Category: Business

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Mobile App?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Turning your great mobile app idea into reality requires a significant amount of time, effort, and money. One of the most crucial questions towards this is “What is the cost of developing a custom mobile app”? Determining the cost is one of the most difficult tasks and requires a significant understanding of the overall development process. Even survey reports of the experts have a wide range of estimates – 

  • Clutch surveyed some of the world’s leading mobile app development companies to determine the average cost of mobile app development. And it yields startling results: “The average cost of app development ranges between $25,275 and $171,450.”
  • According to a VDC survey of enterprise app developers, mobile apps cost an average of $140,000 per app.
  • According to a Kinvey survey of CIOs, the average cost of app development is $270,000 per app.
  • According to an EMM survey, more than 75% of enterprises budgeted more than $250,000 for mobility solutions.

With such varied cost estimates for the development of a mobile app, we have listed a few important considerations that will help you identify the right cost estimate based on your requirements and will also help you in the selection of the right mobile app development company. 

1. Identify what type of app you are building

The type of app that your business needs will determine the overall design, functionalities, and cost. The more complex the app is, the more expensive it is to build one. Apps that cater to gaming, social networking, shopping, marketplaces, etc involve several features and functionalities that add to the pricing. These features include payment processing, in-app messaging, data security, geolocations, single sign-on, third-party integrations, etc. 

In addition to this, you have to identify the type of app that best suits your business objectives. Your costing is influenced by whether your app is hybrid or native. Developers create native apps for a specific operating system (mainly Android or iOS). Hybrid apps allow launching on multiple platforms simultaneously; thus reducing the development time for cross-platform builds. Native apps are typically expensive as they are built for specific platforms and provide a better user experience. 

2. Understanding the app development process 

Costs to develop a mobile app can be more accurately estimated by understanding the overall app development process. There are five key stages in the development process – Discovery, Design, Development, Testing/Deployment, and Marketing. The first two stages (Discovery and Design) help understand the requirements better and define the total costing. These stages are often given less importance which results in changes at later stages and project overruns. 

The Discovery stage ensures the real need for the app where the focus is given on the target market, users, and competition. Typically, the average cost of the Discovery stage varies between $5,000 and $10,000 and spans between two weeks and a month. A good mobile app development company focuses on the outcomes of this stage to move forward.  

In the Design stage, the app development company understands the key functionalities/features that the app needs to have. Based on these, they design the look of the app through wireframes, visual design, and user experience (UX) design. The cost of the Design stage varies considerably based on the number of screens in the app, typically ranging between $10,000 and $20,000 and could take up to a month.  

Both the Discovery and Design stages focus on the end-user to provide maximum customer satisfaction during their interaction with the company’s app. Additionally, they help better estimate the hours and costs required for Development and Testing/Deployment. Together these four stages cover the majority of the mobile app development costs. 

3. Pricing

Once you have narrowed down the complexity as well as time efforts needed to build several features/functionalities, the next crucial step is selecting the right mobile app development vendor based on their approach as well as their hourly rates to arrive at their final pricing. One important point to remember is that the cheapest quote is not always the best option.

The vendor’s approach to arrive at the final pricing is an important factor to distinguish between several vendors. The best way is to review a few proposals and compare the project plans and time estimates for each phase. Understand the # of hours, resources each vendor is proposing, and then compare their total costs.

Also, never pick a vendor purely based on their hourly rates. These rates depend on the region of the development company. The typical hourly rates for development activities based on regions are – 

  • Asia/Eastern Europe: $15-$30 / hour
  • South America: $30-$45 / hour
  • North America: $80+ / hour

Lastly, most vendors provide support/maintenance services, and their pricing can vary. Look at the monthly support hours each vendor is proposing and at what cost.

Given the importance of the Design stage in the overall app development process, it is crucial to hire a company that specializes in product design along with significant development experience. Galaxy’s UX Studio has been a unique differentiating factor from many of our competitors. If you’ve any doubts related to mobile app development and if you need assistance developing one, then feel free to talk to us here.

5 Reasons Why Angular Is the Best for Enterprise Application Development

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Google’s Angular is an open-source, dynamic, and feature-rich framework. Several enterprises use Angular to build powerful, stable, and large-scale applications. In an interview, Stephen Fluin, Developer Relations Lead at Google, discussed how many Fortune 500 companies have benefited from their Angular enterprise applications.

Google, for example, uses hundreds of Angular applications for internal processes. These enterprise-scale Angular apps are tremendously empowering both their employees and their partners. In this article, you will know about the top Angular framework features that indicate that Angular is the best for enterprise application development.

1. Cohesive Component-Based Architecture

One of the primary reasons why Angular is the future of enterprise-scale applications is its component-based architecture. An Angular web app’s skeleton is made up of components. All Angular apps benefit from a clean API provided by these well-encapsulated components.

Maintainability: Angular’s components are loosely coupled. These components can be easily replaced with desired implementations whenever the app requires the addition of a new feature or changes to an existing feature. As a result, Angular simplifies the upkeep of your enterprise app.

Reusability: Once you’ve created a component with specific functionality, you simply reuse it in all parts that use that functionality. When it comes to developing enterprise applications, the Angular framework’s reusability is the most desired feature. In large applications, Angular’s component-based architecture saves time and ensures consistency.

Contact us to team up with enterprise applications development experts. We can help you build Angular-based modern and faster applications.

