Despite the effort and dedication put into mobile app development, the mobile app may still fail to find success in the market. This can be due to many reasons, some of which can be avoided. Often, the failure of an app can be due to mistakes the team made during one of the pre-development stages.

An experienced mobile application development company begins development of good quality applications by first taking into account the user needs, preferences, and expectations so as to define the product properly. The product definition is integral to the overall product strategy, and serves to guide the development towards understanding the needs and the right approach to meet those needs.

But, the mistakes that occur during this phase can consequently lower the app’s chance of success. Here are 4 common product strategy mistakes and tips to avoid them.
 

Projects taking too long to get started

 
Well, starting development right away is another mistake. The product has to be properly defined before the development can begin. Starting the development prematurely would force the team to encounter several challenges and pitfalls.

However, taking too long to start the project can also be troublesome. Firstly, such delays can lead to a situation where viable ideas simply do not become realized. This is also one pitfall of not going for an Agile approach and iterative development. That is also the solution to this mistake. Go for an iterative, Agile approach or release a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) so that the product doesn’t end up in development hell.
 

Confusing requirements

 
Customers may not always know what exactly they want. Even if they do, they may not be able to communicate it properly. In addition, customers may not always be able to see the big picture – the range of needs and opportunities. Even so, it is up to the mobile app development team to map the product requirements, and it may get confusing.

They essentially have to translate customer requirements into product specifications that the development team can understand. This won’t be easy if customer requests are not precise or non-technical in nature. To avoid this, the team can focus more on what the product should have to be of value to users instead of directly translating what the customer thinks as requirements.

The product should still meet their expectations, which the team can achieve if they do enough research to understand the markets, emerging mobile technologies, and everything else the product can or will achieve as time goes by.
 

Adding unnecessary features to show off innovative capabilities

 
During development, the team may find it possible to certain additional features or functionalities to the product. But just because they can and just because it’s feasible, doesn’t mean they should go for it. This is a common case when new technologies emerge or existing technologies advance and the development team wants to be the first to implement them.

Such a drive for innovation can sometimes take their focus away from the value proposition. If the features or functionalities don’t add value to the app user or if they aren’t necessary in the final version of the product, they simply should not be included in the product.
 

Ignoring competition and market viability

 
Market viability is generally often considered only during the pre-development phase of the mobile app. Once the development begins, the team tends to ignore changing market conditions and the impact of new trends and emerging technologies on the market. If the team isn’t aware of potential competition, the app is less likely to succeed in the market.

To avoid this, it’s best to perform thorough industry and competitor research while devising a product strategy. The team needs to understand how different their product would be, the problems it can solve, competitive developments that can threaten its success over time, and how it would fare amongst competition. Getting answers to these questions would help them deliver a market-viable product with a unique value proposition and optimized lifetime value.
 

Conclusion

 
While a well-rounded product strategy doesn’t automatically make the app successful, it considerably increases the likelihood of your app succeeding in the market. Avoiding the aforementioned mistakes would give the team a better chance at building a quality product that meets user needs, thereby granting leverage to successfully break into the market.

Written by: verbat