We have prepared for you a list of the most common mistakes made at the stage of planning the application development. If you want to go through the whole process as smoothly as possible, it’s good to take our tips into account – we want to save you from course changes during development and unnecessary stress. If you treat the following text as a kind of checklist, we promise you will avoid many unpleasant surprises. Here is our list of the most common errors when planning an application development.
Improper identification of the need
One of the basic mistakes we deal with in the first contact with customers. Many companies start with unverified assumptions, without the necessary needs analysis before starting application development. Do you have a great idea for an application? Are you ready to finance its development, but you have not supported your assumptions with market research? Slowly. If you are ready for such an investment, you should be ready to precede it with proper preparations. Researching the market and potential buyers can completely change your idea of the necessary functionalities. Without it, you run the risk of creating an application that users may or may not use reluctantly at all. If you want to start working with a developer as soon as possible, start with research.
Unclear brief and expectations
This is often a consequence of the previous point. Also in a situation where clients have gone through a difficult path of research and preparation, it is sometimes difficult for them to collect all conclusions and requirements. If you want to avoid misunderstandings with the developer, you can work out simple sketches of your application as part of a joint dialogue. Discuss each potential screen and your expectations, leaving no room for guesswork.
Cost underestimation
Before you move on to building a new mobile app, make sure you start a process that you can complete successfully. If you do not properly estimate your possibilities – financial and time, you risk the failure of the entire project. Remember that the expenses do not end with building the mobile application itself – most likely as part of its implementation, you must be ready to incur the costs of training, potential employment of new employees, server maintenance or further development and promotion of the application.
Bad budget management
Not only proper budget estimation, but also sound management generates certain difficulties. When unexpected expenses arise during development, companies, instead of sticking to a predetermined course, look for shortcuts. Expect the unexpected. In addition, each potential change, new feature or chasing changing trends can completely destroy your budget.
Ignoring MVP
Minimum viable product, i.e. a product that is minimally ready to be launched on the market. Most often, when creating a new mobile application, we try to transfer all possible functionalities to the finished product. When creating an MVP, you can focus fully on the main function of the application, testing your idea so that after its introduction to the market you can verify the main business assumptions. This way, you can deliver specific value to your users by validating your plans and developing the app over time. This is a great way to keep your budget in check and get paying customers early in the life of your application. By design, if you can only create an MVP, you should just do it.
Building a non-intuitive user interface
One of the biggest mistakes that should be avoided when planning a mobile app is not paying due attention to the user interface. UI is the showcase of the application that is responsible for the first impression. Users can be very picky, so a well-thought-out interface can become the key to success. A common mistake is to design an interface with yourself, not the user, in mind. Not knowing well the preferences of the recipients, companies often choose what they like. It is also a mistake to make mobile applications similar to computers. The experience gained from using the desktop application does not translate into creating mobile applications – these should be unique and not duplicate the UX and UI solutions known from “large” platforms. The same is true of information overload. In mobile applications, providing users with too much information is as undesirable as too little of it. Information overload reduces the involvement of users, and sometimes even makes them avoid it. Not accepting feedback Feedback cannot be overestimated not only at the research stage. Also during the further planning of the mobile application, it is worth sharing specific ideas with people not involved in the project. In particular, it is good to prepare appropriate surveys for potential users so that any major planned change can be re-examined for future audiences. Not accepting feedback Feedback cannot be overestimated not only at the research stage. Also during the further planning of the mobile application, it is worth sharing specific ideas with people not involved in the project. In particular, it is good to prepare appropriate surveys for potential users so that any major planned change can be re-examined for future audiences. Not accepting feedback Feedback cannot be overestimated not only at the research stage. Also during the further planning of the mobile application, it is worth sharing specific ideas with people not involved in the project. In particular, it is good to prepare appropriate surveys for potential users so that any major planned change can be re-examined for future audiences.
Too many features of the mobile app
One of the biggest mistakes in designing mobile applications, especially if for some reason we are not considering creating an MVP, is adding a number of functions that may be unnecessary from the user’s point of view. Fewer features make the mobile app easier to learn and potentially faster to run. The limitation of various add-ons also means less developer work – the saved resources can then be devoted to refining what is necessary in the mobile application. The combined impact of all of the above errors is evident in the size of the application. Optimizing the footprint is one of the best practices in developing mobile applications if we want this to be downloaded as often as possible. Avoid creating too many libraries,
Putting on the wrong operating systems
Currently, there are basically only two main mobile systems – iOS and Android – that power about 95% of devices in the global market. Of course, to get maximum application coverage, this one should run on both operating systems. However, depending on the market in which your application is to operate, and the type of audience it is mainly intended to target, it is worth considering creating a version for one of the two systems at the beginning.
No plan for further development of the mobile application
Before investing time and effort into the application development process, it’s a good idea to spend some time thinking about your strategy in the first stages of planning. How do you want to reach your target audience once it’s launched? With so much competition in the Google and Apple stores, you can develop the idea of marketing a new application before writing the first line of code.