2. Use of Typescript

Developers and business owners alike can rest easy, thanks to Angular’s use of the TypeScript programming language, which places a greater emphasis on security. This makes it easier to detect and eliminate errors early in the code writing or maintenance process. It also enables easy debugging of Typescript code directly in the browser or editor. Navigate with ease as well, thanks in part to improved refactoring and autocompletion features.

3. Angular Universal for Enhanced Performance

Angular Universal is an Angular framework service that allows applications to be rendered on a server rather than a client browser. This server-side rendering in Angular can benefit your enterprise application in a variety of ways- 

  • Increases the traffic to your web app
  • Facilitates high search engine ranking. 
  • Reduces the load time 
  • Improves mobile performance 

Angular Universal provides an overall seamless experience to all users of your enterprise application.

4. An Ideal Solution For Businesses

Angular is the first choice for video streaming apps, travel apps, social apps, e-commerce and m-commerce apps, review apps, and weather apps. The framework has powerful features that can be leveraged by enterprises, startups, as well as, small and medium businesses. 

  • Cross-platform – Progressive web apps, native mobile apps, and desktop apps are all examples of cross-platform applications.
  • Performance and speed – code generation, serving app views on servers, and code splitting
  • Productivity – Angular CLI, editor, and IDEs, as well as powerful template syntax.
  • Full development – Save time with unit tests, animation timelines, and ARIA-enabled applications.

Using Angular has a significant benefit for businesses of all sizes.

5.  CLI to simplify the whole development process

One of the main reasons for Angular’s popularity is its effective command-line interface (CLI). The simple, quick commands of Angular CLI help to simplify the entire development process by automating critical processes such as app initialization and configuration. You can add features to your Angular enterprise application in minutes with the help of Angular CLI. It also allows you to run end-to-end testing on individual components as well as the entire software with just a few simple commands.

Conclusion

Because of the Angular framework’s slick tooling and efficient architecture, large companies have chosen it for building apps for internal processes as well as for external users. Angular has a robust ecosystem and strong Google support, making it a dependable framework with no breaking changes. Angular is an excellent framework for developing enterprise web applications, particularly front-end development, because of its stability. Angular is without a doubt the web application framework of the future.

Want to leverage Angular for your enterprise application? Get in touch with us for a free consultation.

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end application design & development services and have hands-on experience with Angular, React, Vue, and other top development frameworks. Our back-end and front-end engineers also help in improving security, reliability, and features to make sure your business application is scalable and secure.

How to Estimate the Cost of Software Development?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Your custom software development partner can help you build a high-performing software solution based on your needs and specifications. 

Choosing the right development partner is a critical decision and so is ensuring that they stick to budgets and timelines. But what is the tentative price of developing a custom web or mobile application? While engaging with several software vendors during the selection process, you will get different pricing from each of them. This makes your task of selecting the right software development company for your custom application very difficult. 

There is no formula to determine the right pricing as each software application is unique. Cheapest isn’t the best option and never pick a vendor purely based on their quote. We have listed a few important considerations that will help you estimate the right price based on your requirements and will also help you in the selection of the right development company. We have also compiled five important questions later in this article to help you in the decision-making. 

Scope and Complexity

The scope and complexity of the software application are the two most important driving factors in determining the cost. Project requirements are directly proportional to the development cost. Feature-rich and complex applications will have a higher development cost. Additional billable hours and costs go towards specialized software skills of the developers, development, testing, and deployment. 

More features and functionalities spell higher costs! These include efforts associated with design UX/UI, third-party integrations, data mapping complexities, etc. For example, if you are looking for social media sign-up functionality for new users instead of a traditional email/password sign-up, the complexity increases as a result of new screens as well as integrations with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Similarly, features such as payment gateway integrations, data security, real-time instant messaging, etc also add to the complexity and cost of the overall software development. 

Development Time 

Once you have identified features/functionalities needed for your software application, the next step is to determine the development efforts. Do you need to build from scratch or use third-party plugins/solutions that can be integrated? 

Building a custom solution for each feature/functionality will be expensive as it requires coding efforts as well as efforts for testing and bug-fixing. There might already be a ready solution that you can use in your software. The selection of a ready solution will depend on the number of expected users that will be using your application. For example, it will likely be cheaper to integrate an existing third-party live video feature for the learning and development needs of a small organization in comparison to building a custom video player from scratch. However, for an ed-tech company targeting millions of users, it might make more economical sense to develop its live video functionality. 

Separately, the total development cost will also be determined by the urgency of a turnaround. Depending on your deadline and how quickly you plan to develop the application, the total development cost will likely vary. The development vendor will likely need to add additional resources in a short space of time which would require additional planning and project management time. 

Pricing

Once you have narrowed down the complexity as well as time,  the next crucial step is selecting the right development vendor based on their approach as well as their hourly rates to arrive at their final pricing. One important point to remember is that the cheapest quote is not always the best option.

The vendor’s approach to arrive at the final pricing is an important factor to distinguish between several vendors. The best way is to review a few proposals and compare the project plans and time estimates for each phase. Understand the # of hours, resources each vendor is proposing, and then compare their total costs.

Also, never pick a vendor purely based on their hourly rates. These rates depend on the region of the development company. The typical hourly rates for development activities based on regions are – 

  • Asia/Eastern Europe: $15-$30 / hour
  • South America: $30-$45 / hour
  • North America: $80+ / hour

Lastly, most vendors provide support/maintenance services, and their pricing can vary. Look at the monthly support hours each vendor is proposing and at what cost. 

