3 Things Every Mobile App Developer Should Know About Product Development

As businesses increasingly move their focus to mobile, hiring managers are actively recruiting for talented iOS and Android developers. These roles are becoming more important than ever as interest in apps rises each year, with total downloads hitting 90 billion in 2016. As a result, mobile developers are among the highest in demand of all developer job roles in 2017, after cloud/back-end developers.

Whether mobile developers are building an application for a business or as a side project to include in their portfolios, there are some common themes across the product development process. Here are three that all app developers, both new and veteran, should know.

1. More Features Doesn’t Equal a Better App

Mobile developers who have been in the business for a while know that feature glut can compromise an app’s efficiency and ease of use. Even if a developer knows how to build complicated functionality into an app, it doesn’t mean that those features will make the app more successful. This added complexity could introduce more bugs to an otherwise working product. One reason why developers may add additional elements to an app during the product development process is to make their app stand out from or beat a competitor’s app. This pressure may come from stakeholders who want to outperform other similar apps on the market. The best way to beat your competitors is to deliver value: make your app more effective than theirs and execute on your existing features better than they do. Customers won’t download an app because it has more bells and whistles if the core of the product doesn’t perform as it should. The way to win customers over is to offer the best service and include features that add, not detract, from the app’s core function.

1. You Can’t Avoid Bugs

No matter how long you’ve been developing mobile applications, there’s a good chance the app you build will have bugs. Don’t feel frustrated—preventing bugs isn’t always within your control. The software can’t run by itself without some sort of device or system which, if not built in-house, means that you rely on outside parties for bug-free code. In order to really safeguard against any bugs, developers would have to make sure each device, system, and library they use are also bug free, which is simply not possible. Bugs are going to pop up and sometimes you won’t be able to detect them until users start interacting with the app. When that happens you can send out product updates to the user base accordingly.

1. Finding Beta Users Can be Hard

Testing an app among beta users is an important step in the product development process. If you’re working for a company, it may offer you a pool of employees to test the app. However, if a developer is creating an app as a side project or as volunteer work for an organization, it can be trickier to find people willing to give the app a test drive. These developers will have to use their personal networks and online communities to find a folks who can test and review the app.

Posting on social networks like Facebook or Twitter and asking friends and family members are great ways to look for beta testers. Try to get potential testers excited about the service and being part of the product development of a new application—treat them like VIPs and have a great landing page waiting for them that will quickly convince them of the value of testing your product. The more user experiences you can log, the more well-rounded and higher quality your product will be.

Mobile developers are building the applications of the future by creating apps that address needs and pain points for businesses and people around the world. Businesses are actively looking for talented mobile developers to build these solutions and product managers to help them get there.