The last stage is Upgrades, which include requirements gathering and backlog prioritization process. Team Leads, Developers and QA upgrades to apps and services. SolveIt offers a free 90-day quality guarantee after successful launch. Also we offer our customers an SLA-contract.

Entrepreneur vs small business owner

It’s easier and faster to find freelancers through platforms or get recommendations from friends and acquaintances or even they can be freelance workers. It is difficult and takes time to find a trusted company with professionals.

Working with freelancers speeds up the process and reduces the development costs, but leads to additional costs for fixing bugs. There is no guarantee of providing support for the application after launch. Freelancers need more time to explore all technical things and other questions. Companies have well-established and tracking working processes, detailed technical specifications documents, and transparent payments upon done work.

Companies have approved technical task documents and as a result, a successful product, that won’t go over the main budget. Experienced professional teams work according to Agile methodology. Clients can check all working processes in companies, budget spendings, reports with detailed information about all interesting information. Companies work on reputation and clients are assured about successful results. Freelancers can leave projects, so clients need to find new workers, tell them about previews of work done, it wastes a lot of time and budget.

If clients want to have successful products into an approved budget with all documentation and next support, it is better to work with companies. If clients have time to communicate with freelancers, no exact budget, and no deadlines, they are better off working with freelancers.

Our expert’s comment:

From our personal experience, we have to admit that many companies after working with freelancers, turn to SMEs or agencies to find some more qualified work. Why does it happen? Well, the answer is simple: many freelancers combine their full-time work with some side projects. Thus, not everyone can manage their time rationally and devote the same amount of effort to each task on both sides. Deadlines are drawing out, quality of the work remains wanting. Following these on-the-ground problems, companies are approaching SMEs to find the right people who will dedicate all their time for the projects’ needs.

One recent example we dealt with was the redesign of an iptv app. The client had a not properly adjusted app for tablets done by several independent freelancers. SolveIt provided not only tablet app repair, but also created native mobile apps for smartphones. The client was more than satisfied with the work done and still is in contact with our team. This positive experience got the client convinced to address the SMEs for more successful projects’ realization.

The role of the sales manager at a company is crucial: to know the strengths and weaknesses of the company, to set them right. Sales manager is the first person to meet with the client, thus, with his or her face this company will be mostly associated with. It’s more than simply selling, it is to carry the image of the company shoulder-high and create a reliable and long-term relationship with the client. — Valeriе Yatsuk, Sales Manager

Conclusion

There are many ways to develop a project, whether it is a freelancer or SME’s company, the goal is the same — to make a quality product and fit within budget. In this article, we gave examples and tried to explain the difference. What is more important for you: saving money or getting transparent reports, you have to figure out for yourself.

Below is our comparison table to make it easier to understand what is more important to you.

Freelancer vs small business entrepreneur

SolveIt is a product-oriented company that can provide and make the best future marketing strategy for developed products. Our company works for continuous communication with all clients. We are always open to support and communication about projects. SolveIt has clients from all over the world, so we are multilanguage and can be adapted for any requirements.

Stay in touch with us and Get consultation about your ideas.

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.

Ilia Kiselevich, Founder & CEO at SolveIt | Interview For TopDevelopers

SolveIt — Wed, 05 May 2021 13:03:16 +0000

Give us a quick overview on SolveIt. When and how did you begin this journey and what were your motives to be successful in app development?

Our journey started small in scale, I was a developer and already knew everything inside out. More projects came up, clients liked our approach to business and the quality of our services. I gathered a team of the most experienced developers and founded SolveIt. Initially, we were only doing mobile apps, now we have a team of 51 professionals and 18 services to effectively solve customer problems.

What is your role in the management and development of SolveIt?

As a CEO and Founder at SolveIt, I am responsible for crucial decisions, long-term development strategies, and the company’s overall performance.

Tell us about your biggest achievement in the industry

I believe the biggest achievement for our company and for me personally is that along the way our clients stop being clients and become our friends, and that’s something you can’t put a price on. We still communicate with all of our clients and the retention rate is more than 85%. They don’t just come back for software development and support, but for product launch and promotion.

How do you schedule the development phases of the apps to promise the timeline to your clients?

