Why do software projects fail? Most common mistakes and how to avoid them

It sometimes happens that software projects fail at some point. Whether it’s a mobile app or a web platform, the mistakes we do tend to repeat and are often the reason why projects eventually fail. Why is that? What are those mistakes and how to avoid them? You'll find out in this article. 

Let’s start with the definition: Software development is the process of creating, designing, deploying, and supporting software. Divided into stages, it’s easier to assess what mistakes can occur in each of them and to find the way to not let that happen. 

Mistakes and issues in software development projects

It’s a common belief that building the product as fast as possible and releasing it to the market is the priority. Business owners often find it enough to become profitable. But how useful is a software full of errors? Well, it’s not useful or helpful at all. But let’s assume it’s almost error-free. How much profit can you make with a perfect product? You might gain nothing if there was no need for such solution. 

Let’s dig into these and other common issues and mistakes and find a solution for each of them to help you prepare for the project and carry it out in a way that will provide you with success!

Lack of market analysis 

Lack of analysis is often a reason why software projects fail. It's extremely important to thoroughly research all areas that affect the success of your app. These are:

• Competition — explore all similar products offered by competitive businesses. Define all the features these products have. Isn’t your idea already taken? How is your product supposed to stand out? 
• Target audience — make sure there is a group of people who actually need your solution. Prepare descriptions of your product's users and customize all the features with them in mind. Create 2-4 user personas to understand your potential customers, their needs and motivations.
• Designs — they need to be tailored to the target group and make the product readable and easy to use. When browsing your competitors’ solutions pay attention and write down what they look like. Colorful? Muted colors? Large fonts? Try to find dependencies.

At the beginning of every project, it is crucial to think through the entire business strategy, establish the business model, define user personas and more. Even the best written code, the most efficient technology and the most beautiful design are not enough to succeed.

Market analysis can be carried out in different ways. Factors you should take into account during market analysis include for example: market size, trends and competition. SWOT analysis is also something that might come in handy when it comes to strategic planning. 

All these are things that are definitely worth investigating as they will help you determine if there are enough potential customers in the market, what your competitors are offering, how you can stand out from the crowd and what value proposition you should offer. Basically, it will tell you if your business can be profitable and what direction you should be heading in.

Mismatch with customer needs 

It’s one of the common reasons why software projects fail as business owners often tend to push their idea before the analyses. Understanding the clients, their needs and problems we want to solve with our project are equally important as market analysis. What value do we want to deliver to them? Is the problem that we are going to solve with our application so important and painful that customers will want to pay for our solution and use it? Answering these questions will tell you if your business is worth building.

Preparing user personas

Setting a user persona for your app is needed to decide on the particular features of the app, but is also useful for positioning and targeting ads and content in such a way that the product reaches the right audience.

Basically, when planning features, all the work should be focused on the user persona. Do the research, define user’s problems, goals, motivations and background, and set demographic info. With all these, you’ll be ready to create a tailor-made solution with the help of a software development company or with your team and a project manager.

No product-market fit 

As described in the second section of this article, you need to do the market analysis to find out if there are people who need your product and will use it on a daily basis. Without it, your software project might fail. No product-market fit generally occurs through a lack of understanding of the customer’s needs. 

Remember: define the problem your customers have, solve it with the right functionalities and great UX in the app, and set the appropriate price.

Lack of promotion / marketing 

Let's be honest, just because an app is there, doesn't guarantee that the world will know about your product and you'll get customers. Once you establish who might be interested in your product, you need to figure out how you can reach the audience. Without any promotional efforts, it can be difficult to find customers. There are many possibilities to promote your app (even before its release), for example:

• paid ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and others
• involving influencers on social media
• app store optimization (ASO)
• creating engaging content and building a community with blogs, social media posts, podcasts, YouTube videos
• building landing pages and teasers 
• building trust by collecting feedback and encouraging users to rate your app
• nominating for contests and collecting awards 
• direct communication with (potential) users through social media groups, mail and others
• offering discounts and coupons.

Software projects fail in the final stages when there is a lack of users. No matter how great your app is, if people don't know it exists and aren't encouraged to use it, they may never discover its benefits. 

