VentureDive: A Top-Rated Venture by Clutch 2020

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Ureeda Asim

At VentureDive, we pride ourselves on our ability to innovate to improve lives. What sets us apart from other technology solutions companies is our underlying mission to solve real-world challenges through cutting-edge services, products, and experiences.

Our technology solutions span web and mobile design and development, consulting, and data and analytics. To provide potential clients with insights into what it’s like to work with us and the results we’re capable of delivering, we often direct them to our Clutch profile.

Clutch.co is a rating and review platform based in Washington, D.C. covering web, software, and mobile app development companies around the world.

Clutch lists IT organizations across the world, rating them on their market presence, industry experience, and proven ability to deliver excellence and results to their clients. Instead of clients merely leaving reviews or star ratings, the Clutch team speaks directly with current and past clients to hear first-hand how each firm performs and delivers.

This comprehensive approach gives users and buyers a realistic understanding of each service providers’ strengths and weaknesses.

It’s very important for us to receive honest and detailed feedback from our clients. This feedback helps us upgrade our strengths and correct our weaknesses. We are thankful to all our clients whose words will continue to inspire us to work, create, and evolve.

Many of our clients have given us amazing reviews on Clutch and shared their experience of working with VentureDive. They’ve rated us out of 5 in different categories; below are some insights from a few of our clients.

Kashat

Our most recent five-star review comes from Kashat, the first digital nano lending company in Egypt. They approached with a unique challenge, to deliver a cutting-edge solution to their customers which would be the first of its kind in Egypt. Considering the project and the regulatory requirements, it was paramount that the highest level of quality and security was maintained for this project.

The client was thrilled with our team’s high level of understanding throughout the process and their professionalism ensured that the build process went smoothly and finished on time.

GoRead.pk

GoRead.pk, an educational startup that’s working to improve literacy and develop a love for reading amongst children in Pakistan, left us our first review on Clutch — along with a perfect 5-star rating!

The startup approached us to develop their mobile app. A core part of GoRead.pk’s initiative is to have volunteers read stories aloud to children in underserved communities.

The startup wanted an app that would help facilitate volunteer registration and serve as the primary communication tool amongst all stakeholders in the program. They also hoped that eventually, the app would give children independent access to stories.

Although the client had a short two-month deadline, the team was up for the challenge; we worked quickly and ensured effective collaboration between our teams so that the app was ready on time.

When the app launched, it immediately generated a lot of interest, and GoRead.pk reports that it’s become a beneficial tool in their program. They appreciate that our team has come to their offices to help volunteers download and troubleshoot the app.

Tez Financial Services

We recently received another glowing review from Tez Financial Services, the first fully-digital and licensed financial institution in Pakistan. They wanted to provide frictionless financial access and aggregate various financial accounts, from insurance to savings, into a single mobile app — and they hired us to do so.

The first order of business was to meet with Tez Financial to discuss their business goals and determine what end-user needs the platform had to fulfill. Then, we got to work developing a robust, comprehensive, forward-looking, and user-friendly mobile app. We designed the app and did both front-end and back-end development.

Tez Financial reports that we played a pivotal role in the launch of their company. The app has a healthy NPS and a high rating in the Google Play Store.

The client appreciated that our senior management provided full support throughout the project, which helped to ensure that all of the project objectives were met in a timely manner. They also commended our efforts to align with their vision.

Unilever

One of our recent high profile projects was the Munchies project with Unilever Pakistan. This was an important project as this was the first time that Unilever got into a joint venture with a tech-led company in Pakistan.

The challenge was to build a delivery platform from where a consumer could order and get ice cream delivered in 10 minutes. Unilever initially approached us for a google sprint to the entire model and then moved on to partner with us to develop the entire framework.

A month after the launch, Munchies was downloaded over 7,000 times and the system had received 3,000 orders. The client appreciated our organization and attentiveness when it came to the project as we successfully met deadlines.

We strive to provide our customers and partners with solutions that perfectly match their requirements and these amazing reviews are a testament to our commitment and drive. If you want more information about our work and approach, feel free to visit our case study section, read our blog, & follow us on our social media pages.

We look forward to growing our Clutch presence and delivering more successful projects to our clients. If you have a business challenge that you’d like to run by us, don’t hesitate to reach out! We love taking on new partners and challenges.

A brief guide: QA outsourcing & why it may be a great idea for your business

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Rabia Hai

You may be thinking if you really need to outsource a Quality Assurance (QA) team for your business, or not. I understand. It’s a debate every company, regardless of their business model, goes through. If you’re dabbling with multiple products and services, and you’re thinking you won’t need an outsourced QA team, you may need to think again. Launching different types of products and services requires specific tools and techniques, and most of the time, you cannot find all the QA expertise in-house. If you set up your own QA team in-house, it will take tons of dedicated effort in terms of time and research. Also, many times, it’s just not feasible to invest in resources for a one-time project release. Once the project ends, you’ll end up having resources on the bench, rendering the ROI simply not worth it.

What’s the best way to tackle these issues? One word: Outsourcing. There are a number of companies around the world that outsource their QA teams to businesses that are in need of a short-term QA engagement. It is becoming popular with global businesses, obtaining more marketability as it evolves into a complete, standalone industry. QA outsourcing has been in practice for a long time, and its prevalence depends on the value it offers to the customers, as well as the practicality of the business model. It is still very early to comment on how far QA outsourcing can build its foundation, as a whole separate service in the industry, but it will not be wrong to say that the stats are showing a promising future.

What type of companies could best leverage QA outsourcing?

I know of many companies that don’t have any set QA processes in place, i.e. no dedicated resources. Let me tell you this, if you think your team of software engineers can handle development and testing, both, you’re mistaken. It’s not that they can’t, it’s just that the outcome wouldn’t be high-quality and there would still be a lot of bugs or inconveniences in the final product or solution. Imagine, if you write the code for an application, and then you’re asked to test your own work — you may be able to detect the flaws in logic (if any), but not in the user flows and user experience. That’s because you kept the client’s requirements in mind, not the end user’s journey.

Software testing is originating as a necessary element of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). You want to ensure your products pass through defined quality processes, and are quality approved. The companies that already have an established QA department and team usually do not require QA outsourcing unless the team lacks the skills peremptory to perform.

In addition, a few factors that may drive QA outsourcing could be:

One-time Delivery
One-time delivery refers to, say, a project that is to be delivered to a client and won’t need continued QA, post-production. However, since you have to deliver the project to your client, you need to have testers with a very specific skill set. Now, one way to go about it is: train your existing, internal resources for those skills. But, it would take a lot of time and effort to train existing resources for skills that are only to be used once. ROI would be low and it would cause more harm than good by increasing project delivery time and cost. In such a scenario, you can always outsource your QA team and deliver a functional project on time.
Time-bound Projects
The success of a team lies in its quality and promptness to deliver. As the deadline approaches, the pressure builds up, and that’s when a lot can go wrong. There could be obstructions in requirement gathering, design and even development, consequently, delaying the QA cycle & project release. Most of the time, projects are time-bound and such delays could result in increased cost & effort. To overcome situations like these, outsourcing can be a foothold. The outsourced QA team can help the internal QA team to get the work done in the predefined time bracket.
Budget Management
Regardless of the delivery timeline of your project, it is always wise to find a cost-effective approach that results in high efficiency and quality — QA outsourcing is a cost-cutting method. It is very exorbitant to hire and maintain an internal team and equip them with different tools and skills. The easiest way is to contract a trusted company for QA outsourcing, so you can handle short-term, as well as long-term projects with ease.

How does QA outsourcing work?

