Mobile Application Development: What could go wrong?

Overloading features:

With the first stage for mobile app development, less is more. Identifying the major purpose of the app and how it plans on delivering value to its users forms the spine of the process. It is however only natural to want to deliver the flourish, the additional features, the whole works all at once. And that’s where it begins to go wrong.

Why is this not a good idea?

While you might think that adding more features means delivering more value, it can have quite the opposite effect. Overloading features on your app would increase the app volume in exchange for very little value delivered. Amongst a myriad of features, it is very possible that the main purpose of the app gets lost.



What would be better instead?

Always build an MVP, a Minimum Viable Product. This development strategy helps you validate product assumptions, analyze user reactions, and see the application’s core functionalities play out. This experience will help you allocate your budget more resourcefully, identify pain points to work on, and drive the further iterations forward.

Technically, additional features would lead to higher loading time and make the app slower. Economically, more features would take more time to develop with not many chances of satisfactory ROI.

Poor User Interface & Experience:

Approximately 25% of the apps downloaded have been entirely discarded after one-time use. In the face of a fierce passion for utility, one of the biggest obstacles between your unique idea and the user reaping their benefits is an unkind user interface. The more confusing it gets, the easier it will be for the app to be abandoned.

What results in a bad user interface?

Inconsistent style, unresponsive design, lack of feedback are just some deficiencies that result in a bad user interface. Lack of clear understanding of your user demographics and who you are catering to combined with big assumptions of what would be appreciated can result in the users dumping your app for good.

What can I do to avoid this?

Identify where consistency and contrast do what they do the best. A consistent style develops a brand image in the eyes of the user. On the other hand, stagnating in terms of how your app looks on different devices is spelling out failure into the air. The design should be responsive on different devices. Visual cues to propel your users forward and make the content more accessible reduces the decision fatigue on the user’s end. Trust us, your users will thank you!



Unplanned/Bad Information Architecture:

While information architecture comes under user interface, it is a bigger aspect that can go wrong in its own multiple ways. Not prioritizing the planning of information architecture can simply lead to many unnecessary elements in the ideal user journey.

What can contribute to bad information architecture?

Any element that disrupts the logical flow of a user journey contributes to bad information architecture. Lack of clear navigation, use of complex graphics that don’t provide a clear understanding of how the user can complete a required task are small considerations in the development process with big consequences.

How to prioritize information architecture to make user journeys easy?

From a time when mobiles didn’t exist, we hear Henry David Thoreau say, “Simplify, Simplify.” Decide on the user journeys that you want to achieve through your application and find the simplest way your user can take to reach their destination. How are you making it easier for the user to navigate? What is propelling them from one step to move to the next? Is every step in the process important or does eliminating something make it easier?

Insufficient Testing:

With the first stage for mobile app development, less is more. Identifying the major purpose of the app and how it plans on delivering value to its users forms the spine of the process. It is however only natural to want to deliver the flourish, the additional features, the whole works all at once. And that’s where it begins to go wrong.

Cost of testing too much Vs. The price of not testing enough:

Is there something as too much testing? With the constraints of time and finance, there possibly is. But not allocating budget to this part of the cycle almost always will lead to paying up more later. A glitch-free app can do wonders with users just as one that freezes or crashes after launch can destroy it. The price of not testing enough will technically always be higher.

What would be the right thing to do then?

We have a saying we love here: “Fail fast, fail enough!”

Technically, additional features would lead to higher loading time and make the app slower. Economically, more features would take more time to develop with not many chances of satisfactory ROI.



Launching on multiple platforms:

While building an app, hoping the best things to come out of it happen in tandem. But more often than not, what seems to be the logical way for the best results turn out to be counter-productive. And these decisions, like launching on multiple platforms should be given a lot of thought.

What could go wrong with shooting for a bigger range?

This problem is the same as trying to fit in multiple features. Building an app for multiple platforms in the very initial stage not only takes additional time, effort, and resources but also takes away from achieving complete efficiency on a single platform. All of this combined with the lack of guarantee that everything will work out only make the efforts more baseless.

How can I choose the required platforms on which the app should launch?

This is where market research comes in. A combination of good market research and knowledge of the target audience you’re aiming at should help you sufficiently narrow down your options. The user base, the apps on each of the platforms, the pros and cons of launching on these platforms would be good points to start thinking about.

At the end of the day, where does the application development process stop? Well, trick question. It never does. Taking feedback, building better iterations is the way to get closer to your audience and building your base.

So, if you’re looking for a platform that will take care of all of this and more for you and your idea to take the best shape possible, you possibly are already there.

Right Angle Solutions structures scalability and sustainability into your mobile application development process to help you climb the ladder of success on an exponential scale. With seamless design flow, a strong sense of data security, and expertise in multiple frameworks such as Flutter framework, Ionic, and Native at play, versatile mobile application development in both Android and iOS is now just away by one message to Right Angle Solutions! Reach out to Right Angle Solutions..