12 Reason Why Mobile App Development Projects Fail

Working on mobile app is a complex process requiring expertise, a budget, competent management, and taking into account many various factors.

Indeed, developing mobile app is one thing, and bringing it to successful is another.

The industry is rapidly developing, the competition in the App Store and Google Play is enormous, and only a few manage to at least bring their apps to a successful , gaining their position in the market.

To make the success possible, it is important to know the main reasons why mobile app development projects fail and how to avoid failure.

The following are the reasons why Mobile App Development Projects Fail

No Market Research

Unclear requirements

Lack of Resources

No Clear Focus

Unreasonable Release Date

Inexperienced Team or Poor Management

The Desire to Build a City in a Day

Poor User Experience

Lack Of Originality

Not Choosing A Platform Wisely

Improper Testing

A Poorly Executed Mobile App Launch

1. No Market Research

It may seem you have found a bright idea that will earn you millions.

You may also decide to take the easy route and create a clone of an existing popular app, for example, Tik Tok or Instagram.

In all these cases, you risk spending time simply developing an unnecessary app unwanted on the market.

Neglecting to do market research can result in indecision and inaction, fear of risk or the truth, and/or too many options, which can lead to paralysis.

When launching a new mobile app, effective market research will help you narrow down your true market potential and your most likely customers

There are 5 simple ways to validate your mobile app idea:

?Interview potential users.

Estimate potential demand using keyword research tools.

Study the App Store for competitive analysis.

Create a basic landing page and drive traffic to it.

Create your MVP.

2. Unclear requirements

Starting to work on a project without a clear understanding of what kind of product you have to develop, you eventually risk getting a mobile app that is completely different from what customers expected and users need.

This is exactly why your project is likely to fail.

3. Lack of Resources

Lack of resources usually means lack of time, people and/or money. You need certain resources to create a mobile app.

They include tools, people (specialists of different profiles), and money.

If you lack the resources or fail to get them in a timely manner, you may face negative effects on the implementation deadlines, product quality, and other aspects, and that will ultimately lead to the mobile app development project failure.

4. No Clear Focus

When you lack a clear focus, you may end up with a product for everyone and for no one at the same time.

It will not have any particular value, and you will spend much more time and money than it is really necessary.

5. Unreasonable Release Date

You should always consider risks.

The developer may set wrong deadlines, the customer may procrastinate with crucial answers and work evaluation, and that does not allow software engineers to set to work.

There are lots of reasons preventing developers from meeting project deadlines.

Consequently, it would always be best to take measures to play it safe.

6. Inexperienced Team or Poor Management

If the project is complex, and the people who work on it lack experience and necessary expertise, the results can be bad.

At times, to make the resulting product the way it is meant to be, it will be easier to write the project from scratch than to try to improve the ready part.

7. The Desire to Build a City in a Day

Pursuing more functionality, you can spend money on unclaimed functions and put your budget at risk to run out halfway to product release.

Besides, your app may turn out too complex for an average user to comprehend well enough.

You had better start by implementing part of the functionality, launching your project as an MVP.

8. Poor User Experience

If users feel uncomfortable while using your app, they experience difficulties in using it for its intended purpose, and the interface is unclear for them, developers will have a hard time promoting such a product.

We can name the following most common reasons that negatively affect the user experience when interacting with a mobile app:

Performance issues (the app runs slowly).

The user profile registration process is too long.

Complicated access to features (intricate navigation).

Poor (or outdated) interface design.

9. Lack Of Originality

The truth is, app stores are oversaturated with similar apps. Today’s most successful apps have a strong value proposition.

Competitive research will help reveal your competition’s strengths and weaknesses to define your own competitive advantage.

Building a product that offers the same features as your competition won’t help you win over users.

A unique value proposition (UVP) is the first step you need to consider to optimize user loyalty and overall business success.

One of the best ways to increase your chances of success is to draft a vision statement for your product.

A vision statement creates a definite sense of direction towards the end goal of the application.

As well, your vision statement defines the solution to the problem your intended users are facing.

Mobile app prototyping is another excellent method for creating a UVP.

Testing a mobile product with a prototype is essential for user-centric design and development.

Prototyping is a central part of the design thinking research process and uses rapid iteration to arrive at a product that offers maximum user value.

Often the prototyping process will expose new ideas and confirm the best direction to take during development.

Developing a prototype is a cyclical activity where product teams continually review and refine the product concept, returning to the beginning of the process several times until the concept meets business objectives and user needs.

Overall, the process helps identify and fix problems early on in the project when it’s far less expensive to make changes.

10. Not Choosing A Platform Wisely

Android and iOS (as well as other platforms) have very intuitive interface guidelines.

They operate in different ways and appeal to different user groups.

By looking at your users’ choice of smartphone, you already gain some useful knowledge from statistical data alone.

For example, iOS users typically have a higher income and more education than Android users.

This information in itself may influence your decisions about the product’s monetization strategy.

If your monetization strategy relies heavily on in-app purchases, an iOS app may be the most profitable platform; however, if you plan to monetize through ad placements, Android might be your best choice.

Remember, the primary objective of any mobile app is to provide users with a solution to a specific problem they collectively face. If you don’t have a solid understanding of how user behavior changes between operating systems, you’ll find it difficult to develop an app that addresses the specific needs of your target user group.

11. Improper Testing

While it’s rare that an app will be launched without minor bugs, making sure you invest in QA before shipping can ensure there are no major issues.

If an app isn’t tested properly, it’s bound to be rife with bugs that impact user experience and is prone to crash.

A single crash is more than enough to stop users from ever using it again. In fact, some of the most common negative reviews on app stores are related to apps crashing.

In today’s mobile app market, it doesn’t take long for users to pass judgment on the products they download.

Users have incredibly high expectations for mobile app quality, functionality, and performance.

12. A Poorly Executed Mobile App Launch

?An app launch strategy has a significant impact on acquiring and retaining users; it is a marketing effort that requires extensive research and ongoing work to see results.

To improve your chances of success, there should be an established marketing plan to ensure that every step is made and executed properly in a timely manner.

If you want your app to have a high download and user retention rate, it needs to make a good first impression within the first few days prior to launch.

This is a critical time to focus on highlighting the value of the app in order to optimize the onboarding process.

If you don’t impress your new users quickly, you’ll likely lose their interest altogether.

If you manage to avoid the above things and start your project well prepared, you stand a good chances of success.

Mobile app project,like any project, is like a rocket prepared to be launched on earth and landed on the moon.

If is launched from earth and never reach the moon, that is a failure and waste of all resources invested.

What do you think should be done to improve success rate of mobile app projects?

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