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How to Choose a Custom Software Development Company in the UK

Custom software is a great way to make sure your product has the perfect software suited to its needs. There are many ways to develop software using existing tools and templates. However, fully customised and bespoke software gives you complete freedom and control over your software. There are lots of software companies that provide this service, but finding the right one for your project is important. Many companies offer custom software development, but you’ll need to find the software development company best suited to your project. Investing in completely customised software or enterprise solutions is a great idea. You do need to do some research though, and the company you’re choosing should have a proven track record of success. This article will guide you through three important things to consider when choosing a custom software development company. Custom Enterprise Solutions Enterprise solutions are multi-faceted software tools that determine the way in which each aspect of an organisation works together. Almost all larger organisations and companies use enterprise solutions because they help to facilitate cross-departmental processes to take place. For example, a common enterprise solution is e-commerce, which allows companies to sell goods online. This allows a customer to visit a website, browse the online shop, choose an item purchase, then input payment. The enterprise software works behind the scenes to manage the order, calculate shipping and fees, process payment and deploy the order. Project management and customer relationship management (CRM) applications are other examples of enterprise solutions. These solutions enable your entire team to update task lists, keep up to date with client relations, and know they need to do to complete a project. These project management and CRM applications work across platforms, databases and other software to streamline task management and communications. Enterprise Solutions in Practice Enterprise solutions are cloud-based, which means they can be remotely managed and deployed to team members easily and efficiently. While there are existing enterprise solutions available for use, there is a lot of benefit to having custom enterprise solutions developed for your company. Templated or mass-produced enterprise solutions are readily available, but they have a number of limitations and restrictions. When you choose custom enterprise solutions, you can get the software you need with the assurance that it’s developed specifically for your needs. Application, programme and software integration will be considered from the beginning. This cuts down on the potential for integration problems in the future. When you’re contacting a custom enterprise solutions developer, outline the type of enterprise solution you need, how you want it deployed and how many programmes or applications you currently use. The number of users is relevant, but because most enterprise solutions are now cloud-based, they are easy to scale for additional users. Custom Software Developers Most of the software we use day-to-day is mass produced by large software development companies to enable people to use software in an effective and efficient way. Some examples are word processors, email systems, and image editing software. These programmes are great for people who need standard systems and software to carry out their daily tasks. However, if you want your organisation to have custom software that caters directly to your needs as a business, then there are ways to do it. Custom software has many advantages over mass-market software because you can control the project and just get the software you need. Customised software allows you to design and develop software that considers all the risks that could occur down the line. This makes it preferable for companies who have different needs, or want more secure software. While many people consider customised software to be more expensive, this is not always the case. Custom Software Development is Cost Effective Many people who purchase commercially developed software require that software to be changed and customised to fit their requirements. This can create problems with the software security, stability and overall implementation. Customising commercial software developed with masses in mind can also take a lot of time. Not only that, but you are required to adhere to certain terms and conditions by purchasing the licence. When purchasing the licence to use software developed for the mass-market, it’s a quick way to roll out a solution. It allows the user to install and use the software almost immediately, and for a certain number of users. There are often a number of additional costs that are incurred once you make any changes. When you use a custom software development company to create, implement and deploy your software, your costs are all discussed upfront. When you get a custom software development company to design your software, you will only pay for the software you need. Most software will be totally scaleable. If there are extra costs for more users, your developer will let you know at this stage of the process. Of course, finding the best developer for your project is crucial. Track Record Custom software development is a big undertaking, and you need to research the software developer you’re considering. That’s why you need to have an idea of the track record of the custom software developer you’re thinking of getting involved in your project. Software development is often considered to be a skillset that a company or an individual offers. However, this is far from the reality of custom software development. Software development is a vague term for a varied offering of services, so it is important you look at the projects your prospective software developer has completed. When you’re investing in fully customised software for your organisation, you want