QA outsourcing follows a complete contract and a systematic workflow. It is very important to double-check your objectives and how far you want to take QA outsourcing. Some questions you could ask yourself could be:

Do you plan to build your own team in the future?
Do you want to take a QA outsourcing partnership for a long time?
What projects are you hiring a QA team for?
Do you have a reputed outsourcing company in your mind?

Before going into the actual contract, set a clear perspective of your contract and objectives. Your mission and vision should be aligned with those of your clients. You and the outsourced company should be on the same page about future engagements, roadmap, and plans if you are planning to build a long-term relationship.

How much does an outsourced QA team cost?

Now, I know the most pressing question most of you would have is about the pricing. How much would it cost to have an outsourced QA team onboard? Generally, the payment is made on an hourly or monthly basis, depending on the business model. The cost is inclusive of HR, internal management, office supplies, office space, and additional expenses. This also includes cost for training, equipment, etc.

There are two types of costing methods:

Cost Model: A fixed amount is paid per resource, and the third-party supplier (in this case, the outsourced QA team supervisor) manages this money (outsourcing company can spend money as per their plan and feasibility).
Cost Plus: You know the fixed amount each resource from the outsourced team will get, however, you also manage any added expense, such as hardware & software requirements, network-related issues, and recreational plans, If any.

QA outsourcing has its risks and can prove to be a bumpy process, however, following the right plan can help you overcome the obstacles.

Pros & cons of QA outsourcing

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from our customers is: Would QA outsourcing be good for us? Should we go for it or try to manage it in-house? For all of you, I’m listing down the pros and cons of QA outsourcing, so you know how it may prove to be good or bad for you. It has its perks but we cannot overlook the risks involved.

Pros:

Cost-effective
QA outsourcing results in reduced project costs If you are on a budget, yet want to produce quality work, and build a reputation in the market, QA outsourcing is for you.

Enhanced quality
Outsourced QA teams have relevant skills & certifications. They can work wonders for your product, and assist in defining future sprints by prioritizing issues & features.

Focused attention
With QA testing off your plate, you get more time to focus on your core competencies and goals. This reduces pressure on the devs, resulting in quick & high-quality delivery.

Reduced time
Outsourced QA teams are equipped with the right tools and techniques. They begin working on tasks as early as they are assigned, allowing for quick project delivery.

Enhanced user experience
An external team with a different perspective can bring up inaccuracies, miscalculations, and blunders, which may have been missed, otherwise. This results in better UX and helps with customer retention & engagement.

Real-time testing
Sometimes, a product is developed in a location quite different than where it has to be launched and run. This may lead to post-release issues, resulting in the loss of customers. It is preferable to perform software testing pre-release, and for that, an outsourced team located in the launch area can be a blessing.

Cons:

Lack of communication
It is very easy to communicate face to face while working in the same place. Outsourced teams mostly are not co-located with the development teams. This can result in miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Expectations vs. reality
The outsourced company might not perform as great as expected, resulting in buggy deliveries and mistrust between the two entities. This can either be because of unrealistic expectations set by you or owing to the negligence of the outsourced team or the blockers underway.

Privacy and security issues
Many companies are not comfortable with sharing their private data and information with a third-party service provider. Risks like security breaches and data-stealing are very high. This is where the credibility of the outsourced QA team matters a lot.

Different time zones
The outsourced teams might work in a different time zone than you. When the work hours don’t overlap much, it gets very difficult to handle emergency issues and releases, resulting in unnecessary delays.

Increased dependency
Hiring a team other than yours is an added liability. You have to rely on external resources to perform well for your releases. The performance of your business not only depends on your team but also on the third-party team. If any of them fails to perform, it can affect your business adversely.

Difficult to track
Monitoring the progress of an outsourced team can be a challenging task. There could be stark differences in the actual progress and the progress that they may be showing. All of it could come to the surface at the time of release, and then, all anyone can do is place blame on misunderstandings about the progress. This could disrupt the entire project timeline, and not in a good way.

Optimizing workflows to help your business grow better

QA outsourcing gives optimal results, keeping in mind the budget and time constraints. It’s a general misperception that quality comes after development — quality check is not a process that merely starts when development completes. Rather, it begins as soon as the development cycle kicks in.

These days quality process starts right from the commencement of the project and lasts till the delivery. Even after the delivery, maintenance and enhancement of features require a dedicated QA team to keep a check on new and existing features and ensure they work as expected. With market competition increasing each day, quality has become a key driver to success. It is one of the most influential factors to build and retain a user-base.

There are a lot of well-reputed outsourcing companies in the market that offer experienced and skilled testers. Global businesses hire them to optimize their workflows and product experience. QA outsourcing is easy to establish but also helps in relationship building with different outsourced companies to get them to hire again once a project is successfully deployed.

The pitstops and how to overcome them

There are a few things that you need to keep in mind when opting for external QA services. Since the team won’t be in-house, it is possible for some issues to arise. However, in order to carry out smooth project deliveries, it is essential to handle all issues, and do it in a way that doesn’t affect your work. For example, a few issues could be:

Handle communication barriers
It is very important to define clear communication channels and mediums for clear and smooth communication.
Scheduling
Defining the working hours before you start can help both teams stay on the same page during software development and testing. The outsourced team should be available at the time you operate.
Document everything
It is best to have everything related to cost and expenditure settled before the QA process is started. It is recommended to create a written contract to avoid any discrepancies.
Leave(s) management
Sometimes due to unavoidable situations, people need to takeoffs, it is necessary to have backup resources in case of unavailability of people but the urgency of release.
Typical client employee relation
QA outsourcing works amazingly well when a friendly relationship is built between the people across two companies. This increases communication and passion to work.

Is QA outsourcing the right choice for you?

In the end, it’s up to you to evaluate where your business stands and if you require an outsourced QA team.

QA outsourcing is not so tricky to work with if you have a clear vision of your business model and its workflows. A well-informed choice of vendor, regular assessment, proper management and patience to deal with the challenges are the key things to consider when deciding whether to opt for QA outsourcing or not.

Impact of good UX design on business growth

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Ahmad Bilal

Who wants to use an app that is hard to understand, difficult to use, and aesthetically unpleasing? The answer is no one!

Do you, as the owner of a software business, hesitate to invest in UX design? Hesitate no more! Research by McKinsey proves that great UX design provides impeccable user experience, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, business growth.

When it comes to bringing in revenue and growing your business, UX has a significant part to play. It not only adds to the functionality of the software and products you develop for your customers, but it also enables you to filter and select the right functionality and helps boost usability by applying knowledge of various domains like human-factors, psychology, systems, sociology, etc., resulting in smooth and intuitive user journeys.

The impact of a great user experience goes beyond the short term benefits and can be extremely beneficial in the long run as well. There are a number of ways it can positively influence your business. Let’s have a quick look at some of the factors that are the direct result of good UX design, and will boost your business.

Save money in the long run by investing in UX at the right time

In a study by MITX in 2009, it is estimated that user experience design contributes to saving 50% of wasted development time. So what’s the right time to invest in the UX? The short answer is, it’s before you begin developing your product. Doing so would make your development efforts more efficient, targeted, and structured.

If you ignore the UX in the initial stages or will keep it at the backburner while you perfect the product core, it would cost you time and money in the long run. You will have to keep revisiting the design to accommodate the users’ needs, preferences, and perfect the user flows and navigation. This would consume a lot of development time and finances, which is easily avoidable if enough time is spent on finalizing the UX design in the pre-development phase.

According to WebFx, investing $1 in your site’s UX will give you an ROI of $100 in the long run. This means, today, we can’t prioritize aesthetics over functionality or vice versa, so your product needs to be beautiful and functional simultaneously.