Five questions to help you estimate the cost of software development

Based on the above considerations, here are five important questions for which you need clarity to estimate the software development costs. 

  • How does the software vendor plan the project timelines and phasing? 

(Tip: It is important to be clear on the project scoping from the start. This way it is easier to evaluate and benchmark different vendors. The way any company approaches a project should be transparent, as it helps in defining timelines, resources, and costing.)

  • Do they have expertise across the technology spectrum and do they have experience with similar projects? 

(Tip: Ask about the projects completed across the technologies you are planning for your software application. Also, ask for a few sample projects. Check clutch.co or have a Zoom/Skype call with the references. This will help you evaluate the company’s capabilities and reduce the elements of overruns in terms of time and cost.)

  • In the case of outsourcing, have they worked with clients from your location?

(Tip: Ask them about a few clients that they worked with, in your timezone so that you become comfortable with issues such as time difference, cultural and linguistic barriers.)

  • What will be the pricing model?

(Tip: You should be aware of the various pricing models that the developer can work with – fixed pricing, time & material (T&M), or hybrid. Each pricing model has pros & cons, and selecting the right model will depend on your clarity on planning, scoping, and budgeting. If your project scope is not well defined and subject to change, T&M contracts provide more flexibility and are typically the right choice.)

  • What overhead costs are likely to be incurred as part of the development?

(Tip: Ask them about overhead costs such as third-party licensing and subscription costs, technical support/maintenance, server costs, etc.)

We know how important it is for you to get things right when it comes to custom software development as your business is in question. If you’ve any doubts related to software development and if you need assistance developing one, then feel free to talk to us here.

Cloud Strategy for Companies in a Post-Pandemic World

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Being an early adopter of new technology can often come at a higher cost than it is worth. As a result, businesses all over the world are slow to embrace digital innovation. Many of us were caught off guard by the pandemic, which forced hundreds of millions of workers to seek shelter and essentially move all operations and most daily life online. Not all businesses had the technological tools they needed to deal with these new challenges.

Pre-Covid-19, for example, most businesses had only just begun their cloud-migration journeys. According to Accenture research from 2019, 90 percent of enterprises have “adopted cloud technology in some form.” On average, these businesses only had 20-40% of their workloads in the cloud.

Even the preliminary steps were significant. Technavio, a market research firm, predicted a 7.1% increase in the cloud migration services market before the pandemic hit ($7.1 billion in 2024). This would imply a compound annual growth rate of 24%.

These figures, however, are expected to skyrocket following the pandemic. According to a study conducted after Covid-19’s impact, 87 percent of “global IT decision-makers” believed Covid-19 would cause organizations to accelerate their cloud migration. Businesses must transform numerous processes and functions within their organization by implementing an integrated cloud strategy and embarking on a transformation journey. A “cloud-first strategy” is formed by combining all of these factors.

Why cloud will continue to explode post-COVID

According to another study conducted by a cloud-native logging and security analytics company, up to 81 percent of organizations reported that COVID-19 had accelerated their cloud timelines. Companies plan to move more than 75% of their apps/workloads to the cloud, up by 200 percent. Eighty-six percent of companies consider cloud options when developing new applications, and more than 40 percent choose the cloud as their first choice.

The reasons are well known by this point. Using public clouds eliminates many of the pandemic risks associated with maintaining your own data center, hardware, network, and software. During quarantine, many companies that were not in the cloud encountered issues.

Public cloud providers remove these problems by making everything virtual. During the pandemic, public cloud service providers demonstrated their dependability as well as their ability to scale up quickly. In light of COVID-19-related problems with on-premises systems and a move to remote work, many businesses moved their processing to the cloud.

Three ways you can get more out of your cloud investments

1. Start Me Up (Once More) – BCP in the Cloud

It may appear overwhelming, but to achieve digital transformation, you must initiate a complete cultural shift. Business Continuity Plan or BCP is one area that must be approached with a fresh perspective.

A cloud-first business that operates with an inflexible BCP created at the beginning of the fiscal year – and then forgotten – is the polar opposite of lean and agile. To aid in the mindset shift, you could even retire the term BCP entirely!

With cloud platforms correctly used, plans for fast failover to backup data centres and data backups on tape are not required in any case. Instead, the objective is to identify the best strategies for providing employees with secure access to everything they need while moving from the office to the train to the home to a coffee shop without missing a beat.

While user business continuity is critical, organizations must also ensure data continuity. AWS and other public cloud providers have this down pat, offering data replication across multiple zones and regions.

2. Shine a Light on Cost-Optimization

It may seem obvious but only invest in cloud projects that will help your company achieve its goals. One of the motivators for many organizations to invest in the cloud is to save money. However, this rarely begins smoothly.

Many businesses experience “bill shock” after migrating to the cloud because they failed to put in place safeguards to prevent enthusiastic overuse of AWS accounts and instances. We’ve also seen large organizations turn off everything in AWS, stifling innovation.

The emphasis here should be on establishing a robust set of controls that do not prevent the use of cloud services but rather set boundaries. You can set up alerts and controls when certain quotas are met, such as when a developer spends £500 on AWS time on an experiment.

3. Engage the Boardroom Beasts

Today, technology is a boardroom issue. However, board members who are cloud illiterate can hinder a company’s ability to succeed. The most effective way to overcome this is to ensure that all board members understand, are involved in, and agree with the cloud journey.