If you look at a high-level project, we usually distinguish between stages: specification/design; development; testing and QA and launch. We actively use Agile and Scrum methodologies for projects. By dividing the project into small iterations (2-week sprints) we ensure a controlled project development process. We pride ourselves in knowing that our clients always know what the team is working on and when the next version of the application will be released. It ensures high customer involvement. With every milestone we report to the client, gain their valuable feedback, and act upon it before taking up the next task. Our focus on quality and a transparent iterative work model has built confidence in us as a strategic and long-term technology partner.

How do you help your clients in choosing the right yet profitable platform for app development?

On each project, we try to fully understand the business processes, the specifics of the subject matter and plans for the project’s development. After that, we give recommendations to the client based on our experience and expertise about how to proceed with their launch.

Which would you suggest for a successful and profitable business progression, Native or hybrid apps? How do you define the factors that influenced you to make this choice?

Each of these approaches has its own pros and cons. Hybrid development works best for projects where it is important to be cost-effective and quickly implement new features. However, Hybrid development has a number of drawbacks, in particular, it is less supported and when new versions of Android and IOS are released, the application can be unstable. Native development, in turn, is much more stable, the application runs smoother and there are many more possibilities for making complex animations and UI elements. The disadvantages of native development can be attributed to the high price due to the fact that each platform needs to be developed separately, and in this regard, the speed and cost of introducing new functionality is higher.

How do you scheme your pricing model? How do you fix your budget?

We work on three different engagement models: Time&Material, which means that at the start of the project, we work on pre-estimation and carry out work in sprints with preliminary approval of the scope of work and tasks performed. Payment is made based on the hours worked in the reporting period (2–4 weeks). This model lets you maintain the flexibility of the project and its functionality. Each stage of planning the next sprint, its content, and user-stories will be approved by our customer. Then there’s the Fixed Price model. We estimate the project and its parts and fix the cost. Until the first stage is completed, the next stage does not start. Payment, timeframes, and the scope of work are fixed and are specified in the contract. A contract with a fixed price is most often used for small projects with strictly limited functionality, which will definitely not be changed or supplemented. Finally, we offer the ability to use us as an Offshore Development Centre or Offshore Dedicated Team if you will. This kind of operation is a perfect solution for businesses wishing to augment their software development productivity without bearing too much additional expenses such as hiring extra staff or investing in other resources.

First, we conduct several interviews with the client and form a commercial proposal, where we show him all the options and our team offers the best way for the customer to develop and evaluate the project based on the requirements.

How helpful are the mobile apps developed by your team, for enhancing your clients’ business?

Each mobile application is unique and useful. We make the product as usable as possible through design, high-quality development and strict testing. Our products have 1M+ end-users worldwide and help clients increase profits and customer loyalty, and open additional paths of monetization for their business.

What according to you are the best practices to attain client satisfaction?

The best practices to attain client satisfaction are:

Responsible work approach
Transparent reports
Support client’s product during and after development
High quality for a good price
Finding an individual approach to each client

How do you update your business system to be in pace with the technological advancements?

I think IT companies have to keep up with technological progress. We actively work with existing customers and offer them the ability to implement innovative solutions, improving their products. We also develop new products, constantly monitoring for technological advancements.

What are your thoughts about AR, VR and Internet of Things (IoT)?

AR, VR, IoT are actively developing areas now and according to analytics and investments in this area still have huge potential for explosive growth. The current market has many industries that are yet to disintegrate into smaller sub-sectors. In the foreseeable future, these technologies will be in the home of every human being on the planet and become an integral part of our lives as the Internet has become nowadays. We as a company are staying on top of it and are developing these areas by introducing advanced developments, frameworks, libraries and methodologies.

What do you think will be the future of Mobile technology?

Every year Google and Apple present new versions of their operating systems which are closer and closer to the features provided by desktop platforms, and sometimes even superior. Qualcomm, Mediatek, Exynos (Samsung) continually update the line of processors constantly raising the bar of performance and energy efficiency, which together with the OS makes for a great user experience. More and more often I, as well as I think you, can see that phones handle a large part of our interactions with the Internet. In line with this vision, we as a company see a great demand from society to innovate and create products on mobile platforms and this demand will increase more and more as it becomes an integral part of our lives.

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.

Is Java still relevant in 2021?