Boost sales & revenue with effective UX design

Focusing more on UX will help increase user engagement, and hence, boost conversion rate as well. This means, more and more users would turn into customers, resulting in rising sales as well as revenue.

Research conducted by Toptal shows that 90% of the users will continue shopping because of great UX. It’s highly likely that your users will opt for your competition if they have a bad experience with your product or service. This could be anything from complex navigation, difficulty in conducting a search, not knowing where you are at a moment, to generic (not customized) content, repetitive pop-ups/interruptions or distractions, and so much more.

Therefore, it’s always a good idea to optimize your product or app for mobile and web by prioritizing UX design.

FACT

According to IEEE study, 5-15% of all development projects that are started will be abandoned before or shortly after delivery due to poor usability. This amounts to $150 Billion lost. This loss can be avoided with a user-centered design approach.

Stand out from the crowd on the basis of user experience

User experience is a deciding factor when it comes to differentiating from your competitors within the same niche or industry. Enterprises, SMEs and Startups around the world are embracing good UX design and banking over the benefits that come along with it.

Invision Design’s research shows that 94% of the first impressions of a website or app interface are related to design. This is why industry leaders like Google, Amazon, Airbnb and others have shifted their focus towards delivering a user experience.

In 2020, customer experience has become the front and center of software applications, whereas pricing and the product have taken a backseat. Let’s list down some ways in which a good UX can help your brand stand out:

Good UX means customers will be less likely to switch brands.
A great initial impression means visitors are more likely to return to your website.
Higher brand credibility stems from good design.
Average time spent on pages would go up.
Personalized content & experience would help boost conversions.

Improve customer retention with enhanced UX

UX design is all about the users. So it’s essential that the designers think like users and incorporate features that can help make the user flows more intuitive. It’s always a brilliant idea to map out the customer journey before beginning the UX design and product development.

Users should always have a way to orient themselves during navigation of the website or product. This adds to a good user experience. If these things are taken into consideration, customer retention is more likely to increase. Some factors that boost consumer loyalty and help a brand retain them are:

Personalized experience on a brand’s website or product.
Web pages and images that load in the shortest possible time.
Detailed contact information is available to the users.
Availability of informative content and resources relevant to your product and services.
Great customer service, timely responses, and a quick and simple way to connect.

TIPS

You can improve the user experience of your product by doing the following:

Conduct thorough research about what your users want and what their pain points are. Ask questions from the user’s point of view and evaluate your design: “Would I be satisfied with this product if someone else created it?”
Keep the sign in, sign up, or any forms in your website or app as easy as possible. Enable features of signing up with Google, Facebook, etc.
Never let customers think too much, get lost, or confused while using your product.
Never underestimate the power of good aesthetics. Always research, take inspiration, study color psychology, and patterns when it comes to design

Stay relevant with continuous UX iterations

The Tech industry is evolving rapidly. Brands need to constantly update their outlook as well as product offerings in order to stay relevant to what’s next. This means continuous iterations are essential in order to future-proof your product’s design and core functionalities. No design is ever perfectly complete – if it stays stagnant for too long, it grows out of date, which results in a big drop in customer engagement, and hence, your revenue and profit. WebFx says that 75% of your product’s credibility comes from design. This means, if your design is not up to date and in line with the user experience trends, it can affect your product’s authenticity and customers are less likely to buy from you.

FACTS

Conversion rate can increase by 400% with strategic, thoroughly researched, and intentional user experience and design
Mobile optimization is becoming increasingly important. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, it will give users a bad overall experience of your brand
Even an investment of $1 in design can bring about a profile of $2-100 in a business

Wrap up

Closing the argument, it suffices to say that good UX design impacts your business greatly, especially in times when customers are at the crux of product experiences. If users have a positive experience with your software or application, it essentially means your product is successful. In keeping with this, if they have a not-so-impressive first impression, they are likely to never return to your product and even more likely to choose your competition over you. If one interaction defines the purchasing decision of customers, it’s easy to imagine the magnanimity of the importance UX design holds in software development.

At VentureDive Design, we keep user experience design at the heart of everything we develop and deliver to our customers. Our brilliant team of designers are always hard at work, ensuring that our clients face little to no difficulty in navigating applications, all the while delivering experiences that augment their journeys, and leave a lasting good impression.

This way, the users don’t just convert to become our customers; rather, they know they are investing in a life-long partnership, where we are their friends who will enable them to offer immaculate product experiences to their customers, and help their business grow.

The changing market of food delivery businesses

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Saad Fazil

Getting your favorite food delivered with a single tap, especially in the times of COVID, has exploded the growth of many food delivery platforms such as Grab, Uber Eats, and DoorDash.

Despite the uptick in demand, the food delivery business model remains highly fragmented and at least at this time a money-losing proposition. There are quite a few challenges that the food delivery industry faces

Network effects are limited to a given geographic area. Cross geographic network effects are minimal at best.
Most users are not loyal and switch to a competing provider in search of a better promotion or an offer, better user experience, or quality of the service. In other words, switching costs are very low.
Unit economics are tough. Riders do not make enough money, vendors run huge losses on promotions, and users do not seem convinced they need to pay the premium and would rather hunt for a promo.
The business model seems to have exploited a weakness in labor laws allowing them to “hire” riders without the need to add them to the companies’ payroll. Uber and Lyft are facing legal challenges in California that threaten to shut them down.

In the end, companies that overcome most of the challenges above will thrive. Uber and Doordash have already started to offer rundles — a bundle of offerings, such as rides and food delivery in the case of Uber, and grocery and food delivery by Doordash along with monthly subscriptions. These rundles can be somewhat effective at increasing network effects and customer loyalty.

Despite these initiatives, we will see more mergers and acquisitions in the space as different food delivery providers join hands to minimize the crazy spend on promotions. It is hard to track investments, mergers, and relationships between companies and investors. We have tried to map out the intricate landscape of food delivery business models across the globe. We welcome readers to help us fill in any gaps.

Here’s a quick snapshot of what the food delivery industry looks like, worldwide:

food delivery infographics — Infographic on the leading food delivery brands of 2020

How to create an app: 10 stages of mobile app development

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Umar Javed

The world is becoming mobile, more so each day. In such a rapidly evolving tech world, ‘How to create an app’ is a milestone question. Industries and business areas not related to mobile in some manner are scarce. Consequently, businesses are seeking new opportunities for growth. One of the modern era options to increase the number of sales, and attract a large, diverse user base, is a mobile application.

The graph below shows the increasing number of app downloads globally. This goes on to confirm that the future is mobile.

Number of mobile app downloads worldwide from 2017 to 2022 *(in billions)*

To survive and thrive in this competitive app market, the key is to focus on real problems. The solution to these problems often comes in the form of a bespoke mobile application. So all you have to do is begin by finding appropriate problems, fresh ideas & new perspectives around you.

To create something beyond expectations, it is essential that you never stop revisiting the basics and asking yourself the questions fundamental to literally creating anything. For instance, in this case: find the answers to why do you want to create a mobile app? Do you want to jump on the bandwagon or did you uncover a specific & genuine problem that you feel an app can solve? The answers to such questions can predict whether your application will be successful or not.

If you’re new to building an app for your product or business, you could be facing certain challenges. Therefore, we decided to call in the mobile experts across VentureDive, and list down ten steps that will help you get started with creating your first mobile application.

Steps of mobile application development process

1. Validate your idea

Merely having a ‘great idea’ is not profitable – you have to make the best out of it. A popular application always depends on two things: either it’s a solution to a new problem, or it’s an improvement/alteration of an existing solution.

