In the hybrid work era, seamless work coordination is crucial. According to Gartner's analysis, appointment scheduling software plays a key role here.Â
How to build a scheduling app? It requires careful planning and execution to deliver a product that meets user expectations. Having helped numerous clients design and develop successful scheduling solutions, Inoxoft is here to share our expertise and help you build your own. We’ll cover:
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Benefits of building your scheduling app: functionality, security, and customization advantages.
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Key features: simple scheduling, flexible calendar, automated messages, roster management, and mobile-friendliness.
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Development process: essential steps from project planning to ongoing support and management.
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Best practices: building MVP, global adaptation, monitoring performance, and post-launch strategies.
Scheduling App Development Cost: Key factors affecting the cost and raw estimates.
- Why Make Your Schedule App?
- Functionality
- Data security
- Customization
- Types of Scheduling Applications
- For appointment scheduling
- For project management
- For remote team control
- For process automation
- Schedule App Features You Need To Know
- Simple scheduling
- Flexible calendar
- Automatic messages
- Roster management
- Mobile-friendliness
- How to Create a Scheduling App
- Step 1. Define your goal
- Step 2. Analyze existing market offers
- Step 3. Assemble your team
- Step 4. Define your timelines
- Step 5. Decide on the features
- Step 6. Finalize the project requirements
- Step 7. Plan the MVPÂ
- Step 8. Select the cloud computing platform
- Step 9. Evaluate third-party APIs/SDKs
- Step 10. Decide on the tech stack
- Step 11: Make UI/UX design
- Step 12: Code, test, deploy
- Step 13. Manage your project effectively
- Best Practices for Scheduling App Development
- Building an MVP
- Adaptation
- Monitoring the performance
- How Much Does it Cost to Build a Scheduling Application?
- How Inoxoft Can Help
- Synergy3DMED: 3D printing workflow with scheduling for a digital health company
- Digital deal management solution with a scheduling tool
- Web platform for moving service with a custom-made calendar
- Summing Up
Is a custom scheduling app a worthwhile investment? An impressive 94% of customers are more likely to consider a new business with its own booking website. Scheduling software impacts not only businesses’ operational efficiency but also long-term profitability, offering a revenue boost estimated from 30 to 45%
According to Verified Market Research, the size of the Appointment Scheduling Software Market will reach approximately $590 million by 2027! On such an intriguing note, there’s only one question on the mind: “How to build a scheduling app?”. Count yourself lucky! This article will discuss scheduling app development, its benefits, and the essential steps you need to take to succeed!
Why Make Your Schedule App?
A scheduling app is an automated platform for planning and managing personal or corporate events, bookings, appointments, and other vital chores. With its help, users can book, cancel, and postpone meetings for better times in a few clicks.
You have probably heard of scheduling apps like Calendly, Google Calendar, or SimplyBook. Now, those and many more are the to-go scheduling systems for individuals, businesses, teams, and enterprises. Let’s look at some of the numbers showcasing their success:
- Calendly reported a revenue of $276.1 million and served 10 million customers in 2023.
- SimplyBook.me earns $2.6M annually, with $101,500 per employee.
- Google Calendar has over a billion installs on Google Play and is ranked 7th among U.S. productivity apps.
To create a schedule app that will achieve such results, you need a clear and planned development approach.
While existing scheduling apps offer valuable features and functionality, there remains room for innovation and customization to address specific user needs and preferences.
Entrepreneurs and businesses may opt to develop their own scheduling apps to introduce unique features, advanced functionality, and tailored solutions that differentiate their offerings in the market. This emphasis on customization and innovation enables developers to create scheduling apps that resonate with target audiences and deliver exceptional user experiences.
Functionality
All the apps on the market are missing something, aren’t they? Your innovative idea pushes you to consider scheduling app development. Add more features, advanced functionality, a user-friendly interface, customizable booking forms, and automated reminders. You can implement any tech advancements by creating your own custom application that many people will want to subscribe to.
Data security
Data security and privacy concerns prompt users to prioritize platforms that offer robust security measures and data protection protocols. By developing proprietary scheduling apps, businesses can assume greater control over data security and implement stringent measures to safeguard sensitive information. This focus on data security enhances user trust and confidence, fostering long-term relationships with customers and stakeholders.
Customization
Your business can have its own tailored scheduling application. You’ll have a unique platform for specific internal procedures. That is a vital tool for managing meetings, tracking progress, enhancing communication between employees, partners, and customers, and controlling the workload and budgeting. Get all the insight you need for a more efficient company workflow.
Types of Scheduling Applications
Scheduling applications serve various purposes, catering to diverse needs and preferences. These apps are indispensable for efficient time management and productivity enhancement, from appointment scheduling to project management tools. Scheduling apps streamline remote team coordination and automate tasks to enhance workflow efficiency.
