Clients sometimes ask about “app design” and “app development”. Are these different terms for the same thing? Or are they different things?
The answer is that they’re different, but they’re also closely related. Let’s start with design.
An app designer is responsible for the overall vision of the project: the way the app should look and feel from the user’s perspective. The designer decides which graphic elements (buttons, text fields, images, etc.) should go where on the screen, how they should look, and how they should interact.
To do this, the designer will typically use software like Proto.io, Invision or AdobeXD to create a set of screen designs which can be shown to the client. If the client is happy, these can then be passed on to the app developer.
The developer, for his part, is responsible for writing the code that brings the designer’s vision of the project to life. The developer’s code is what makes the end product a fully-fledged app, which can run on phones and tablets, rather than just a set of static screens.
The developer will use an “IDE” such as Android Studio or Xcode to write the code. An IDE is an “Integrated Development Environment”: it’s software that helps developers write code in rather like the way you’d use word processing software such as Word to write a text document. The developer will pick the programming language depending on the desired platform: usually Java (or Kotlin) for Android and Swift (or Objective-C) for iOS.
This might make it sound as though there are two discrete, independent steps to making an app: first design, then development. But the reality is that there is likely to be some back-and-forth between designer and developer. For example, when the developer codes up a design, he might notice that there’s some element that could be done differently, and so he might suggest a change. The designer might agree, or they may need to discuss further.
From a client’s perspective, it’s crucial to establish clear lines of communication between your designer and your developer. At Oxford App Development, Simon (the designer) and Charlie (the developer) have worked together for years and we use Slack for all communications between ourselves and our clients. That way, we know we’re all on the same page.
If you’d like to chat about anything related to app development, please do get in touch. You can email us at info@oxfordappdevelopment.com or use our contact form. We always get back to you within 24 hours.
