The development of a SaaS product requires three main things — money, time, and knowledge. The fact is that it’s a complex process covering a lot of technical aspects and steps to follow. However, there are ways to simplify it, and in this article, in line with expert insights from the IvorySoft team, we will prove it.
Conduct a thorough research
No matter what type of software you’re going to develop, it all starts with proper analysis. The first thing to do is spend some time on internal research — identify your business goals, clarify what features you need, and, most importantly, what value you want to bring to potential customers. As a team with years of development experience, we recommend getting your team together and start talking. After all, who better understands your business than the people working on it?
The next thing in line is market research. Here, the main goal is to identify who will use your product. One good practice is to create a user profile, which will definitely help you better understand your target audience. More so, to understand how the market works in your niche, find out your competitors. These guys have been on the top for months, and their products can be very useful to you.
Build a clear plan
The development of a successful SaaS product comes down to strategy. This way, you must establish your vision and prepare a clear scope of the goals you want to reach. Outline specific features your software must have and set out timelines for each step to always stay on track.
Also, take care of monetization strategy and outline the potential sources of revenue. Depending on the project’s purpose, it can be different subscription plans, payments for some upgrades, or the cost of additional services you may offer. But keep in mind that pricing too high may drive potential customers away, while too low cost can undervalue your product and limit the revenue potential.
Design UI and UX
Now, it’s time for a creative spark. At this stage, together with the designers on board, you should think carefully about the visual appearance of your product. For the user interface, think about a design that won’t confuse the customers about where to click and what to press. Be sure to organize things in a well-thought-out way and combine design elements properly.
When designing, we recommend you use different color wheels and special tools for font selection. By making a clear list of your favorites, you can find the most suitable combination. To get a little inspiration and catchy ideas, browse websites with design works. These can be platforms like Awwwards, Dribbble, Behance, Pinterest, and many others. Here, independent freelancers or agencies publish their creations, among which you can find the one you like.
Start the development
With a ready-made design, you can confidently turn to the development team. To run the SaaS software smoothly, experts pick up a tech stack for three components: server infrastructure, app server, and database. Once selected, they begin the coding stage, turning your vision into a functional product.
At this point, the team develops the necessary functionality for your product. Most often, these are customized solutions that will highlight you as an individual brand. Note that the larger the number of required features, the more time it will take for the specialists to set everything up. It’s a troublesome process, but it’s definitely an important step in creating a successful product.
Implement security measures
Considering that the online world is not as safe as it may seem at first glance, take measures to protect your platform with its customers. For this, we advise you to incorporate robust security protocols, including strong encryption techniques and data protection mechanisms.
Secure user authentication is another method worth attention. This might involve multi-factor entrance, biometrics, or other advanced methods to give access to the system only to authorized users. With all these steps you can be sure that the sensitive information is secured while the platform is protected from fraudulent access.
Perform testing
Once you’ve taken care of security, make sure your SaaS product works correctly. To reduce the impact of bugs, glitches, or performance issues on functionality and overall user experience, conduct thorough testing. There are many different types, namely functional testing, non-functional testing, structural testing, and change-related testing — each with its benefits exactly for your project.
However, don’t stop with a one-time test. Schedule automated re-tests every month to consistently check the functionality and performance of your product with minimal human intervention. In case you decide to change code or add a third-party tool, with such a routine, any possible bugs will be defined and fixed immediately.
Deploy the SaaS product
The final part of the SaaS product development process is deployment. Here, you make your product available for end users. Make sure everything is working properly and get ready to welcome new potential users. From this point, keep an eye on various metrics, optimize resources, and scale the infrastructure once your application requires it. This is all done to handle growth and traffic spikes without compromising the performance of your platform.
Keep up with updates
As soon as you have completed all the steps described above, don’t be in a hurry to relax. To keep up with the rapidly changing market, you need to stay on top and meet the demands of the customers. Make constant updates and improvements so that visitors always come back for more.
Providing prompt and effective customer support is a great method for boosting satisfaction. This means offering quick and helpful answers to users when they encounter problems or have questions. Whether it’s email, chat, or phone support, every interaction is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with your customers.
Before you go
In this article, we briefly described the necessary steps to create a successful SaaS product. And as you can see, there are many complex aspects to consider. If you decide to hire a team for assistance, the IvorySoft specialists will lend a helping hand. We have experience in developing custom products and will be happy to bring your ideas to life once you contact us.