For appointment scheduling
The most well-known type, appointment-scheduling apps, are a must for users who want to keep everything organized. Everything needs to be accessible, easy to add and monitor, depending on the overall schedule, whether it’s a business meeting or a doctor’s appointment.
For project management
Scheduling apps are a great helping tool for managing different aspects of projects. They allow us to create schedules, track expenses, manage time- and spreadsheets, and enhance communication with teammates. In other words, such applications efficiently optimize the whole process.
For remote team control
For the past years, we have gotten used to meeting with people from different continents without even leaving our room. Online video conferencing keeps our partners and us connected and on the same page. Such scheduling applications allow us to structure and take over the process of team scheduling, shift management, and so forth.
For process automation
Some people are sick and tired of doing loads of paperwork, writing reminders on stickers, and having to call to set a meeting. And honestly, we understand them. Using this type of scheduling application, you get minimum paperwork, automatic notifications, contact-free arrangements, and effective workflow.
Schedule App Features You Need To Know
How to create a scheduling app? We are getting closer to answering the question. What features do you need to consider while designing a scheduling application? Indeed, they vary depending on your goals, type of app, budget, and so on. Yet, there are must-have features any scheduling application should have by default. Let’s check out some of them.
Simple scheduling
You can’t call the experience of working with twisted and tangled software pleasing. Everything within the application should be as simple and understandable as possible. In a world of hustle and bustle and social anxiety, tedious phone calls have remained in the last decade.
They also prove to be much more time-consuming. A quick and easy way to receive a requested service is exactly what people need. Make your clients want to share the app with their friends and even rivals.
Flexible calendar
Is it even a scheduling application without a decent digital calendar? The delicate task of appointment management is not to mess everything up but rather to structure it. Such tools allow us to keep up with other people’s schedules, see their availability to have meetings, and instantly book free time slots.
You can also edit, cancel already created appointments, add recurring ones, provide detailed information about them, and more. An adequately made calendar reduces the possibility of human error and other inconveniences.
Automatic messages
The major benefit of digitized technologies is the ability to set reminders you don’t want to forget and can actually rely on that. Automated alerts, email notifications, and text messages will pop up minutes before the upcoming event, so you won’t have the opportunity to miss it.
Such a great feature helps us to reduce missing essential appointments and prepare ourselves for the next scheduled meetings. Plus, you wouldn’t wish to not attend the postponed call just because of communication issues.
Roster management
If you want to build a scheduling app, you need this feature. It allows you to create and manage different schedules, track a person’s availability and shift preferences. Roster management quickly adjusts team members’ requirements and abilities.
This feature helps ensure everyone performs their tasks properly and efficiently and improves the planning process inside the organization. It also helps employers manage their employee schedules, leaves, and working hours.
Mobile-friendliness
There’s no need to specify why the scheduling app’s mobility is required. Users need to manage their schedules, check calendars, and manage appointments wherever they are.
The scheduling system has to be easily accessible through mobile devices so that people won’t encounter any inconveniences and unfortunate events. All the reminders, notifications, and other adjustments will always be available at the user’s fingertips.
How to Create a Scheduling App
Suppose you are eager to have your own app. How to make a scheduling app? Before diving into app development, consider key factors and follow specific guidelines to ensure success in building your app.
Define your goals and conduct thorough research to identify user needs and market opportunities. Then, build a capable team, set clear timelines, and focus on core features while planning your MVP development iteratively.
Let’s review the scheduling app development steps in more detail.
Step 1. Define your goal
If you think about creating a schedule app, one thing should guide you — the value you want to deliver. Before embarking on the app development journey, identify the specific problem or need your scheduling app aims to address, whether it’s streamlining appointment bookings or optimizing team processes. Conduct thorough market research and stakeholder interviews to gain insights into pain points, user requirements, and potential opportunities for innovation.
Step 2. Analyze existing market offers
Analyze the competitive landscape and understand the features, functionalities, strengths, and weaknesses of existing scheduling apps. Identify gaps in the market and areas where your app can stand out, whether through unique features, improved user experience, or targeted niche offerings.
Step 3. Assemble your team
You can delegate all the technical tasks to professionals who know what to do. Find your dream team with a project manager, QA engineer, UX/UI designer, and front-end and back-end developers. Collaborate closely with team members to establish clear roles, responsibilities, and communication channels. Foster a cohesive and efficient project environment.
Step 4. Define your timelines
Establish a realistic development timeline that aligns with project objectives, financial constraints, and market dynamics to avoid delays and cost overruns. Breaking down the development process into manageable phases and milestones ensures effective progress tracking and facilitates timely delivery. Striking a balance between efficiency and quality is essential.