Look around yourself, find the real issues to get the winsome ideas. Try to involve creativity in the idea to give it wings. If your application has an engaging UI, is easy to navigate, and is extremely intuitive and helpful for your users, they will be bound to use your app over any other. So, the first and foremost thing is to work on the idea and strengthen your base.

Research is king

Conducting thorough market research is the way to go about it. This includes competitor research and more importantly, user/customer research. There are two parts of identifying your target audience: ‘who’ and ‘how many’. Next, identify your most notable competitors, analyze their product offerings, compare their product, release & market strategies. Try to come up with something they are missing.

2. Design your app

Wireframes:
This step involves creating mock-ups of your app to understand and map out the user flow and how the app should be functioning. This is called building an information architecture – a scheme reflecting all possible user actions. A wireframe is a preliminary template that you can edit and correct at the early stages. Consider it a rough draft of how your app should look & work like. We find this resource can help you better understand wireframing and the processes that go into it.
UI/UX
When wireframes are drafted, transform them into an interactive prototype using the latest design tools and technologies, such as Figma. This will be a final design prototype using the color pallets, supported design elements, icons, graphs, or any other design elements. It will also demonstrate the navigation of the application that will further increase the efficiency of the mobile application developers. It is important that we stress the importance of UI/UX design and the impact it can have on your business.

3. Construct the back-end

This step is all about building the app architecture, for which you should choose the platforms, set of tools, technology stack, programming language, and services. ‘How to make an app’ is a question that in most part assumes building a back-end or an app structure. There are two primary ways to develop a back-end: SaaS as the back-end – e.g. Firebase, AWS Mobile Hub, CloudKit, etc. or a custom developed back-end. We prefer the latter since it makes it easier for you to scale your mobile app in the future by either adding new features and/or growing in the number of users. Adding more functions or customizing it would be easier with its own back-end system.

4. Identify the mobile development approach: native, web, or hybrid

Selecting the right approach for developing an app is very important. Different businesses follow different approaches for mobile app development, based on time, budget, and technological considerations:

Native: Native apps enable the best user experience but require significant time and skill to be developed. These apps are, in essence, platform-specific and require expertise along with knowledge. The development of native apps is costly as well as time taking but it delivers the highest user experience amongst all the approaches.
Web:Web apps develop much faster and are the low-cost option to go for. Another plus? They can run on multiple platforms as well. These are built using HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript code. However, when compared to native apps, web apps are considerably less powerful.
Hybrid: Hybrid or cross-platform is the latest approach to develop an app. This approach is a combination of prebuilt native containers and on-the-fly web coding, that helps to achieve the best of both worlds. Herein, the job of the developer is to enhance the web code with native language to create unique features and access native APIs that are yet unavailable through JavaScript.

5. Write your code & bring it all together

This is the most crucial stage when the development team sits down and writes the code. Developers complete the tasks under the guidance & direction of a project manager.

Writing a clean code & following industry standards helps create a scalable, flexible, and testable application. Different static code analysis tools are used to analyze the code quality and measures are taken to ensure the highest quality of the code.

6. Test your application

As a next step, the quality assurance engineers test the application. This includes testing for code & UI/UX bugs, followed by their resolution. Software testing plays a major role in the mobile app development process – it helps to improve and clean the final product. All the bugs should be squashed during this process.

7. Integrate an appropriate analytics tool

Why is this important? An appropriate analytics gives you a detailed picture of the size, demographics & interests of your users, as well as how they interact with your app.

Some mobile analytics tools that we’ve used and can vouch for, are:

Apple’s App Store & Google’s Play Store Analytics
Firebase Analytics
Mixpanel
Preemptive

With data sciences, including predictive analytics, quickly gaining traction in mobile apps, it can make your apps highly marketable.

8. Deploy your app

Deploying an app requires a plan, schedule and control of the movement of releases to test and live environments. This is where Deployment Management comes into play; the major goal of it is to protect the integrity of the live or production environment and release the correct components.

You can launch the beta version of the application and hand it over to the audience or testers. They can then review the application and share their feedback for any improvements or augmentations

9. Capture the metrics

There has been a significant rise in the number of mobile users in this decade. Consequently, the need to collect accurate metrics is becoming increasingly important. Unfortunately, many of the methods used to measure the app’s performance are taken from web analytics.

Major input metrics that should be considered:

Funnel analysis to identify why users fail to complete desired actions like in-app purchases or ad clicks
Social sharing to monitor the aspects of your app are capturing the attention of your users
Correlating demographic data with user behavior
Tracking time and location to get insight into the contexts in which your app is used
Closely observing user behavior to track changes & augment your app accordingly

10. Upgrade your app with improvements & new features

As you capture the metrics, it’s also important to get valuable insights into evolving user interests over time, and innovating to upgrade your app with improvements and engaging features to meet consumer demands. A mobile app without innovative features loses its usability in the long run. This will help enhance its visibility, expose it to a wider, more diverse user base, and help boost downloads of your app. You have to ensure that you keep updating your app to meet new guidelines offered by various platforms. Remember: don’t let your apps stagnate.

Wrap up

These are some of the steps that can help you develop your very first mobile application. Using these, you can develop an app and ensure that it’s successful in the long run. Of course, these steps will vary for each and every one of you, but the general process follows a similar pattern.

VentureDive is actively working on multiple mobile development projects. Our global clientele has trusted us with crafting the most engaging, aesthetic & functional mobile apps for their products & solutions. Our experts stick to these basic principles throughout the mobile development process. Therefore, each of these steps are tried and tested, and can reap you results with long-term success.

Feeling a bit anxious about taking the first step? A discovery workshop can help you get started with confidence. Our domain experts shall work with you to create an app perfectly tailored to meet your needs.

Pumped up to start working on your app? Perfect!

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Hybrid vs. native mobile development: which is better?

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Faizan Ellahi

Mobile applications are regarded as one of the most powerful business tools in the industry. They have become the new standard for connecting with customers. Mobile app development has also been on the rise at VentureDive as audience interests shift towards mobility, ease of use, quick access to information, and work on-the-go.

This is backed by the mobile industry stats, such as the smartphone shipment volume is expected to touch 1.65 billion in 2022, with the number of users crossing the 3 billion mark the very same year. This growth is exponential and is not expected to slow down anytime soon.

It is clear as day that companies must adopt mobile development if they wish to accelerate their journey to growth. Having a strong mobile presence is no longer an option for businesses – it’s mandatory if they wish to stay relevant in the ever-evolving industry.

With more than 4.4 million apps on Apple Appstore & Google Play Store, it’s essential to choose a platform, first and foremost, if you’re looking to launch your own app. Choosing between native or cross-platform app development is one of the most important decisions to make.

My goal, in this blog, is to focus on the critical differences between Native and Hybrid Apps. You’ll learn the pros and cons of both approaches and which one almost always leads to a better customer experience for your users. If you are going to opt for mobile development, the first thing you need to ask is whether you will build a native app or a hybrid app.

Native vs. hybrid mobile development: what’s the difference?

Native app development is centered around designing mobile apps specific to a single platform, like iOS or Android. These apps are built with programming languages and tools that are specific to a particular platform. I have talked about some frameworks and languages that we commonly use for building native apps at my organization, below.

Native apps

iOS apps
iOS applications are created by Apple Inc. and use Objective-C or Swift as a programming language in native iOS app development. Swift is popular because it’s general-purpose, and takes a modern approach to application performance, security, and software patterns for mobile app design. iOS apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac are created using Xcode, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
Android apps
Android applications are designed by Google and use Java or Kotlin programming language for native app development. Java is a commonly used programming language used by more than 9 million Android app developers, globally. The benefits of Java are that it’s object-oriented, robust, and user friendly. However, in recent years, Kotlin is gaining more popularity in native mobile development. Android apps for touch screen devices are built using an IDE called Android Studio.