As organizations shifted rapidly to remote working, a significant shift to cloud-based platforms and solutions occurred. Many C-suite executives were also compelled to accelerate their cloud migration plans during this time period. 27.5 percent of IT leaders polled in a recent Cloudreach- sponsored IDC study of 200 IT leaders agreed that large-scale cloud migrations were “essential for business survival” in the future.

Conclusion

The first step in a cloud-first strategy is to identify an optimal cloud strategy and execution plan, which is followed by a secure and cost-effective migration and modernization to the cloud. Using the right expertise and cloud data models, it unlocks existing intelligence and insights, and then reimagines business functions to emerge as a stronger innovation enterprise.

All of these elements must be present for businesses to transition from non-agile and capital-intensive infrastructures to cloud-based innovation platforms that are industry-specific.

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end software development & testing services. We also offer effective solutions for Cloud support & maintenance to help our global clients with cloud storage, public, private & hybrid application development, among other things. Contact us to speak with our cloud experts.

When to Outsource User Experience Design?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

You will witness how comfortable toddlers and preschoolers are in operating smartphones and tablets.  While it is true that these new-age kids are super smart and quite capable of comfortably learning to play games and run apps on their devices, a lot of credit also goes to the ingenious way the applications have been designed. 

The User Experience designers and developers make complex applications exceptionally simple, appealing, and intuitive. We are living in times where the demand for mobile apps, websites, and other digital products is on the constant rise. People are constantly demanding easy-to-use and effective applications with immaculate User Experience. 

That said, while digital products are becoming a necessity and IT companies are making innumerable applications, there is still a lot left to desire in terms of appealing and responsive UX design. 

Businesses have found that outsourcing the User Experience design and development is an ideal way to get beautiful designs, seamless navigation, and uninterrupted flow. It is also more cost-effective vis-a-vis in-house development. 

A large number of companies entrust professional outsourcing teams with the complete IT development process. This is to reduce cost, minimize risks, and achieve higher efficiency. 

Likewise, UX design tasks also have the scope to be outsourced separately. The process for the same is simple. The company just has to work out a blueprint of the product design and hand it over to the designing firm, which then creates the final product. 

Who should hire outsource UX design teams?

Outsourcing is expensive and it is hard to trust vendors! This was the argument that we used to hear a lot when we started our business over two decades ago. Our transparent processes and open communication channels have helped in addressing these reservations of our clients. 

There are many instances where it makes a lot of sense to opt for outsourcing the UX development. 

If you own a startup, you are probably tight on budget and would not want to invest in a full-fledged team for a one-time task. Along with the designer and developers’ salaries, add the time invested, the supporting manpower required for testing, implementation, etc. Outsourcing designing tasks makes more sense here. 

A similar case goes for Ecommerce enterprises. They work in and around IT but do not specifically have design and development teams for their niche is online selling, not IT development. 

An Ecommerce website design must facilitate a great user experience, making the buying process a breeze for customers. The design of the Ecommerce website is perhaps the most important element. It cannot be neglected, but at the same time, it is an expensive task. Thus, outsourcing Ecommerce design services to a third-party service provider like Galaxy Weblinks serves a great deal of convenience. 

The world of digital UX frameworks changes fast with new trends emerging regularly. Keeping up with everything is a full-time job. At the same time, different industries go through constant shuffles and developments. 

For instance, a B2B company, if opting for in-house designing, must be aware of frameworks like Angular, Vue, and React and their updates. How to use them and what technology fits where. This is an additional burden. When UX design isn’t the bread and butter of your business, keeping up with design and development trends becomes time-consuming, laborious, and inefficient. Instead, the focus should be on things happening in the B2B market.

UI/UX design outsourcing is a good idea as it is an investment, not an expense. The product company can reduce costs and concentrate on the core competencies, enabling rapid business change. 

More advantages – 

  • An outsourced team is a combination of an art director, designer, manager, and graphic designer all in one package. 
  • Design teams come in with the experience and skills needed to build great user experiences. You can expect them to be more progressive and smart with an added advantage of the ideas garnered by their collective minds.
  • You are assured that no matter what, the project delivery will happen on time and within budget. 
  • In the role of a client, you would receive 24/7 service and support. You can even ask for a customized workflow.

When to opt for in-house design teams?

Companies having complicated IT products requiring to be designed sprint by sprint, analyzed, and then designed again can save a lot of money by having an in-house design team. (But, that is not the case with most companies.)

Have an in-house design team instead of outsourcing if:

  • You have an art director, controlling the quality of the design. PMs or team leads can’t handle this. 
  • You have a lot of designing tasks in-house such as creating ad designs, platform designs, making new landing pages. And, these tasks are regular. 
  • You have a strict company policy of working with in-door specialists only. But, even if one department operates on an outsource model, having an in-door designer doesn’t make sense.

You need to pick the best solutions suited for your business. It can be an in-house team or outsource. If you are looking for a reliable partner to outsource the UX/UI design work, Galaxy Weblinks is here for you. Know more about us and our UI/UX design services here

Impact of Design at Every Stage in Your Client Sales Funnel

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Creating a website can be a difficult task. There are numerous design principles to consider, and you must find unique ways to capture and hold users’ attention.

The first impression of your content by a viewer does not have to result in a sale. It’s nice if it does, but your client and even you may be unaware of what your design is doing. Your main goal is to leave a lasting impression.

If done correctly, a website can act as a sort of sales funnel, attracting people to your product or service and convincing them to buy or call for more information. It is critical – and not easy – to create an effective funnel. One that assists you in identifying the right buyer early on and makes purchasing your product a pleasant experience.