Step 5. Decide on the features
Define your scheduling app’s core features and functionalities based on user needs, market research, and project requirements. Consider the aspects such as appointment booking, calendar management, and automated reminders. Prioritize features that enhance user experience, such as seamless integration with popular calendar platforms like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook. Ensure interoperability and convenience for users across different scheduling tools.
Step 6. Finalize the project requirements
Meticulously document technical specifications, design guidelines, and functional requirements. Leverage tools such as wireframes and mockups to visualize the app’s user interface and user experience. Establish clear acceptance criteria and quality standards, utilizing project management platforms like Jira or Trello to track progress and facilitate effective communication among team members.
Step 7. Plan the MVP
Conduct thorough user testing and feedback collection. Utilize user analytics and A/B testing to validate feature prioritization and refine product iterations. Employ agile development methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban to build and release MVP features iteratively. It will lead to continuous improvement and adaptation based on user insights and market trends. It will also accelerate time-to-market and mitigate risks of developing unnecessary or low-priority features.
Step 8. Select the cloud computing platform
Choose a suitable cloud computing platform to host and manage your scheduling software; check its scalability, reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness. Here’s what different providers offer:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the provider manages cloud infrastructure.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): this service assists with web app development, manages the runtime environment, and provides databases and DevOps tools.
- Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS): managing persistent storage for mobile apps.
Step 9. Evaluate third-party APIs/SDKs
Explore available third-party APIs and software development kits (SDKs). They can leverage your existing tools and services and enhance your app’s functionality. Remember to assess the compatibility, documentation, and support each API or SDK provides; it will ensure seamless integration into your app architecture.
Step 10. Decide on the tech stack
Determine the technology stack that best suits your scheduling app’s requirements and objectives, including programming languages, frameworks, libraries, and databases. When selecting technologies for different app components, consider scalability, performance, security, and developer expertise.
Step 11: Make UI/UX design
The application’s design is its hallmark. It is the first thing your customers see while getting to know your product. The UI/UX design is pivotal for user engagement. A visually appealing and intuitive interface enhances user experience, seamless navigation, and interaction. Combining an enjoyable UI with profound UX is the most significant guarantee of a product’s success.
Step 12: Code, test, deploy
Initiate your scheduling app development’s coding, testing, and deployment phases, following best practices and quality assurance standards. Then, you’ll get a robust and reliable product. Conduct thorough testing, including unit, integration, and user acceptance tests, to identify and resolve any bugs or issues before deploying the app to production.
Step 13. Manage your project effectively
After all the API designing and implementation, it’s vital to consider the application’s in-depth marketing strategy and promotion. Developing a digital product requires many campaigns to attract the actual target audience. Manage the project by monitoring progress, tracking milestones, and addressing challenges. Regularly communicate with stakeholders, provide updates, and adapt plans to ensure successful completion within timelines and budget.
Best Practices for Scheduling App Development
Building an MVP
The importance of a minimum viable product is hard to overestimate. When you plan to make a schedule app, you must ensure it will work as intended. An MVP is an excellent method to receive valuable feedback from people by providing the application with a basic set of functions and features. To get more insights, check out our article on “How to develop a minimum viable product?”.
Adaptation
Creating a product is a tough challenge. But how about going on the international market? You can include global currency integration and multi-language support. Thus, wider audiences of users will be able to use your scheduling application all over the world! Think of safe and effective payment methods to integrate with the application’s booking system. Plus, the variety of languages will also enhance the user experience.
Monitoring the performance
To ensure your application works just like you wanted, don’t neglect regular quality reviews. This way, you’ll be able to spot and fix the issues in the very early stages. Additionally, the post-launch inspections also shouldn’t be underestimated. Constant upgrades and updates are what every successful application needs. Read more about product management metrics here.
How Much Does it Cost to Build a Scheduling Application?
The most exciting yet frightening part of application development is probably financial questions. Plenty of factors determine the product’s development cost. The cost of scheduling app development varies based on app complexity, features, design, team capacity, and marketing expenses.
Such apps also require functionality for tracking tasks, workflow management, and a flexible digital calendar. And those might cost a fortune. We shouldn’t forget about the MVP development and conduction of test cases.
Here is a cost comparison table for different app types.
Type of App |
Cost Range |
On-demand (e.g., taxi app) |
$50,000 – $400,000 |
Social media app |
$300,000 |
Scheduling app |
$10,000 – $100,000 |
The final sum certainly depends on the industry in which you want to deploy your project. The app’s functionality for the healthcare sector will differ from personal usage applications.
Entrepreneurs and businesses must carefully assess their budgetary constraints and resource allocation priorities to ensure the successful execution of their app development initiatives. By balancing cost considerations with quality and functionality requirements, developers can deliver value-driven solutions that align with business objectives and maximize return on investment.
