Ask Your Clients These Questions Before Building a Mobile App

Building mobile apps for clients requires more than technical skills — it demands clear communication from the very first conversation. Knowing the right questions to ask upfront can mean the difference between a smooth project and endless revisions.

Adalo lets you build database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps — published to the App Store and Google Play — from a single no-code editor. With the right discovery questions, you can accurately scope projects, set realistic timelines, and deliver apps that truly match your clients' vision.

When building apps for clients, you may start with an initial conversation to figure out the scope of work, timelines, product features, and other important details. A lot of these details play a big role in helping you decide how much it costs to build a mobile app for your clients, so it’s always a good idea to be thorough!

Platforms like Adalo, a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play, make it easier than ever to bring your clients' ideas to life without writing code. Understanding your client's needs upfront ensures you can leverage these tools effectively while delivering a polished final product.

So let’s dive in.

Question 1: How would you describe your app in a few sentences?

The term ‘elevator pitch’ could be intimidating to clients, especially if they’re still in the early stage of ideation. By asking this question, you can get a better idea of what they’re trying to accomplish, what their app idea is all about, and what their vision for it is.

This will also help you figure out if you’re able to make this a reality and bring their idea to life!

Question 2: What will your app be used for?

When it comes to app ideas, the sky really is the limit! Is the app a social media platform, is it focused on finding information or facilitating data entry like a directory, is it a game, or a content library? The options are endless!

Try and get a sense of the purpose behind the app, that is, what will the app be used for. This will help you provide some insight into features that you can recommend as an app building expert.

Question 3: What features do you want in your app?

Is your client working on an MVP? Do they want a fully built-out mobile app with a whole, comprehensive feature set? If they’re still in the process of thinking through a feature set, you can recommend these helpful resources for them to go through.

• What Features Should You Launch With? (Demystifying the MVP)
• Deciding on a Feature Set – Turning Your Idea Into a Product
• App Planning & Organization

If they’re still on the fence, it may be a good idea to build an an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which is a working app but without all the frills and extra features. The MVP allows you to launch faster and get feedback quickly about features that work and those that don’t.

Question 4: What’s your budget?

The range of budgets as far as no-code app building goes is wider than you can imagine! And while mobile app building projects may be difficult to make a cost estimate for, it helps to have a range of what their budget might be.

We’ve built a mobile app development calculator to help experts and freelancers just like you to figure out how much an app should cost to build. If your client can’t give you a range, that might be a sign to slow down because they’re still in the very early stage of fleshing out their app idea.

If you’re working on maintenance and regular upkeep of the app, you can also get a range for the ongoing budget once the app is live.

Question 5: Are there design considerations to work with?

Are there any design guidelines that the mobile app layout and screen designs need to adhere to? Sometimes design can be left quite open-ended and in the hands of whoever is building the app. Other times you, as the mobile app developer, may receive very strict guidelines about design, layout, and branding.

It helps to know from the beginning whose prerogative the design aspects are, so you can work with those expectations.

Question 6: Who are your competitors?

By recognizing your competitors and market leaders in the same space, you can identify what other mobile apps are doing correctly or incorrectly. Moreover, this will assist you to figure out the explicit features and functionalities of your app.

By measuring the competition, you can find your app’s core functionalities. Is this assessment an integral component of your defined project plan? If not, please consider this strategy and project approach.

Question 7: Who are the target users?

Who are the people that you want to solve problems for? What kind of apps do they use, and why is a mobile app the best way to solve this? Are there certain features that they’d definitely want? Ask your potential client if they have developed personas for app users, and use those to help inform your design decisions.

Personas or market research are easy ways to figure out who you’re building an app for and their expectations from an app.

Question 8: How long do you estimate this project taking to complete?

Deadlines are perhaps one of the most important aspects of building an app for clients. Often, they’ll have certain timelines in mind when they set out to complete a project. Make it a point to share your availability and potential timelines with clients as well once the project has been scoped out.

If there are significant differences in the time your potential client expects the app building to take, compared to the timelines you’re able to deliver on – it’s important to communicate that openly to prevent any gaps in expectations.

Question 9: What frequency of communication works for you?

If you have an existing project management system for clients that’s up and running, then communicate that to potential clients. If you’re working with different timezones, communication becomes crucial! If your clients prefer a regular system of reporting, for example, weekly calls or regular updates, make sure it’s something you’re comfortable with.

What we’ve found is that if you can get a good understanding of what the project involves right at the beginning of the project, its more likely to be a success – both for the client, and for your app development agency.

Learn from freelancers and Adalo Experts about building and running a successful mobile app development agency.

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