The App Design Process

Target Audience

The App Design Process is like any other marketing or graphic design process in that you start by understanding your target market. In this case, the target audience would be the class, company, or  people you are making the app for: Cybersecurity, Electrical Maintenance, Medical Careers, Sports Medicine, HVAC, Construction, Welding, etc. So you'd need to understand a few things about the customer:

• What is their class or business about?
• What kind of app would benefit them? (Reference, tutorial, vocabulary, flash cards, etc.)
• What level would the app be aimed at? Experts? Novices? Somewhere in between?

User Interface

Then, of course, you need to understand some basic things about user interface. The essence of modern apps is that you allow users to do "the same old thing" in "a new and easier way." So, for example, if you are going to create an Anatomy app, what is the easiest way to let them choose a particular part of the anatomy to get information? (Think about a list of words vs. some kind of visual.) Weigh the difference between letting them type in information (lots of touches) vs. using the Picker widget (just a few touches).

The Process

Here is a general outline of how you might make your app:

1. Start by understanding exactly what the app is going to do.
2. Think of a way to accomplish this.
3. Storyboard the app. Xcode is a great storyboarding system but it may be overly complicated. There may be some other online systems such as Balsamiq or FluidUI that serve your purpose better. But the best way to start is to just sketch our your screens on paper, then draw lines between the screens to indicate how they connect. We call these wireframes.
4. If your app has a particularly difficult part, it might be worth prototyping that part first. For example, if you need to do something new like incorporating motion into your app, you might want to create a simple app that tests just that feature and lets you learn how to do it. You could also do some prototyping if you think your app may need lots of constraints.
5. We usually start an Xcode app by putting together at least part of the storyboard, before making any code. This is because we can't really "connect" the code if we don't have buttons and other widgets to "connect" to.
6. Possibly the most important step in creating an app is to test it. There are two parts to this. 
1. First, you must test that your app works on the smallest iPhone (typically SE), the largest iPhone (typically 6s+/7s+/8+/X) and the iPad (they are all pretty much the same). 
2. Second, you must let some of your users (i.e. students in the other class) play with the app and see how it works for them.
7. Refine your app based on input from the Mobile Apps instructor, other instructors, students, and others in the target audience. You might think you know best, but in the end, you have to give the target audience the app they need, not the app you want to give them.
8. Eventually, you'll want to submit your app to the App Store. There is no way for your students to get the app if it's not in the store. So, you'll need to make sure you make all the required icons and other assets required for app submission.