The process of creating an idea is the most difficult part for many.

Your idea should stem from solving someone’s problem. Ideally, your own problem.

It is important to choose an idea that you are interested in. Interest is the key to stimulating motivation, which is crucial when creating a web application. Creating web apps takes effort and it is important that you have fun during the process.

Ask yourself:

How much time do I have to create this application?
What am I interested in?
What applications do I like to use?
What do I like about these apps?
How much time/money will this app save or bring me (as a user)?
How much will it improve my life?

Step 2 – Market research
Conduct market research
Once you have chosen your idea(s), it is important to research the market to see:

If a similar product exists
If the market exists
The number 1 reason why startups fail is because they do not meet the market requirements.

Marc Andreessen defined the term product-market fit as follows:

“Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market”.

To quickly find out if a similar web application exists, use the following tools to search for your idea:

Google
Patent and trademark search
Betalist
Product hunt

If a similar product exists, don’t worry. This may be a sign that there is a market for your idea. Your future competitors have laid the groundwork, educated the market. It’s time for you to rush in and steal the thunder.

If no similar product exists, you may be in luck – you are a master innovator.

On the other hand, maybe someone has gone down this path before and reached a dead end.

No one wants to experience that, so it’s important to dive deep into the market and get a fountain of wisdom:

Your web app’s target market – share your web app idea on forums related to your target market. If you know someone who works in your target market, explain your idea to them. The more you talk and get validation from your target market, the better.
Google Trends . A quick search for your web app idea will reveal relevant trends.
SEO tool – I would recommend MOZ/Ahrefs. Google keyword planner will suffice. Write a list of keywords related to your web program. If it is “OKR tool”, use the tools to search for “OKR tool”, “OKR application” and “software for goals and key results”. If an SEO tool indicates that many people are searching for your keywords, that’s a good indication that you have a target market.
Social media – go to Twitter/Facebook groups and present your idea to the target market.
Events. If there is a local event in your area that attracts people from your target market, attend it. Share your idea and record the feedback.
After completing the above steps, you should have enough information to understand if there is a market for your product.

If there is a market for your product and there is also established competition, it is important to research them.

Step 3. Define the functions of web applications
Define the functionality
You got your idea, you’ve checked the market, now it’s time to list everything you want your app to do.

A common mistake here is getting carried away.

Your web app is NOT a Swiss Army knife. It won’t have all the features and functions of Salesforce, and it doesn’t have to.

I repeat, don’t get carried away. The more functionality you add, the more time it will take to build your web app. Quite often the longer it takes to develop a web application, the more frustration you feel.

One of the most important aspects of building a web application is to have fun, enjoy the journey and celebrate the small victories.

Define only those features that solve the problems of your target markets.

I promise that I am not here to kill your dreams. Remember that your web app is still in development and the first goal is version 1. It will still have interesting features and will captivate your users, but you have to keep things simple.

Move on.

For orientation, I have included a list of basic features needed for a simple CRM application.

• Users can create an account
• Users can recover lost passwords
• Users can change their passwords
• Users can create new contacts
• Users can upload new contacts
• Users can assign values to contacts
• Users can write notes under contacts
• Users can mark a contact as a prospect, customer or partner
• Users can filter contacts by prospect, customer or partner
• Users can view the total value of leads, customers and partners

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It should be noted that the first web applications appeared before the Internet became mainstream. Back in 1987, Larry Wall developed Perl, a server-side scripting language.

The very first site appeared in 1991, thanks to Tim Berners-Lee, who introduced a new technology to the World Wide Web, based on the HTTP protocol. The site still exists today, and everyone can view it.

It is a set of hypertext with links to basic concepts, directions of development of the resource, etc. Compared with modern network projects, it looks simple and unsightly, but it has historical significance.

For a long time web-applications remained simple, because there were no tools and no need to complicate them. Only at the beginning of the 21st century they began to gain popularity and today are represented by a huge variety.

Thanks to HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Javascript (to animate static pages), server technologies (Apache, Nginx, AJAX) and programming languages (Python, Java, PHP, etc.) it became possible to make large-scale mass web applications with great functionality.

