Why Mobile Apps FAIL to make the Impact they are meant to?
DISCLAIMER: Here, we will be discussing why mobile apps fail so often. This post is not for the faint of heart. It showcases brutal honesty and truthfulness and is meant to show the developer the real reasons behind his/her mobile app failing, not just provide them with empty support. So, if you cannot handle the harsh reality, we suggest you click off right away. But if nothing but the truth satisfies you, then, by all means, read on.
This article was originally posted in the Tech Blog of Sodio Technologies.
Mobile app and product development is a hot topic these days. If we really think about it, there are always new problems popping up around us that need solving. Mobile apps, as of today, have become the go-to platform to help solve people’s problems on-the-go. With more than 2 million apps on both the Play Store and the App Store, competition is more heated than ever.
The sheer number of apps means that new entrants into the app development market face a lot of difficulty due to this reason itself, let alone the shortcomings in their app. Google Duo, for instance, is a video calling app developed by the giants. In all honesty, it has little to no chance of succeeding, purely because, it doesn’t offer anything new to the users.
It provides only one function, and that is video calling. Skype has been doing this for years, and there is simply no reason for a mobile user to download a whole app just for video calling, when almost all social networking and messaging apps provide this feature. This could very well be a crucial factor as to why mobile apps fail.
So, ask yourself the following questions-
Is your app not making the impact you thought it would? Is your killer idea not taking the world by storm? Are users not enjoying your app? Does your platform cost too much for the average user? Is your app even usable? Do you really care what the user wants from your app?
If the answer to even one of the above questions is a solid ‘no’, then, as much as you would hate to accept it, your app is doomed.
Going by the trend, most amateurs overlook these facts and then scratch their head and wonder why their app hasn’t been successful. Let us discuss these reasons why mobile apps fail one by one.
POOR RESEARCH- BOTH MARKET AND AUDIENCE
The desire to develop and launch an app shouldn’t be driven by the need for money or fame, rather, it should be fuelled by a desire to solve people’s problems.
What if the problem you’re trying to solve with your app doesn’t even exist? Or what if people don’t see it as a problem?
All these negatives stem from one major drawback of your planning- poor/total lack of market research. If you’re outing out a product to someone, you should know what he/she expects from your product.
Knowing your audience is a big part of the app development process, and not doing so is one of the major reasons why apps fail. This point should be given precedence over all other points because it lays the foundation for all the other factors.
This aspect of developing a great products can be understood in this blog where we explain how to make a killer news app.
PLAGIARISED/COPIED OR POORLY IMPLEMENTED IDEAS
Imagine this. You’re at your desk, working hard on a project. Out of nowhere, you get this crazy idea that seems like a sure-shot superhit to you. You call up your contacts, get an app on the idea made, and hope to rake in millions by the time you’re done with work. Doesn’t work like that, does it?
Chances are, with the sheer number of apps that are flooding the market every second, someone already made an app on your idea, earned a million bucks and flew off into the sunset.
Instead of making money on your supposedly original idea, you could now be under threat of having a plagiarism case charged against you, and end up losing money and time instead of earning it.
So, whenever you decide to make something, be sure that the idea is unique and truly yours, and implement it so well that it does not leave room for any error. Plagiarised and poorly implemented ideas have been a very big reason as to why mobile apps fail in today’s world.
NO UI/UX OPTIMIZATION
At the most basic level, a mobile app must be usable by the most naïve of persons. You can have a look at How important good UI/UX is for an app’s success here.
To be brutally honest, most apps floating around these days are harder to use than it is to fly a helicopter. This poor usability has also been a very popular reason as to why mobile apps fail. A good user experience is one of the simplest features that you can offer to a user, and it all begins with having a clean and easy to understand user interface.
Long loading times, crashes, irritating pop-ups, too many advertisements, and unwanted permissions are all issues that can bring the performance and reviews of an app down. It’s a very common reason why apps fail so often on the play store. So, next time your published app doesn’t perform so well on the App Store, chances are, you need to work on providing a better experience for your users.
POORLY PLANNED AND EXECUTED MARKETING TOO, IS A BIG REASON WHY MOBILE APPS FAIL
In marketing and promotion lies the ultimate success story of your mobile app. Cutting corners during the promotion process is most of the times the main reason for apps not making the impact that they are supposed to.
Starting with the launch of the app, you should keep your user base captivated, as studies show that 77% of users stop using an app after the first three days of usage.
That is over three-quarters of your userbase gone. In order to avoid this, you must execute your marketing plans properly, and make well-informed promotion and advertising decisions, based off of your market and audience research.
NO CUSTOMER INTERACTION
Another one of the major factors in 77% users quitting an app after the first three days is minimal to no user interaction from the developer side. It is extremely crucial to stay in touch with the people using their app, in order to receive their suggestions, criticism, and problems they might have with the app.
User interaction, or lack thereof, is the prime reason for apps failing on the market, and the onus of carrying it out lies on the developers themselves. Users are going to leave suggestions and comments on your app pages in the store, it is thus your duty to go read and respond to them, and perhaps implement the changes suggested by them.
FAILURE TO ALLOCATE RESOURCES PROPERLY
One of the most overlooked-yet-significant reasons for app failures is mismanagement of allocation of resources. Unknowingly, you may pump all your money in RnD in hopes of improving your platform, whereas, in all honesty, you should be paying for a better marketing team or vice versa.
The crux of the matter is, you must understand where your shortcomings lie, and work on them, not go and waste your time, energy and money on things that do not need improving. Of the apps released these days, 99% fail to make the impact they are meant to. And it is the mobile app developers and product managers who are responsible for this figure, and nobody else.
Therefore, the next time your developed app doesn’t perform as you thought, just have a look at your own work. You just might find the answer hidden in one of the few areas described above.
