It is the era of technology. In this smart world where technology has paved its way into every aspect of our lives, there is a tech-related solution for everything.
It is no surprise that technology has now become one of the most popular business opportunities. From software to a smartphone, tech companies are ruling the world.
One of the major areas where tech companies are investing in recently is mobile app development.
Rise of Smartphones and Mobile Apps
The ease of use and the affordability of smartphones have now made the smartphone and mobile apps an integral part of people’s lives. If you simply browse through your mobile’s app store, you may notice that from grocery shopping to stock trading, there is an app for everything.
According to Statista, in 2018 alone the number of mobile apps on the Google Play and App Store combined was approximately 4.1 billion. And it is only about to grow further.
That is the prime reason why many companies are jumping on the mobile application development bandwagon as their next big business idea.
Number of apps available in leading app stores as of 1st quarter 2019
What’s the Trouble with Mobile App Development Projects?
With the number of successful projects out there, there are a lot of mobile app projects that do not meet the mark. You may be one of those businesses with an amazing mobile app project in mind, time and money in place, whose projects may have failed to meet expectations.
There are a lot of reasons why such a project may seem perfect on paper to a mobile app development company. But, there are a lot of reasons as well in regards to why it didn’t quite turn out exactly as expected. This could be technical errors to a lack of management.
If you’re one of those businesses looking to fix a failed mobile app project, here are some pointers for you:
A. Analyze the Problem
As with any project that you embark on that doesn’t quite go your way, the first step is to analyze what went wrong. Finding the problem is half way to fixing it. There are a lot of reasons as to why your mobile app development project failed to work. Here are a few plausible ones:
1. Lack of Research
Before you begin with any project, you must know what you are getting yourself into. Similar is the case with a mobile app development project. Your idea of a mobile app may sound amazing on paper but it is entirely in vain if not researched well.
You must understand the niche that your app is to be launched in as well as your target market and demographics. Along with this, you must research your competitors, the resources and logistics that will go into development as compared to your current assets.
One of the major reasons why many mobile apps fail is because of a lack of research, ultimately leading to a weak foundation of the entire project altogether.
2. Unclear Project Idea
It is very easy to be swayed by the world of mobile apps and the willingness to be a part of it. Mobile apps are the key to simplifying any tasks, making things accessible on the go.
Hence, having an idea for an app may look like an exciting business opportunity in the beginning. But it is bound to fail if the person behind this ideation does not have a clear idea as to how exactly the app is going to be like.
Lack of clarity in the functionality and appearance of the mobile app will lead to further confusion for the developers as well. Lack of clarity results in absence of MVP concepts, poor coding, poorly prepared wireframes, etc. This could be a reason for failure.
3. Poor Competitor Analysis
With the popularity of smartphones and mobile apps, there is a high possibility of someone having already launched a project similar to yours. Before you begin your mobile application development project, it is necessary that you analyze and research thoroughly about other app development companies working in your niche.
Lack of competitor analysis will lead you to underestimate your market competition.
This will, in turn, lead to your app not doing as well as expected in the market. Many apps fail to meet the quality, pricing or the functionality of their competitors and hence fail to perform well.
4. Unorganized Schedule and Delays
It is possible that your mobile application development project may fail even before it hits the app stores. The entire development process has to be planned to the tee right from the beginning.
This is to be done through a realistic schedule with compatible timelines. Ann unrealistic schedules with difficult timelines may lead to either of the two; 1) frequent delays or 2) poor quality of work.
In either of these two scenarios, one thing is for sure; your app is bound to fail. Hence, it is extremely necessary that you coordinate well with your developers and prepare a schedule that meets the launch date while providing ample time for good quality work.
5. Lack of Resources
Sufficient resources are required for effective execution of a well-thought-out mobile app development idea.
Resources may include compatible devices, necessary software, and well-qualified, skilled developers.
Apart from this, a certain budget is required for developer fee, marketing and to keep the overall operations running. With the lack of proper resources, the quality of your mobile application along with the effectiveness of the overall launch plan is bound to be affected.
6. Poor Team Coordination
Proper coordination between your entire team involved in the mobile app development process is extremely necessary.
Tasks are to be assigned among your mobile app developers. Marketing and sales team for the app has to be in proper coordination with the tech team as well.
The entire team has to work together like a well-oiled machine. In case the coordination between team members goes awry, it is possible the entire project may be negatively affected.
7. Lack of Testing
It is estimated that more than 50% of users may uninstall or delete the app if there are frequent errors or crashes within the app.
Sometimes, the app may not even move past the app store approval process due to failure to meet guidelines. The responsibility of the smooth functioning of an app falls a lot on the testers.
Lack of testing will lead to the launch of the mobile app with a lot of errors gone unnoticed. This will, in turn, lead to poor user experience leading to the failure of your mobile app.