Hybrid apps

Can iOS and Android apps work together? Unfortunately not, this means that native Android apps won’t work on iOS phones and vice versa. Cross-platform development involves creating an app that works on multiple platforms without needing any changes to its core architecture – in essence, they are called hybrid apps.

Using the cross-platform or hybrid approach, you can compile the code and execute it on multiple platforms. Imagine, the code is written once, and the final product can be run on iOS and Android. These apps are developed for multiple platforms such as Android and iOS using a single code base, using tools like React Native, Xamarin, and Flutter.

Understanding native & hybrid apps

Pros & cons of native vs. hybrid mobile development

Both hybrid and native approaches to mobile development have their own strengths and weaknesses that companies must keep in mind when embarking on their journey to becoming mobile-first.

At VentureDive, we develop both kinds of apps depending on the use case. For instance, if our client’s (let’s say they are a Fintech startup) target audience are the low-income group, chances are that there would be more Android users within that group as opposed to iOS users. So why make a hybrid app? A native app for Android would work better, and it’ll save time as well as cost.

Depending on your target audience and use case, you can easily decide the best approach to app development for you. Both approaches, native & hybrid, have their own pros and cons. I have listed the advantages & disadvantages of both, below.

Native app development

Advantages

They are built with a native framework so platform-specificity allows them to offer fast and smooth performance.
Native apps are interactive, natural, and run more smoothly in terms of user actions.
Native development allows developers to access the core features of the selected operating system.
Native apps follow specific UX/UI standards for creating Android or iOS apps, making it more straightforward for users to understand and navigate the apps.
A native toolset allows the developers access to core features like camera, location services, etc. without the involvement of any third-party interference.
Native apps can be more secure for various reasons like the more straightforward implementation of two-factor authentication, certificate pinning, and access to built-in security features like TouchID.
Native apps tend to be more maintainable and scalable, thanks to the flexibility in resources management and the available tools.
Native apps receive complete support from app stores. The process of publishing your program in stores is as easy as possible, which is understandable as native app features perfectly meet all their requirements.
Native apps are built for particular platforms, so they dominate the app stores of all platforms.

Disadvantages

Native apps are more expensive to build unlike web or hybrid apps.
Native apps use difficult programming languages that required experts of specific technologies and programming languages for each mobile team.
Android apps will not run on the iOS and vice versa, so every platform you choose has to work with the different codebases to develop an app.
Native app development requires solid knowledge, expertise, and experience over respective app platforms.
Native apps are OS-specific so they require more time to be developed.
Writing applications for multiple platforms naturally increases the size and cost of a development team.
With different codebases, it is challenging to release the same features on all platforms simultaneously.
Longer development cycles.
Native apps are not an excellent choice for simple applications.

Hybrid app development

Advantages

One of the most significant pros of a hybrid app is the economic cost of development.
Instead of having multiple teams, you’ll need only one team to build a cross-platform app.
A hybrid app can be built just once and published on both iOS and Android stores.
Due to single codebase hybrid apps are typically much quicker to build as compared to native apps.
Cross-platform app developers do not need to learn multiple programming languages, frameworks, and technologies before creating their apps.
It’s generally simpler to maintain and update hybrid technology than native app technology.
A single codebase of the app is created with cross-platform development.
The application logic works the same on all platforms, so developers don’t have to do double work, which can significantly simplify the process of updating and enhancing your mobile services.
A single codebase allows cross-platform applications to have an identical user interface on all platforms.
Hybrid app development is less time-consuming than the native because developers don’t have to create a new codebase for each platform.
Developers have to run a single cycle of development to create an app that runs on both platforms.
Popular hybrid mobile app development platforms offer a range of frameworks and plugins that allow you to access features on the device, including gestures, photos, cameras, and contacts.
Hybrid apps offer better customer experience and performance across different operating systems.

Disadvantages

Apps developed using a shared codebase may fail to offer high performance and robust user experiences, unlike Native apps.
Cross-platform apps cannot fully take advantage of native-only features provided by the operating systems due to inconsistent communication between the device native and framework non-native code.
Cross-platform apps are slower than their native counterparts because they need additional abstraction layers and a bridge for communication between your code and the native code.
It hasn’t been long since the advent of hybrid apps, which is why the code may not auto-generate across devices, especially when we try to accommodate different Android models.
When a new OS version is released, hybrid developers would have to rely on third parties and frameworks for updates before designing an app on the latest OS.
Hybrid apps involve more complex features and functionalities as compared to native apps.
Every time Apple and Google releases a new feature for the iOS and Android platform, it takes some time for hybrid app developers to add support for the new feature.
All third party libraries and SDKs may not work in sync with the development frameworks of cross-platform applications.
The process of approving a cross-platform application in google or apple store may take a lot of time.

How to decide which platform to build your app on

There are a number of factors that play their part when it comes to choosing which platform to go with when developing your mobile app. Speaking from my experience of working as a mobile developer at VentureDive, I made a mind map of the factors that can influence your decision.

Application complexity
Building an app that involves heavy processing or requires access to low-level APIs native development will be the right choice. If the app just displaying information fetched from the network, go with the native development.
Cost
If you have a limited budget to develop an app, then cross-platform is a perfect choice. But on the other hand, native apps are costly to build, but they provide high performance and user experience.
Development time
If you want to get an MVP app up as soon as possible, consider cross-platform development. A single development cycle is needed for an app to be released on multiple platforms. In the native app development, you have to work with the two versions of the app.
UI/UX
If you’re looking for beautiful visuals and experience, the answer lies in native development. Because in the native app development, developers have access to native UI components. Opting for cross-platform will significantly limit the UI/UX element of the app.
Purpose of the app
If you’re still verifying your ideas, then hybrid app development is a better option to start an MVP and demonstrate your product in the market.
Features
Native apps can make use of the device’s native feature. Cross-platform apps cannot utilize native features because they have limited access to the API.

Wrap up

Lastly, to help you make a better-informed decision, I have created a table summarising the features you can leverage for each mobile development approach.

Features: Native vs. Cross-platform Apps

In today’s day and age, everybody is going mobile! If you’re still thinking whether it would be a good idea to develop one for your business, chances are it would be one of the best decisions you can make. Go for it! Dive into it head-first: do some research, set your audience, gather a list of requirements, create a prototype, test, and improve.

It would be a wise idea to start with a discovery workshop when creating your mobile app. Our experts can help you understand and map out the scope of your project, enabling you to deliver a robust and aesthetic business solution.

Excited to create your mobile app? Awesome!

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A simple step by step guide to A/B testing

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Javeria Ashraf

A/B Testing is a revolutionary technique for digital marketing, and a game-changer for testers to add value to the product directly.

A/B testing, which is also known as Split testing or Bucket testing is an experimentation technique used to assess the usability of a certain feature. It is usually conducted on two or more variants of the same application assigned to different user bases. It helps to identify the user interest, hence, helping the product to be more improvised as per the user’s needs.

Why do you need A/B testing?

Before going into that, let’s discuss how a product becomes more popular and usable. How do you get new opportunities in your business? How can you make it more profitable? The answer lies in the effectiveness of the product, and it’s matchless marketing; using your marketing strategies in the right way is what sets a product apart.

Now, the question is, how do we identify the best usable version of a product? That’s where the concept of A/B testing comes in. It’s simple – you can’t wild-guess the expected response. You will need enough real user data to understand the perspective of your audience. You run different experiments on different user bases to find out which is the best way to go. Then, you can evaluate your conversion funnel and marketing campaign to get data directly from your customers.

benefits of AB testing — Benefits of A/B testing

How do you plan an A/B test?

