• Grasp the complexity and challenges of custom app development, including how to navigate issues related to unclear requirements, insufficient resources, poor user experience design, inadequate testing, security vulnerabilities, and scalability concerns.
• Learn strategies and solutions for overcoming common development hurdles, such as effective requirement gathering, employing experienced developers or outsourcing, prioritizing user experience, implementing comprehensive testing strategies, adhering to secure coding practices, and planning for scalability from the outset.
• Acquire the knowledge to apply agile development methodologies, secure coding standards, and performance optimization techniques to ensure the successful launch and adoption of custom mobile and web applications, thereby enhancing overall business value and user satisfaction.

Custom mobile and web applications have become ubiquitous in both consumer and enterprise settings, providing businesses and organizations with innovative ways to engage users and address specific needs. However, custom app development comes with its fair share of challenges that, if not properly addressed, can derail projects and undermine outcomes. 

From unclear requirements and insufficient resources to poor design, quality issues, and security vulnerabilities, developers must proactively tackle a variety of complex technical and organizational issues to deliver a successful custom application.

This article outlines some of the most common custom app development challenges that businesses face and provides expert recommendations for overcoming them. By understanding these pitfalls and implementing the suggested solutions around gathering requirements, managing resources, optimizing design and testing, addressing scalability, and hardening security, development teams can boost their chances of launching custom mobile or web apps that exceed expectations. 

Though custom application development demands significant upfront planning and continuous improvement, those who learn to navigate its challenges stand to reap tremendous rewards in user experience, functionality, and overall business value. With some knowledge, foresight, and proactive management, developers can feel empowered to take on these obstacles head-on throughout the application lifecycle.

Challenge 1: Unclear or Changing Requirements

One of the most common struggles custom software developers face is a lack of clear, defined, and stable product requirements from clients. Often, stakeholders have not properly articulated their business needs or mapped out the functionality and outcomes they expect from the application. Without thoroughly analyzing client needs upfront through discovery and requirements planning, development teams risk building solutions that miss the mark or require extensive rework down the line as understanding shifts.

The agile mantra of “responding to change over following a plan” is excellent in theory, but constantly changing specifications during active development can quickly lead any project toward chaos. Scope creep wears down development capacity, while restarts and pivots introduce delays. Custom apps demand flexibility but also direction around the problems to be solved and definitions of success.

Solution:

Conduct thorough requirement gathering and analysis

Effective custom application development begins with asking the right questions–diving deep into a client’s operations, pain points, and goals. By thoroughly researching needs, end-user workflows, necessary integrations, and key functions, developers build comprehensive requirement specifications to guide the project. Sound analysis establishes a shared vision and boundaries around the work ahead.

Maintain clear communication with stakeholders

Specification documents are starting points that require continuous collaboration with clients to refine and align understandings over time. Successful teams maintain consistent communication through meetings, status updates, and stakeholder reviews at each phase to ensure transparency and quickly adapt to evolving needs.

Implement an agile development approach for flexibility

While agile methods like Scrum or Kanban do not eliminate requirements challenges, they provide frameworks to iteratively gather feedback and course correct. Cross-functional agile teams work in short sprints to convert specifications into prototypes or minimal viable products for stakeholder testing, which in turn informs continually refined specifications and solutions.

Challenge 2: Insufficient Resources and Skills

Custom software development demands specialized programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure stacks that require strong competencies. However, many businesses lack access to skilled developers and engineers or fail to budget realistically for their projects. Without seasoned talent or sufficient funding, companies struggle to move initiatives forward.

Attempting complex, custom builds with junior developers often ends poorly. New coders make mistakes interpreting specifications, implementing integrations, optimizing performance, and hardening security. Meanwhile, fixed budgets or tight timelines fail to account for contingencies or evolving specification needs across long development roadmaps. Resource constraints remain one of the most cited barriers to custom application success.

Solution:

Hire experienced developers or provide training to existing team members

Bringing on engineers well-versed in current programming best practices is ideal for complicated custom builds. For cash-strapped startups, investing in mentoring programs to skill up junior resources can also pay dividends. Some development firms even initiate new team members through intensive coding academies at the outset of contracts.

Outsource development to a reliable third-party vendor

For businesses lacking specialized technical teams, partnering with seasoned development shops that provide end-to-end lifecycle management is recommended. Experienced vendors ensure that common client-side pitfalls do not occur.