SolveIt — Tue, 04 May 2021 10:50:41 +0000

React, Kotlin, Swift, Python, React Native, Deno, Flutter, Java, how many other programming languages exist, new ones are added, old ones are forgotten, but what about Java? Is this language dead or is Java still relevant? Today SolveIt Java developer Stas Kolenchik will try to answer this question and give his expert opinion.

Java is a high-level object-oriented programming language with static typing developed by Sun Microsystems in 1995, later acquired by Oracle. Java code can run on any platform that supports the JVM (Java Virtual Machine). It is a virtual machine that translates human-readable Java code into processor-understandable code.

Therefore, you can run Java code everywhere for which the JVM has already been developed. For example:

Powerful servers;
Computers;
Smartphones;
Fitness bracelets;
GPS trackers;
Smartwatches;
Smart TVs, refrigerators, microwaves, and other home gadgets;
Smart cards for indoor access.

Nowadays, on forums and in countless articles you can find loud statements that “Java is dying” and “Java is a thing of the past”. All this is presented as “we should switch to another programming language” or “Java programmers are no longer in demand”. But all this is fundamentally wrong if you listen to the facts and statistics. Let’s take a closer look at these myths:

Myth #1: “Java is dying”

A huge number of programs have been written since the beginning of the use of this language, which is still alive and in need of support, such specialists will be in demand for a long time to come. Java is used in world-famous companies like Google, Netflix, Facebook, Amazon, Oracle and IBM.

If we look at the statistics, based on JetBrains’ research, Java is the most popular programming language of 2020. But since it’s still an old language, it has disadvantages. Let’s take a look at them.

Cons of Java:

- Unconventionally implemented object-oriented approach to programming

The fundamental reason why Java cannot be a fully OOP language is the presence of primitives. Since version 8, a functional programming approach has been added to Java when working with collections.

- Code verbosity

Multi-word code is not the highest performance. Where C++ uses one command, Java requires five.

- Limited applicability

To develop websites, create games, operating systems, drivers, you should turn to other programming languages.

Pros:

- Well implemented multithreading

- Multi-platform

- Large Java community

All the bugs have already been committed and described by someone else. On stack overflow, you can find answers to almost any question.

- Fast project estimation

At the time of estimating the timing of the project, you can predict quite accurately in what timeframe the product will be ready. Of course, mistakes will be made, but they will be insignificant compared to JavaScript, for example.

- Relatively fast creation of new features

Thanks to Java it is possible to do this in a short period of time by connecting ready-made solutions in the form of libraries that have already been implemented by someone else and there is no need to write all the code from scratch.

- Java-Dad

To start your career, this programming language is great. It will help you understand object-oriented and functional approaches, thanks to all the features. Once you understand it, you can understand any other programming language.

As Java is a high-level language with a long history, it already has a strong community that has worked with all sorts of programming cases. Thanks to the java-community and internal library, it is possible to take code that has already been worked on, rather than writing it all over again like in other programming languages. The library keeps growing and Oracle keeps investing, new versions and features appear, so it’s safe to say that Java is more alive than ever.

Myth #2: “Java is in the past”

In order to accurately dispel this myth, it is necessary to cite a few historical facts for Java:

2011 — Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, thereby acquiring Java and actively investing in its development.

2014 — Java version 8 was released, becoming a major event in the programming world, the language was appreciably changed and upgraded.

2018 — a new release cycle. It was decided to release new versions in small iterations, rather than large-scale updates once a year. This allowed new features to be added quickly, tested and released again.

2020 — Java became the most popular programming language.

So it is impossible to say that Java is a thing of the past. Yes, it is an old language with its history and shortcomings, perhaps somewhere conservative views on new releases and features. However, statistics, a lot of information, codebase, projects and people in the java-community say the opposite: Java will be in demand for a long time to come.

How to choose the right programming language for your next project?

In addition to choosing one of the leading languages in your particular niche, you should consider:

- The demand for the language in a particular region;

- Libraries and frameworks for that language;

- Level of support in the community;

- Recommendations of the development company. This is probably the most important thing to consider when choosing a programming language.

A classic situation: the customer chooses the fastest and cheapest option on the wrong technology, ignoring the need for future support and expert advice. Incorrect choices and unrealistic deadlines lead to a large number of bugs and, as a consequence, an increase in the budget. At the same time, the product needs to be supported.

A checklist for choosing a programming language for your project:

Consult with the development company that will be making your product;
Ask for an estimate of the project with the developers’ rate;
Analyze how popular the language is now. This will determine how easy it will be to find support in the future.