A/B Testing can be carried out on both web & mobile applications. For a certain feature, screen, webpage, or app, two or more variants are created, each with a different experimental feature. It could be a design-based experiment, functional experiment, or an experiment for optimizing clicks & conversions.

steps for planning AB testing — Steps in planning an A/B test

Today, we are going to look at some easy steps to get you started with split testing on the right foot, even if you can’t hire a professional to help you out.

Identifying areas of visitor activity
First, we need to identify the areas of visitor activity that are to be improved. For instance, an e-commerce website analyzed the user traffic & found out that users visit the app, add items in their cart but a major chunk of users leaves the site when it asks to sign-up. So, the registration flow is where we need to improve in order to gain more customers and lower the dropout rate.
Create variants on the basis of the hypothesis
Taking the example of a registration flow for the hypothesis, we work on two possible solutions. One flow uses emails to register while the other uses phone numbers. This would be an experiment on ways to register. Another experiment could be on the input fields of the registration form – one form could contain fields that require the user to enter personal information, while the other form takes credit/debit card or COD information only. These were examples of two different approaches to create two different variants. Variants can be multiple, and totally different in nature and objective.
Create user bases for variants
Once the variants are created, the next step is to create different user bases. A user base is actually a group of users generally categorized on the basis of similar interests or causes. For instance, one group could be the users who opt for COD (cash on delivery) and another group could be those who prefer paying through credit/debit card. You can also group users on the basis of demographics, such as age, region, profession, etc.
Testing variants with funnels
In order to get statistical data, we need to create funnels before testing the user activity. These funnels are like checkpoints in your application to monitor the traffic.
Choosing the right variant
Analysis is the key. After all the data has been gathered, we need to analyze the results for making the right variant choice. The data is now systematically organized, plotted, metricized, and driven to a conclusion. The decision would be made on a win-win variant.

Boost your bottom line through A/B testing

Accurate and well-planned A/B tests can greatly improve your bottom line. Controlled experiments and the resulting data can help you figure out the exact marketing strategies that work best for your business. You are more likely to emphasize conducting A/B tests before running ad campaigns and promotions when you continually see that one variant performs one, two, three, or even four times better than the other. It’ll help you decide what works best and what doesn’t, so you can optimize your products, applications, and content accordingly.

When you know what works well, it makes it easier for you to make decisions so you can craft more meaningful and impactful marketing collateral from the beginning. The key is to keep testing regularly so you can stay updated with what is effective for you. Remember, since the technology industry changes rapidly, the trends change as well. This means, what may work for you in one month, may not work as well in the next month. The effectiveness of a test change over time, so it’s important to continue testing regularly.

Here are some tips to help make your A/B tests more effective and impactful:

Test the right elements
Designs & layouts, headlines & copy, forms, CTAs (Call to action), images, audios & videos, subject lines, product descriptions, social proofs, email marketing, media mentions, landing pages or navigations, etc.
Achieve milestones
Improved conversion rates, more user traffic, higher number of views or subscriptions, increased number of downloads, improved sales, improved time on page, etc.
Carry out multiple iterations
A/B testing is not a one-time activity. It needs multiple iterations when experimenting with a variant. Ultimately, this will lead to a divergence or convergence point through metrics.
Select the right tool
Identify the tool which best fits your testing experiment. Different testing tools provide different kinds of testing expertise. You just have to choose the one which matches your requirement.

Which tools are the best for A/B testing?

It is essential to select the right tool with features to suit your experiment requirements. There are many tools available on the internet, both free and paid. Some of the more popular tools are:

Optimizely
VWO
Convert Experiences
SiteSpect
AB Tasty
Sentient Ascend
Google Optimize
Apptimize (for mobile apps)

Let me give you a quick walk-through of one of these tools, Google Optimize (free) to help you better understand how you can set it up to gather meaningful data and drive results that can help boost your business.

How to setup Google Optimize for A/B testing?

To start, you need to set up an account on Google Optimize. After logging in with your existing Google account (or creating a new one), it will ask you to add a browser extension. This will set up a container.

2. Start with creating an experiment. I have chosen a sample site, and my hypothesis is that the main page heading should be something catchy in order to get more conversions.

3. After adding the target URL, I’ll proceed to create variants. I made one variant where I changed the title and text of a button, and here we go:

4. Select the target audience. Google Optimize offers various options for this purpose:

5. Google Optimize uses Google Analytics to gather the user data.

After you link your changes to analytics, next step is to deploy your code:

6. Setting the objective as ‘Improve conversion rate’, we’ll proceed to further Settings.

7. After the experiment has been rolled out for a certain time span and for the targeted user base, it’s time to find out the winner of the experiment. The reporting tab will help you to view the results:

NOTE: The above demonstration is just a quick overview. Google Optimize is itself a very thorough tool to work with. In order to explore it more, here is the link to view a short web series on this tool, which is really helpful.

Mistakes to avoid when performing an A/B test

Use original and valid hypothesis & statistics
Setting invalid hypotheses & using someone else’s app statistics to derive your app hypothesis can weaken your experimenting ground. The results might not be that helpful, hence wasting the time & effort to carry it all the way.
Tackle one pain point at a time
Avoid using too many testing elements together in a test. It might affect the accuracy of the results. Break the elements into smaller groups & pick one at a time.
Consider internal & external factors
Using unbalanced traffic, picking incorrect duration, and not considering the external factors can be the reason for the failure of your experiment. These indicators play a pivotal role in this activity hence need to be taken care of.
Use the right tool
Not using the right tool can be a risk too. The tools are customised for various purposes. Proper research and selecting the best fit is what makes it effective.

Wrapping up

Today, many industries are using A/B testing as a powerful tool to increase the audience viewership, subscription, and readership. Most talked about are Netflix, Amazon, Discovery, Booking.com, WallMonkeys, Electronics Arts (SimCity 5), Careem, etc. There are numerous other multi-domain industries which are using the A/B testing technique to get the best possible results.

If you’re looking to get started with A/B testing, you can set up a call with us and our experts will guide you about outsourcing A/B testing and easily reaping the results without investing your time or efforts.

Pumped up to get started with your first A/B test? Awesome!

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Data & Analytics

Enabling Personalized Financial Advice through AI Agents

Written by Adina Humayoon

Data & Analytics

Using AI for Pattern Recognition in Finance

Written by Adina Humayoon

Data & Analytics

Data and AI Series Part 3

Written by VentureDive

How we did it: insight into our QA process for Pakistan telehealth initiative

Posted on January 14, 2021September 4, 2023 by Mehdi Salehi & Tabinda Kazmi

After weeks of hard work, countless meetings, and a successful project delivery later, we’ve decided to pull back the curtains on exactly what it takes to assure the quality of a high-availability healthcare app.

Back in April 2020, when the first wave of the novel Coronavirus was at its peak, VentureDive reached out to the Government of Pakistan to help the country combat the virus through technology. As part of the ‘Digital Pakistan’ initiative, spearheaded by Tania Aidrus, an ex-Google executive, we collaborated with her team to build and launch the COVID-19 telehealth portal. It is a website specially designed to combat the crisis of the pandemic. It allows Pakistani doctors and all healthcare professionals to register on it and volunteer to remotely help the patients who might have COVID-19 symptoms.

