What Are the Common Mistakes Made during the Development of a Mobile App?
It would be an understatement to say that it is easy to create a successful app nowadays. The market is saturated with competition and there are so many options out there for users that it takes real skill and determination to launch something that will have a meaningful impact. Sometimes you may feel like you have done everything right, but the end product can still be unsuccessful.
So, to help you with this we have compiled some common mistakes that are made during app development that can hinder the success of your mobile app.
Can you define the product’s value?
If you are developing an app, you should have a good idea of what value it will bring to the user. Does it solve some sort of problem for them that they couldn’t easily do without the app? Maybe it saves them time, helps them become organized, offers an entertaining diversion, or connects them with new or old friends. Whatever is it, it’s important to be able to define the app’s value.
If the app does not add value to the user, then the chances of it failing are high. Even if you have a good design, a high budget, and limitless resources, all this becomes meaningless if you cannot define the value of your app.
We can refer to many case studies of apps that had put in a lot of work in the development but still failed because the end product didn’t offer added value to the user. Google Wave is a perfect example of this. What was supposed to be a service to combine work tasks such as email and messaging and make employees more productive didn’t take off. Even with thousands of developers and the mighty Google backing, it still was shut down after 6 months because users didn’t see an improvement from using the other apps independently.
The lesson here is that your app needs to have value for the user. Without it, you will have a difficult time getting users to adopt and buy into what you are offering.
What research was done?
Market research is critical to the success of your app. You need to know what your target user is looking for and how they will respond to the app. This requires meticulous insights into what you want/expect from the end product.
Ignoring or even failing to do research leaves too much unknown in the development and launch of the app. This is a common mistake that can be avoided by simply conducting the research needed to be prepared for anything that may come along during and after the launch of the app.
Adaptability!
If you have an app idea that solves a big problem for users and is unique, that’s great! The challenge then is to stay relevant and fresh. Often apps become successful initially because they filled a need, but soon competition came along and left them in the dust.
A great example of this is the social network site MySpace. Initially a leader in the social network industry, it quickly became irrelevant when many other platforms were introduced. Not because the product was no longer good, but because they didn’t stay fresh and adapt to what the users were looking for. The same experience became stagnant and users flocked to newer platforms that offered more ways to engage on the network.
Once you launch your app, you need to be able to adapt to what the user wants and keep things new and interesting to maintain the attention of the user.
What sets your app apart from the others?
Even if your app is not a completely new idea, it still needs to offer something that will set itself apart from the competition. Have you created another scheduling assistance app? Why should the user download your app rather than the thousands of similar scheduling tools?
How many food delivery service apps can you name now? There are so many and most of them offer the same exact thing. It’s a common mistake to just copy a successful app and reshape it in the hopes to take a piece of the market away from the others. Unless you can improve on that experience in a unique and valuable way, the chances of success are slim.
Are you overwhelming the user?
Sometimes simplicity is best. A common mistake is forgetting that it can be easy to overwhelm the user. Too many animations, complicated navigations, information overload, all of these can frustrate or overwhelm the user to the point that they would rather uninstall your app rather than spend the time needed to get comfortable with it.
This doesn’t mean you can’t have a complex app, but this ties in with the research phase. Know your target user, and know what level of complexity is right for them and the app. Your app may have great value and loads of benefits to the user, but if they get stunned by the information overload then you can’t expect the user to stay engaged for very long.
A Lack of Experience & Talent
When choosing a development team, many people assume that every developer achieves what you ask of them. This is unfortunately not always the case. So many things go into building the best development team: experience, skill, ability to communicate., etc. You should feel not only comfortable but confident that the development team can meet the needs of your app development.
This strongly relates to the importance of choosing the right development team to work with. If you can have a great team with excellent communication and who bring the right skill and experience to the table, then you can rest assured that this will not be a mistake made during your app development.
A quick summary of the common mistakes
Being aware of these common mistakes will help you to avoid them. It is vital to keep your app user-focused and remember to have an understandable value, conduct the needed research, be adaptable and unique, don’t overwhelm the user, and pick the right development team!
These common mistakes can make or break the success of your app, so do your best to understand them and anything else that could be a hurdle in the realization of your app.