8. Unrealistic Goals
The unrealistic schedule is not the only reason for a mobile app’s failure to do well in the market.
One of the major reasons why a lot of mobile apps fail is because of their lack of a realistic attitude towards the mobile app market. The key to growing your product is to set small, realistic goals in the beginning and to grow from there.
Many time app development companies set unrealistic goals in terms of app downloads and functionalities and lose patience when these goals aren’t met. This will, in turn, lead to the failure of the project altogether.
9. Incompetent Management
The project head is one of the most important members of the entire app development project. It is their responsibility to delegate the app development tasks accordingly and ensure that the execution is going as planned.
They are also responsible to coordinate with other non-tech related wings of the project and make sure that the launch plan is on track.
Lack of management in either of the teams will lead to poor efforts on either end thus leading to the mobile app not doing as well as expected. The failure lies in the lack of proper management.
10. Incompetent Marketing Efforts
For a mobile app development company, the main task does not end at development. It is necessary for the app development companies to spread the word about the mobile app that they have been working on.
As mentioned before, research for the project also includes target market and demographics. Lack of a proper marketing strategy will lead to a lack of awareness about your mobile app.
This will, in turn, lead to a lesser amount of downloads and thus, lack of revenue. Incompetent marketing efforts are one of the most overlooked reasons for the failure of mobile app development projects.
These are just some of the most common reasons as to why many apps do not do well in the market. The failure is mostly due to in-house slip-ups, ones that can be rectified. Now we move on to step two.
B. Bridge the Gap
Once you have identified the problem, i.e. the source of the failure, the next step is to rectify it. Here are a few steps you can take to save your mobile app development project:
1. Map Every Step from the Beginning
Trace your steps back to fix the problem. Once you identify the pain points where you went wrong, you begin planning your process again from these points.
If the reason is lack of coordination, you regroup and rethink your team management strategy. If the reason is your lack of research or wrong hypothesis, you set out to research your niche again. Map every step you’ve taken from the beginning and fix the problem accordingly.
2. Thorough Research
Research is just as important during the fixing process as it was before you begin with the development process. Understand the problem and research ways of fixing it.
Read up on similar case studies of similar mobile app projects that have done well and others that haven’t met the mark. Understand where your project is in the standing and prepare a plan to rectify your errors. Word of mouth, internet, and social media groups (Facebook, Github, Quora, Reddit, etc.); you have plenty of resources at your disposal. Make the most of it.
3. Assign Competent Developers with Relevant Skill-set
There are developers who do well in building the mobile app from scratch. On the other hand, there are developers who do extremely well in salvaging existing code and fixing errors.
If the problem lies in the code of your app and the lack of testing, assign the fixing process to the developers with relevant skill-set pertaining to rectifying existing code. This could be handled in house or the mobile app development company can hire external mobile app developers for the same.
4. Have a Contingency Plan on Hand
Even before you launch the process of mobile app development; it is extremely necessary to have a contingency plan on hand in case things go wrong. This is more of a precautionary step than a rectifying one.
Understand the problems that could occur right from app development to launch and have solutions for these problems ready. A plan B never hurts.
5. Efficient Management
Even if your management went wrong during the development process, learn from your mistakes. Understand where the leadership failed in inducing proper coordination between the teams and effective execution.
Begin the rectification process and make sure that you do not repeat these mistakes during the process. Efficient management is the key to quick and effective problem-solving.
6. Pre-mapped Relevant Marketing Strategy
Have a marketing strategy ready for the re-launch of your project. Ideate as to how will you turn things around and re-launch your app into the market once the errors have been fixed.
Plan the content that you shall need i.e. blogs, social media posts, press releases, etc. Along with it, also plan the channels that you shall utilize for promotion including social media, email, public forums, SEO, etc.
Closing Thoughts
Whether your project needs a new life or it needs a fresh start to rectify, make sure you do everything right this time around. A clear idea, proper research, effective strategy, thoroughly prepared wireframes, and the well-prepared team is your goal.
The only necessity in fixing the problem is to have a positive attitude of admitting what went wrong and the determination to fix the problem. These are some ways in which you can fix your failed mobile app project. Hope it helps you!
So, do you have some more ways to fix the mobile app project? If yes, we’d love to hear that from you in the comment section below.
Sr. Content Strategist
Meet Manish Chandra Srivastava, the Strategic Content Architect & Marketing Guru who turns brands into legends. Armed with a Masters in Mass Communication (2015-17), Manish has dazzled giants like Collegedunia, Embibe, and Archies. His work is spotlighted on Hackernoon, Gamasutra, and Elearning Industry.
Beyond the writer’s block, Manish is often found distracted by movies, video games, AI, and other such nerdy stuff. But the point remains, If you need your brand to shine, Manish is who you need.
latest
