Devstars
At Devstars, we take immense pride in our 25 years of experience designing, building, and optimising web applications tailored to our client’s needs. Over the years, this has led us to develop successful platforms for Heathrow Airport, G4S, The Ministry of Defense, and countless start-ups.
There is a huge array of off-the-shelf platforms, so why build bespoke? Nobody builds completely bespoke, but for clarity, we are referring to platforms that are mostly bespoke builds.
First off, let’s define the essence of a web application. In simple terms, a web application is a dynamic and interactive program accessible through a web browser. Unlike static websites, web applications allow users to engage, manipulate data, and perform specific tasks, fostering a seamless user experience.
For example, Sort Your Future is a bespoke web application/platform that we developed to give students career advice and for companies and organisations to offer advice, training and careers. The platform needs to work for two very distinct markets with separate interfaces with some clever logic that sits in the middle and provides easy access to the information that both parties need.
Every successful web application is a sum of its well-crafted parts. Let’s explore the essential components that contribute to the cohesive functioning of a web application:
The front end serves as the face of your web application, determining how users interact with your platform. Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, our expert developers breathe life into the UI, ensuring an intuitive and visually appealing experience.
While the front end handles user interaction, the back end operates behind the scenes, powering the logic and functionality of the web application. With our expertise in server-side scripting, database management, and APIs, we create a robust back-end infrastructure.
The foundation of any web application lies in its data storage and retrieval mechanisms. Our skilled database architects implement efficient database management systems, guaranteeing seamless data flow and optimum performance.
User data’s sanctity is paramount in today’s digital age. As well as being Cyber Essentials accredited, our processes are also audited by Risk Ledger. We recommend you have standard operating procedures that cover every aspect of your build process and ensure that these include pre and post-launch security checklists.
A successful web application begins with a clear vision. Our team collaborates with you to outline objectives, scope, and target audience to align the development process with your business goals.
Workshops help us tease briefs out of clients and capture as much information as possible and the project goals.
Before delving into full-fledged development, we create wireframes and prototypes, allowing you to visualise the user flow and interface design.
The fundamental principle of a Design Sprint is; using user-centred design thinking to rapidly explore, ideate, research and refine a user experience. This process is geared to help explore ideas and opportunities with minimal cost whilst working to validate and improve the early concepts.
Design Sprints provide a time/resource-restricted process for executing work, gaining insights, and delivering solutions. FAST!
With our flair for UI design and front-end development, we transform wireframes into an engaging, user-friendly interface that adheres to and supports brand values:
Simultaneously, our back-end engineers work diligently to develop a robust and scalable infrastructure to support your application’s functionalities.
Our data specialists carefully implement a well-structured database system, facilitating seamless data management. High-volume, mission-critical applications require care and attention to how databases are designed, optimised and queried.
Rigorous testing and quality assurance ensure a bug-free and seamless user experience. Standardised operating procedures and checklists allow us to deliver consistently high-quality sites to our clients.
We deploy your web application upon successful testing and provide ongoing maintenance and support.
We create a bespoke service-level agreement for each client that covers reactive and proactive support.
This can include:
In our experience, the most essential factor in building a successful web application is done in the planning stage. By spending time to thoroughly understand the needs of both the stakeholders and the end users, you can make the right decisions.
Workshops and design sprints with regular client follow-ups at the start of the project reap the rewards later on. Simple prototypes for key user journeys can help highlight unseen opportunities and pitfalls at a time when it’s easy to make changes.
The result of this type of process is that we ensure that the right things are designed (and developed) and in the right way.
Have you got an idea for a web application or platform? Let us know if this has proven helpful to you, and please get in touch if you think we can help with your project.
The time required to create a web application depends on its complexity and the skill level of the developer. Simple applications may take a few weeks, while more complex ones may take several months.
While coding knowledge is essential, there are several low-code or no-code platforms available that allow you to create web applications without extensive coding expertise.
Some basic web applications can function without a backend, but for most applications, a backend is necessary to handle data and business logic.
The cost of creating a web application varies widely depending on factors like complexity, features, technology, and development resources.
Some popular web application development frameworks include Ruby on Rails, Laravel, Django, and Angular.
You can monetize your web application through various methods such as subscription plans, advertising, in-app purchases, or by offering premium features.
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