This post will help you understand the various steps of building a sales funnel and the role of design in sales funnels.

Understanding sales funnel stages

Each stage of the sales funnel affects the users’ behavior. You must be intimately acquainted with them. Knowing each step allows you to employ tactics to increase the number of people who progress from one step to the next.

This has the potential to have a huge impact on your business.

Assume you double the number of people at two stages of your funnel. You double the number of leads and the percentage of closed customers. This means you’ll get four times as many new customers each month. And one of the most powerful concepts in business is defining and managing your sales funnel.

…

1. Awareness

This is the stage at which the prospect learns about your company and what it has to offer. This can happen through social media, word of mouth, Google searches, and so on.

The Role of Design:

Potential customers may become aware of a problem they are experiencing and possible solutions by discovering your product/service. This could become a right-place, right-time scenario in which customers buy what you’re selling right away.

  • Make Use of Strong Branding

Our first piece of advice for creating an effective website is to use consistent branding throughout. You should have a set of colors, fonts, and even shapes that you use regularly as a brand. When developing a website, make sure to keep these elements in mind. Take a look at the screenshots from BusySeed’s website below, for example. As you can see, the website development team has kept the structure, colors, font, and shapes consistent throughout the site. Using your brand’s elements liberally on all pages allows viewers to quickly grasp your brand’s tone and mood. It also makes you more distinguishable.

  • Create Eye-Catching Landing Pages

Landing pages are the pages of a website to which visitors are directed. The term “landing page” has recently evolved from a standalone page to any page that appears in an ad or a Google search. A website can now have multiple landing pages thanks to this new change. If you run an ad for Social Media Management, users will be directed to our social media page, which will serve as a landing page. You get the idea. As a result, any page on the site that will be used as a landing page requires special attention. The landing page should contain all of the information that a customer requires about a product or service.

This is the first step in developing a sales funnel and is critical for capturing and retaining attention. According to many studies, you only have about ten seconds to entice someone to visit your website before they click away to go somewhere else. Your landing pages should clearly state the service or product and include at least one call to action.

…

2. Interest

When customers reach the interest stage of the sales funnel, they are conducting research, comparing prices, and considering their options. This is the time to impress them with incredible content that benefits them but does not sell to them.

The Role of Design:

If you push your product or service from the start, you will turn off prospects and drive them away. The goal is to establish your expertise, assist the consumer in making an informed decision, and offer to assist them in any way you can.

  • Make Navigation Easier and More Convenient

Once you’ve gotten your potential customers into the sales funnel, it’s time to keep them there. How are you able to do this? This is a critical step in the website development process. It is up to you and your team to make the sales funnel a place where prospects want to go. One method is to provide easy-to-use navigation. Always include a header (or a menu on mobile) that links to your site’s other pages. Organize things into subpages to keep the header free of clutter. 

As an example, take a look at our screenshot. Subpages keep the header from being too busy, making it more user-friendly.

  • Visuals are a must

What is the best way to get people’s attention? Visuals! When creating a website, try to incorporate as many visuals as possible (without it being overwhelming). People are initially drawn in by the visuals and then stick around for the text. People enjoy watching videos. They always generate a lot of interest, whether on a website or as a social media post. 

Make use of videos whenever possible! Of course, we have photographs. Make certain that the images you use are consistent with your brand and that they demonstrate diversity. Remember that smiling faces make your brand more approachable! Icons, slideshow images, logos, and call-to-action buttons are also excellent visuals to use when designing a website.

All of these factors will assist you in attracting customers and keeping them on your site long enough for the sales funnel to begin working.

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3. Decision

When a prospect reaches this stage of the sales funnel, he or she is ready to buy.

Because he or she may be considering two or three options — hopefully, including you — now is the time to make the most irresistible offer you can (packages, options, free shipping, discount) so that they do not hesitate any longer and purchase your product or service.

The Role of Design:

  • Remove all distractions.

Having too many distractions is one of the most common design flaws in sales funnels. Consider removing distracting features such as sidebars, excessive links, top navigation, or even too many images if your sales page or pages are on a larger website.

People make snap decisions. The quality of both the content and the design influences whether or not they stay on a website for more than a few seconds. Within this page or section of the funnel, there should be only one clear message.

Here’s a simple example from Wishpond, where they ask visitors for their contact information in exchange for a digital resource:

  • What action do you want your visitors to take next?
  • Are the next steps obvious?
  • Are there any extraneous elements that could confuse visitors or divert them from the next steps?

Getting rid of distractions is essential for effective funneling!

…

4. Action

That is the ultimate point in the sales funnel. By purchasing your product or service, the prospect becomes a customer of your company. It is critical to note that there may be additional stages to your sales funnel. Your interaction with the customer must extend beyond the purchase.

Now you must focus on customer retention by expressing gratitude for the purchase, inviting the customer to provide feedback, making your brand available for support, and so on.

The Role of Design:

  • Make it Easy For Consumers to Complete the Goal

The final stage of the sales funnel is to get the customer to complete a task. Filling out a lead form, contacting you directly, purchasing a product, or downloading an app/content are all examples of this. Whatever your goal is, it must be simple for customers to achieve. Make all your forms user-friendly and short. Have several points of contact. Make the checkout process as simple as possible. Make the app/content available for download directly from that page. 