Utilize cost-effective development tools and frameworks

Leveraging streamlined, open-source frameworks like Django, Ruby on Rails, or React.js allows smaller teams to punch above their weight class, developing faster. Low-code and no-code platforms also enable business users to prototype solutions. That said, expert coding guidance remains essential for finishing production-grade apps.

Challenge 3: Poor User Experience (UX) Design

Even with extensive functionality under the hood, custom applications fail when the user experience feels confusing, outdated, or frustrating to navigate. Clunky interfaces, convoluted workflows, and confusing language overwhelm users. Decisions driven solely by engineering considerations without end-user research, UI/UX design, or usability testing undermine adoption no matter the sophistication of the coding.

While developers know how software should perform and scale, understanding intuitiveness demands placing oneself in the shoes of those interacting with the application. Without UX considerations baked into planning, businesses launch impressive technical solutions that real-world people simply cannot use effectively. The best technical build means nothing if user experiences fall flat.

Solution:

Conduct user research and create user personas

Understanding target users through interviews, observations, surveys, and usage analysis allows developers to deeply empathize with user needs and perspectives. Research insights inform user personas–detailed archetypes that guide design decisions and place emphasis on ease of use.

Prioritize intuitive navigation and user-friendly interfaces

Well-planned information architecture provides logical content flow and interaction sequencing while clean, minimalist UI controls and components like menus, buttons, and links enhance scalability and ease of use. Leveraging common interface patterns and conventions also helps users quickly understand experiences.

Perform usability testing and iterate based on feedback

Real-world user input is invaluable for refining UX design and interaction pathways in custom apps. Early and frequent prototype testing through informal cognitive walkthroughs or formal guided task completion exposes pain points. Capturing candid reactions and software usage through think-aloud protocols and heat mapping provides actionable enhancement opportunities.

Challenge 4: Inadequate Testing and Quality Assurance

Too often, custom software teams focus intensely on building new features under tight timelines, leaving inadequate time and resources for proper testing implementations. The resultant bugs, crashes, errors, and performance lags that emerge post-launch erode user trust, satisfaction, and adoption of applications. Though upfront testing demands added development effort, neglecting comprehensive quality assurance practices drags down outcomes and multiplies technical debt.

Without clearly documented test plans, test case scenarios, test data requirements, and automation frameworks in place from the start, testing occurs inconsistently or as one-off verifications. Critical defects go undetected until software reaches users. Technical debt accumulates until development grinds to address instead of enhancing capabilities.

Solution:

Implement a comprehensive testing strategy (unit, integration, and user acceptance testing)

Combining test automation at the code, feature, and application levels provides complete test coverage to validate correct functionality, data integrity, reliability, and performance at scale. Developer, business, and end-user testing perspectives all help safeguard quality.

Adopt test-driven development (TDD) practices

TDD demands engineers authorize test harnesses and validation scripts before software features, driving coding practices through confirmation of correct outputs. Tests provide an invaluable safety net for assessing the impacts of new code.

Allocate sufficient time and resources for thorough testing

Too often, testing receives short shifts in schedules and staffing. Smart planning builds substantial QA timelines and ensures the involvement of both development and business teams in testing new features.

Challenge 5: Security Vulnerabilities

With data breaches and cyberattacks making regular headlines, every piece of software today presents a potential target for exploitation. Without consciously addressing security throughout the software development lifecycle, custom mobile and web apps remain dangerously vulnerable to threats that undermine stakeholder trust and regulatory compliance. Just a single vulnerability like unvalidated inputs, broken authentication, sensitive data exposure or insufficient logging can provide hackers all the opening they need to wreak havoc.

Too often, engineers racing to complete feature development overlook basic information security precautions in their urgency. Unfortunately, retrofitting production systems with security controls proves extremely expensive, if not altogether impossible, late in the development cycle. Security requires continuous, concerted efforts across requirements gathering, design, coding, and testing phases.

Solution:

Follow secure coding practices and perform regular code reviews

Adopting standard secure coding methodologies provides a baseline defense against vulnerabilities like code injection, overflow weaknesses, improper error handling, broken access control, and more. Peer code reviews further safeguard against errors.

Implement authentication, authorization, and data encryption

Verifying user identities via secure authentication and only allowing valid users appropriate data access and actions through authorization controls protects app infrastructure and information. Encrypting sensitive data in transit and at rest provides additional assurance.