to be certain that it will work, and will continue to do so. Checking what type of clients the software development company has worked with in the past. If they’ve worked with some of your competitors, or someone that had similar software requirements, then that’s a good starting point. After that, it’s worth compiling your list of specifications, organised into necessities and desires, and contact the company. The company will take this list and prepare a proposal and price estimate for the work. At this point, highlight any queries you might have about the implementation of the new software and any disruption your services might face. Technical Support is Vital One thing to consider is whether your software development company will provide you with technical support on an ongoing basis. While your software will be developed with your specific requirements, there is always the possibility that something could happen. Most software development companies will include ongoing support as part of their services. Before you begin your project, it’s worth asking for client testimonials about past projects. These will give you an idea of the track record that the company has and their client satisfaction level. Lots of companies offer customised software solutions, but only the best will offer continued, ongoing technical support. There’s a lot of variables to consider when you’re developing a completely customised software for any type of organisation. Making sure most risks and scalability concerns are considered, and any existing application or software integrations are transferred or replaced. However, it more often than not proves to be a worthwhile investment. Conclusion Custom software development companies offer so many services that it can sometimes seem overwhelming to know where to start. The three points above are some of the most important questions to consider before giving the go-ahead. There is so much versatility in customised software and enterprise solutions that make it worthwhile. Customised software and enterprise solutions put the power in your hands. A good software development company will be able to guide you through the process.  Customised software will take longer to make than off-the-shelf solutions, but you will find it much more suitable for your specific needs. It will also allow you to change aspects of it in the future and can be adapted for many different reasons. If you think an app would suit your business, there are software companies who provide this service, too. No matter what you decide in the end, the most important thing is that you have a good relationship with your software developer. If it works, it works, and that’s just as important.

Why UI & UX Are Critical To Your Software Product

User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) are not new disciplines, but it’s only in the last few years that they’ve become mainstream concepts.   Both UI and UX place the user front and centre when it comes to dealing with a technology product. Considering the UX design of your software project is essential to ensuring its success. How user-friendly your solution is will make all the difference to customers – and you want lots of those!   UI & UX and the role they play in software development   Creating a software solution is a multi-layered project, but its the UX and UI designers on any software development team who’ll advocate the most for customers.   A fair degree of analysis goes into designing robust UI and UX experiences, and it’s on the basis of these whether your customers will think you’ve created a good product or not.   No one uses a software product just to use a software product. Users sign up to software solutions to solve a problem in their life. Companies need to understand this to offer the best solution possible.Going through a UX process helps companies arrive at the understanding of exactly what their customers would like. A large part of getting the UX and UI right is analysing user behaviour. A solution that works in a seamless way with how users interact enhances user satisfaction and makes for a very happy customer.   Understanding the difference between UI & UX   Although the terms UI and UX are often used interchangeably, there are some differences between the two concepts.   UX take into account the whole user experience. While design is certainly part of the user experience, so too are the analytical and technical aspects of our product. These are often called “information architecture” and relates to how your users can find the solutions they’re looking for when using your product.   It’s the UX of your software that will determine how highly your users rate its functionality. Needless to say, you want to offer your users as much ease within the functionality of your product as possible. If you don’t, they’ll simply switch to a different software solution.   UX done right incorporates many different aspects. UX designers have an understanding and proficiency in psychology, content creation/copywriting, graphic design and programming.   Getting the UI correct is part of the UX process. While a lot of coding might be running in the background, your users are oblivious to this. Or they should be. What your users definitely won’t be oblivious too is the interface of your product.   The interface acts as the doorway through which your users use your solution. This goes further that just logging in; the whole product’s interface needs to be considered when designing for good UI. Design principles come heavily into play for UI, but that’s not all. There also needs to be a deep understanding of customer behaviour. And, more to the point, you need to know how your customers will behave on your product and what information they’re looking for from your solution.   