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.

How Long To Learn Web Development?

SolveIt — Mon, 03 May 2021 08:31:43 +0000

It is a prospective and good-paid career for today. Web programming languages are intended to deal with Internet technologies. How long does it take to learn web development?

Developers have tools and knowledge to create websites from the start. Many businesses and companies need web development for different purposes. Knowing how to create a website opens up a world of opportunity for you. It is an ability to work from the office or from other comfortable places all over the world.

Front-end developers are responsible for the parts of a website that people see and interact with;
Back-end developers are responsible for the behind the scenes code that controls how a website loads and runs;
Full-stack developers do a bit of everything.

My name is Sergei Yakzhyk, I’m a middle full-stack developer at SolveIt. I would tell you a story about my journey as a full-stack developer from the beginning.

What is a Full-Stack Developer?

First, we need to explain what a full-stack developer is. A full-stack developer is a developer who is directly involved in all stages of web application development — from the creation of the client side (visual part + UX) to the implementation of the server side (databases, server architecture, program logic).

Advantages of Full-stack Developer profession:

The ability to run an entire project yourself;
High speed of development, the ability to make your own decisions, minimal time wasted on unnecessary communication;
The ease of finding a freelance job;
Great career opportunities.

Disadvantages of Full-stack Developer profession:

Lots of time to study;
It’s hard to follow new trends;
Too much responsibility;
Challenging tasks;
Large workload.

How and why I started to do it

Four years ago I finished the Epam course, which lasted 5 months. It was a really good course: we dealt with a lot of real projects, we practiced and we were given a lot of materials to study on our own. Also, I had experience in working with a team and with passing interviews.

After that I learned by myself and I got a three-month internship at a outsource IT company. The company gave me feedback about my knowledge and great advice on how I can grow as a full-stack developer. I had my first job after this internship.

Challenges I encountered:

to delve into new technologies;
it takes time to learn and understand hard skills;
to keep a lot of small details in your mind.

How did I come to this

A lot of practice is the most important criterion for success. It is better to read more professional books to get the necessary knowledge and understand all the technical meanings. Codecademy gives practical tasks and Udemy video — lectures. I follow Medium and Dev.to to check trends and news.

What Does a Full Stack Developer Do?

Create websites using HTML, CSS and JS
Develop front-end applications using one of popular modern frameworks (React, Vue, Angular)
Understand how to use preprocessors and transpilers (ex. Babel)
Choose the most suitable application architecture according to customer’s requirements
Develop secure, scalable and flexible back-end and front-end applications using appropriate programming languages and technologies
Understand different types of databases, know how to create and debug related queries
Know best practices in API design, be able to create one that fits project’s needs
Communicate with the Client
Write tests to validate the application features
Troubleshoot web application with an accurate resolution, monitor and optimize the performance

The 5 best full-stack development books that I recommend reading:

How long does it take to learn web development?

Study by yourself with online-courses and books. Choose the ones that include a good amount of practice. First, learn HTML and CSS;
Learn how to create some simple web pages using these skills, try other different techniques;
Learn programming basics;
Study JavaScript and learn how to use it with web pages;
Learn one of the popular frameworks (React, Vue, Angular), try to create a simple web application to better understand its approach.

It is a very frequent question “How long did it take to study?” If you manage to stay motivated it will take around six months. As a result of this knowledge you can join an internship or even get a full-time job in one of IT companies. You will be constantly in the process of learning so you can’t become a web developer fast. It will be easier and much more effective for you to gain experience when you’re constantly surrounded by a team of professionals.

From that moment, you’ll see lots of roads to choose from, you’ll select your own path and will be able to receive a lot of help from experts surrounding you on the way to your great professional future.

What is the future of a full-stack web developer?

In my opinion, full-stack web developers will be more demanded overtime. They are like the universal soldiers who can understand the front and find a solution in the back. These specialists will have respect, value and be in high demand.

So, I want to be up to date, follow the news, be on the topic of development events and I want to be a professional in this sphere. Yes, it is difficult to work on two sides, but it is also exciting and entertaining.

When you take the hard path and try to become better, always remember, that theory without practice is useless. You should constantly struggle to learn more, trying again and again, making mistakes before you reach your goal. Pass your interviews and do test tasks for experience, talk to experienced professionals to consult about your questions, find ways to realize your ideas.