Conduct security audits and penetration testing

Ethical hacking simulations probe apps for weaknesses in the same manner real attacks would. Identifying vulnerabilities through exhaustive audits and penetration testing well ahead of production deployment allows issues to be safely addressed.

Challenge 6: Scalability and Performance Issues

The ultimate mark of software success is strong adoption and usage. However, many custom applications buckle under their own popularity as user bases, request volumes, and data storage needs expand over time. Performance slowdowns, downtime events, bottlenecking, and even full-on crashes emerge under high-demand loads.

Without planning for scale or optimizing efficiency in the software architecture and database access patterns early on, costs grow exponentially to throw more infrastructure at issues retroactively. What performs for thousands of users fails at tens or hundreds of thousands. Just as concerning, if apps demonstrate poor stability under low-volume stress testing, expanding access for real-world users will almost certainly fail.

Solution:

Design a scalable architecture using cloud services and load balancing

Building on elastically scalable cloud infrastructure allows spinning up additional capacity easily. Load balancing further distributes requests across multiple servers. Microservices architectures decompose software into independently scalable modules.

Optimize database queries and implement caching mechanisms

Inefficient database access and repetitive queries drag down performance. Optimizing SQL statements, adding indexes strategically, caching common queries, and computationally intensive processing reduces database bottlenecks.

Continuously monitor and optimize app performance

Robust application performance monitoring provides visibility into resource utilization, request queues, failure points, and operational analytics needed to inform ongoing enhancements. Regular load tests model the impacts of increased usage.

By recognizing common custom application development pitfalls like unclear requirements, resource deficits, usability issues, security shortcuts, and performance testing oversights, development teams can confront these challenges directly. With proactive management, developers can transform obstacles into catalysts for delivering innovative, reliable, and secure custom applications that exceed expectations on all fronts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Custom App Development Challenges

What are the most common challenges in custom app development?

Custom app development faces several challenges, including unclear or changing requirements, insufficient resources and skills, poor user experience design, inadequate testing and quality assurance, security vulnerabilities, and scalability and performance issues. These challenges can impact the success of a project if not properly addressed.

How can unclear or changing requirements be effectively managed during app development?

To manage unclear or changing requirements, it’s crucial to conduct thorough requirement gathering and analysis upfront, maintain clear communication with stakeholders, and implement an agile development approach. This allows for flexibility and continuous refinement of specifications based on feedback and evolving needs.

Why is user experience design important in custom app development?

User experience design is vital because it directly impacts how users interact with and perceive the app. Poor UX design can lead to confusing, outdated, or frustrating navigation, which can deter users from using the app, regardless of its technical capabilities. Focusing on intuitive navigation, user-friendly interfaces, and conducting usability testing are key to ensuring a positive user experience.

What strategies can be employed to ensure the security of custom applications?

To ensure the security of custom applications, developers should follow secure coding practices, perform regular code reviews, implement robust authentication and authorization mechanisms, encrypt sensitive data, and conduct security audits and penetration testing. These measures help protect against vulnerabilities and cyber threats.

How can scalability and performance issues be addressed in custom app development?

Addressing scalability and performance issues involves designing a scalable architecture using cloud services and load balancing, optimizing database queries, implementing caching mechanisms, and continuously monitoring and optimizing app performance. These strategies help manage increased user bases and data volumes while maintaining stable and efficient app operation.

1. Acquire a comprehensive understanding of the significance and challenges of implementing a mobile-first strategy in today’s digital business landscape.
2. Gain insights into the key components and best practices for successful mobile app development, including performance optimization and cross-platform accessibility.
3. Learn about Dogtown Media’s unique approach to mobile app development, including their focus on innovative solutions, user-centric design, and adapting to the latest technological trends.

In the last decade, digital technology has revolutionized the way businesses operate and interact with their customers. The rapid advancement of technology, particularly in the realm of mobile devices, has led to a significant shift in consumer behavior and business strategies. Businesses are now reimagining their models to align with this digital transformation, prioritizing agility and customer-centric approaches.

A mobile-first strategy is a modern approach where businesses design and develop their digital services, such as websites and applications, primarily for mobile devices before making them compatible with desktops. This strategy stems from the understanding that an increasing number of users are accessing the internet via smartphones and tablets, making mobile platforms the primary touchpoint for businesses to engage with their audience.

The Importance of a Mobile-First Approach

Recent studies and data analytics reveal a surge in mobile device usage over the past decade. For instance, over 50% of global website traffic now comes from mobile devices. This trend is not just a passing phase but a paradigm shift in how consumers access information and services, highlighting the need for businesses to prioritize mobile platforms in their digital strategies.

