Businesses can get a lot of joy out of developing apps. Mobile apps give your company a chance to fit in the pocket of the consumer. They open up different possibilities and might help you earn a new source of income. When you put all of this together, it’s no surprise that loads of businesses are rushing to develop and publish apps on the various app markets.
Just like that, you’ve stumbled upon a problem. You might be keen to create an app for your business – so keen, in fact, that you’ve rushed through the development phase and want to publish it right away. The sooner it’s out, the better, right? Wrong. Rushing an app is such a terrible idea, and here’s why you should never do it:
Customer complaints and bad reviews
The thing about mobile apps is that they can be reviewed by everyone that uses them. A rushed app can be full of flaws, all of which will be picked up on by customers and users. As a result, you end up with hoards of complaints and dozens of negative reviews. This is awful because you’ve now got to spend time dealing with all these complaints – while simultaneously fixing the issues. Plus, you have to try and repair a damaged reputation as your app has awful reviews. People see your brand next to an app with a one-star rating – how do you think that makes you look?!
Takes more time further down the road
You may think that rushing to publish your app helps you save time. All the users don’t have to wait months for the app, so you can reap the rewards sooner. In reality, it probably ends up taking more time. In the software world, there’s something called technical debt. This basically refers to things like coding that you have to do later down the line because you avoided it initially. You accrue so much technical debt when rushing apps, with hours spent trying to rewrite code and fix all the little hitches spotted upon release. While this happens, people can’t use your app, so it was pointless rushing it to begin with. It’s ended up taking longer to get a working version of the app out than it would’ve if you simply had patience.
Could genuinely make you lose customers
Some of your customers might leave you if your app sucks. If you try to force a barely finished app down their throats, they’ll hate it. They might download it, be disgusted at how poor it is, and never come to you ever again. Bad apps can leave a sour taste in people’s mouths, pushing them to avoid the company for the foreseeable future. By the time your app has been fixed, they’ve found a different company to trust and use.
Two things to take from this post: apps are a really good investment for businesses, opening up loads of new doors. Most importantly, you can’t rush app development – it needs to be taken slowly, only ending when the app is tested and free from any bugs.