My advice is to appreciate your mistakes and don’t be afraid of failure, they make your path much more exciting. Experience going through errors. Focus on your personal and professional growth in development.

Conclusion

Full-stack developer is a universal web developer who combines the power of Front-end and Back-end directions. There are pros and cons to being a full-stack developer and it’s a hard way, but if you choose this career path, you will have an excellent future and interesting tasks. How long does it take to become a web developer? It depends on your nested resources. So all in your hands!

I was satisfied to choose this way. I had much motivation because it is very interesting. You always have where to go, what to study, because trends appear.

It is a very dynamic and promising route with new directions and technologies. It was morally difficult to join the team with professionals without much knowledge at start. It motivated me to know more about my work.

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.

How to Minimize Software Development Risks?

SolveIt — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:59:18 +0000

There are many problems in the software development process: technical, organizational, human factors. In this article we'll talk about the six main risks faced by the client and the development team. We will also explain how to minimize software development risks.

What is Software Development?

It is the process of development, identifying, projection, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in making and maintaining applications, frameworks and other software components. It is a big process of creating and serving code.

How To Manage Risks In Software Development

Any mobile app development project involves certain risks. Risks can vary from project to project and should always be considered during development, but in general, they can be divided into six main categories.

Top 6 Software Development Risks and Mitigation

1. Wrong assessment

When project estimates are created, it happens that they fall short of expectations. The team may select project iteration duration, technology stack and other factors. Disagreements often arise between the client and the team, which leads to an increase in the duration of the task, costs, which can lead to the client will run out of money and won't be able to finish the project.

How to minimize this risk:

Сomplete only those tasks that are most important;
Add time for developers to learn and mitigate risks in a new project's parts;
Add the assumed period for the development team during the week on a task beyond the project;
In project management, the cone of uncertainty describes the development of best case uncertainty during the project. At the start of projects, little is known about the product or the results of the work, so estimates are subject to great uncertainty.

2. Capacity variation

A сapacity variation happens if the power of an iteration is changed after the time ranges have been approved. Product owners often want to change the scope of a project. This puts a lot of risk on projects. When the сapacity varies, it greatly affects the developers' ability to follow the initial project schedule.

How to minimize this risk:

Small, easy-to-manage iterations of Agile methodology lets you to think and resize your project more frequently;
Development of more important tasks.

3. End-user Engagement

This is imperative due to the fact that users will almost accept the software and be connected with its success. You need to understand your users' feedback. These mitigation strategies simplify implementation through agile development.

How to minimize this risk:

User testing and feedback;
Focus groups;
Frequent releases;
Beta testing.

4. Low quality code

Poor code quality is one of the most common problems in development and one of the biggest pains of the client. Most often the client does not understand the code and cannot determine its quality. At the end of the project it turns out that the product doesn't work because the developers wrote low-quality code with a lot of bugs, without testing.

How to minimize this risk:

It is important for developers to maintain a high standard for their code.

Implementing User Acceptance Criteria;
A client can hire a project manager or CTO, who can check the quality of the code and supervise the development team;
Follow the company's system of Clear Coding Standards and Guidelines;
Testing after each code iteration;
Before starting working with a development company, the client can look at a similar project, have a technical interview, or check out the company's Clear Coding Standards.

5. Low Stakeholder Engagement

In order to keep a high level of productivity and meet the agreed deadlines of the project, the client or stakeholder needs to communicate with the development team or project manager often enough. If this is not done, it is possible to lose contact with the team, which can lead to misunderstandings on both sides and increase the project's timeline.

How to minimize this risk:

It is necessary to clearly stipulate when the client and customer will be able to conduct User Acceptance Testing. It is important to agree on a response time if either party has a problem or question about the project;
Effective selection of Delivery and project goals and priorities.

6. Inadequate Human Resources

Sometimes a stakeholder or a team member has to leave a project unexpectedly for various reasons. Because of this, the project is put on hold until a replacement team member can be found, which increases the project's timeline.

How to minimize this risk:

Documentation of the whole process by the development team;
A good internal hr-system that if such a situation arises, the team member can be quickly replaced with another;
A Project Manager should frequently monitor his team's workload schedule to quickly replace a team member to another project.

