Apps are and will continue to be incredibly popular. According to surveys conducted by Statista, as of 2015, there were 1.6 million apps available to users on Android alone. The second largest app store being Apple’s with 1.5 million apps.
Studies have also shown that with so much choice users often gives an app no more than two chances before they move on. There are a host of reasons why an app could fail which all result in reduced usage, poor levels of adoption and lower revenue from the app. To a large extent many of the pitfalls of app development can be evaded by outsourcing app development to specialized companies that have extensive expertise in this area.
5 Signs that the App For Your Business Has Failed:
1. The app Does Not Meet a Need:
Is there a need in the market for what your app can do? Does the app solve a problem for a customer or user? If your answer to these questions is no, you might be investing in an app that is a failure from the start. Market research to determine whether the app really has a potential audience is critical.
2. A Poor User Interface and Experience:
The experience that a user has in the first 10 seconds is often critical to whether the user decides to stay on and explore the functionality the app has to offer. Does the app launch too slowly? Does your business’ app have low quality images and drab graphics? These aspects and many more determine how convenient (or inconvenient) it is for the user to find/do what it is they are looking for on the app.
3. Users End Up Doing the Testing:
Let’s face it, none of us want to buy a product a find out there are bugs. While users often are willing to put up with a few glitches, having too many come up post app release is a sure shot way of ensuring your users never use your app again.
4. The App is Now Habit:
People tend to use more of the apps that support habits they have created or specific interests. Keep your app on people’s minds by ensuring the problem the app solves is one that users tend to face daily or at least a few times a week. Frequent notifications of new content and other alerts that prompt a user to access the app also help. If the app for your business doesn’t have any of the above characteristics, the chances that your app will fail are higher since users are going to forget that your app exists.
5. Poor Functionality:
Every app is (or at least should be) built for a purpose. And this purpose should be evident to a potential user. When a user installs the app and opens it for the first time, but can’t figure out where and/or how to access the main functionality, this is bound to negatively impact app adoption.
Creating an app today is complex and getting the entire recipe right is the key to ensure the app for your business does not fail and keeping these 5 points in mind should help you along the way. With app development being a considerably specialized domain, outsourcing app development will help to ensure the right people with the right skills are on the job minimizing trial and error to get your app just right.