The convenience and accessibility of mobile devices have led to a change in consumer behavior. Users expect real-time access to information, seamless navigation, and personalized experiences, all of which are readily facilitated by mobile platforms. Businesses that fail to adapt to this mobile-first environment risk losing relevance and falling behind in an increasingly competitive market.

Benefits of a Mobile-First Strategy

Improved User Experience

A mobile-first approach ensures that the user experience is optimized for smaller screens and touch-based interactions, leading to higher satisfaction and engagement rates. This focus on mobile usability enhances the overall quality of the digital service, making it more appealing and user-friendly.

Increased Reach and Engagement

With the majority of users accessing the internet via mobile devices, a mobile-first strategy significantly expands a business’s reach. Mobile apps and optimized websites cater to a wider audience, increasing engagement levels through push notifications, location-based services, and other mobile-specific functionalities.

Competitive Advantage in the Market

In an era where mobile presence is crucial, adopting a mobile-first strategy places businesses ahead of competitors who are slower to adapt. This forward-thinking approach demonstrates a commitment to meeting customer needs and staying at the forefront of digital trends, fostering brand loyalty and a strong market presence.

Challenges in Implementing a Mobile-First Strategy

Technical and Design Considerations

Implementing a mobile-first strategy is not without its challenges, particularly in technical and design aspects. Developers must ensure that the app or website functions seamlessly across different mobile devices and operating systems. This requires a deep understanding of varied screen sizes, resolutions, and hardware capabilities. Additionally, the design must be intuitive and responsive, adapting smoothly to various mobile environments while maintaining functionality and aesthetic appeal.

Balancing Mobile and Desktop Experiences

While a mobile-first approach prioritizes mobile users, it’s crucial not to neglect the desktop experience. This balancing act involves creating a unified user experience that translates well across all platforms. Businesses must ensure that their desktop versions are not just scaled-up versions of the mobile site but are optimized for larger screens and different user interactions. This requires a careful and strategic design approach to ensure consistency and quality of user experience on both mobile and desktop platforms.

Key Components of an Effective Mobile-First Strategy

Emphasis on Intuitive UX/UI Design

A cornerstone of a successful mobile-first strategy is the emphasis on intuitive and engaging user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. This involves creating designs that are not only visually appealing but also easy to navigate on small screens. The UX/UI should be user-centric, facilitating quick and efficient interactions, and minimizing the learning curve for new users.

Integration of Latest Technologies

Incorporating cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) can significantly enhance the capabilities of mobile apps. AI can personalize user experiences, automate tasks, and provide insightful analytics. IoT integration extends the app’s functionality to interact with other connected devices, creating a more immersive and interactive experience.

Ensuring Security and Compliance

For mobile-first strategies, particularly in sensitive sectors like healthcare and finance, security and compliance are paramount. This involves implementing robust data encryption, secure user authentication methods, and adhering to industry-specific regulatory standards. A successful mobile-first approach must prioritize the protection of user data and ensure compliance with legal requirements.

Performance Optimization

In the realm of mobile-first strategy, the importance of fast loading times and smooth performance on mobile devices cannot be overstated. Users often abandon apps or websites that take too long to load, making quick loading times vital for user retention and engagement. To achieve this, several techniques are employed. Image optimization is critical; it involves reducing file sizes to speed up load times without losing image quality.

Caching strategies are another key method, where frequently accessed data is stored locally to reduce load times on subsequent visits. Additionally, minimizing the amount of code, and employing efficient algorithms can significantly enhance app performance, ensuring a seamless and responsive user experience.

Cross-Platform Accessibility

A cornerstone of a successful mobile-first approach is ensuring that the app or website is accessible and consistent across various mobile platforms and devices. This encompasses not only the wide array of smartphones but also includes tablets and other mobile devices. The goal is to provide a user experience that is cohesive and reliable, regardless of the device or operating system being used.

This requires meticulous design and development efforts to ensure that the application adapts to different screen sizes and system functionalities while maintaining a consistent look, feel, and usability. Regular testing on multiple devices is essential to identify and address any compatibility issues.

Regular Updates and Maintenance

Maintaining and updating the mobile platform is as crucial as its initial development. Keeping the app updated with the latest features and security patches is key to staying relevant and secure in a fast-evolving digital landscape. This involves not only adding new functionalities and staying in tune with technological advancements but also ensuring that the app remains compatible with the latest operating system updates.