Thanks to them, everyone can pay for utilities online, communicate with colleagues in a video conference, make online purchases, and search based on their interests.

The concept of “site” in the narrow sense is associated with static pages, the content of which is rigidly defined and put online. Web applications are associated with dynamically generated content, depending on the user’s request, with or without a page reload.

Web-applications require a client part (frontend), i.e. the interface, the presentation on the user’s screen, and a server part (for processing requests, recording in the database the information obtained).
To summarize
1 – The development of web applications is connected with the Internet evolution
2 – Improvement of tools allows the creation of complex web applications based on browsers
3 – Web-applications have client (frontend) and server (backend) parts

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For most people there is no difference between a website and a web app. But for those who want to create their own online business, as well as for the development team, there is a difference, and it directly affects what knowledge the developer should have.

In fact, the end user doesn’t even think about what they are using, a website or a web application. The user simply enters the URL in the search box. But the point is that the “website” has to do what the user assumes it does.

At the same time, for the e-commerce development team, there’s a significant difference between building a website and a web app. Keep this in mind when you have the question of what’s best to create for an online business. But in order to make the right choice for your company, it’s worth considering the information we discuss later in the article.

But the point is that a “website” should do what the user expects it to do

The main functions of a website
Basically websites are characterized by informativeness. As an example we can give blogs or news sites. The main purpose is to give visitors the necessary information.

In most cases, users have no or limited interaction with the site. By “limited,” we mean a subscription form and site search. So, should you limit yourself to building a site for your online commerce business model?

If you want to put a little information about your company, including a description, upcoming events and contact information, you might opt for a website.

Basic functions of a web app
Unlike websites, web apps are designed to interact with users. Web apps can be informative too, but they can also process the information received from the users.

An example of a web app is an online banking system. You can see information and even take actions based on the data you enter.

Useful web applications improve our lives. As an example, we can consider Adobe Color CC.

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The range of uses of web applications is very wide. This section discusses the general use of web applications and gives an example of a simple web application.

Typical uses of web applications
The use of web applications brings some benefit to both web site visitors and web site developers.

Web applications allow visitors to quickly and easily find the information they need on websites with a lot of information.

This type of web application allows you to search the content, organize the content, and navigate through it in a way that is convenient for visitors. Examples of these applications are internal company networks such as Microsoft MSDN and Amazon.com.

Web applications allow you to collect, store and analyze data from visitors to the site.

For a long time, the method used was to send data entered into HTML forms to CGI applications or designated employees for processing as emails. The web application allows data to be saved directly into a database, as well as to retrieve data and generate reports based on the retrieved data for analysis. Examples include interactive pages for banks, pages for inventory control, sociological studies and surveys, and forms for user feedback.

A web application can be used to update Web sites with periodically changing content.

The web application frees the web designer from the chore of constantly updating the HTML pages of the site. Content providers, such as news editors, are responsible for ensuring that fresh material is available, and the web application makes sure that the site is automatically updated. Examples include the Web version of The Economist magazine and CNN News Service.

The main benefits of web add-ons:

• Web add-ons can be used on any operating system (Linux, Mac, Windows) because all of them support modern browsers;
• Due to the fact that the web add-on uses the same code compared to desktop add-ons, they are much easier to maintain;
• The add-on is easier to program as it does not involve a lot of work on the PC components (core, processor, video card);
• unlike mobile add-ons, web add-ons do not require grabbing any platforms to release your program;
• web add-ons are a more cost-effective option for any business
• because web applications do not require a subscription or purchase of licenses, and can be used as SaaS service, which is considerably cheaper.

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In general, all web applications can be divided into 5 types. The division is somewhat arbitrary, since it is possible to combine several types in one application.

1. Server-based web apps
   Web server applications work on remote computers. They are written using programming languages such as Python, Java, Ruby, PHP, C#, etc. They require almost no user intervention. Switching between pages causes the generation of new content, which is displayed on the client.

