What does it cost it to have a website?

An app and a website consist of several parts. Think concept, design, UX and development. Usually the more custom features, the higher the price. Seems obvious. Sometimes there are unexpected costs when building software, just as the construction of North-South Line did not go smoothly. Functionalities and technical requirements are the main components of the price of an app or website.

Functionalities 

To get an idea of the price of a website, we want to know what the most important functionalities are. What is the minimum requirement to make the app or website run? More gimmicks, means more work and thus higher costs. But ask yourself: what functionalities make or break the platform? More features does not automatically mean a better user experience. Which needs does your app or website address exactly? Even before a price tag is put on something, the minimum functional requirements are mapped out. 

Technical requirements 

Besides the cool and handy functions, we also map out the technical feasibility. Because the more complicated the app or website, the higher the price. Do you want your app to be linked to a weather channel, customer database and other hardware? If so, the price can be considerably higher than an app that functions without those links. Think again of the North-South line: a complicated technical landscape complicates the construction. 

Why is the project often more expensive?

We all know it: the renovation will take two months longer and writing that blog will take more time than planned. In other words: it’s all going to take longer than expected. And because time is money, the price is often higher. This has to do with human optimism in several ways. Both in terms of planning and scoping. 

Planning

As humans, it is in our nature for planning to take longer than expected. This is also known as planning fallacy: a human pitfall in which we are structurally too optimistic about how long a project will take. Seasoned planners take this into account and stretch the project by about 20%. This way, you achieve a realistic, achievable, but above all human planning. 

Scoping

The better you know what to do, the easier it is to execute. SMART, right? But sometimes it is unclear exactly what is asked of us. Scoping software projects also includes the degree of ‘importance’. That’s why we work with the MoSCoW model. We will explain it to you below!

What is a MoSCoW-model?

So, in a MoSCoW model, you define the priority of functionalities in an app, web-based application or website. MoSCoW stands for Must – Should – Could – Won’t. Must means the minimum functionalities that the app or site must have. 

You might not think of this right away but if you let people log 

on your app, AVG/GDPR is an absolute Must and data must be secured. 

As you dive deeper into the MoSCoW, the priority of the functionalities decreases. Should are important functionalities, but have no absolute (legal) necessity. Could functionalities are nice to have, but have less priority than Should and Must. And Won’t includes everything that was an idea, but we chose not to include it as it doesn’t add any value to users.  

At Endeavour, we engage with our clients to map out all the functionalities and organise them in order of priority. This way, we know for sure that we invest our time in the most important things and that the costs remain as low as possible. Again: time is money.

The real MVP

Visual design, UX design and development all work together to scope the MVP: the Minimum Viable Product. We create a prototype consisting of wireframes and an impression of the visual design. Development also makes a statement about the number of development hours per functionality. 

The prototype will give you an impression of the visual design based on the desired corporate identity or if your company does not have a branding yet, it will be based on the branding of your company. Furthermore, there will be a diagram of the development architecture. This shows how all system components are connected, including links to external systems. Think for example of links with a weather app and a CMS in your app.
 

The most accurate estimates

What do you tell the person who is going to pay for the app or website? That depends on the functionalities and complexity of the development architecture. In addition, there may be time spent on corporate identity development. We give you as much ammunition as possible to go to your investor. 

For example, we will give you a breakdown of all the features in a row sorted by Must – Should – Could – Want. Because there are costs associated with each feature, you get a flexible estimate. If you move a feature from Must to Should, it will impact the cost of the Minimum Viable Product. 

After the preliminary research, we provide a precise answer to the question: what does a website cost? Instead of your app being somewhere between €200 and €1 million, we know from our research that it’s between €10.000 and €30.000. This way we point out exactly what your app will cost and stay away from estimates that are way too rough.

User testing

Wil je zeker weten of je product gaat aanslaan bij het grote publiek? Dan is user testing van essentieel belang. The proof is in the pudding: je laat je doelgroep kennismaken met je app of website en krijgt bakken met relevante feedback. Je product-market fit gaat er met sprongen op vooruit. Kortom, user testing helpt enorm. Waarom precies? Lees vooral verder! 

Why user testing? 

As humans, we – unfortunately – always have a set of blinders on. We do user testing to check whether what we have come up with all together actually catches on with the users. Earlier we talked about the planning fallacy, now we are talking about the ego bias and the Ikea effect. With user testing, we push back against these human pitfalls.

Ego bias. As human beings, we find it difficult to see things from someone else’s perspective and therefore we value our own opinion all the more. To take an example: if you don’t use Twitter or TikTok, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t play a big role in the lives of your target audience. You are influenced by your own perception of the world and therefore it is sometimes difficult to understand other people’s perceptions.

The Ikea Effect. How proud are you when you have put together an Ikea cabinet? Super proud! The sense of accomplishment we experience when we have put something together is called the Ikea effect. If you’ve put a lot of work into an app or website, it doesn’t mean it will catch on with its intended end user. Unfortunately. Therefore: user testing! 

The Legendary Sprint Zero

It takes some time, but the results are impressive. At Endeavour, we like to spend some love and attention on what we call Sprint Zero. This is a short sprint in which a dedicated team is deployed on the client’s issue. We look at whether and what bears are on the road in terms of development, design and possibly product-market fit. 

At the end of the sprint we ensure that you have all the information and tools to go to your investor. You then know whether it is technically feasible to turn your idea into reality and what it will cost. Do we add a spoonful of user-testing? Then you know for sure that your product will appeal to users and that you will earn back your investment (doubly). 

At the end of the (Legendary) Sprint Zero you’ll have:

• Input for your investor pitch

  • Presentation

  • Planning

• Accurate and flexible cost calculations based on the MoSCoW model 

• A clickable prototype of your website or app (the MVP)

Within a project, such research always comes into play. But if you leave out research on technical feasibility, you will only run into issues later in the project. And scoping and planning? That has to be done in a project anyway.

Would you rather just spar with us? Then get in touch with us!