Regular maintenance is equally important to ensure optimal performance. This includes routine checks for bugs, performance issues, and user feedback. Addressing these aspects promptly and continuously can significantly enhance user satisfaction, fostering a loyal and engaged user base.

Dogtown Media’s Role in Mobilizing Businesses

Case Studies of Successful Mobile-First Implementations by Dogtown Media

Google Train Up App

Dogtown Media developed the Google Train Up app to enhance the training of retail employees on Google products. This app serves as an educational tool, emphasizing best sales practices for Google’s range of products​​.

Cardiovascular Emergency Protocol App

We created a mobile application providing current cardiovascular emergency protocols for physicians. This app ensures that vital medical information is accessible to healthcare professionals anywhere and anytime, enhancing the responsiveness in critical situations​​.

UN Communication App

For the United Nations, Dogtown Media developed an app facilitating quick communication among UN officials and stakeholders across the Asia-Pacific region. This app represents a significant step in enhancing diplomatic and organizational communication, covering a vast demographic of 1.5 billion people.

Dogtown Media’s Approach to Mobile App Development

Dogtown Media adopts a distinct approach to mobile app development, characterized by its emphasis on innovative solutions and a deep understanding of the latest technological trends. Our process begins with a thorough analysis of the client’s needs, followed by the development of a tailored strategy that aligns with the specific requirements and goals of the project.

Dogtown Media’s team, consisting of seasoned tech veterans, brings a blend of expertise in design, programming, and strategy, ensuring that each app is not only technically sound but also user-centric and market-ready. We focus on creating apps that solve real-world problems, simplify tasks, and enhance user enjoyment, making us stand out in the crowded mobile app market. Additionally, our commitment to professionalism and perfectionism is evident in every stage of development, from initial concept to final deployment, ensuring high-quality, impactful mobile applications.

For years, Dogtown Media has been empowering businesses of all sizes with modern digital solutions. As a go-to provider of development solutions to many clients, we work tirelessly to craft intelligent apps with brilliant, intuitive, and innovative design. Through our expertise in multiple verticals, our team delivers the solutions that our partners need to navigate the changing business landscape.

In light of our dedication and passion for delivering high-quality solutions, we’re honored to have been listed as a Top Andriod App Developer in Los Angeles by Clutch for 2021.

Last year was a challenging year for many, but we were able to overcome the obstacles in our mission to lead our partners. Today, we’re excited to look back on the achievements we’ve made this year and celebrate our success with all of you!

At Dogtown Media, we value the thoughts and feedback of our clients — they help us truly understand how we can innovate on certain aspects of our services. They also remind us of the reason we do what we do and keep us motivated to aid our partners. In 2021, we’re proud to have collected multiple 5-star ratings from our customers through Clutch. More impressively, we’ve accumulated an overall perfect rating across all new reviews!

In all of these new reviews, we’ve also obtained a perfect NPS score as our clients have shared their willingness to recommend our services to their colleagues! We’re incredibly delighted to see these stats, and it’s all thanks to our partners for taking the time and effort to leave their honest feedback.

What Our Clients Are Saying

We’re always deeply grateful when we receive great remarks from our clients! Here are some recent quotes that have reinforced our belief that top-tier quality development practices truly make the difference.

“They were an effective team, met deadlines, and created a great end product.”

— Sarah Bauerle Bass, Director, Risk Comm Lab, Temple University

Lastly, we’re also proud to be recognized on the visual portfolio site Visual Objects this year!

Ready to partner with us for your next development project? Say hello to our team for a free consultation!

As we’ve always said, If you can dream it, we can build it — that’s our motto! Over the past decade, we’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with clients all around the world to commit to that motto. We couldn’t be happier to see it pay off.

And to that, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the Techreviewer team for naming us a top app development company in the US. The review list of leaders was compiled based on the expertise, experience, and reliability of the development companies. To make an assessment Techreviewer collected information about our services and client’s reviews. Their research placed us in the list of mobile app development companies out of over 500 competitors. Here’s to a big win for Dogtown Media!

As a prominent iPhone app developer in San Diego, we here at Dogtown Media, foster a collaborative experience with our clients to take their dream concept and turn it into a reality. We emphasize an iterative approach of ideation to creation to deliver functional apps that solve real-world problems. It’s these principles that have allowed us to thrive as an app development agency since 2011, and receive awards such as this one!

