Why Apps Fail: The Brutally Honest Truth

BY: Patty Nicholson
MAY 18, 2022

Less than .01% of apps succeed, according to recent statistics. When users download approximately 250 million apps every day, that’s a small number. Below are some hard truths about why apps fail and solutions for these problems.

With today’s technology, it’s easier than ever to create a mobile app or a website. It’s also more accessible than ever to fail at building one. Apps fail because there are many moving parts to consider, such as user interface, user experience design, app functionality, and marketing.

Your app can succeed if you consider all these elements before launching. When you know what NOT to do when building apps, you have a much better chance of building successful apps that people will love and use regularly

Key Takeaways:

  • When apps fail, there are reasons why:
  • You didn’t do your research
  • Your User Experience (UX) or User Interface (UI) design isn’t user-friendly
  • You didn’t test the app properly
  • You hired the wrong development team

You Didn’t Do Your Research

Strong communication between designers is essential for creating a product that functions well and looks polished. Designers often make the mistake of believing that they know what users want rather than asking them outright. The result is a lack of user research and communication. As a result, the design process becomes one-sided and may not fulfill users’ needs.

Researching your target audience should be your first step in the design process. It’s essential to identify what problems users face or hope to solve to understand better how you can help them accomplish their goals.

By exploring competitors’ work and gathering data from user interactions, you can gain valuable insights into specific user demographics and habits, which can help you craft a product that meets their needs.

If you don’t have a firm handle on what your users are looking for and how they will use your app, anything else you do is for naught. As explained earlier, you need to know your target audience before you begin developing your web app.

Your aim should always be to deliver an experience that meets (or surpasses) the people’s expectations using it. To answer these questions, you must complete detailed research and know who your competition is.

Solution:

Determine why someone would want to use your app to solve their problem. Is it faster than other solutions? More accurate? Easier to use? All the above? Again, this goes back to knowing who you’re developing for and understanding why they would choose you over anybody else.

One way to learn more about your audience is by conducting user interviews. An interview allows you to ask questions directly to your audience to understand how they think, feel, and act when using products like yours. You’ll also be able to validate any assumptions you’ve made about your audience during your research phase.

Another helpful way to gather information about users is through surveys and polls. These tools allow you to collect data from a large pool of people without taking up too much of their time.

Your User Experience (UX) Or User Interface (UI) Design Isn't User-Friendly

It’s easy to overlook the User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design because they don’t seem like essential factors when building an app. But if you want users to use your app and enjoy using it, you need to make sure it’s easy for them to do so.

UX is one of the most important aspects of any digital product. If you don’t take it seriously, users won’t either. UX includes everything from creating a simple login process for your customers to ensuring each page loads quickly on every device type.

There are two types of usability. One is functional, and the other is emotional. Functional means that your app should be easy to use, while emotional means that it should be fun. It is essential to have both if you want a successful web application.

For example, Gmail offers you the option of customizing your inbox with different themes and colors. While this feature does not do anything for the functionality of Gmail, it makes using it more enjoyable for users, which helps improve its overall success rate.

The Solution:

You need to have a compelling strategy before you even start building your app that includes the features you want and design it with user needs in mind. Talk to your users and understand what they want (and don’t want). For example, if you’re building a checkout process, ask customers if they prefer using PayPal or credit cards instead of forcing them into using one payment method only.

You Didn’t Test the App Properly

Most companies with mobile apps do not test their apps properly because they don’t realize how important it is to test the app before launching it on the market. Others overlook vital aspects of the testing process.

The first step in testing your app is creating a prototype of it, allowing you to test various aspects of your application without spending too much time and money developing it further, which would only lead to more problems later down the road. Skipping this step or incomplete testing could be a critical mistake.

A crucial aspect of creating a user-friendly application is ensuring that everything works as intended and does not have any glitches or bugs in its system. Testing prototypes can provide user feedback before you move forward with the project.

The Solution:

Testing your app on real users allows you to make changes and improve it before releasing it to the public. This step will save you time and money since fixing bugs after your app has been released is more expensive than fixing them while still in the development stage.

You should test your app on various devices and platforms to ensure that it works flawlessly on all of them. You will also need to test it for compatibility with different screen sizes and resolutions. If you plan to release your app on several platforms, you need to test them separately. Ensure that your app performs as expected across all devices.

You Hired the Wrong Development Team

There are too many cheap online web app development companies out there. They hire inexperienced developers that don’t know how to design or build well. And they cut corners to save money so that they won’t use best practice solutions and frameworks. You’ll need to find a team of honest and experienced developers who can deliver a quality solution.

Even if your team is honest and has good intentions, they could still be making mistakes that could cost you dearly in the future, and they might not even realize it. Some application development companies use programming languages and frameworks that aren’t designed for large-scale applications.

This shortcut can save time in the short run, but this solution can break down over time. The code becomes too messy to maintain, taking longer and costing more to make later. And if your business grows and you suddenly have thousands of users instead of hundreds, the system could crash due to poor performance.

The Solution:

You can find the right development team by talking to the developer first and asking them questions about how they work. First, check references and reviews from other clients. Read their case studies or look at their portfolio of past projects to ensure they have experience working with similar sites or apps like yours. Ask questions like:

  • How do you structure your code?
  • Do you use any frameworks like AngularJS or React?
  • Do you document your code?
  • How will your code be organized?
  • What sort of testing do you do? Do you write unit tests?

Whether you’re building a company website or an advanced web app, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options for development agencies and freelancers. If you cut corners with the wrong developer, you may spend more in the long run on fixes, updates, and security patches. But it pays to do your homework before hiring someone to build your next project.

Final Thoughts

There are many reasons that apps fail, but the most common is because they’re poorly designed. If you want your app to succeed, you need to hire a development team that understands how to design, build, and maintain an engaging product. If you don’t, you could waste your time and money.

Every app has unique features and functionality, so it’s essential to work with a team that understands how to bring your vision to life. The truth is that although apps are all around us, they’re part of the overall digital experience.

Any time you buy something online or check out a website on your phone, you can be sure that the person who put it together started with a plan or some basic ideas about how they wanted users to interact with their site. An experienced app developer will take your company’s goals into account when building an app that you can use to attract and retain customers.

Develop Your App With RD Global

RD Global is a leader in Web Application Development and Mobile App Development services. Our team of experienced developers can provide expert application development solutions that align with your business’s specific needs. Whether you need to build an all-new web application or upgrade an existing one, RDGlobal has the experience and expertise to help you develop your next great app.

Our team has successfully designed and developed applications for many industries, including manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and more. By working with RDGlobal’s team of experts, you can ensure your application meets the highest standards of quality, accuracy, and performance.

Contact Us today for more information on RD Global’s expert application development services

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Written by Patty Nicholson

"With an exceptional ability to execute and implement enterprise-wide, highly complex strategic initiatives building trust with teams and cross-functional partners, and over 20 years of demonstrated leadership skills, Patty Nicholson oversees all operations while maintaining a commitment to 5-star customer success. Most of her career has been working with insurance organizations on ways to automate manual processes to new digital platforms."

MAY 18, 2022
RD Global Empowers Insurance Companies to optimize total digital experience, unify data, and harmonize processes by developing high impact technology solutions infused with a 5-star customer experience.