Outsourcing software development to experienced and reputable partners can offer cost efficiency and accelerated time to market. Businesses seeking to develop scheduling apps can leverage outsourcing partnerships to navigate the complexities of app development, mitigate risks, and optimize resource utilization. Besides cost savings, partnering with trusted software development firms enables businesses to tap into external talent pools, leverage industry best practices, and effectively achieve their scheduling app development goals.
How Inoxoft Can Help
A dedicated team is one of the most crucial factors in the development process. Inoxoft is an outsourcing software company specializing in application development services & solutions. Our mobile app development team consists of certified engineers who implement clients’ ideas and design high-quality bespoke software for many productive years.
With ten years of experience, Inoxoft delivers B2B and B2C software solutions on an outsourcing basis for large, medium, and small businesses and startups. With over 180 satisfied clients and over 200 completed projects, Inoxoft is a trusted partner for startups and established companies. We know how to make a schedule app right. Let’s look at our client success stories in detail.
Synergy3DMED: 3D printing workflow with scheduling for a digital health company
Synergy3dMed, an Israel-based digital health company, wanted to improve its workflow for 3D model requests. They had trouble with lengthy processes and paperwork, which is common in medical institutions. Inoxoft developed a responsive web platform with a custom 3D viewer and scheduling feature.
The scheduling feature facilitated the coordination and management of appointments and tasks within the 3D printing workflow. It helped clinics and 3D design companies schedule and conduct meetings, track appointments, and set reminders.
This scheduling process accelerated project timelines and improved workflow efficiency, contributing to reduced surgery and time costs.
Digital deal management solution with a scheduling tool
Our client, a financial technology company, aimed to revolutionize deal management in primary capital markets. They wanted to solve the issue of manual processes and enhance stakeholder collaboration. That’s why Inoxoft developed an industry-first digital solution that provided real-time logistical support, secure document storage, customizable alerts, and live analytics.
The scheduling feature enabled dynamic input, tracking, and monitoring of deals, enhancing client experience and productivity for underwriters. Additionally, it facilitated secure engagement and communication between stakeholders, streamlining workflows and boosting deal execution.
This solution reduced operational risks and increased productivity, creating cost efficiencies and competitive advantages across Debt Capital Markets.
Web platform for moving service with a custom-made calendar
Our client, a UK-based logistics company, aimed to enhance the connection between transporters and their customers. So, Inoxoft delivered a custom web platform with a custom-made calendar.
With this custom calendar, drivers could set their working hours and select the vehicles they would utilize, enhancing their flexibility and autonomy in managing their workload. For customers, the calendar showed drivers’ availability, enabling them to book transportation services at their preferred times. It streamlined the booking process and improved the overall customer experience.
The calendar reduced conflicts and booking overlaps. It enhanced the reliability, convenience, and efficiency of the removal services offered through the platform. Ultimately, the custom-made calendar contributed to the company’s ability to provide local and long-distance moving services across the UK.
Summing Up
The scheduling software market is growing fast. While off-the-shelf apps provide valuable features, customers demand innovation and it pushes them toward building custom solutions tailored to their needs and preferences.
How to build a scheduling app? Developing a scheduling app is a detailed process that demands meticulous planning and execution. You need a strategic approach, prioritizing customization, data security, and thorough planning for sustained success in the market.
Outsourcing software development to experienced vendors like Inoxoft facilitates seamless delivery and ultimate app success. Our clients benefit from our expertise in creating intuitive interfaces, robust backend systems, and scalable software. With our custom scheduling app development proficiency, you’ll get a market-leading solution that will boost your operational efficiency and profitability.
Contact us for an in-depth consultation on your scheduling app project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need to build a scheduling app?
Here are the possible reasons you should make your own schedule app:Â
- Functionality. You can implement all of your dreams by creating a perfect application that many people would wish to check out!
- Data security. Building a scheduling app on your own makes you the one in charge of safety.
- Customization. How about your business having its own scheduling application? Sounds terrific!
What are the key features to consider for my scheduling app?
Key features to consider for your scheduling app include simple scheduling and a flexible calendar, automatic reminders and messages, roster management, and a mobile-friendly design for easy access.
How do I decide what type of scheduling app to build?
You can choose the type of scheduling app based on purposes like appointment scheduling, project management, or staff scheduling. Depending on your target audience and the problem you aim to solve, you can build a solution tailored to their needs.Â
What steps should I take before developing my scheduling app?
Before developing your scheduling app, define your target audience, research existing apps, assemble a skilled development team, and estimate a timeline and budget for development.
How much does it cost to build a scheduling app?
The cost of building a scheduling app varies based on complexity, features, and the team involved. It typically ranges between $10,000 and $100,000. Contact our team to get an estimate for your scheduling app development project.
Can I build a scheduling app without coding?
While you can use no-code platforms to create a scheduling app without coding, the complexity of features may be limited compared to custom development with coding expertise.