Nowadays, an effective mobile app can be an essential part of any company. It can work in the form of a tool for boosting sales, operations management, customer service, and more. Therefore, it is important to consider the right metrics while building an app for your business in order to meet your company’s business objectives.
The reality is that around 80 to 90 percent of mobile apps face stoppages shortly after their initial use due to a bad user experience. Because of this you should constantly monitor the app’s developmental processes and look for mistakes you can avoid. In this article, we’ll discuss the most mistakes and how to avoid them.
Insufficient research.
This is one of the most common mistakes that people make when building an app for their business. Before starting development, always do the necessary research. Every project comes with a different developmental process, so you will have to consider various factors. Make sure you’re setting goals that relate to the purpose of the app, the target audience, the target market, and a monetization strategy.
It is also highly recommended that you research your competitors’ apps. This way you can get an understanding of what is and isn’t working for them, and how you will have to differentiate yourself from them.
Failing to have a precise approach and strategy.
After completing your research, it’s important to decide on your app development strategy. What functionality do you need the app to have? Who will be the primary users? Consider applying lean startup and design thinking, which are standard approaches for development.
When app developers don’t have a definitive strategy to follow throughout in the diverse stages of the product development cycle, problems and delays can quickly pile up. Make sure you select the right approach and a well thought out strategy to get the required results for you app.
Around 19 million professionals globally are working as software developers, and about 8.7 million are building mobile applications. You can understand why the competition is high. Therefore, you need to choose your business approaches, strategies, and technology resources wisely.
Failing to understand the cost.
When it comes to developing the app, it is also important to consider the pricing model. What is included in the overall price? Will there be additional fees if changes are required? Does the cost include tech support? Does the cost include security patches and bug fixes? Without knowing the answers to these questions, it’s easy to go way over budget.
Simple app development costs between $40,000 – $60,000, while medium complexity app development costs between $61,000 – $120,000 and complex app development costs $120,000+. If you want to hire an in-house app developer, they earn an average salary of ~$90,000 a year. Regardless of the type of app you develop, it’s a good size investment.
Getting quotes from freelancers and different mobile app development companies can also help with cost but make sure you understand the pricing structure to make sure you don’t run out of funds for your development project.
Abnormal range of functionality.
When you are developing an app for your business, make sure that you implement only those functionalities useful for the target audience. Including too much functionality can make your app harder to use and can degrade the user experience. When the range of functions goes way beyond needs of your users, it can lead to user abandonment and the failure of your app.
Start developing your app with the basics that fulfill the primary purpose. Once that is successfully launched, you can collect user input on what additional features would be beneficial and then increase functionality.
Failure to consider the operating system.
For the maximum reach of the app, always pay attention to the operating system you are considering for the app. Some businesses forget to clarify the devices and operating system they want the app to be compatible with in their app requirements. Not specifying this from the beginning can be costly to both you and the development team.
Building the app for Android and iOS always requires two separate developmental processes. The development cost could be doubled in this case. It is better to choose one operating system first. Once you get the desired results from that app and you can look to expanding to the other.
Another option is cross-platform app development. Cross-platform app development costs about 40 percent less to develop and 25 percent less to maintain than native app development.
Not beta testing your app.
Whenever it comes to mobile app development, beta testing is one of the most important steps. A lot of companies face difficulty with their app adoption due to the lack of a beta testing. Experts suggest that you need a minimum of 100-300 beta users to ensure that your app is thoroughly tested.
Though sometimes it won’t be clear in the beginning stages, you could potentially see a significant loss of users due to the bugs in the app. So, in addition to include the features that make you app more appealing it is imperative to make sure it is bug free as well. Expert beta testers help to ensure this is the case.
By keeping the errors and mistakes mentioned above in mind during the process of app creation, you can help to make sure your app is a success.
Author bio:
Kosha Shah is a digital strategist at Technostacks Infotech which is a top web, software, and mobile app development company in India, USA and UK. She writes engaging blog topics for trends, mobile, and industry software news.