Do everything in your power to keep things simple and inviting to achieve your desired result. The less time-consuming and complex a task is, the more likely it is that it will be completed. Make sure to use buttons to link to the goal pages so customers don’t have to search for them.

Netflix requests your payment method after the free trial period. You have several payment options, including gift code, credit card, and PayPal. There is a reminder on this page that you can cancel at any time.

Conclusion

Your viewers are eager to hear what story you can entice them to listen to, just as you would be less likely to go see a movie based on a text-only description rather than a full-color poster or trailer.

Many digital marketing strategies rely on sales funnels. When formatting and designing landing pages or websites in this day and age of internet buying and selling, there are numerous factors to consider.

To convert the most visitors, you must break down customer barriers while remaining true to your clear messaging. You only have a few seconds to make a big impression online, so use these funneling design tips to make the most of them!

Contact us if you are at the first step of creating an effective sales funnel by designing an attractive website or application. 

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end software design & development services. Our UI/UX designers are creative problem-solvers with a decade of experience in all facets of digital and interactive design. We create compelling and human-focused experiences delivered through clean, and minimalist UI.

Hidden Cost of Building a Mobile App: The App Development Iceberg

Posted on by galaxy-admin

What is the cost of developing a custom mobile application? Clutch took a survey of some of the world’s leading mobile app development companies to determine the average cost of mobile app development. And it yields startling results:

“The average cost of app development ranges between $25,275 and $171,450.”

In reality, determining the cost of custom mobile app development globally is one of the most difficult tasks. Even expert survey reports do not have the same answers for you.

Let us take a look.

  • According to a VDC survey of enterprise app developers, mobile apps cost an average of $140,000 per app.
  • According to a Kinvey survey of CIOs, the average cost of app development is $270,000 per app.
  • According to an EMM survey, more than 75% of enterprises budgeted more than $250,000 for mobility solutions.

However, when it comes to actual app development, these figures are far from accurate.

The Digital Product Iceberg

The unseen 90 percent of an iceberg’s underwater mass helps with flotation, provides structure, and determines whether ships pass by easily or are surprised by a submerged underwater ice formation they thought they had cleared.

Much of the important work that goes into creating a digital product happens beneath the surface. The great unseen chunk that gives your product structure and ‘makes it do what it needs to do’ includes the user research, planning, interactions, objectives, functional requirements, and user experience strategy.

In other words, the work beneath the surface is what determines whether your digital product succeeds or fails. Failure to complete any part of that critical work will hurt your structure.

The Tip of The Iceberg

What is the cost of building a mobile application? This question remains common irrespective of the size of your company or your requirements. 

Several online calculators can be used to get an approximate idea, but they will give you an estimate with a price tag of $20,000 to $35,000 for an app built with a variety of features. Smaller apps with basic features will cost anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the complexity.

We believe that the online calculators are unable to provide you with a breakdown of the development costs, only an estimate. If the estimate comes to $20,000 and $35,000, we must ask why the range is so vast. Costs of app development are affected by many factors and parameters. So, to get an accurate estimate of the app development cost, you’ll need to understand how each factor affects the cost.

The estimated amount for support and maintenance cost, as well as the app’s complexity, play a large role in determining the cost of app development. This is difficult to estimate. It has been our experience that in 2021, the average cost of developing an app runs from $40,000 on the low end for a simple app to over $200,000 for a complex enterprise app. This cost can go down by around 30% if you opt for outsourcing the mobile application development.

Most likely, you’re looking at the higher end of this range if you need a highly functional digital product that works on multiple platforms and devices and can integrate with an overwhelming number of third-party apps, is visually appealing, is hosted in the cloud, and uses smartphone hardware features (like GPS, motion coprocessor, NFC technology, etc.).

What’s Beneath the Surface

In addition, you’ll have to think about ongoing maintenance costs. If the technology changes, something breaks, or you want new features, who will keep your app up to date? Other one-off solutions may require you to contact a Dev shop years later in hopes of getting a response. Most likely, it will be given to someone who has never seen your app before. Your full-time developer can cost you upwards of $90,000 per year in salary.

Maintenance is made easier for you by having a relationship with the company that built your app, but there are still costs associated with that. Apps, like websites, require a monthly hosting fee. The cost of continuously monitoring the performance of your app to ensure that your audience isn’t having problems will also be incurred. Unfortunately, people rarely report bugs, preferring instead to delete the app. In addition, you’ll need to budget for updates as iOS and Android evolve, plus licensing fees.

Avoiding the Product Shipwreck

Your digital product is doomed if your users are unhappy. Too many companies are doing things backward, and that is creating massive problems. It is estimated that they spend 90% of their time thinking about the surface-level app development, and only 10% of their time (we’re being generous) on the app development planning that needs to support the entire product. These companies have omitted crucial steps that are necessary for users to be guided properly. Instead of starting from scratch, they’re tempted to make assumptions. It’s a project shipwreck for you. 

Considering all of these factors, you may be wondering how anyone manages to create an app they’re proud of in the first place. It’s a lot to keep track of, from conception to creation and maintenance. App development can be done in a variety of ways: using a no-code platform, hiring a creative agency or dev shop, or working with a digital product design agency. Everything comes down to choosing the right approach for you in the long run.

To avoid shipwrecking your users, plan your app development approach before even thinking about the cost.

There is a lot of infrastructure behind every application. Think beyond the action you want users to take when building an app. This usually necessitates partnering with a digital agency that can help dig into the research, strategize, create a delightful user experience, and course correct any issues that arise.