Doctors who want to give back during Ramzan: consider volunteering your time by signing up to provide #Covid_19 consultations at https://t.co/6Joc1VFVRM

Deep gratitude to @venturedive, @ptcl, @eocean, @infobip & @ntc for making this happen.@zfrmrza @fslsltn @UdarOfficial
— Tania Aidrus (@taidrus) April 25, 2020

“VentureDive team, I cannot thank you enough on behalf of the entire team for leaning in to help! There has been SO much interest in the platform and what’s interesting is how much interest we are seeing in other verticals. For example, today we had a call with the Law Ministry who are very eager to do something similar to sign up volunteer lawyers to provide free guidance to victims of domestic abuse. I hope this is just the beginning of our working relationship – excited to have started off on doing something that I hope can help thousands of Pakistanis during this time.” — Chief Digital Officer, Digital Pakistan

Healthcare is a very sensitive subject and it was a technology to be used by millions of people across Pakistan. Therefore, it demanded the highest quality, with zero downtime, zero bugs, and intuitive user journeys. In this blog, we’ve highlighted our experience of testing a portal that was to be used by healthcare professionals to reach out to patients via our technology.

What follows is a tale that tells the challenges we faced during the three-week-long project, and how we resolved them to successfully deliver a web and a mobile application.

The functional, security & scalability challenges of testing the telehealth portal

Before the project kicked off, the quality assurance team at VentureDive gathered the application requirements and shared them with the experts dedicated to working on this. A thorough documentation and sample mockups helped the QA team to begin working on the test plan, test design, and test cases during the development phase. We conducted daily stand-ups so the development & testing teams could stay synced and brainstorm on maneuvering through this project smoothly and in time. We faced six major challenges during our course:

Time management

The main challenge was racing against time to meet the client’s expectations while ensuring the security of the sensitive healthcare data, and zero glitches within the app. This meant that the QA team had to keep track of every requirement and reporting templates for testing updates that helped the development team fix defects and bugs timely, prior to delivering any milestone to the client.

tools used by QA team — Tools used by the QA team to effectively deliver each milestone

3rd party integrations

The application was to be integrated with third-party software such as WhatsApp chatbot for doctor-patient communication & telecom operators to enable anonymous calling mechanism and receiving SMS OTP. These were essential for fetching data from official sources and making sure both our applications remained in sync with the whole system we were creating.

Mobile responsiveness

The telehealth portal was supposed to be a hybrid mobile application, which meant that the testing team had to test it across various mobile devices and operating systems to make sure that it was responsive and compatible.

Security

Cyber attacks and threats are a real-world problem today with thousands of networks and websites being compromised each day. To help identify, classify, and address security risks, we performed vulnerability assessment and penetration testing activity including server VA, API penetration testing, and web application penetration testing to identify possible routes an attacker could use to break the system.

System performance

Monitoring the performance of the application was an integral part of building the portal, since we anticipated a large number of users, including doctors and patients. The QA team planned to automate the scripts on JMeter to determine how the system performs in terms of responsiveness and stability under heavy load and a huge volume of data.

Standards

A big challenge for the QA team was to keep the testing practices as standardized as possible even with a short time to spare. VentureDive believes in maintaining the quality of the deliverables as our utmost priority, regardless of the length, complexity, or intent of the project.

Adopting a smart testing strategy for successful project delivery

The process of Alpha testing was done remotely. The QA team collaborated and focused all their efforts towards detect any major defects in data security. We carried out usability, performance and security testing for private and sensitive information in a healthcare setup.

It was pertinent for the QA team to also analyze business criticality, plan around testing efforts in minimum time, make the application usable for thousands of users and ensure that testing was compliant with the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) standards.

The test strategy called for having separate environments for development, staging, and production. We performed the following steps in the given order:

Functional testing

Keeping in mind the criticality & nature of health-related projects, requirements had to be precise and the validation had to be perfect. We performed static analysis on requirements followed by actual test execution to meet the requirements and clients’ expectations. Data flow integrity and business rules were repeatedly tested via automated suites in our regression cycles

Tools:

Postman for API automation & integration testing
TestRail for test cases and test cycle reporting
PostgreSQL for data validations

Cross browser testing

Browser compatibility was mainly focused on Google Chrome version 80+ on windows. Extended smoke and regression cycle was performed on Firefox and Safari for Windows and Mac respectively.

Tools:

crossbrowsertesting.com
Browserstack.com

cross browser testing configuration — Cross-browser testing configuration

Responsiveness

Understanding the market trends of portable devices, we analyzed the data of the target audience and performed UI/UX testing on mobile & other portable devices. The application was tested on 6 different Android and iOS devices with different screen sizes and resolutions having different OS versions.

tools and devices — Tools and devices used to check responsiveness

Security testing

Thorough security testing was performed on infrastructure, API, and application level, keeping the top 10 OWASP standards in mind.

Tools:

Burpsuite
ZAP
KALI Linux operating system

The QA team identified the following vulnerabilities during the security testing activity:

Broken access control
Broken session management
Disclosure of internal directories
Unrestricted file upload
Missing server validation
Sensitive data exposure
Brute Force
No rate limit
WAF & ACL implementation

Our goal was to immediately address these issues and recommend further best practices that should be followed as pre-emptive measures against any potential cyber-attacks.

Performance testing

The system undergoing the test was required to have a load-balanced infrastructure supporting thousands of interactions between the patients and the doctors. The flow includes the signup process including uploading of images, populating, and fetching patient data lists and assignments of users one to one.

Tools:

Jmeter
Blazemeter

configuration for performance testing — Configurations for performance testing

We analysed all the results, and generated an extensive report using SmartMeter, which was later shared with the stakeholders. The primary issues identified were load balancing, CPU utilisation, and WAF configurations. These were addressed and recommended configurations were made for resolution.

Project delivery

A standard process was put in place to validate the requirements and meet the client’s expectations. After complete and thorough testing, we demonstrated and delivered the project to the client successfully.

Wrap up

Working on the telehealth portal as part of the ‘Digital Pakistan’ initiative was a short, knowledge-packed, and completely amazing journey that helped us learn and implement advanced quality assurance methodologies for a secure application. We adopted agile software quality practices to align software quality with product requirements and accelerate the software lifecycle. In addition, the continuous feedback we received from the project managers helped minimize retesting for verification and validation. Our iterative approach and short sprints enabled us to deliver quality products within a set deadline, successfully.

Thanks, team for all the amazing support. As I mentioned on slack, thanks to your hard work, we have 3000 doctors signed up and 1000 who submitted their documents. I had an amazing experience working with you all and truly admire your work ethic and efficiency. We couldn’t have done it without you. We will keep you updated on the stats and the launch event! — Project Coordinator, Digital Pakistan

Here’s where having a process-driven, and designed around ‘best-in-class’ software technologies delivery model helped us greatly. It enabled robust scalability while maintaining cost-efficiency within strict quality control measures.

Thanks for stepping up to swiftly contribute towards our nation in these challenging times. It’s been a privilege to watch such a well-oiled team in action. — CEO, Digital Pakistan

VentureDive: Top software development company by Techreviewer 2020

Posted on January 13, 2021September 4, 2023 by Techreviewer

VentureDive is a custom software development company that has proved its worth by delivering top-notch solutions to clients and providing them with flexibility and support. Not long ago, they were classified as a top-rated venture by Clutch 2020.

Extensive experience in delivering full-cycle software development services along with deep technology expertise enabled the company to hit the lists of the leading web and mobile companies according to prominent online directories and research agencies.

Let’s talk about some of the many notable projects delivered by VentureDive, along with the appreciation they received from the clients.

Careem: E-hail platform for affordable ride-hailing in the Middle-east

Careem is the leading cab booking service in the MENA region. In 2012, when it was still just an idea, they needed a technology partner to develop Careem’s Core platform & apps.

