The Influence Of Mobile App Development Expectations Vs. Reality

People have expectations about mobile app development that are not in tune with the reality behind this process. This is why it is important to understand the way that mobile app development works and what you should really expect based on how this industry works.

Keep in mind that there may be other points missing here, but the idea is to give you the core expectations that people have and the realities that they should know.

Development Costs Expectations

When people look to get an application developed, they often expect a certain price for the mobile development process. They perceive that an application is not priced based on features and they expect a bundle price that is very accessible.

While some negotiations can be conducted to lower costs, the need to establish this properly is huge. This is why it is essential to ensure that the project pricing can be explained in a way that allows the potential client to have a more realistic expectation.

Expectations on costs are always low when the audience is not aware of the many details that go into this process. A good team should be able to shed some light on the costs without complicating the information. This is going to help their clients align their expectations in a way that is more realistic.

Development Costs Reality

The truth is that developing a quality application is not a cheap process at all. There are many basic app development software solutions out there, but you are only getting a very basic Mobile application that is merely for information and not very interactive. A professional application can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

It is important to keep in mind that custom programming is a very time-consuming process. Not just that, but it also requires extensive experience and skills to be done efficiently. Most development jobs are going to be significantly expensive due to the steep learning curve that programmers experience.

Development Time Expectations

The average person looking for an application to be developed is going to expect this process to be done within a few weeks to a month tops. Sometimes they will have a list of specific features they want, but they will rarely know the details behind the time it takes to develop an app.

People hope to have the work done as fast as possible and this is to be expected. This is something that we can see happening in all kinds of development projects. Most individuals do not have any awareness of the complexity behind programming.

Some people have been known to expect a fully customized application with complex features to be finished within a couple of weeks. This is a great reminder that you can’t expect people to be able to understand the efforts that go into the development of a custom app.

Development Time Reality

Developing an app can take as much as six months and even more depending on how many features are needed. This process requires many steps that include a prototype, a beta testing phase, and then the app can be approved for launch. The time it takes to develop an app can vary between two weeks to six months on average and this will depend heavily on the features that the customer requests.

Delays are always to be expected if there are any issues when the beta is released. Even with the best mobile development team in the world, you can expect some bugs to happen that will need to be fixed. The delays caused by bugs are just the icing on the cake. There can be time delays caused by a large number of issues during the development process.

Development Issues Expectations

People expect their application to work flawlessly and without any bugs in as little development time as possible. They want their application to be launched with no issues and no errors and they don’t expect to pay to or wait too much for that outcome.

To wish for an application that has no bugs and requires no updates and no fixes is just not a realistic approach. With that said, many people do feel that this is something that should not be a problem for a top-class development team. They imagine that errors and bugs are only going to happen with inexperienced teams and not with the best teams.

Development Issues Reality

The reality of application development is that bugs and errors are going to be found even in the most expensive app launches. When beta testing is done, this is meant to get rid of as many of those possible bugs and issues as possible, but the true test comes when the app is used by a massive audience that is bound to find more.

The reality is that you should expect to see bugs and issues even with the best app development team, but the best teams will work on fixes immediately and the number of bugs will be minimal. Regardless, the client needs to be aware of the inevitable need for bug fixing and this happens even in the best teams.

This is a great reminder of the difficulty and unpredictability of programming projects. When something seems to be going smoothly, it could end up becoming a huge problem.

Launch Expectations

When people buy an application, they expect to be able to get a large number of people to download it and use it. They expect this to happen by simply publishing the application at the corresponding app store.

This is the same thing that happens with people who setup an online store and expect to have a bunch of customers coming in and buying the products they are selling. This is usually not going to work as expected and many people will be.

Launch Reality

The reality about launching an app is that you will be competing against thousands of other apps that offer similar services in most cases. Even if you have an app that offers a very original service, you are still going to need to invest in marketing to promote the app launch and get people to find it and download it.

This is the same as anything you do and any type of business you start. You need to be able to promote what you are offering so that people can find your product or services. This is easier said than done as you do need to ensure that your marketing efforts are going to provide results.

One of the best ways to launch an app is to have marketing behind it and to ensure that a large number of people are able to download the app at launch. You could offer special discounts for the app features that you are selling, or you could offer any kind of incentive.

Final Thoughts On Expectations Versus Reality

There is nothing more valuable than being aware of what it is you are going to get when you hire a mobile app development team. Given that some expectations are a bit unrealistic, this content should provide some helpful information for those who seek to get their application developed.

Once a potential client has a much better idea of what is going to happen and what they should expect, this is going to be a much easier process to handle.