Unawareness of the software development process specifics

At FiveDotTwelve, we always explain the process to our Partners so that they can plan ahead and are aware at an early stage of the project's duration and the costs that await them. Unfortunately, without this knowledge, you can find at later stages that the budget is not sufficient or the process does not meet your expectations and the whole software project fails.

It is very important to know the stages that are included in building an app, how long they can take and what actions they require. After coming up with an idea and analysis of the requirements, there is design, development and testing, and launch. Each of these phases takes time and resources, so the appropriate estimation will tell you how to prepare for it and what to expect.

Want to know more about the software development process? Jump to this article digging into the case. 

Unclear project scope and/or poor project management 

Before you decide to start working on a software project, you need a clear and strong product development strategy. After the analyses, create a detailed project plan with your team. When the scope isn’t set clearly, mistakes and misunderstandings may occur and become reasons why software projects fail. 

In every case, proper project management is very important. The development team won’t be enough for your project success, especially if you don’t have much experience. The project manager will help you with the analyses and the plan for the works, as well as coordinate the project to make sure everything goes according to this plan. 

Choosing the wrong people for the development

Software projects fail also in case you choose the wrong people to create a team. If you don’t put effort and time into the research and comparison of different agencies, freelancers or employees for an in-house team, this might happen. It’s not only about their professionalism (although it’s important) but you simply have to get on with the team. Poor communication, inexperienced team members and lack of resources are examples of signs that they’re not the right people for you. 

So how to find the right team for your software project? Find useful tips here.

Frequent change of partner for implementation 

Sometimes it’s essential to change the partner for the project at some point. If the cooperation doesn’t go very well or the quality of work is not satisfactory, you’ll probably have to change the team building the app. There’s no need to worry if you’re not in a rush and you’ll choose the next one carefully.

However, regardless of the reason for these changes, re-introducing into the project, verification of the code, working out a way of cooperation and setting conditions may cause some chaos. It might result in delays and make the app difficult to finish. 

No financial security at the project implementation stage 

Again, take your time to do analyses and prepare financially for the project before it starts. Otherwise, there’s a risk that it will fail in the middle of the work. No financial security may be associated with not knowing what the app development process looks like, finances may be wrongly calculated and end before the product is created. 

If you want to check the viability of the product before implementing the full version, you should try with an MVP. It’s a great way to try the product out and gain funds for further development.

Poor product quality 

That’s one of the most obvious reasons why software projects fail. Unattractive design, poorly written code with errors and bugs... All this can affect the performance of the application, and if it doesn’t run smoothly, users will become irritated and unwilling to use it. 

Take care of the great quality more than keeping it cheap. Creating a poor quality product can only bring losses as no one will want to buy and use it.

That’s also why, apart from programmers, in each development team there should be a quality assurance specialist who runs tests and makes sure that the product meets the requirements.

Wrong choice of technology to build your product 

The team is there to help you choose the right technology for the development but it’s also an important thing you should remember about. No matter if you choose an in-house development or 3rd party solution, it’s always essential to specify project requirements and choose the technology adapted to them. This decision will affect the performance of the product and its future. For example, if the chosen technology isn’t very future-oriented, you might be forced to rewrite the whole code in the next months or years. 

No maintenance for the product

Software projects require maintenance and updates. Each technology is constantly evolving, operating systems change, new solutions are introduced, and some older ones stop working or become unpopular. Additionally, users expect new functionalities in line with changing trends. Software development is a constant work, you cannot stop developing applications and hope that everything will work just like after the release. 

If you stop the cooperation with the team the minute the product is launched, it will fail due to lack of demand or errors. Over time, every solution needs improvement and streamlining. 

Conclusion

To sum it up, the success of your product depends on many factors: choosing the right people for the team, analyzing project requirements and choosing the right technological solutions, understanding the app development process and project planning in terms of time and budget, as well as your and the team’s soft, managerial and project management skills.

Project failure can be avoided. Problems discovered early can also be resolved quickly.

Remember that a software project is no different than any other business and properly thinking through the entire business strategy is no less important than building that digital product itself. 

Let practises described in this article guide you through the process and don’t forget to do your homework: go through all the necessary steps and it will definitely help you succeed with your software project.