What makes for good UI & UX design? Each software development company will take into account the specific requirements of each individual project they are working on. At Netfully, we work with our clients as partners and fully immerse ourselves in their businesses to understand what their customers are looking for.However, there is a series of steps that can be used as a road map to follow in order to ensure the highest rate of usability possible. Following these steps ensures that the user/customer is constantly first in mind while the development and design process gets under way.   Research – diving right into developing the software for your product is highly dangerous. The software development process needs to be built on an accurate understanding of who your customers are, how they interact with software, market requirements and what problems your customers are trying to solve. Conducting client surveys and competitor analysis is imperative to the research phase. Analyse – the research you embark on normally throws up a lot of data and you can easily find yourself drowning it it. Stage two of a thorough UX and UI roadmap involves structuring the data that you’ve researched. Within this data, you’ll have uncovered insights about your customers’ pain points and what solutions they need, as well as information about their behaviour. Analyse the research you have to create foundation documents of user personas and user flows. You might add to these over time, but at this stage a clear idea of who your customer is and their behaviour should start to emerge. UX – at this point, your software development agency will start building out the experience you want your users to have. Using best practice UX design principles, your agency will build out wireframes and prototypes to provide an illustration of how your intended users will interact with your solution when its built. UI – UI and UX will be considered at the same time. Although UI is one component of UX, it’s a very important one. As mentioned earlier, your product’s user interface will need to focus on more than just the logging in page. The visual design and functionality will need to take into account each element. Development – your software development outsource partner will be involved in earlier stages of your UX and UI process, but it’s no surprise that it’s at the development stage that they come heavily into play. Close communication between yourself and your software agency is key to building a great custom software product. Let your developers work with the research and analysis you’ve done to this point. Evaluate – scheduling in smaller goals along the path to building your software product helps keep the project on track. Ensuring that usability testing comes in at each phase of the product build also helps eliminate bugs before they get a chance to become bigger problems. Using information architecture to put your users first Creating an effective foundation for your information architecture relies on working with robust data. Chances are that there will be more than one person involved in building your custom software, from the software development agency to your own internal stakeholders. It’s only natural that everyone will have an opinion. There’s definitely space for discussions around differing points of view, but it’s imperative to keep users in mind and stick to the data. Opinions are not going to build a product that your users loving engaging with, but UX informed by data, facts and figures will. As your agency accomplishes each part of the build, engage with potential users to see how they interact with your product. This real world data will add an additional rich layer of insight into the data you’re working with to build your overall product. User testing helps you see firsthand how people are using the interface of your product. It also helps you locate issues that have the potential to derail your project or prevent it from becoming a stellar piece of software. Having the opportunity to fix these problems before you launch your product helps you improve functionality and drive the best results for your software product. User design is essential to business growth Far from being a “nice to have”, UX and UI design are essential to business growth.Design is about so much more than just the way something looks. This point is particularly valid when it comes to creating a software product. Designing is as much about planning as it is about aesthetic considerations. Understanding the importance of user importance is akin to designing with your intended user in mind. This goes beyond colour palettes, though the visual look and feel plays a vital role in UX and UI, and looks deeply into the question of why your customers, both existing and future, will use your product.Your software product won’t exist independently of your brand. Users are not drawn just to your solution but to your entire brand – and to the promise they perceive your brand makes. The user interface design will play a powerful role in your conversion strategy of turning leads into customers, by translating business strategy into tangible results. Build software products people will like and use The mainstream media might be doing a good job into scaring all of us that robots are coming to take our job, but software development remains a resolutely human-centred field. This may be a surprising statement, but it’s true. Whether you’re working for a large company or a small one, you’ve come up with an idea for a solution that will solve a real world problem. The software development agency you choose to work with should be highly experienced in building solutions that turn customers into evangelists of your software. They do this by building solutions with a high degree of functionality and ease of use. And, most importantly of all, is the customer. Without customers, there is no point in building any solution at all. There’s no doubt that machine learning, artificial intelligence and robots all have a role to play in the future of software development and technology. But, it’s the relentless focus on people, and designing specifically for human interaction with software, that will dominate the technology landscape to come.