An example of a purely server-based application is push notifications (from email services, messengers, telecom operators) in smartphones. The client receives information that there is a new message, letter, changes in tariff, without taking any action.

2. Client web-applications
   Client applications in their pure form don’t require a server and make do with JavaScript capabilities, using the user’s browser as a shell. They do not persist beyond one session.

Typical examples of such applications are: simple games, browser-based photo editor.

3. SPA applications
   Single page application (SPA, single-page web applications) implement complex functionality within a single browser window without rebooting. Dynamic update of the page content is achieved by technology AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). In response to the user’s actions (scrolling the page, clicking buttons, filling out a form, moving a slider, etc.) the content of the page will change.

An inexperienced user might even think that he is dealing with a desktop application, because all the changes are happening almost immediately. By the way, many mobile apps use this approach.

When combined with JavaScript frameworks (Angular, React, Vue), the operation of such programs becomes as smooth as possible.
Almost all email services are SPA.

4. MPA applications
   Multi Page Application (MPA, multi-page web applications) are used to build complex systems. In this case, any change in the data leads to a full page reload. When there is a large array of data and content, a variety of information presented, the MPA are best suited.

Despite the fact that they require large amounts of resources for implementation and significantly more expensive, other types of web applications cannot replace them. However, trends show that the overall share of MPAs is gradually decreasing.
A standard example of such an application is online stores with a large array of products (Amazon, Citilink, etc.).

5. PWA applications
   Progressive Web Application (PWA, progressive web applications) – a new way of “presenting” web services, which brings them as close as possible to the usual, familiar desktop application, but at a higher level.

Let’s imagine the situation: a person visits a certain site, which offers him to install it on other devices. Now both on the PC and on the phone you will be able to receive notifications and work offline, regardless of the device model and its power.

The main area of application of such applications is mobile devices. The user no longer needs to enter the AppStore or PlayMarket to download the program – the browser will do everything automatically (it will also create a shortcut on the desktop, allow to work with itself without access to the network, etc.). In fact, we get an analogue of the usual application with the same functionality and a lot of advantages (PWA does not require extra smartphone memory, for which you have to delete photos and videos, they weigh less than 1 MB).

When new content appears PWA sends a push-notification to the user. It should be recognized that in the near future, these applications can replace almost all mobile counterparts. Although the technology appeared in 2007 in Apple, initially it did not “go” because of the weak “progressiveness” of the public, but by the second half of 2016 Google has developed it and made it popular.

PWA-versions of apps are found in many companies (the same Aliexpress has almost doubled the conversion rate from new visitors thanks to it).

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What is a database
A database is simply a collection of data! The data can be stored on disk, in memory on the server, or both. You can create a folder on your hard drive, save a few documents and call it a database.

A database management system (DBMS) is a system that provides consistent APIs for (most often):

Creating databases, updating and deleting databases
Read and write data to databases
Secure database access by providing single-level access to different areas and functions
The type of database you need to run your web application will determine what data you need to store and what your users need to do.

Types of databases
There are many types of databases for different purposes. A web application will most often use one of the following.

SQL
You should use an SQL database if your data is highly relational. Your data is relational if you have several well-defined record types that have relationships to each other. For example, a “Customer” may have many “invoices” stored in its records. Typically, you create a “Customer” table and an “Invoice” table, which can be linked together by “Foreign Key” columns. For example, Customer.Id = Invoice.CustomerId.

SQL databases have an extremely powerful query language that allows you to represent your data in many different ways.

Document database
You should use a document database if your data is not very relational. Document databases store “documents”. Each record in your database is just a big block of structured data, often in JSON format.

If you need to store relationships between your records, you have to write code to manage that yourself. However, many other aspects of using document databases are much simpler. Your database can be “schema-less”, which means that you don’t have to declare the definitions of your records up front.

Decide how to divide your data
Each of your customers has their own private set of data. One of the worst things that can happen to your application is that one customer’s data will be available to another customer.

Even if only a small amount of non-confidential data is leaked and no harm is done, such an event will significantly weaken the trust in the security of your application.