Where To Start

Working with a creative agency or a dev shop is likely to be easier, but neither can provide a comprehensive approach to the problem at hand. They can help you create an app that works properly and help you fix any problems you run into along the way. As a result of their technical expertise, they may not anticipate every user’s need or provide an aesthetically pleasing final product. However, a creative agency may not have the technical expertise you require.

Sometimes the best solution is to hire an agency that specializes in digital product design and development. Help with brainstorming, user experience, design, and execution is available from a digital agency. With a long-term partner for your app’s development, you can scale and grow.

Partnering With a UI/UX Agency | Why You Should Outsource

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Developers spend 50% of their time fixing issues that could have been avoided if user research had been conducted before code development began. (MeasuringU)

Thinking about outsourcing in terms of UI/UX can be a little jarring at first but Galaxy Weblinks is here to change that for you. UI/UX is the foundation of your product, be it for customers or employees, and nobody wants a shaky foundation. Before writing the code and starting the build of your application, laying out a detailed UI/UX strategy is a must. According to Forbes research, Intentional and strategic user experience has the potential to raise conversion rates by as much as 400%.

Galaxy’s approach to UI/UX outsourcing, strategy, research, and design is a homogenized effort that focuses on merging the desired outcomes for end-users and your company. There is no universal solution that fits all, and we understand that every project is different, that’s why we match your needs with the right team of performant designers and engineers. Our team of critical thinkers works with you towards a common goal of deploying robust and scalable UI/UX solutions that yield great business results. 

Our Process is Agile and Dependable

We know that constant communication and collaboration are key in an Agile development environment. Hence, our process adapts to your needs to provide optimum results. With development shops in the US, Australia, and India we ensure that all the important strategic interactions and work happens during your typical workday. 

We are also equipped to scale our services to handle the intense workload on short notice so that you can meet your deadlines. Timezone troubles are a thing of the past with us, we’ve made our schedules flexible, just give us a call, and we’re instantly available to talk status updates and plans, just like your internal teammate. 

Research is Crucial for our UI/UX Process

We try to understand the users, their pain points, and the functionality they require through our research. The answers to these questions are critical whether you’re designing a new application, revamping an existing one, or optimizing for different screen sizes. 

Apart from user interviews, our typical UI/UX research offering includes:

  • Heuristic Evaluation
  • Competitor Analysis
  • Survey Creation and Distribution
  • Interview Recording Transcripts
  • Analytics Data Report Summaries

We have paired these services with techniques that help in our Design Thinking methodology and aids our decision-making:

  • Empathy: Conduct stakeholder interviews and user research. 
  • Define: Develop affinity diagrams, MVP definitions, user personas, and user journey.
  • Ideation: Use UI sketches and Wireframes to brainstorm.
  • Prototype: Create hi-fi wireframes with design styles and final screens for testing and developer hand-off.
  • Testing: Test and collect user feedback at every stage to eliminate problems at the onset.

UI/UX Outsourcing Benefits

Our teams are proactive and highly skilled. So it doesn’t matter if you’re looking to disrupt the industry with a revolutionary solution, or building upon an existing solution, we’re here as your dependable offshore partners to see it through equipped with the right set of technologies and skill set. 

Here are some benefits of outsourcing UX development that will put things in perspective for you: 

  • Reduced development costs: Building what your users desire in the first place eliminates the need for code rework, ultimately saving costs.
  • Competitive advantages: Better UX leads to better business.
  • End-user loyalty: Fast, efficient, and transparent experiences result in better user loyalty.
  • New opportunities: Researching and presenting a user with what they might need will result in new business opportunities.

Why choose us as your UI/UX Design Outsourcing partner?

Based in Boston(MA), Galaxy is recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the USA in 2021 by INC 5000. 

Our other recent accolades include: 

Our clients love our work and laud us for our commendable outcomes. Whether you need software to create your business foundation, new product offering for your customers, or something disruptive, our team can help you work towards your goals.

Our recipe for success 

With our proven methodologies we ensure that your solutions are the right kind of disruptive and your legacy solutions are modernized and made future-proof. We employ:

  • 6D
  • Lean UX
  • Double Diamond
  • User-Centered Design

With outsourcing, you get access to a top software company with the right talent and tools to help you realize your business goals and that too without the hassles of talent hunt, hiring, and management.

Galaxy as an outsourcing partner works alongside you through every stage of the development journey to deliver the best outcomes your business deserves. 

About Galaxy Weblinks
We specialize in delivering end-to-end software design & development services. Our UI/UX designers are creative problem-solvers with a decade of experience in all facets of digital and interactive design. We create compelling and human-focused experiences delivered through clean, and minimalist UI. Get in touch with us here.

Galaxy Weblinks Ranks amongst the World’s Best in the INC 5000 list

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New York, August 17, 2021 – Inc. magazine revealed that Galaxy Weblinks has been listed in its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

“We’re honored and excited to be a part of the 2021 Inc 5000,” says Varun Bihani, CEO of Galaxy Weblinks. “Technology is advancing at a swift pace. We are leveraging it to create simple solutions to address complex business problems and achieve critical business goals. We believe in the power of people – our people, who have made us capable of this recognition.”

Galaxy Weblinks has shown YoY revenue growth of 96% in the past year. The company has added many prestigious clients including Netgear, Ecommerce giant Staples, McAfee, Arlo, Fiserv, in the last few years. 

The complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, and are found at www.inc.com/inc5000. 