Who Can Do To the Risk Management In Software Development

A Project manager is responsible for all tasks related to the project. A Business analyst doing identification and analysis of project requirements. Together they can help to do successful products and to minimize software development risk.

Project manager and risk management

PM's primary responsibility is to carry the customer's idea to finality on time using existing resources. Project Manager needs to create a development plan, organize the team, set up the process of working on the project, give feedback between the teams and the customer, liquidate obstacles for the teams, control the quality and delivery of the product on time.

Development of a new product or new functionalities. The PM organizes a meeting with the technical architect and developers, announces the tasks that they have to solve. As a result, the team determines the solutions that development will take.
Planning. It is important to take into account all the factors affecting the development progress, including the qualifications of employees and the associated risks, dependence on third-party services, and bug fixing.
The control. A daily repeated action that a PM needs to understand what's going on in the project and always keep a finger on the pulse.
Fast solution of emerging problems.
Communication with the customer, the team, accompanying employees at all stages of the project development.

Business Analyst and software development risk management

The Business Analyst is the person on the project who must identify the client's business problems and find the most effective solution to solve them. At all stages of software development the business analyst analyzes requirements and acts as a bridge between the development team and the client.

Identifying customer requirements for the project;
Documenting the requirements for the future project;
Prototyping customer requirements, brainstorming with the customer and the development team, making tests and questionnaires to better understand and analyze the requirements;
Identification of project pain points based on the analysis. Suggesting ways to optimize processes and solve possible problems on the project;
Writing a specification, optimization of requirements for the project;
Passing on the optimized and analyzed requirements from the customer to the development team.

The main risk

For company

Make over budget if it was a fixed price method.
Get more requirements from customers in the development process and violation Software Requirement Specification.

For clients

Don't fit into the budget.
Get a low-quality solution that will break.

The client's solution: hire a specialist from your side, who will check the code and communicate competently with the development team. This is expensive, so many clients choose fixed prices from responsibility models in order not to go beyond the budget.

Follow SolveIt’s checklist to know how to minimize software development risk:

Develop a detailed technical specification;
Choose the right engagements model based on the funds and advice of the CTO;
Follow the previously developed SRS documentation, avoid adding new product requirements during development.

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.

What Is a Framework In Web Development?

SolveIt — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 14:14:51 +0000

Web frameworks designed to write web applications. Frameworks consist of many different libraries that facilitate the development of a software product or website. Web application development frameworks are collections of different tools. Frameworks vary in their capabilities and functions, depending on the tasks set. They define the structure, set the rules, and provide the necessary set of development tools.

Development is definitely not an easy process. It includes many different tasks — planning, coding and testing. Frameworks make developers' work easier by allowing them to control the entire software development process from a single platform.

The programming interface (API) and the architecture of the future apps, built with it, depends on the framework definition. Developers know the libraries and understand the basic development patterns.

Backend frameworks

Backend frameworks are running on the server side. They are responsible for developing well-structured, secure and dynamic backend applications. The tools provided by such frameworks make the whole development process greatly simplify, helping you to focus on requested ideas and features.

Express - used by well-known companies such as Accenture, IBM and Uber. Express is a minimalistic, rapid and flexible framework. It provides all the capabilities you need while actively leveraging all the benefits and power of Node.js. Supports REST API.

Django - a popular framework used by IT leaders Google, YouTube, Instagram for web development on Python. With many available useful functions: routing, working with a database, the admin part of the site and more. The framework implements many important security principles on its own.

Frontend frameworks

Frontend frameworks work in the browser and can be used to realize user interfaces or improve them in different ways, build site logic and create single-page applications.

With these frameworks developers can integrate innovative solutions and improve the user interfaces, websites and applications will look good in any browser and system, making them accessible for every user.

Angular - specialized in single-page application (SPA), highly rated by Microsoft and Paypal. Used for TypeScript development.

Vue - flexible tool with a progressive structure that can be easily integrated into existing projects. Component architecture and rich ecosystem allows to develop complex apps with minimal costs.

Ember - framework for maximizing developers productivity. It applies the best programming practices and many useful functions and components. Used by Google, Microsoft, Heroku and Netflix.

Full-stack frameworks

These frameworks provide tools for both server-side and client-side to problem solving.

Meteor is a good example. Server side and client side, both can be created using the same programming language - JavaScript. This makes it possible to create and use one codebase for running an application, which contains both front- and back-end logic.

