Common Mistakes Startups Make When Building for Mobile

If you have a breakthrough idea for your business, you’ve probably considered bringing it to life by developing a mobile app. It’s not a bad idea. Mobile apps are extremely popular at the moment, and they’re paving the way for all kinds of new and exciting business ideas.

Here are some helpful tips that will help any business navigate the treacherous waters of app development, while avoiding some of the most common mistakes.

1. Building for all Multiple Platforms at Once:

Let’s face it, with over one million apps on both the Google Play and Apple App Store, you are playing in a very

competitive space. Avoid doubling your engineering costs and focus on building on one platform first. This also

helps get your minimum viable product (MVP) out in the app store as soon as possible. In addition, if you do

launch on both platforms at once and need to make any changes to design and/or functionality, then you will

need to do it on both places which adds more development time and cost. It’s better to finalize an app on iOS

and have a couple of iterations before porting it to Android (or vice versa).

Note : Instagram had over 30 million users already on iOS before they even launched their Android version.

2. Having Distended Features:

Now that you have picked your app store of choice for the initial launch, it’s important to have a core set of

features as your MVP. With your first version, you want to prove the core hypothesis of your app to see if the

market is willing to adopt it.

Good user experience is about doing more with less.

If you have an existing web service, don’t try to condense the online experience into the mobile screen. It’s

important to rethink your entire user flow and interactions on mobile and not replicate the online experience. In

addition, while it’s important to launch with just a core set of features, remember not to rush development and

release a buggy app. Mobile users are unforgiving and will leave 1-star reviews if your app is buggy. This rocky

start is very difficult to recover from.

3. Scooping on User Experience:

Apple has set the bar with its elegant product design and user experience. You can hand over your iPhone or

iPad to a toddler and they will immediately know how to use it.

The mobile user has different expectations than the one on the web. The mobile experience needs to be self-

describing and intuitive. While the online user may put up with poor user experience and design, a mobile user

will quickly give up on your app if it’s too difficult to use.

In fact, 26% of the apps are only opened once and never use it again, and another 48% are opened 10 times or

less. Therefore, you need to have an immediate “wow” factor upon the user launching the app.

4. Excluding Analytics:

We would never imagine launching a website without Google Analytics or another tracking tool, right? Why

would you launch an app without any analytics?

Use an analytics service like Flurry to make data driven decisions on design, content, and user experience.

There’s a popular saying that “we only manage things we measure”, so it’s important that you start measuring

from the very start. Here are some important metrics to measure within your app:

● App Crashes

● Daily Active Users (DAU)

● Average Time Spent within the App

● Retention Rate

● Engagement

5. Mismanaging the Project:

If you’ve never managed a software project before, you should consider hiring a professional mobile app

development company. While you may pay a little more, a development shop will have project managers who

are there to translate your laymen speak into one developers can understand.

In addition, writing a product specification document is often a daunting task for anyone without product

management experience. There are many variables and edge cases to consider when developing a mobile app

and hiring a professional shop may end up saving you more time and money in the end.

Moreover, a mobile app development company is focused on developing apps and has the experience working

with clients of a diverse technical background, whereas a freelancer maybe moonlighting or used to working

with technical product managers

6. Not Thinking About Monetization:

Don’t think that if you build it, they will come (and pay). Many of the top downloaded apps are free, so it’s

important to think about how you will monetize from the onset.

Common misconceptions of monetization include:

● Ads will support my app

● Another company will acquire my app

● Users will pay for my app (outright or in-app purchases)

● Going for scale, worry about monetization later

● It’s important to research other apps in your category to see how they monetize. Are users willing to pay

● outright for the app or do you have to monetize through in-app purchases? What kind of in-app purchases

are users buying?

7. Marketing After Submitting App:

It’s important to start marketing your app as early as possible. Don’t wait until submitting the app

to the App Store to start your press outreach.

Before sending emails, research your favorite technology blogs and look for journalists who have

written about a similar app. When sending your emails, make sure to keep them short, personal,

and include a few details about what makes your app different.

Include a link to a screenshot or video so the blogger can quickly get a sense of what your app does.

At the end of the email ask if they’d like to know more or perhaps try out the app before it goes

live.