It takes hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to develop a quality business app. If you aren’t careful, you could end up making a mistake that will cost you even more in the long run. Do you know what you’re doing?
Avoid These App Development Pitfalls
Developing an enterprise app for your business is no cheap endeavor. But unfortunately, businesses don’t always give it the same intensity and focus that it commands. As a result, their apps end up costing more than they should and generally need an array of updates within the first few months. You can avoid a similar fate by preventing the following pitfalls:
1. No User Research
The biggest mistake you can possibly make is to develop an app without conducting any research into what your target users want or need. In many cases, this leads a company to create an app that’s ill-suited for the audience. It can also cause a business to develop an app when there’s no need for an app in the first place. Either way, it’s a costly mistake that can be remedied by performing adequate research on the front end.
2. Terrible UX
It doesn’t matter how great of an idea you have for an app – it’ll fail to live up to its expectations if the user experience (UX) is less than stellar. In fact, terrible UX is one of the costliest mistakes you can make.
Bad UX can be avoided by conducting adequate research, developing a design plan, and using developers who understand how aesthetics and functionality work in tandem to create a sleek, usable end product.
3. Failure to Account for Scalability
Most businesses are wholly focused on the present. They want to develop an app that will satisfy the current needs and pain points of the business – thereby producing an immediate return. However, doing so at the expense of scalability will come back to bite.
“Scalability is a major factor for any successful app, ” BuildFire points out. “If an app is built with a single server and database, instead of with load balancers and autoscalers, you’re going to have a single point of failure which could result in a massive loss of data or a poor user experience.”
Make sure you’re accounting for scalability from the very beginning of the progress. This will enable you to put a foundation in place that’s strong enough to support your current needs, yet flexible enough to account for future changes.
4. Insufficient Testing
Thorough testing is integral to an app’s success and longevity. If you’re waiting to test your app until after it’s been released, you’re way behind. You’ll end up with poor ratings, bad metrics, and a user base that’s unwilling to give you a second chance. Instead, testing should occur throughout the development process.
5. No Need for an App
There are two common categories of apps. The first category could be classified as utility apps – or apps that exist to make your everyday life simpler and easier. The second category are entertainment apps. These are apps that people want (rather than need). Social media apps and games would fall under this heading.
“One of the most common mistakes that companies make when developing apps is that there is no real need for the app in the first place, ” digital marketer AJ Agrawal says. “Market research is a great test to decide whether you’re investing in an app that’s worthwhile or not. If it doesn’t help people live an easier life, or one that’s more enjoyable, it’s probably not worth it.”
6. Failure to Budget
If you aren’t careful, you can end up spending tens of thousands of dollars on an app. Sometimes this expense is necessary, while other times it’s the result of poor planning. A budget should be developed up front to avoid an overly expensive project.
Thorough Due Diligence for the Win
It’s imperative that you do your research ahead of time and avoid starting the app development process prematurely. The research phase can take months to see through and it isn’t something you can afford to cut corners on. Take your time, patiently perform your due diligence, and wait until the timing is right. Only then can you develop a successful app that aligns with your larger business objectives.