Flask, written on Python, is another example of a full-stack framework.

Frameworks and microframeworks

What is framework in web development? Web development frameworks can vary in sizes. There are tools that can be solutions for everything. Lighter weight options specialize in solving specific problems. Such frameworks are called microframeworks. Their functionality is extended with other applications.

Focus on these frameworks in 2021

1. Bootstrap

This framework can solve almost any actual problems with a large number of free and paid templates.
Bootstrap can be tuned in with SASS. The user can establish own projects using npm.

2. Foundation

Doesn't have a separate style. The huge variety of tools can set up for yourself.
Included navigation bars, multiple container types, and a developer-friendly grid. Foundation also offers access to ready-made HTML templates.
Motion UI can be used for animations with inbuilt effects.

3. Bulma

Users can only get good looking web pages with default settings.
The flexbox module makes it easy to create responsive layouts.
Setting up the default project parameters is done in minutes.
Doesn't contain JavaScript functionality, but integrates easily with other frameworks.

4. UIKit

Has a variety of components for allowing to perform complex frontend layouts, and also provides access to advanced elements (navigation bars, sidebars, and parallax structures).
Ability to set and widen with LESS or SASS preprocessors.
Provides a web customizer to allow create own designs and copy SASS or LESS variables into projects.

5. Milligram

Readily to configure and apply heavy features to refine productivity.
Has no default style, it's possible to create what users want.
Simple interface, fast to understand all features.

Mobile Development Frameworks

1. Ionic

Ionic is an open-source mobile UI toolkit for developing high-quality, cross-platform applications for Android, iOS, and the Web from one codebase.

Ionic is a development platform for the whole application lifecycle that allows teams to create better and faster applications. Some of the popular applications developed using Ionic are:

MarketWatch
McDonald's
Pacifica

2. Xamarin

Xamarin is open-source application development platform for creating Android, iOS applications with .NET, and C#.

Some of the popular applications developed using Xamarin are:

Alaska airlines
CA Mobile
Novarum DX

3. Flutter

Flutter is Google’s UI toolkit for building beautiful, natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. It has an expressive and flexible UI and gives a native performance on iOS and Android platforms.

Some of the popular applications developed using Flutter are:

Alibaba
Cryptography
Google Ads

Conclusion

What is a web development framework? It is a good decision for developers. Frameworks will simplify development processes. Developers should always stay in touch with new technologies and frameworks for successful work.

Advantages of using a software frameworks:

Helps in setting programming practices and fitting use of development patterns
Code have more secure
Ability to avoid duplicate and redundant code
Helps develop code without bugs
Makes it easier to work on difficult technologies
Possibility to contribute to open-source frameworks
Frameworks are pre-tested and save time for developing applications

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.

What Is The Future of Mobile Development?

SolveIt — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:25:46 +0000

The IT sphere is a fast-growing digital space where developers always need to be in touch with trends. Today we will take a look into the future of mobile app development industry and will talk about the Top 5 trends, give examples of successful cases from global brands.

TOP 5 Mobile Technology Trends

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

It is the basic trend of the future of mobile development. AI will be connected with the most applications, using technologies such as predictive analytics, machine learning algorithms, and analyzing the user behavior. You should look forward and consider AI in your development to keep up with the times and stay on track.

Functions:
trainings;
data collection;
analysis;
automation.

Mobile app development statistics show that the projected number of mobile users will grow to 7.26 billion worldwide in 2021. Global AI revenues could reach $ 156.5 million in 2021, according to a new forecast by the International Data Corporation about the future of mobile development.

COVID-19 and AI
The coronavirus situation has greatly impacted the world at large and mobile app development. Below are examples of how combining AI in mobile development can help society.

Aarogya Setu mobile app

Aarogya Setu, an application developed in India to control COVID-19. 50+ million users downloaded this application in 13 days after launching in stores. It was created by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India to notify users if they were in contact with persons infected with COVID-19. This application is based on artificial intelligence algorithms and Bluetooth technology. It tracks location via Bluetooth and generates a location graph to check the distance to anyone with an infection. The future of mobile development will make humans' lives better.

After installing the application, he needs to turn on Bluetooth and data exchange. It must always be on for effective tracking. The data that the application can collect is transmitted to government servers. The app also provides instructions for self-quarantine. It is available on Android and iOS devices in 11 languages.

2. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

The systems are software that allows you to feel like a participant in all dimensions. The main goal is to introduce software that allows users to navigate in a virtual space and become familiar with its content. What is the future of mobile development in examples?

Nike
At Nike, customers can play football on the sales floor. Using VR technology, try out cleats and balls. Nike Fit helps clients to choose suitable shoe sizes. You just need to point your camera at your feet and the app will check your shoe size.

Pirch
Pirch, a California bathroom, kitchen and furniture store, invites customers to bake bread before buying an oven, wash clothes in a washing machine they like, and even take a shower to appreciate all the delights of a shower stall.

Adidas
The Adidas virtual showcase was installed not in the store itself, but outside the store. Such interactive advertising has significantly increased the flow of customers. According to the company’s research, 90% of people passing by the store stopped to touch the screen and see the models. And 25% of them, after working with a virtual showcase, went to the store. As a result, store traffic increased by an average of 15%.

Puma
Puma has introduced electronic mirrors in fitting rooms. They do client's photos in new clothes from all angles and show how the client looks from the outside, on the monitor in this store, or on the client's smartphone. According to a company representative, such innovations increase customer traffic in stores by 10%, and also significantly reduce the percentage of clothes returns.

It is significant for buyers to understand what it is like to use the product in real life and get all the benefits of online shopping. The stores get interactive virtual showcases. On the windows, the client can look at the assortment, compare the characteristics of the goods and understand where the item of interest is located. The virtual showcases can also attract customers to this store.

IKEA Place Mobile App

IKEA’s app will exchange the method of ordering furniture. The clients only needed to take a photo of the room. The application will gauge the area and provide recommendations on furniture for this place.

3. Motion UI

Motion UI is animation and transitions that visually make it easier to understand the functionality of applications and sites, to attract attention to important information.

Motion design implements elements:
page header transitions;
charts;
popup windows;
drop-down menus;
scrolling the page;
background.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots will be effective and smart assistants for businesses. They are starting to evolve into new websites, messengers, web browsers, and even mobile applications. Machine learning allows it to constantly learn and adapt to the demands that are set over time. Chatbots are becoming indispensable assistants both within corporations and in-building communications with customers. It is becoming the future of mobile app development.

Starbucks

Coffee Company Starbucks launched an app ‘My Starbucks Barista’ where customers can order a cup of coffee without a cashier.

English with Andy

Andy is your own English teacher. He can correct grammar mistakes, answer questions and help learn English in a fun way.

Lark — Fitness & Training Coach

The Lark app is the platform you use to communicate with your Lark coach and manage your information. It is included with your Lark Program. You can begin a Lark chat anytime by opening the app.

Joy chatbot
Joy can manage your mental health and feelings. You can tell him all your problems and thoughts. He will help you and give advice like own psychotherapist.

H&M chatbot
H&M Chatbot will help you to find your own style and manage outfits. You can buy clothes together. It's a new level of shopping.

5. Cross platforms

Cross-platform development is the development of applications for different platforms. It involves developing an original application on a native platform or in a specific environment, which will then be shipped to other native platforms. This process will save money and speed up development.

In recent years, the development of cross-platform technologies has become the future of mobile app development. Well-known companies like Facebook, Pinterest, Alibaba, and others have implemented this technology to improve their productivity.

“The future of mobile development is about simplifying everything: the cross-platform development for rapid validation of hypotheses, chatbots to simplify the consumer experience, mobile wallets, smartwatch apps, and virtual reality instead of fitting rooms. Times are changing very fast: being irrelevant is unacceptable, but keeping up with trends is necessary.” — iOS team lead Andrei Savich.

Conclusion

The future of mobile apps is changing fast. If you develop applications today and work with data from last year, you won’t be able to remain competitive.

You don't need to implement every trend in all your created apps. Our advice is to have a general understanding of how the market is changing and be adapted, keep up with the times and follow development trends. With the experience of our extensive research, we've outlined the top 5 app trends that will be the main in 2021.

The emergence of new technologies in our smartphones is a big development in the industry. You should select a trusted mobile app development company for this work. Our custom mobile app development includes innovative solutions that are available for iOS and Android, as well as Flutter app development. Check it out in our portfolio.

Originally published at https://solveit.dev.