Despite solid planning, experienced teams, and reasonable goals, many projects or products still fail to meet their launch dates.
Product development and delivery teams face time risk more frequently than they would like, but there are steps they can take to effectively mitigate it.
3 Major project/product failure reasons
1. Scope Creep
A common occurrence in software development is scope creep, which occurs when you don’t see it coming. If the project does not have adequate controls, additional features and requests can strain resources and interfere with the product vision.
A strong project management and product ownership model may be able to curb scope creep in some cases.
Change requests and added features that are not aligned with objectives shouldn’t threaten timelines if product objectives and success factors are clearly defined.
- Is the product vision aligned with new feature requests?
- Is there a benefit to the end user from the proposed changes?
- Which is more important, having them or not having them?
It is, however, more efficient to follow a process that assumes and allows change in order to manage scope creep consistently (especially when meeting deadlines).
2. A flawed process
- Poor processes result in a myriad of project problems, including missed deadlines, which we talk about a lot.
- A project’s risk of failure is increased when process deficiencies manifest in different ways.
- Unless your development process is flexible and follows agile principles, your team will not be able to adapt quickly.nes.
- The key to managing requirements changes is how you react to them. This is true for many projects.
- A natural break is built into each iteration of agile, with changes assessed throughout the project.
3. A Complex View of Perfection
Another reason apps fail is their obsession with perfectionism, which prevents them from shipping early. To meet deadlines, the perfection complex causes unnecessary delays.
- The importance of accepting imperfection in software development cannot be overstated.
- Despite the frustration that comes with failing fast, the fail-fast method allows development teams to identify and correct defects quickly.
- The result is software that is high-quality, production-ready, since fewer bugs go into production.
- Getting to market quickly, gathering user feedback, and delivering iteratively is much more valuable than trying to solve all your user’s problems all at once.
- As a result, MVP requirements should be clearly defined, and features and functionality should be prioritized.
The Final Analysis
An app’s performance is influenced by several factors, such as competition, budgets, and just plain luck. The failure of apps is often caused by poor research and poor execution of processes, in addition to these factors.
A thorough quality assurance test and thorough market and audience research are important elements of your mobile app development process that can make a difference between success and failure.