Hire App Developers Wisely: Key Criteria

If you want to build your own app one of the first questions is "how to hire an app developer?". If you want to digitize your current company or launch your startup, you need to hire an app developer to accomplish your business goals.

Before hiring an app developer, you should define your project’s requirements and understand the app development process, at least superficially.

Below you will find out the key information you need to collect and analyze while screening app vendors.

1. Information about the company

• Analyse the company's employees and their representation on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). Learn whether or not the staff is real and works in-house. There is also the possibility that the team may have a local representative whom you can also address.

• Look through the tech stack, specialization, provided services, and experience in industries. Most of the professional app developers have a technical specialization. That is why, if you want to hire a developer with specific skills (e.g. blockchain), consider this.

• Review a portfolio, successful case studies, awards, and years in existence which can be found on the company’s website.

After that start contacting and arranging the interview process to hire an app developer.

2. Information about the team

• Learn about the team’s size and structure. Find out how many app developers the company has, their experience, and seniority levels (e.g. iOS and Android app developers, backend developers, etc.)

• Organize the interview process. Usually, a sales manager is your initial contact point with a company. Before staring interviews with app development candidates, you can also request their CVs and code samples.

• Analyze the app developers according to the following criteria: sufficient level of English, creative input to your app idea, critical thinking, and experience in your industry.

3. Information about customers

• Study the testimonials and references. Find out if the team has ever worked with a client from your location, if yes, ask for some contacts, and check the number of repeat deals.

• Ask about the top clients, their projects, and results. Choose those that have worked with well-known brands.

4. Information about the communication process

• English level. Management staff in professional teams are fluent in English. You will also need to check the developers' comprehension and expression of ideas regarding your project concept.

• Communication tools. You should ask how the communication process is arranged inside the company, within a dedicated app development team, and with clients for timely updates.

• Cultural aspects and time differences. Take into account how convenient or not it would be for you to work with a team in a different timezone. Don't forget about the different cultural aspects, the way team presents information, and their style of communication.

5. Information about SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)

• Collect information about project development process. Check methodologies, frameworks and approaches applied (e.g. Scrum, Kanban), development and design guidelines (for iOS, Android apps), and allocation of a Project Manager. Analyse the communication and feedback procedures during all app development stages.

• Troubleshooting and bug fixing services. Review how quickly the team is able to react to potential issues and perform quality assurance.

• Project support and maintenance. Since you are interested in developing the project, get a full picture of the app’s scalability and ongoing support process.

6. Information about fees and agreements

• Rates and payment process. Agree on the hourly rates required to hire app developers, how clients are charged for services, and the flexibility of the payment process. The best payment structure is Time & Material; where a client must pay based on actual hours spent on a project with preliminary good-faith project estimates.

• Agreements. Experienced companies sign the NDA agreement to keep app information confidential. Besides, you can see the draft of the contract and study the details inside.

The following picture gives a summary of all the above mentioned points to consider when hiring an app developer.