Top 5 Mistakes Companies Make on iPhone/iPad Projects

© 2011 Richard Hart - All rights reserved.

1. Failing to research and test your idea first

So you think you have an idea for a million dollar App?

That's great, but before you go and spend a considerable amount of time and money creating it, wouldn't it be a good idea to spend a bit of time investigating and proving if people actually want it?

Before you even begin to think about developing your App you should be talking to people who may be potential customers in the future and see what they think about your offering. Does it interest them? Would they pay for it? What would they be willing to pay?

Have you researched the App store to see who your competition is? What are you providing that they aren't?

Countless projects are doomed to fail from the very beginning because this first step gets skipped and the people managing the project just “know it will work”. How can you know if you don't ask?

© 2011 Richard Hart - All rights reserved.

2. Not having a solid understanding of the nature and complexity of iOS development.

Developing for the iOS platform is unique. It is not like developing for the web and the rules that apply there, don't apply here. This is one of the most rapidly evolving platforms and technologies on the planet .It requires highly knowledgable and skilled talent to build exceptional applications.

A lot of companies see a tremendous opportunity in the iOS and mobile space right now, but have no real expertise in this area. The fake it till you make it approach simply won't work here, you either know what you are doing, or you don't. If you don't have the expertise and understanding needed in this area, find someone who does and don't wait till it's to late.

As a developer, it pains me to see mangled broken projects that have clearly been development by people who have no idea what they are doing and then asked to fix them after the fact.

Why not do it right the first time?

© 2011 Richard Hart - All rights reserved.

3. Setting unrealistic/artificial deadlines

You may be interested to know that even relatively simple iOS projects can take at least 3 months to complete and most non- trivial projects can easily take 6 months to a year!

Time and time again I see companies approach developers with projects that will take quite a bit of time and impose deadlines and timeframes that are completely unrealistic. Asking for a sizable App to be built 1or 2 months before Christmas is a really bad idea.

You should not be setting dates and telling people when your App will be ready until your engineering team has something that's ready to show. Putting your team under unnecessary stress and pressure may actually delay your project in the long run.

Your real goal should be to get the minimum feature set up and running as quickly as reasonably possible and not trash your team in the process. Remember you can iterate and publish updates as often as you need, but you need to ship something!

© 2011 Richard Hart - All rights reserved.

4. Failing to use the right people

So you're planning on contracting everything to offshore developers, or finding a student, or posting into craigslist for the lowest bidder?

We'll I hope that works out for you, but you know what, it probably won't. Like many things in life, you get what you pay for, and when it comes to skilled developers this still holds true.

It always amazes me how companies never have the budget to do projects correctly from the start, but always seem to have the budget to redo projects several times over that have been done incorrectly.

Working with a local developer who actually has the necessary skills and experience will more often than not save you time and money in the long run.

Would you want an amateur mechanic working on your $60,000 sports car? If not why would you hire and amateur developer to work on your $60,000 iPhone or iPad project?

© 2011 Richard Hart - All rights reserved.

5. Underestimating project costs

The final mistake I see a lot of companies make is failing to understand how much actually work is required to build exceptional Apps and the level of expertise that is required.

A reasonable sized project may require 1 or more developers, 1 or more designers, sound production, video production , user interface design, a project manager and this can easily add up to hundreds of hours of time.

You could easily spend $30,000 on very basic App and from there move up to $60,000 for a moderate App and then climb well over $100,000 for a complex project.

A good iOS developer can easily run well over $100/hr because they are in such high demand right now. As employees, senior iOS developers are commanding salaries of $100,000 or more.

Projects can fail or completely stall out if there is not a sufficient budget in place, so try and make sure your budget is sufficient for the App you are trying to build. © 2011 Richard Hart - All rights reserved.

This Presentation was Prepared By

Richard Hart(iOS specialist in Apps for kids, health, the environment and

education)

rhart[@]richardhart.cawww.richardhart.ca