Mobile industry is growing rapidly and app stores are jam-packed with lots of mobile applications that strive to attract user attention. Every year millions of applications are developed and still less than 1% of these apps are said to be successful. So, in today’s saturated market, what does it take to develop a successful mobile app?
App’s success or failure is beyond a bug or defect that can be improved. Also there are some common issues that cause an app to fail. Knowing these issues and avoiding it will help your app to succeed. It will also help you to proceed wisely and look for the signs of things that could take a nasty turn. Market competition is high and failure is not always a result of getting lost in the noise. Many organizations look for guidance as they want to understand the reasons for app failure. If you are one of them, then you are at the right place. Here we’ll discuss the common reasons that will help you to understand the app failure.
Some of the companies build a mobile application of their own without carrying proper research. As a mobile app development company, you should always search for what your competitors are doing. This will keep you ahead with the latest trends, and also you will realize that the details you know about are genuine. Technology market is consistently evolving and app developers should always keep themselves upgraded with the modern trends. Before starting development of app, analyze the similar apps developed by competitors and try to find out the defects in them so that you can address them in your development.
Launching a product to market should be an iterative process to validate the assumptions related to user behavior and product. It is good for continuously meeting the needs of users and maintaining engagement. There are a few questions that every developer should think about, for instance:
Explore the market through MVP(minimum viable product). MVP is a process designed to identify user pain points and determine the appropriate functionality to address those needs over time. Building a MVP provides quick market entry and a basic user experience that allows organizations to figure out how users respond to the application’s main purpose, and with this understanding, make logical decisions about how to achieve both business and product objectives.
App stores are oversaturated with similar apps. Today’s most successful apps have a strong value proposition. Competitive research will help you to reveal your competition’s strengths and weaknesses to define your competitive advantage. Also, you can create unique value suggestion that drive the force of your app’s downloads and sales.
Mobile app prototyping is an excellent way to create a UVP(unique value proposition). Testing mobile products with prototypes is necessary for user-centric design and development. Prototyping process will expose new ideas and confirm the best direction to take for development. Developing a prototype is a continuous activity where product teams continually review and refine product concept. It helps to identify and fix project problems early.
While deciding the best platform for your mobile app, a key question to ask is: what is the goal and purpose of application? Selecting the right platform for mobile app depends on the app content you want to create and overall business goals.
Your platform app should be efficient in satisfying both ios and android users which is a difficult task. If you want to start with apple app store, then your apps should work perfectly for iphones and ipads. If you are going with the cross-platform, remember that Android and apple operate differently so you must take android and ios features into consideration. You have to work more to build an app that can work seamlessly across devices with various sized screens because your users have different expectation and you have to meet anyhow.
Most of the apps are loaded with features or very less features. Rather, being popular in marketplace, users will not use because complex features.
You must be selective while incorporating the features in your application, but it can have adverse impact. It makes your applications deficient inadequate so user may lose interest in app. Examine the app usability accurately before you select features to include.
There are various components that offers great user experience while building an app. Your app should be attractive. If a user faces problem to perform basic functions on your app and can’t get the basic functionalities easily, the result is poor usability. Here are some of the examples of poor user experience-
A successful UX design creates solutions that fulfills the user requirements, and works within the bounds of technological platforms. Developing an application with great user experience involves practicing design thinking and establishing an extensive understanding of the target user’s needs.
Strategy for app launch plays vital role in acquiring and retaining users. It needs detailed research and work to see results. To ensure that each step is made and executed properly, there should be a proper marketing plan. Mobile app launch is not just a one time process. It may need lots of improvements according to the market demands. Lunched mobile apps should be updated and relaunched regularly to engage users with new updates and features.
If you want to more download and user retention rate, know the app store optimization tips at- What you should do to get more downloads to your app(app store optimization tips)?
These days, no one wants to wait for anything and it is the same for your application too. Applications that take too much time to load and perform a key function may get uninstalled by the users. So always remember that, your app should not take more time to load.
Not having sufficient capital is also a basic reason for app failure. This barrier is generally caused due to poor planning and ineffective strategizing of the mobile app development procedure. One must know that more growth your app achieves, the more resources you will need to maintain it and include required features. Developers should build up viable plans regarding money.
Users expects more from mobile app quality, functionality and performance. But if an app is not tested properly, it may have lots of bugs which directly impact user experience and app may crash. Just a one crash is enough to uninstall the app. Some negative feedbacks on app stores results in losing the app users. So app should be tested properly to ensure that application is market-ready.
Also know the tips to improve your mobile App performance at- Best Tips to improve your mobile App performance.
These are some of the basic reasons of app failure. Knowing these reasons and implementing strategies to fix them will help your app to succeed. Always pay attention to your target audience and market competition. Develop an app with good user experience and ensure that your app stays alive and holds an excellent market position.