The code you will need to write:

When creating a new client, you need to create a new database and fill in any initial data.
You need somewhere to store records of all your customers and how to connect to each customer’s database.
If you need to update the database (for example, add a new table), you need to write code to update each one individually.
If you need to query all your customer data into one, you need to pull the data from each and aggregate it.

Create the interface
Note. Actually, you will create your server and frontend interface at the same time. But for this post we will keep it simple.

What do we mean by interface?
The interface is the visual element of your web application. It defines what you see and interact with. The UI is developed using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

If you are using server-side pages, it is very easy to get started. Your server-side framework is set up and ready to build. This is where the huge advantage of server pages comes in.

Create your backend
What do we mean by backend?
The server is usually what manages your data. This refers to databases, servers, and everything that the user cannot see in the web application.

Building the server side is one of the most challenging parts of web application development. If you feel overwhelmed, a tool like Budibase can eliminate many of the difficulties, including the following tasks.

The main backend tasks will be:

Provide HTTP endpoints for your frontend that will allow it to work with your data. For example, create, read, update and delete (“CRUD”) records.
Authenticate users (make sure they are who they say they are: log in).
Authorization. When a logged-in user makes a request, the server side determines whether the user is allowed (authorized) to perform the requested action.

Maintain interface
If you have chosen server pages, your backend will also generate your frontend and serve it to your user.

With a single-page application, the server side will simply serve your static front-end files (i.e., your “single page” and associated resources).

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Interactivity
The first difference is the different degrees of interaction with the page. While websites contain text and visual content that the user can’t interact with, web apps allow the user to not only read but also manipulate the information on the page. This can be thought of as dialogue. The user interacts with the site’s interface and receives a response. By “response” we mean electronic payment, online chat, uploading documents, etc.

An online store that allows users to buy products, search through a catalog, could be a web application. Another interesting example is social media. They also include blog features, chat rooms, user-selectable content and the ability to share that content.

Most websites today have interactivity. That’s because users like it. To do this, website owners add small web applications to their site.

Integration
Integration is the process of combining simple components into one complex component. Developers can integrate web applications and sites with programs including ERP, CRM. However, in most cases, it is with web applications that integration takes place. Why? Because their complex functions often need additional information from third-party systems. The most popular type of integration in e-commerce is integrating a web application with a customer relationship management system (CRM). This helps store customer data, order information, and improves the sales team. Through integration, information about web app users is automatically collected and stored in the CRM system. This kind of integration allows the sales team to learn more about customer behavior, their buying preferences, and work more effectively with negative feedback. This is very beneficial for online business owners, as all changes in customer information are automatically displayed in the CRM. This kind of interaction with customer information can bring an increase in sales and improve online store processes.

In some cases, website owners use integration with CRM to provide visitors with more personalized content. But unlike web apps, this kind of integration with web sites is more of an optional feature than part of the core functionality.

Authorization
This process involves entering user credentials to gain access to a Web site or system. This feature is important for systems that require any personal information about the customer. Moreover, at this stage, pay special attention to security. It’s important to minimize the possibility of unauthorized people accessing users’ personal information.

And unlike sites, web applications require authorization more often. Why? Because they provide users with more options than websites. For example, when using social networks, systems warn you about weak passwords. And ignoring such messages can lead to hackers breaking into your account.

Most information sites use authorization. In some cases, this is used to give more features that are not available to unauthorized users. While unregistered users can only view articles, registered users can leave comments, share articles on social media, etc. This is also a great solution to block spam. Thus, authorization is necessary for websites as well as for web applications. At the same time, web applications need it for security purposes.

A successful combination
When creating information portals or developing online stores, you can take advantage of both websites and web applications. Let’s explain. Initially, sites on the WordPress praform are supposed to display information to visitors. Therefore, we can say that it is a website. At the same time, the back-end of such a site is equipped with a CRM system, which is quite flexible. Therefore, such a site also has the functions of a web application.

