Top Mistakes to Avoid While Mobile App Development

Let’s face it only humans can make mistakes and guess what, app developers are humans too. So, developers, especially beginners are prone to make many mistakes initially, which pro coders should avoid.

As businesses are adapting to the mobile-first approach, the mobile app development market is growing tenfold worldwide. As per Statista, there are close to 3 million apps on Play Store, over 1.8 million apps on App Store, around 450K apps on Amazon App Store, and over 650K apps on Windows Store. Also, one report by Forrester reveals that mobile will influence the $1.4 trillion in offline as well as online sales.

Even though the mobile app development industry is booming right now, but a closer look in the industry tells that most of the apps are discarded after the first use. This is not only because of the sheer competitiveness of the app market but also because of the design & development mistakes app developers make.

Top Mistakes to avoid while Mobile App Development

Mobile app development is not an easy thing for anybody to do. And avoiding development mistakes can surely put your app on the radar of end-users. So, let’s look at the top mistakes that developers should avoid.

1. Not Following the Plan

The first mistake developers make is constantly changing plans in mid-development. Moreover, not creating a plan in the first place is also a grave mistake that most developers make. What developers do is without devising a plan they focus on getting results. And in doing so, they miss out on many vital aspects like whats, hows, and whys of app development.

What is the target audience like? What latest trends are going around? How is the app going to appeal to the audience? How will it be better than other similar apps? Why they are developing it? Why users choose your app over others?

These are some of the aspects developers must pay attention to. Doing so ensures that the final product is something that ticks every checkbox.

2. Failing to Know What Users Want

Behind every successful software or app, there’s an intense amount of user research, especially at the initial stage. Most mobile app owners want their app to become a user favorite. However, neglecting the idea validation process without consulting or understanding your audience, your app development may hit the rock bottom.

The development and marketing aspects are the most vital part of bringing the app to the market. And those aspects majorly rely on market research for the success of the app. So, don’t make any false assumptions on what are your prospective users’ needs and behaviors. And for the same, do not only rely on market research but ensure that you have enough & accurate findings as well.

User research provides you with useful insights into user personas, demographics, their behavioral patterns, & motivations. Also, keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, which may help you set clear goals and create unique app solutions for your users.

3. Budget Mismanagement

Another common mistake is poor or mismanagement of the budget of your app development project. Irrespective of the size or nature of the project, app development requires a significant investment. The size of app budget & its proper handling is a major deciding factor to pay attention to. And from the onset of the project, incorporate these tips to not blow your budget.

• Prepare a detailed budget prior to starting the development process. The accuracy & relevancy of your app budget depends on the research put into it. Understanding the target audience, preparing the feature list, design elements required, & app monetization strategy all play a vital role in budget preparation.
• Take aside some funds to make up for the unexpected costs. Even if you prepare a detailed and accurate app budget, there’ll still be some unforeseen circumstances that arise out of nowhere. So, make room in your budget for such situations.
• Adhere to Your Budget strictly no matter what.

4. Communication Gap

Irrespective of the business type, communication is at the center of a successful business. And app development project is no exception to it. Explaining the idea of app development to your partner development company may seem like climbing a mountain. However, you have to commit to the task nonetheless to have a smooth app development process. And how well you do this task makes all the difference in the result section.

For entirely new app development, detailed documentation with important visuals can come in very handy. It should contain the synopsis of your app along with app wireframing & a complete list of features. While having the initial conversation with your development partner, you’ll have insight into how they communicate and based on that decide if it’s going to work for you or not.

5. Creating Too Big App

Expect big games, no one is enthusiastic about too big mobile applications. Unlike desktops & laptops, mobile devices offer significantly limited storage. This is the reason why most people try to avoid apps big in size that consume a lot of space on mobile devices. Thus, keeping your app’s size to a minimum should be your first priority. And here’s what you can do:

• Minimize the Resource Count & Size: Reduce the resource size as well as eliminate unused resources. Use drawable objects, compress image files, rely on vector graphics, and others.
• Use Android Size Analyzer & App Bundle: Android App developers need to use the Size Analyzer tool to execute & optimize the app using various strategies. Once done, App Bundle can also help keep the app size in check while uploading the app on Play Store.
• Keep the Code Short: The Codebase is another area to pay attention to for app sizing. Use some of the code elements like enumerations, debug symbols, etc. sparingly.

6. Going Overboard with Features & Functions

Another mistake that hinders your app’s growth is going overboard with a number of features and functions. Keeping it simple is the ultimate sophistication for your app. Cramming your app with tons of features may negatively impact it. Moreover, an app that seems complicated is hard for you to sell and for users to buy.

What you should do is release a minimum viable product (MVP) of your app beforehand to test out what your target audience wants. MVP is nothing but a prototype of your app, released with only essential features to get user feedback. By releasing it, you’ll know what features users engage with the most and least. And based on their feedback, you’ll know what other features to include in your app. That way you don’t have to stuff numerous features & functions and only incorporate essential features that your audience requires.

Conclusion

Mobile app development is often a long and arduous process that developers have to go through with expectations to not make any mistakes. That’s very unlikely and developers just like any other humans are bound to make mistakes. And in this article, we have discussed top mistakes to avoid while developing mobile applications. Also, we have gone deep into explaining how you can avoid such mistakes.

Want to develop a mobile app for your business? M-Connect Solutions offer to build the most feature-rich, dynamic, and engaging apps that provide spotless experience to end-users. Contact us now to kickstart your app development project with us.

About Hemant Parmar

Hemant Parmar is an eCommerce expert and a keen Magento consultant who specializes in meeting the needs of businesses in the e-commerce space. Years in the eCommerce market make him a perfect choice for sharing his expertise on eCommerce and Magento 2 development. He believes that customers need to be met no matter how challenging it might be.

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