So, you've decided that a custom-developed application will be beneficial to your business and you want to hire a team to build it. What kind of team do you need for your next web app or mobile app development?

We've put together a list of team members that you'll need for a web or mobile development project.

1. UI / UX Designer

An UI (user interface) / UX (user experience) designer designs look and feel of the new app. In addition, an experienced designer knows how to design a user interface that gives the user a comfortable and smooth experience in using an app. She or he understands that the app must be intuitive enough so that even a first-time user can quickly grasp how to use the app. An UI / UX designer should be experienced in design tools such as Adobe XD or Photoshop.

2. Front-end Developer / Mobile app Developer

A front-end developer turns the design into a functional user interface; that is, a user will be able to see and interactive with the application on a web browser. A front-end developer has the knowledge and experience to make the user interface friendly to use. She or he knows how to make a responsive user interface, meaning it will appear nicely in different devices. A front-end developer has a good knowledge of HTML, CSS, and javascript and knows how to use popular frameworks such as Angular, Bootstrap, or Vue.js.

A mobile app developer is needed to create a mobile app. She or he creates codes that can power an app in iOS or Android. You can have several types of mobile app developers depending on what kind of app you need to create:

• If you need a native iOS app, the developer should know languages such as Swift.


• If you need a native Android app, the developer should be experienced in Java or Kotlin.


• If you want a developer to develop both iOS and Android apps using a single code base, the developer should know frameworks such as Flutter or React Native.

3. Back-end Developer / Database Administrator

A web or mobile application usually communicate with various processes or systems in a web server. These processes contain your business logic. For example, if you have an application that manages online courses for your students, the server might be responsible for putting the courses together, recording student attendance in the database, or generating a certificate of completion. A web server usually communicates with a database to store and retrieve information.

A back-end developer creates the code for these back-end processes in the database. She or he may use server-side programming languages such as PHP, Python, Ruby, or JavaScript, and may be familiar with frameworks such as Laravel, Flask or Django. Additionally, a back-end developer should have some knowledge of administering Linux or Windows server and/or managing Linux or Windows system.

A database administrator creates and maintains database. For example, a popular free database is MySQL database. For projects that are employed by small and medium companies, a back-end developer and a database administrator is often the same person. This is usually good enough for non-enterprise applications as a good back-end developer often knows enough about database and SQL language (language understood by relational databases) to create a database and use it for his or her project.

4. Software Tester

Also known as an application tester or quality assurance tester, this person is responsible for testing out the new application and make sure that the application is ready to go to the market.

A software tester looks out for bugs and report them to the development team, who, in turn, will fix the problem. She or he also makes sure that the software performs the functions as outlined in the project requirements, the software performs well, and the user experience is good.

5. And finally, the Project Manager

A project manager is responsible for planning, executing, and closing a development project. She or he coordinates the activities of various team members and makes sure that the team members are communicating with each other.

A project manager is whom the client turns to when he or she wants to know the project status or wants to amend requirements. A successful project must have a clear line of communication between the client and the project manager, and the communication must happen in a timely manner. Having a good line of communication means that potential issues are identified quickly, and risk of creating an application that doesn't conform to the client's expectation or needs is mitigated.

Conclusion

A good software development team consists of a UI / UX designer, a front-end developer, a back-end developer, and a project manager. Each of them brings a different skillset. Often, one person may have skills to complete more than one type of job. For example, a full-stack developer is knowledgeable in both front-end development and back-end development. Many back-end developers can also create and manage a database. And, in many projects, the developer is the project manager who talks to the client and makes sure that the project is completed on time within budget. And some project managers possess coding skills and have a good understanding of the software development process. In general, your team should have the skills as mentioned in this article.