In brief
Apps fail when developers misunderstand real needs, rely on biased feedback, overlook user behaviour, make faulty core assumptions, design without users’ needs in mind or execute flawed plans.
App developers fear finishing an app that no one downloads. This year, GOOGLE gave a presentation identifying app failure and its 6 main causes.
1. Not understanding the problem
86% of apps address problems that the developers themselves have encountered.
Many new apps post ambitious messages online, hoping to draw visitors’ attention to the app. However, this only reveals whether the market is interested in the app. Whether the app actually meets a real need and deserves users’ attention is another matter.
2. Asking friends for their opinions
When you ask relatives and friends for their opinions, their lack of impartiality can lead to biased feedback.
3. Not observing user behaviour
Developers often invite users to complete questionnaires to understand their opinions. However, questionnaires cannot directly reflect users’ actual behaviour, and there are many reasons for this.
4. The “most dangerous assumption”
All apps are based on numerous assumptions made before design begins. An assumption about the core of the product can be considered the “most dangerous assumption”. If it is wrong, it will affect the entire app structure.
5. The “engineer mindset”
Minimum Viable Product (（MVP) means designing an app with only basic features in the shortest possible time, then observing whether it is popular and making changes. However, this is not a good way to create a successful app, because the app was not designed around users’ needs from the outset.
6. Executing a flawed plan
Execution is certainly important, but if the plan is flawed—meaning it contains the problems mentioned above—the outcome for the app is already predictable.