With the app market in boom mode, entrepreneurs around the world have poured their energy and resources into app development. What does it take to stake a claim in this high-tech gold rush? What tools and techniques are most likely to produce a winner? This two-part series answers those questions, going inside the world of app creation - from the eureka moment that inspires a new project through various stages of content and interface development to the final phases of deploying and promoting the app. Weighing platform options, ensuring ease of navigation, and integrating social media are all important topics of discussion, and both episodes feature detailed interviews with experts who specialize in app development.

Two 22-minute programs:

MOBILE APP RESEARCH AND PLANNING
The process of bringing a successful app to market begins long before the actual software is developed. As with any endeavor that fuses commerce and creativity, the app usually starts with a spark of inspiration and gets fleshed out through market research and intensive planning. This program takes viewers through those initial phases with hip, high-energy visuals and commentary from experts who create apps for a living. Topics include identifying the target audience or consumer base; studying apps aimed at a similar market; creating a project plan; designing with a focus on ease of use and the customer’s ability to share with other users; strategizing to compete against more corporate, big-budget apps; considering various development tools to utilize; thinking ahead regarding platform options; looking at monetization models; distinguishing between apps that deliver a lot of content and those that use little or none; using content management systems; and projecting costs and profitability.

MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT
Once the purpose, basic architecture, and potential consumer base of a mobile app have been established, it’s time to get busy building it. But app development is typically a complex undertaking and subject to a wide range of variables. This program helps viewers sift through the process of successful app construction with the aid of expert interviews and eye-catching video and graphics. Topics include choosing a platform (mainly Apple vs. Android); designing the user interface with an eye toward simplicity and functionality; using wireframes to "storyboard" the app’s navigation tree; balancing a tab bar approach with screen size concerns; integrating social media; developing visual, audio, and narrative content; designing data structures; using server-side technology; testing algorithm design; load testing and beta testing; conforming the app to platform specifications; promoting it through search engine optimization, social media, and viral marketing; and maintaining the app with ongoing product analysis.