Development team
When choosing between a web application and a web site, you should first of all start from the needs of your business. If your company needs a website, you can hire a small outsourcing company that specializes in e-commerce. Such teams can easily handle the development of a website and a custom design where you can put information about your company. But if you need to add a custom module to your site or develop it from scratch, you need to look for a team that specializes in web application development. Moreover, when looking for such a team, pay attention to the ready-made web applications that the team should have in its portfolio.

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Front-End
On the front end, the tools to use for web application development and web development have remained roughly the same for a quarter of a century. But at least you can bet that they are reliable!

JavaScript
JavaScript is the primary client-side programming language for any type of web development. And almost 100% of web developers use JavaScript to code client-side behavior on their website or web application.

This is because JavaScript allows developers to create dynamic websites. Basic features like scrollbars and clickable buttons are the spawn of JavaScript programming.

Since the origins of JavaScript in the 20th century, this language has expanded significantly, showing its diversity through numerous use cases and frameworks.

HTML
HTML is another major web development technology. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is responsible for structuring the content of a web page.

A number of HTML elements describe on a web page how to display text, images, and in the latest version of HTML – HTML 5 – also audio and video. HTML elements are most recognizable by the symbols “<” and “>”.

Here’s a secret: if you’re using a desktop or laptop, right-click on any web page, click “View Page Source”, and you’ll see a bunch of HTML embedded right in your browser.

CSS
Cascading Style Scripts (CSS) is a language for marking up the presentation of a web page. Just like JavaScript and HTML, it is a fundamental technology that makes the World Wide Web what it is today.

Colors, layouts and fonts are some of the inherent characteristics of a web page or web application. CSS uses these characteristics.

Back-End
Backend development contains a wider range of technologies because backend development includes several components such as server-side programming, databases, web servers, and APIs.

Programming languages
Server-side or backend programming languages must handle the functionality of the web application, which happens behind the scenes.

Back-end web development may involve working with databases to send and receive data from one end to the other, managing user connections and security authentication, and ultimately empowering the web application to function properly.

Java, Python, Ruby and PHP are some of the most popular server-side languages. Many technology companies use more than one of these languages, but there are still many side-by-side comparisons to test their usefulness.

There are also server-side web frameworks to simplify software development. Django and Ruby on Rails are becoming increasingly well-known in the web development community.

Databases.
Databases store application data. Back-end developers must be familiar with query languages that can query and retrieve data using queries.

Structured Query Language (SQL) is the query language for ordinary web developers. SQL has many extensions or related versions that extend additional features such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle.

Servers.
Servers respond to network requests. Through the web application’s Internet connection, the server retrieves information based on client requests and then serves the client – that is, you, your computer or mobile device – whatever you requested.

While there is no specific language for servers, all the technologies that make up back-end development must interact perfectly well with the servers they work with.

Of note are the Apache, Nginx and Internet Information Services (IIS) web servers.

APIS
APIs facilitate communication between two or more software systems. API integration is what facilitates the connection between your Google Home and your Spotify playlist, for example, or eBay’s collaboration with PayPal.

Again, APIs don’t have a language for the domain. Instead, developers create APIs using other server-side technologies and share them publicly with other developers or keep them closed to the organization they work for.

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The first stage is sketching.

My favorite and fastest way is to use a notebook (without lines) and a pen/pencil. It’s old school!

Draw the structure of the user interface of web applications – it doesn’t have to be exact – it’s just a sketch.

When creating a sketch, consider the following:

• Navigation
• branding
• forms
• buttons

Any other interactive elements
Draw different versions of the web application. Think about how the functionality of your web application will affect the overall design.
Add annotations to your sketch and outline how your application should work.
The notes will help you later clarify and understand why you designed certain elements.

Plan your web app workflow
It’s time to put yourself in the user’s shoes. In step 5 we will plan the web application workflow.

Write notes about what you thought was good and what was bad. Pay special attention to the workflow.
Once you have completed your competitor’s web application analysis, it is time to write down the different workflows for your application. Pay attention to the following points:

How does the user register?
Do they receive a confirmation email
How the user logs in
How the user changes their password
How the user navigates the application
How the user changes their user settings
How the user pays for the app
How a user cancels his subscription

Suddenly our one-page web application turns into a 10-page web application.

