Mobile & web app development
Our most sought after offering and what we're famous for. Minimum viable product (MVP) methodology, building lean, scalable and cutting edge apps in enterprise-grade Microsoft technologies.
Minimum viable product (MVP) builds from start to finish... and beyond.
- We handle everything from the initial idea all the way to the app stores
- Agile development process
- MVP methodology focusing on lean software
- Work with our tech startup experts to launch your business
- Rapid product development in sprints with fast release cycles
- Trusted, enterprise and scalable Microsoft .NET Technologies
- Cross-platform for ultimate code reuse on iOS, Android and the web
- Released to app stores for you
- Countless integrations available
- Foundation to build upon for years to come
- Access to Bad Dino's unique apps built for rapid product development
What is it?
We build market-ready, end to end apps using a lean, minimum viable product (MVP) approach, which serves as your first version to take to market. From web and mobile applications, to back-office tools, client portals and hardware integrations - we can take on almost anything. Having helped launch over 100 tech startups over the last 10 years, there aren’t many concepts or industries we have not worked with. The one thing that all of our products have in common however, is that we apply the MVP methodology to everything we work on. This means focussing our clients on building just the core features which prove the concept and rapidly rolling it out to early adopters for feedback. An MVP is usually designed to validate the product’s value proposition and identify problems which can be addressed quickly. This saves time and money because you can find out early on if you’re building the right product, and if you aren’t, you can pivot whilst change is cheap.
Our MVP approach is what we've always been known for - we were doing it back in 2013 before everyone else was - and we've seen first-hand how it's the best way to build great products. The goal is to have a working product in just a few months - if you're spending more time than this then you're doing too much. Build it, test it, refine it, release it, and repeat.
Who is it for?
Anyone wanting to try out a new, innovative idea, and to roll it out to early adopters to validate it quickly. The idea behind an MVP is to 'fail fast', which might sound negative but it's actually a massive benefit when testing new ideas. We prefer our clients to spend as little as possible on the tech in the early stages, but to release a product to market quickly with core features, gather user feedback and make changes based upon this. This way, we are continuously iterating and refining the product based on market appetite rather than assumptions, which we know builds much more valuable (and more sustainable!) businesses.
Time
Typically 3-6 months to take to market.
Investment
Varies depending on size of the app - get in touch with us to discuss your project, we can usually ballpark fairly early on in the conversation.
Output
Market ready version of your app to take to early adopters and then iterate on.
Result
Your minimum viable product ready to take to market and test. The app will be built in well-known, trusted and scalable Microsoft technologies which are easy to both build upon and hire developers for (when the time comes!). This is the foundation that you will build upon for years to come as you iterate on your product. We'll have all of your cloud infrastructure set up and ready to go and if applicable, have the app available on all the big app stores too.
Keen on integrating your app with something?
We've integrated with some of the biggest names out there and on multiple occasions. It's rare that you'll come across an API or SDK we haven't worked with but we'd like to name a few for you.
We're already integrating our apps into ChatGPT to help automate things and provide more cutting edge technology to your users.
We've integrated using the .NET PayPal SDK to handle a community led marketplace selling used kids clothes and toys.
Stripe is our bread and butter integration with majority of our apps choosing this payment provider. We've done Stripe Checkout, Stripe Connect, you name it, we've done it with Stripe. We're even a Stripe partner!
From simple Shopify checkout integrations to full blown marketplaces allowing individual shops to sell their items, we've handled pretty much every use case with the Shopify SDK's.
Of course we've worked with one of the most popular CRM's in the world, Hubspot. From simple API integrations like creating new contacts to entire workflows integrated into apps, we've done it.
Pipedrive is a lesser known CRM that we use for our own sales pipeline. We've integrated with them using their .NET SDK's to handle our contact form hits on our website.
Algolia is the go-to tool for building highly scalable and lightning fast search functionality into your app. We've integrated with their REST API via their .NET SDK for a number of products.
NHS integrations are not easy, but we've worked with a number of trusts to successfully integrate their apps into a variety of their backend services, taking the necessary precautions with patient data.
Apple App Store In-App Billing to give some of the products we've built a seamless experience when it comes to purchasing in app items or subscriptions.
Atlassian Jira for handling tickets via a customer service desk. There are numerous API's that we've worked with in JIRA.
Ten easy steps to getting your app built and launched
Planning & strategy
All projects start with planning and strategy which you can find out more about here.
Design sprints (UX/UI)
You'll work with our UX/UI experts to put together what we call a clickable prototype - all just images of what your app will look like. This step takes about 3-4 weeks and is highly collaborative with daily interactions with yourself. This is typically delivered in an app called Figma.
Design sprints (front-end development)
With the UX and UI refined and ready, our front-end developers will start coding the components in preparation for backend development - usually in Microsoft Blazor. There are still no backend services or data persistence at this point.
User story writing & estimations
Now that we have the app designed and ready for build, we write user stories (tickets) to populate a backlog full of work. The developers then estimate on these user stories to give us an indication of how long it will take to build.
Sprint planning
We now plan out the backlog of user stories into sprints, each being around 2 weeks in length and let you know when these sprints will kick-off.
Development sprints
Backend development kicks off with typically 4-5 sprints to get through the product backlog of user stories. At the end of each sprint there is a co-design meeting with you to run through what was achieved, show the app, and discuss what should be worked on next.
Production infrastructure set up
We prepare any infrastructure that your app needs on Microsoft Azure - the best in class cloud computing offering. We talk you through everything you need to sign up for and can get you some free credits too.
Release to app stores (if applicable)
We handle releases of iOS and Android to both the Apple AppStore and the Google Playstore. We help assist with any requested changes by the stores and help get your app approved as quickly as possible.
User testing & feedback
Take your first version to early adopters and beta testers to gather feedback. If you need help finding certain demographics of people for testing, we can help with that too. Gather as much feedback as you can for a few weeks before coming back to discuss with us.
Iterate and future phases
Once you have feedback and are looking to make adjustments to your app, get back in touch with us so we can run through it all with you and come up with the highest priority items to work on. We follow the same steps above for any new phases of work, kicking off with some planning & strategy. Rinse and repeat!
Other benefits of working with Bad Dino
We're not just about the tech - we help you launch your business. This can be picking our brains about marketing strategy and approach, getting further IT infrastructure support or learning how to hire your first few employees - we're here for it all.
We are Microsoft evangelists.
Powered by AI.
Seriously, we nerd out about how cool .NET is.
And it really is cool. We've built and launched 100+ products on it.
Build once, release EVERYWHERE.
Microsoft .NET 8
Our new projects start on the latest and greatest in Microsoft .NET - leveraging a few decades worth of learnings on a scalable and enterprise grade framework. Ignore the fads.
Blazor
Use the power of .NET and C# to build full stack web apps without writing a line of JavaScript - lovely stuff! We use Blazor components on the web and in hybrid native apps for mobile & desktop.
.NET MAUI
A cross-platform framework for creating native mobile and desktop apps with C# and XAML. We develop apps that can run on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows from a single shared code-base.
Powered by AI
Our develpment team uses Microsoft Visual Studio powered by Github Copilot for the latest in AI assisted programming - the worlds most widely adopted AI developer tool. Saving you time and money.
Here are some projects to check out
We've helped launch over 100 tech startups. Here's a few we like to really shout about but there's tons more you can check out too.
myTOT - Web and Mobile App
Biscuit Tin - Web App
Muirfield Riding Therapy - Web App
Edinburgh for Under Fives - Web App
Ready to get started on your software development project or need some advice?
Speak directly with our expert team of developers. We're a friendly bunch.
Get in touch