“The 2021 Inc. 5000 list feels like one of the most important rosters of companies ever compiled,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. “Building one of the fastest-growing companies in America in any year is a remarkable achievement. Building one in the crisis we’ve lived through is just plain amazing. This kind of accomplishment comes with hard work, smart pivots, great leadership, and the help of a whole lot of people.”

About Galaxy

Galaxy Weblinks specializes in delivering end-to-end software design & development services. We offer web and mobile design and development services to enterprises and startups. Our technology team and designers are creative problem-solvers with a decade of experience in all facets of digital and interactive design. We create compelling and human-focused experiences.

How to choose the right development partner?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

The need for digital products and services is on the rise and will keep on going up. A good development partner can make the journey of digital transformation smooth for you. In this blog, you’ll discover how aligning the project expectations and organizational ethos is the key to finding the perfect development partner.

Project Alignment

There are four parameters within which you can achieve project alignment with your development partner. Those parameters are Budget, Technology, Timeline and Implementation, and Future state of the product. 

Budget

First and foremost, the client and the vendor need to agree on a budget that the project requires. If a client thinks that it’s a $15000 gig vs the partner’s estimate of $30,000, then there is a misalignment of expectations. As a best practice, the client must disclose the budget from the very beginning. 

If you don’t know how much your project should cost, a ballpark range would help set expectations right for the budgets and scale of the project.

Technology

Technological alignment is all about ensuring that your partners know what existing infrastructure you have in place and what compatible technologies they can utilize for your new project. For example, your application might be a better fit when built on React and deployed on AWS as determined by your IT team. Convey the same to your partner before starting your development.

Timeline & Implementation

Well-planned timelines with space for unavoidable setbacks can significantly reduce overheads. Understand and communicate your terms of timelines with your potential partner. Hard deadlines, desirable launch dates, and tolerance are important discussions to be had before you proceed. If you can’t get on the same page regarding timelines, consider it a red flag.  

Besides timeline discussions, you will also need to align on the implementation part of the project. If you have limited and well-defined requirements along with a strictly allocated budget then a Waterfall shop is your best friend. On the other hand, if you’re treading into the unknown with dynamic requirements and a flexible budget then an Agile partner might be a better bet.

The Future State

A lot of development and handover depends on the future of your project. Answer questions like is it a launch and leave a one-off thing or a multi-year engagement? Will your in-house team take over or you’re going to seek further support for patches and new features? 

Aligning on the future state of the product will ensure that you’re in a good position concerning your project in the future as well. As it’s difficult to find the right expertise and resources on short notice when something breaks down, deprecates, or needs to scale. 

Organizational Alignment

In contrast to project alignment, organizational alignment is more interpersonal and can be pivotal for long-term relationships and success. When looking for a development partner you’d want them to be a perfect cultural fit for you. Apart from that, you’d also want them to share your values and ideology. 

Organizational Alignment can be achieved across these segments: Core Values, Organizational maturity, People fit, Expertise, and Strengths

Core Values

These are the fundamental principles your organization swears by and essentially guides and influences all the decisions. Your potential partner need not be a perfect match for your organization’s values but complement them.

Organizational Maturity

The potential partner that you’re looking for should be at least on the same plane of your growth phase, if they’re way smaller or bigger than you then it’s going to be problematic. Take an early-stage startup’s example. If it approaches a well-established branding firm, there may be a mismatch in costs, approach, and perception of value. 

You can identify the right level of maturity with how your potential partner approaches data security, the depth of engineering solution, and the complexity of the proposed solution—is it over or under-engineered? Alignment in these areas is a good sign of organizational maturity.  

People Fit

In most of the engagements, the declaration of organizational alignment happens too early on when only the sales and procurement people have met. Whereas a partner should be declared fit only after your teams have met with the implementation team. After all, they are the ones who are going to be working together on the project, if they are not on the same page, it’s a red flag. 

Expertise & Past Successes

Lastly, this goes without saying that expertise and past projects are influential for organizational alignment. Your potential partner should have relevant experience in your industry or another industry with similar scope. Go through their projects and judge if it’s on par with your standards. 

While looking for the right development partner you might also have questions regarding offshore design/development and costs. Here are a couple of blogs to curb your doubts: 

Moving Ahead

Let this alignment guide be a blueprint for you to make the right choice and not a pursuit of something perfect. In case there are some manageable gaps to fill, you can try the following solutions:

  • Subcontracting technical requirements (In case of a technological gap)
  • If your vendor fits all requirements but lacks relevant experience, we recommend that you give them an opportunity after a thorough risk analysis. 
  • Control for the future state – If you’re not on the same page concerning the future state of the software, you can rectify that through detailed requirements specification, repository access, code commenting, a handoff plan.

Some partnerships might be worth working for while some might feel like an outright misfit due to huge alignment gaps. Steer clear of those and keep looking for better options. 

And when you’ve evaluated a potential partner on the project and organizational grounds and found them to be in alignment with almost everything mentioned here in this blog, then proceed with small engagements, and see if it is working for you. 

Wrapping up

When looking for potential development partners, it’s natural to have multiple options. Having them evaluated based on the alignment principles mentioned here you’ll be able to choose partners that are motivated by mutual growth and success. Contact us for a free consultation of your technical requirements.

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end software design & development services and have hands-on experience with mobile app and site design in agile development environments. Our designers, engineers, and developers help improve security, reliability and features to make sure your business application and IT structure scale and remain secure.