Write a list of all the different pages your web application will have.
Consider the different states of the pages. For example, the home page will have two states; logged in and logged out. Users who are logged in will see a different page than users who are logged out.

Creating a wireframe/prototype web application
Ok, it’s time to turn these sketches and new understanding of your web application into a wireframe/prototype.

What is wireframing / prototyping
Wireframing is the process of developing a plan for your web application. Prototyping takes the wireframing design one step further by adding an interactive display.

The decision to wireframe or prototype is up to you. If you have the time, I would recommend creating a prototype as it will make it easier to convey information about your web application during testing.

You can create a prototype/framework using the following tools:

Sketch (macOS)
InVision Studio (macOS)
Adobe XD (macOS, Windows)
Figma (Web, macOS, Windows, Linux)
Balsamiq (macOS, Windows, Web)

Look for early validation
Now you have a nice wireframe/prototype that visually describes your web application.

It’s time to show the world your beautiful wireframe. At this stage we want to get constructive feedback.
Just asking your friends if they use your new web app is not enough.
You should start with a small number of representative users. Go to forums of your target market, to places of work, test the problem and present your solution.

Try to build relationships with these representatives as they may become your customers.

I like to use this stage to test my promotional offer – the main signs of validation are pre-launch sales.

Taking notes and documenting all feedback. The learning gained from these meetings will help guide the development of your MEP (Minimum Excellent Product).

Okay, now you’ve got great feedback and product validation. It’s time to start building the web application.

Before we start the development phase.
Before we create our web application, I would like to share the following tips:

• Try to ensure that a small section of the application is fully functional. What we would call a “full vertical”.
• By creating the smallest possible section, you will be able to get all the details together and smooth out those creases in advance.
• You will soon get great satisfaction from seeing something working – great motivation.
• Make things that you know you will throw away later – if it helps you make something work now.
• In the beginning, expect things to change a lot as you learn and discover things you didn’t think about.
• Trust that your app will stabilize.
• Don’t be afraid to make big changes.
• Spend time learning your tools.
• You may feel like you are wasting time reading or experimenting with “hello world”. Learning the right way to perform tasks will have a huge positive cumulative impact on your productivity over time.
• If possible, use tools that are compliant. Understand that once you get out of the normal flow/use of your toolbox, you are on your own and can find yourself deeply devastated. Of course, there are always exceptions!
• Don’t avoid the problems that need to be fixed.
• Face your problems squarely – they will never go away and will only grow.
• However, if it is still likely to change – it is best to spend as little time on it as possible… It’s a tricky balance!
• It’s time to look at your database.

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Google Docs.
Google Docs is the most infamous of this list. With Google Docs, users can directly interact with the web application by editing and making suggestions on documents.

One of the important features of Google Docs is that it automatically saves any changes you make immediately after you make them. It is almost impossible to lose your work.

Notions.
Notion is rapidly gaining popularity. It is a web-based application that satisfies many needs and purposes. You can use Notion as a calendar, to-do list, notepad, wiki, etc.

The application works with components that you can insert and make changes in a convenient web browser.

Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing platform that allows marketers to send automated and targeted bulk emails to their potential customers. Its user interface is user-friendly for anyone who wants to set up an email marketing campaign.

Salesforce.
Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) service that uses a software as a service (SaaS) model.

Companies can offer skilled customer service from the Salesforce web application, as well as integrate Salesforce into other technologies, such as HubSpot CMS.

Web application development is a peculiar part of web development that doesn’t quite align with what you expect from a website or mobile app.

There are several types of web applications. In addition to progressive, game-changing web apps, there are client-side web apps, server-side web apps, and even single-page apps.

Web applications are created using a combination of front-end and back-end technologies, and this, along with the software development process itself, does not stray far from standard web development.

In fact, you are probably already well aware of several well-known web applications that are frequently used on the Internet.

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