Step Three : The Functionality Audit.

At this stage we have understood where the app is technically and have a backlog of changes which ought to be made.

We also understand what the purpose of the app is, the key performance indicators by which it will be judged and have a detailed test script and functional specification describing how the app ought to work.

The last piece of the puzzle is to audit how the app ought to work against how it actually works, which we perform in four key steps.

Main Functionality Audit
Firstly we take a representative iPhone and Android phone and complete a full minor level audit of the application against the functional specification. This allows us to document and capture any issues or gaps which exist within the performance implementation. The output of this audit will be a list of issues prioritised from critical to minor which ought to be addressed and are likely to exist across all handsets within either mobile ecosystem.

Device Fragmentation Checks
The second step is to conduct a wider test looking for variations and regressions on different handsets. At Indiespring we try to achieve 95% iOS coverage and 90% Android coverage for the target market into which the app will be deployed and test against a number of handsets to fulfil this quota.

For the initial audit we will again conduct a minor level functionality audit across these devices which usually number 20 to 30 different devices which will allow us to capture any device specific issues and document them alongside that wider issues previously captured. It is important to continue to perform this auditing as new devices come to market though, this would usually be at the critical or major functionality levels.

App Store Compliance
Step three of the process is to ensure that the app is compliant with any relevant App Store guidelines.

This will need to be performed for both the Play Store and App Store and allows us to ensure that we are unlikely to be in contravention of any updated guidelines, in all future releases.

Again over the lifecycle of the app it is important to continue the monitor updates to the App Store guidelines and ensure adherence moving forward.

Accessibility Audit
Step four is to complete an accessibility audit. Mobile applications are in a unique position to offer an exceptional experience to those with disabilities which may impair their ability to interact with other forms of software. There is a great deal of OS level support available to improve accessibility to a wider range of users.

As part of the Springboard Framework we ensure that all applications are audited against modern accessibility guidelines and best practices to further build a backlog of any issues which ought to be implemented.

Conclusion

The combined output of these four steps will be another series of issues and tickets with prioritizations and time estimates associated with them to be added to the technical issues previously identified. As a result of these steps we usually find that we have several weeks worth of work in the backlog with a small proportion of these issues being critical.

The goal of the next step is to ensure as many of these critical functionality tickets are completed with a lightning release.