Building a good app is difficult. There are many elements to consider from choosing a development environment to implementing the necessary functionality and doing so in a way that promotes a positive user experience.

That’s why going solo on an app build is generally a challenging endeavor. In most instances, building a good app requires collaboration between several talented designers and developers.  

What benefits will you see from collaborating on an app build?

Faster Time to Market

App development can take a long time. Even a relatively basic application can take several months to design and build, and doing this solo will drag that time out considerably. By utilizing small teams instead, different components of the code base can be worked on by multiple developers while a couple of designers work together to make the product look polished and professional. A small team can simply build a finished app much faster than a solo developer.

The bottom line is that a talented team can build your minimum viable product (MVP) faster, and will also be able to iterate on this MVP much more quickly until the final product is complete.

Superior Internal Testing and Feedback

We’ve lumped testing and feedback together here because they serve similar purposes: determining areas where the app needs improvement.

With testing, it’s extremely helpful to have unit tests written and run by developers who didn’t write the sections of code being tested. If there’s a bug in the code, it is often easier for a developer who didn’t write the code to discover it through testing. After all, the developer who wrote the code viewed the problem in one way and will likely maintain their original line of thinking while writing the tests. An outside perspective doesn’t have the natural bias toward the code being tested that the one who wrote the code does.

In terms of feedback, collaboration is incredibly important. A solo developer can do his or her best to judge the app, but multiple individuals bouncing ideas off one another is the best way to improve the final product. One developer may love one aspect of the user experience (UX) design, but perhaps others see a way that it could be tweaked slightly to make it even better.

Cover All Areas of Expertise

No one individual is an expert at everything related to the app building cycle. A solo developer may be outstanding with the Swift or Kotlin programming languages, but they may struggle with the design aspect. Or vice versa.

Even in writing code, there are degrees of expertise. A developer could be fantastic at planning and writing functions and classes, but perhaps interacting with databases isn’t their strong suit.

When you have a small team developing an app instead, the collaboration can blend each individual's top skills to cover any small gaps in expertise that may exist within each team member.

Collaboration Takes Advantage of Competitive Nature

Most people, by nature, have at least some level of competitiveness in them. Collaboration is a great way to turn that competitive drive into an asset that drives creative thinking and innovation.

When you have an entire team of competitive individuals working together to create something spectacular, the results are usually more innovative than what you’ll see from a solo developer.

Why is this? Because each individual wants to be viewed as the best at what they do. It’s human nature to desire recognition, and this creates an environment where each team member is on top of their game. They want to stand out. And this is a good thing because, in the end, the collection of creative ideas results in an app that is the best it can be.

Key Takeaway: Collaboration is the Best App Building Strategy

It’s very possible to build a good app as a solo developer. However, the job will be done faster when a team collaborates on the build and the result is likely to be a more polished and innovative product. With how competitive both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store are, it’s simply not a viable strategy to settle for an app that is “good enough.” Your app needs to stand out from the pack, and collaboration during the designing and development process is the best way to achieve this.

Camber Creative has many years of experience designing and building websites and apps. We’d love to put our collaborative strategy to work and make your next product a success. Get in touch with us today and let’s chat.