VentureDive worked with Careem to successfully deliver e-hail systems using Artificial Intelligence, Growth Management, and Security Protocols.

Unilever Munchies: A mobile app for instant delivery of snacks to your doorstep

VentureDive & Unilever brainstormed the idea for a digital platform for instant snacks’ delivery. Munchies’ hyperlocal model gives it the agility to deliver within minutes.

The company worked on product design, design sprint, and growth hacking for Munchies.

Kashat: Nano-lending mobile app offering small loans to micro-business owners

Kashat is the first Nano lending mobile application in Egypt, offering short term loans. They needed an outsourced software development team to develop the app and ensure tech alignment with business needs.

Through mobile development and product design, VentureDive helped the company grow and boost its bottom line.

Tez Financial Services: Android app for frictionless financial access to the masses

Tez Financial Services is Pakistan’s first fully digital Non-Bank Microfinance Company. They needed a technology partner to design and develop the Tez Financial Services platform & app.

VentureDive worked on role-based security, SSL pinning, and fraud prevention to help Tez establish a safe and secure financial inclusion platform for people across Pakistan.

Droobi Health: Mobile app & platform for chronic disease management

Droobi Health is a digital therapeutic company specialized in transforming chronic disease management. They needed mobile apps for diabetic patients & healthcare consultants to collaborate & keep a check on their health and lifestyle.

Using Apple health kit and J&J one-touch glucometer, VentureDive built and delivered a mobile application with chat and video features to help patients monitor their diabetes.

Now, there is another feather in their hat: VentureDive has been featured by a trustworthy analytics company, TechReviewer.co, as a leading Software Development Company in 2020.

“We are honored to be recognized as one of the best software development companies worldwide. We will continue to justify the confidence placed in us by TechReviewer, our clients, and partners. We believe we will reach new heights, expand our technology expertise, and gain more winning awards in custom software development, mobile, and web app development.” — VentureDive Team

Expo CLI vs. react-native CLI: Which is better for hybrid app development

Posted on January 13, 2021September 4, 2023 by Mehroze Yaqoob

Building a mobile app in native is a piece of cake but to publish an app on the app store & play store, you probably need to work twice as hard and write the same feature in two different languages i.e Kotlin for Android and Swift for iOS. Solution? Hybrid app development.

What if we write one code that can be used for both Android and iOS? Yes, you heard that right. React-Native is designed purposely to support the ‘write once and deploy anywhere’ paradigm. It was launched in 2015 by Facebook and it took the mobile development world by storm. At VentureDive, we experimented with React-Native to develop a new product, Muslims by IslamicFinder. If you are developing a new product and are not sure whether to go for hybrid or native app development, here’s a guide by one of our mobile experts that will help you make an informed decision: Hybrid vs. Native Mobile Development: Which Is Better?

In this blog, I will shed some light on which CLI did we choose while developing Muslims app, and what were the reasons behind it. It will help you better understand how to go about choosing a CLI during hybrid app development.

Tools for hybrid app development using react-native

There are a lot of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) out there that can be used for the development of React-Native apps. However, the most frequently used is Visual Studio Code. It’s a lightweight tool that can be used in systems with low RAM space. Other stable IDEs that are popular with the developers’ community are Atom and WebStorm.

Languages for react-native

The good thing about React is that it can be used with multiple languages. Moreover, if you are coming from a web development background, you can certainly use the knowledge of HTML and CSS with Flexbox – a CSS module defined to make better layouts – which is used for User Interface (UI) development. The main supported languages are Javascript and Typescript, which are really easy to understand for all developers regardless of which domain (web or mobile) they are experts in.

Selection of CLI

A Command Line Interface (CLI) is a visual interface where programmers can run commands to develop apps. Getting started with React-Native is a tricky thing since, in the beginning, you don’t have enough knowledge to make a CLI decision and this is the area where almost everyone makes a mistake. React-Native comes with two CLIs and you need to be absolutely certain about which one suits your requirements. The two CLIs are:

Expo CLI
React-Native CLI

Which CLI is better for hybrid app development?

That’s a million-dollar question and the answer lies within the overall requirements. There are certain limitations of both CLIs that could hamper your development efforts. If you choose to work with Expo CLI, you need to make sure that you understand its limitations and the same goes for React-Native CLI. While working on Muslims, a community engagement app by IslamicFinder, there were few requirements that were either not supported by Expo or it was not available with full configurational control. I have talked about them under ‘Expo Limitations’, below.

Expo limitations

When I started hybrid app development for Muslims, I wasn’t sure about which CLI I should choose but I knew one thing and that was: Expo makes it easier and faster to develop applications by handling all configurational changes, version conflicts, and certificates. It also signatures itself and provides a seamless way of deployment and debugging. That is all I needed as a newbie in React-Native to start, however, later I found out that Expo has some limitations as well:

We cannot configure older versions of the Android/iOS operating system, for installation, using Expo.
The executable size is large which can hurt the overall downloads.
A lot of Firebase – a product by Google, that provides various services for app development – products are not supported by Expo, for instance:
- FCM, a Firebase service used for sending notifications to Android/iOS applications, is still not supported in iOS.
- Crashlytics, another Firebase service used to report crash events in the live environment, is not supported. Instead, you have to rely on Sentry, a paid tool for application monitoring and error tracking, for that.
Video streaming player is available with very few configurable controls.
Certain features cannot be tested on Expo’s client application. Instead, you need to make a build to test them. An example of such a feature is ‘Firebase Authentication’.
Image caching libraries in Expo are not efficient enough to support apps like Instagram.
You need to have a paid subscription for a faster build creation process, else you will have to wait for 45 to 60 minutes for the build, depending on the queue size.
Realm, an external database, is not supported by Expo.
If any native module is required to be plugged in then this is not a possibility in Expo.
Things appear to be working fine in the Expo client app but they are not when compiled and built as a standalone app.

React-native CLI limitations

The first thing which is very important to note here is that once you have decided to migrate or eject from Expo CLI to React-Native CLI during hybrid app development, there is no turning back since it’s an irreversible process. The good thing about React-Native CLI is that it gives you complete freedom to implement any third-party plugins you want with the liberty to customize any implementation. You are not bound or restricted with any version of React-Native or minimum OS version handling and you are free to create builds at any time without any need of having a subscription to Expo servers. Saying this, you might face a few issues as well:

You would have to handle Expo versions yourself along with managing all certificates and fingerprints.
It will take extra effort to create builds for Android and iOS using their respective IDE’s where you will be handling all permissions and plugins using Gradle, a build automation tool for software development, for Android and Pods, a tool that manages dependencies and libraries, for iOS.
Overall development time will increase since you will now have to consider dependencies separately.
You will miss the Over The Air (OTA) feature for sure if you want to update or fix any important bug without publishing it and reflecting it on end-users’ devices. This feature allows the developers to modify something in the live users’ application.
You will need MAC hardware for the iOS build creation process which isn’t required with Expo.

Conclusion

With React-Native, one can easily develop a hybrid app for both Android and iOS with the same lines of code. However, the selection of the CLI is dependent on the requirements and feature set that is to be implemented.

For beginners, I would recommend going with Expo since it will take a lot of your headache on itself, and later when you are more familiar with the React environment, you can always eject from Expo to Bareflow, which works similar to React-Native CLI but comes under Expo.

In my opinion, React-Native CLI gives you more freedom, liberty, and control to express and experiment over your code, whereas, Expo binds you in a shell where you rely more on Expo dependencies. The choice is yours depending on your level of React expertise.

Kashat

GoRead.pk

Tez Financial Services

Unilever

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