Developing a Custom Software Solution is one that brings a sense of pride upon to yourself upon launching this brand new program live! Whether you develop an application for individual consumers, for other business’s use, or for your internal operations, Web, Mobile or wearables; developing a proper solution while navigating around all the potential risks can be a tough one. So, here is the treasure map to navigate around the boobytraps that will arise and how to navigate safely past them
LACK OF AUDIENCE
- The last thing you want to do is spend time and money only to realize there is no market for your application. We recommend creating surveys or doing in-person interviews. You might have the best idea in the world but if there isn’t a want for it let alone a market that will pay for the service and application you are creating, you will be facing a massive risk when going to production
BAD UI/UX
- What is better, a beautifully designed app or an app that converts well? That is a double edge sword both factors matter. However, if the application is developed in a way that doesn’t make sense to the user, you lost them off the start. When creating an application, you should speak to your audience. Show them a clickable prototype of your application, watch for where they want to click and where why might struggle in the app. Additionally, ask them questions. ‘Where do you see this going in 3-5 years?’ If they come to the same conclusion as you, that great! If not, it might lead some insight to a direction of the business that you weren’t looking at. After all, the user is the one who matters, so before developing make sure they have the need and like the feel.
“A user interface is like a Joke. If you have to explain it; It isn’t that good.”
WRONG PLATFORM
- You might be asking yourself, how can it be on the wrong platform? There’s web, mobile, and wearables. How can I pick the wrong platform? Well did you know that Smartphones that run Google’s Android OS has the market-share over Apple’s iOS? However, the AppStore brings in higher revenue than their counterpart Google Play. So, do you go for the larger audience or the paying audience?
- As we discuss the technology you may use there are many possibilities for picking the wrong platform. The reason there are 100+ coding languages, frameworks, and libraries is due to the fact that each offers benefits and weaknesses that their counterparts may not have. Knowing what the end goal of the application is an integral part of deciding the platform to develop upon. If you want to know which platform to develop your application on, feel free to reach out to us for guidance!
WAITING TOO LONG TO RELEASE
We’ve heard it before and I’ll say it again.
“Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.”
Here are some reasons as to why waiting too long to release is bad:
- In software development, the first live phase of the application is a Minimal Viable Product. It is exactly as it reads, an MVP is the most simplistic version of your application that still fulfills the user’s end goal. Make sure you iterate as you develop and release builds over time, not all at once. As I mentioned in every point above, your audience will tell you what your application needs. So push it live and get some answers
- Your idea might already exist or someone else out there is inventing the same thing at the same time. Here are some examples throughout the history of inventions and discoveries that happen at the same time but completely separate from each other.
- The ATM was created in the USA 1968 and UK 1967 in back to back years without the knowledge of the other
- Two individuals each made Creation of the Jet Engine unbeknownst to each other during WWII
- In Vitro Fertilization was first successful on July 25th in 1978 as well as October 3rd, 1978
- Sir Issac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz both discovered Calculus in the 17th Century
What am I trying to say with all these cooky facts? You must push your application live to the public as soon as it can complete the most simplistic need that it is set out to accomplish.
Remember: If your first release doesn’t embarrass you, you’re doing something wrong.
OVER ENGINEERING
Software engineers believe the best way to accomplish everything is through engineering and automation. While that is true, it’s only a fact when money is endless and there is no timeline. However, I’ve never come across a situation where this true. Now that we know there’s a set budget and timeline. How do we keep from over-engineering the product?
Sometimes it can be as simple as not recreating the wheel. The reason why developers use coding frameworks and libraries is that they offer premade components from date range selectors to analytics and more. Also, it helps to use a pre-existing SaaS that you can integrate with an API. Sometimes just doing the non-technical solution is cheaper and easier. For example, We had a client that needed to give all their users access to their data, while the application was being rebuilt. Rather than do the complex solution our engineers recommended, we solved their issue by setting up a secure password protected database that each individual was able to log into to access their own data during the rewrite.
INTERNAL BUY-IN & ACCEPTANCE OF THE APP
When developing an application for your business to use internally, having buy-in from your organization is of the utmost importance. This becomes even more important the larger the organization and the number of locations that exist. Imagine spending 6figures+ to create a system that you know will improve the way that your organization will run, but everyone refuses to adopt it or each location doesn’t follow corporate protocol. So before you develop an application make sure your business is ready to adopt it as part of their day to day.
As you can see these are just a few common risks that occur when developing an application. Just like making an investment there are risks that are associated with it. Luckily, this is something you are creating or creating with our help! Meaning you can control and mitigate risk the entire way!
To learn more about Risk Mitigation please feel free to reach out to us here!