SportWorks Online Event Summary: Sports & Apps

Maxim Sidorenko, Head of Sales at ein-des-ein, participated in an online event “Sports & Apps” hosted by SportWorks. Together with Vincent Matringe, Founder and CEO at Sportunity, Ricky Tussu, Commercial Director at the International Hockey Federation, and Carlos Nunez, Business Solutions Manager at UEFA, they discussed the Sports industry challenges and the advancement of new technologies and solutions.

In this article, we’d like to share the summary of Maxim’s presentation. It was dedicated to the perspectives of mobile app development in the Sports, Wellness, and Fitness industry. Maxim discussed the aspects of mobile app development that have to be taken into account when planning to build your first mobile app. 

5 reasons why app development projects fail

• Unclear requirements
  To ensure the success of app development, you need to develop clear requirements that are visualized, described, and well documented.
• Lack of resources
  If you look for more investment, it’s better to start with an MVP version of the app that can be used in presentations and elevator pitches.
• Time allocation issues
  Depending on the app features, app projects can stretch from 4 months to 10 months, and beyond. Thus your project vision needs to be clear so that the app design and development can be planned with precision.
• Lack of managerial skills and expertise
  Sometimes the app idea is great, but bringing it to life demands skills and effort. If you don’t have experience, it’s preferable to work with those who have led the development projects and already built the processes.
• Technology choice
  If there is no knowledge and experience in programming and developing solutions, it might be hard to choose the right technology for your app.

Roots: unclear and undocumented requirements

What can go wrong if you hurry with outlining app requirements? Your requirements are the first step to ensuring your app’s success.

• No clear app development roadmap
  Without the roadmap, there is no structure. This leads to chaotic processes.
• No priorities – no POC (Proof of Concept), no MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
  The app journey should be logical, you need to reach the first versions of the app and test them.
• Poor change management
  With unclear requirements, you risk not reacting properly to the changes or on time.
• Ballpark estimates: wasted time and money
  Whenever you need to add something you forgot in your initial requirements, you waste time and money. Sometimes projects go on for over a year when they could have finished within 8 months.
• No real value for end-users
  Does your app actually bring value to users? Have you reached Product-Market-Fit? Will users easily understand how and why they need to use your app? If you doubt answering any of these questions, go back to business analysis and revising requirements.

How to document your requirements?

Gathering requirements for your app is crucial. Make sure to do it step by step and don’t hesitate to double-check.

• Set up your project’s goal
• Define the type and category of your app
• Create the list of user stories
• Set up priorities for user stories
• Include only “must-have” user stories and features
• Describe each element of your list in detail
• Revise the list after you’ve already revised it

User stories: the keystone of your requirements

Make sure to be methodical in constructing your user stories. When you formulate the user story, take into account pre-conditions, actions, post-conditions, and success criteria.

As a “type of user”, I can do “smth”

Examples:

As a registered user, I can review my subscription plan.

As a premium user, I can see the detailed match statistics.

As a premium user, I can stream on 2 devices simultaneously.

Is it possible to meet the deadline and budget?

With thoughtful planning, it is quite possible to move forward smoothly and complete your project on time. Obviously, iterations and changes are inevitable, but their impact can be reduced to minor events.

1. Well documented requirements
2. Priorities sorted out
3. Roadmap: from MVP to Version 1
4. The right technology
5. The right team
6. Risks listed and assessed
7. Changes managed

Tech stack: Cross-platform or Native?

As you can see, native apps are more costly due to their better performance and higher security. Cross-platform solutions may be perfect for the MVP version. Once you test the MVP and get your market validation, you may subsequently develop a native app for both platforms.

To get estimates for the MVP, it’s better to reach out to us directly. However, here’s the breakdown in terms of project stages:

• 35% – development (front-end and back-end)
• 20% – quality assurance 
• 20% – documentation 
• 15% – graphic design 
• 10% – project management

At ein-des-ein, we provide mobile app development services (outsourcing and outstaffing available). Our portfolio grows and we are also experienced in web development and UX/UI design. You can check out our portfolio here. If you’re interested in estimating the app development cost and/or in hiring our development team, reach out to us by filling out the form, leaving your contact info in the chatbot, or contacting us directly at contact@ein-des-ein.com.