Contemporary Risks of Mobile App Development

Mobile app development is an expensive and complex process. Obviously, as a client, you would like to know beforehand what could go wrong so that you can realistically envision the app creation process and consider various event scenarios. After all, you can lose your money and time. Let’s look at what risks of mobile app development await you on the way. And what needs to be done today to avoid such an outcome.

1. Quality problems

The most popular fear of the client is getting a low-quality result. The app may have errors or not work as expected. This is a critical moment that will affect the results and return on investment.

Users will choose a competitor’s service if your app performs poorly. Customers will not use a program that functions incorrectly and brings annoyance instead of benefit.

Such a result not only will not help you achieve your business goals, but will also negatively impact the company’s image.

What can be done to avoid this?

1. Conduct a thorough analysis and write a Technical Specification for development. Pre-planned logic reduces the risk of unexpected scenarios with errors.
2. Test the result. Checking the application under different scenarios can catch most bugs before it gets into the hands of real users.
3. Choose a good development team. Having a Technical Specification and testing is not enough to make an application good by default. The quality of execution is also important. When choosing a contractor, check their experience, cases, and feedback from previous clients.

2. Misalignment with expectations

“Misalignment with expectations” is not the same as quality problems. The result may work without errors, but at the same time, it may differ significantly from how you imagined the final application.

“We can’t read minds!” – the executor may reply to this. This is true, but the process can be set up in such a way as to minimize the occurrence of such a risk.

What is necessary to do this?

1. Read the specifications. The technical specification is the interpretation of your task by the development team. It’s completely normal if the team doesn’t understand something right away. The main thing is to check the result and work through any such moments. If something in the specifications is unclear, be sure to discuss it with the contractor to avoid unexpected results in the end.
2. Divide the work into stages and check the results of each stage of the work. In this case, you will quickly notice if something goes wrong, notify the team, and be able to make changes quickly in the next sprints.

3. Non-compliance with market requirements

This is something to truly be afraid of. Agree that it would be more than unpleasant to go through all the stages of developing a mobile application, invest your time, budget, energy, and then after some time after the launch, find out that your product is not needed by users.

To avoid this problem, it is necessary to:

1. Conduct research. Before starting development, study the market, the needs of your target audience, and the applications of competitors. See what possibilities have already been implemented and what customer requests are still not satisfied (for this you can read user reviews of competitor applications). Conduct a survey of the target audience to understand customer expectations.
2. Make MVP. If you take a long time to make your ideal application, you can see how the target audience is already using a competitor’s product. MVP will not only help you quickly release your product, but also immediately start collecting feedback from the first users and, if necessary, correct the development plan.
3. “Keep your finger on the pulse.” Continue to monitor competitors and trends in the IT industry (by the way, you can do this in our LinkedIn account) even after launching the application. Implement new ideas to keep the application always relevant and attractive to users.

4. Security Issues

We are increasingly hearing about data breaches and the fines that companies have to pay as a result. It’s an unpleasant moment that not only hits your wallet but also your reputation.

How to avoid this problem?

1. Use modern data protection methods. They include:
   • Encryption: using cryptography methods to protect data from unauthorized access;
   • Authentication: checking a user’s identity before granting access to secure data;
   • Access control: managing who has access to data and how they can use it.
2. Conduct security monitoring. Unfortunately, hackers are not standing still either. Over time, new opportunities for hacking and data theft emerge. To maintain the security of the application, it is necessary to monitor and respond to potential security threats.

5. Performance Problems

Remember how frustrating it is to use applications that run extremely slow. So slow that it’s easier for the user to give up the benefits of the program altogether, rather than continue to watch the screen where data is constantly being loaded or sent.

How to avoid this problem?

1. Implement proper architecture. Choosing the right data structure ensures the service’s flexibility, scalability, and performance. It also helps improve code quality, simplify code maintenance and support future development.
2. Do code refactoring. Refactoring is the process of modifying existing code without changing its functionality. It improves code readability and understanding, making it easier to maintain. As the codebase grows (i.e. adding more functionality to the application), refactoring will maintain code quality and improve performance.

These are all the risks of developing a mobile application today. Hopefully, they haven’t scared you because with proper preparation, they can be avoided.