Our Reaction

To receive this recognition puts us over the moon! It’s always deeply satisfying to receive awards such as this, signifying we are on the right track! We also want to thank each and every one of our clients who believed in our mission to bring their innovative app ideas to the market. 

When we receive this type of feedback it reinforces that we as an app development agency are on the right track. We’ve worked tirelessly to deliver high-quality projects to our clients. This award shows we’re on the right track. We can’t wait to continue on this journey and help our clients develop new exciting revenue opportunities.

With the help of platforms like Techreviewer.co, we hope to continue to reach a greater audience of companies where we can deliver value through our application development services. Here’s to a successful 2022! We hope our dedication to our craft continues to foster these exciting accolades!

Our Reaction

Techreviewer.co is an online agency reviewing platform that conducts annual research to deliver market leader lists. Based on their industry-leading investigatory practices, Techreviwerer is able to identify market leaders are for a given industry.

Techreviewer prides itself on delivering high-quality agency rating services as an independent IT market research and analysis company. The platform helps to find the best companies that provide high-quality IT services for an array of services. As a result of objective market analysis, the Techreviewer platform determines the most successful and reliable IT companies in the industry. Techreviewer’s ranking lists help organizations select the right technology partner for their business needs.

COVID-19 has forever changed how we approach work. When the pandemic began, Dogtown Media said goodbye to its Los Angeles-based development headquarters for the past decade. We left this office, moved the entire team to remote work, and don’t have any intention of going back. The future of work has changed, and we’ve changed with it. Here are the trends that I believe we can expect to see soon.

Remote Work Will Provide More Opportunities for Job Candidates

Moving to San Francisco used to be a prerequisite for working in the high-tech industry. Today, this is no longer the case. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to figure out how to build cohesive remote work teams fast. And with this new change comes new opportunities.

Organizations will hire more remote workers than ever before now that they know how to get things done outside of an office environment. This is great news for many employees — it means they have better access to more job opportunities. But it also yields some other pertinent benefits worth mentioning.

Knowledge workers can now move to places they want to live, not somewhere they have to work. We can already see this occurring: A recent survey of tech professionals discovered that an average of 30% of respondents had left major metropolises such as Seattle and Los Angeles for greener pastures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t think this trend will continue? Another survey found that 81% of tech workers are either considering or making plans to move to more affordable cities.

The financial incentives certainly play a role in this exodus. Remote workers earn $4,000 more per year than their in-office counterparts, and 30% save $5,000 more per year due to less commuting and eating at home. Moving to smaller, cheaper towns allows these employees to stretch their dollar even further. But if we put money aside, the advantages are still substantial. By choosing where they live, remote workers attain better control over their personal lives. Whether you want to get outdoors more or start raising a family, this is certainly an appealing factor.

Office Models Will Adapt to the Future of Work

On the other side of the equation, remote work also offers a significant financial benefit for organizations that embrace it: Companies can save $11,000 annually for each employee who works remotely half of the time. With that said, it’s no wonder that a Gartner survey of 127 business leaders found that 82% of respondents plan to maintain a hybrid or remote work dynamic after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

While the same survey elucidated that 47% of business leaders plan to let employees work from home permanently, it also found that another 43% of respondents plan to implement a flexible hybrid work dynamic going forward. For example, some organizations will ask their team members to come into the office two or three days a week instead of five. This will transform how companies structure their headquarters and satellite offices.

Many enterprises are already restructuring how they’re organized. For instance, outdoor retailer REI recently sold its newly-constructed headquarters building to Facebook to pursue a more distributed work model. Known as a hub-and-spoke office model, this paradigm allows companies to shed office space and slim down headquarters while maintaining optimal productivity.

In a hub-and-spoke office model, a smaller headquarters (the hub) and satellite offices (the spokes) serve as locations for employees to congregate, communicate, and collaborate. Instead of long commutes, team members can meet at the hub or spoke that’s most convenient for them. This lean approach eschews large underutilized offices in favor of lean spaces that can accommodate employees who come in two or three times a week and work the rest remotely.

Every Work-Related Industry Hit by COVID-19 Will Reinvent Itself

COVID-19 has proven that change is the only constant in our lives. Although, for many industries related to work, adapting is easier said than done. Co-working and commercial real estate were hit particularly hard during this pandemic. Fortunately, both will bounce back — but it won’t happen without preparing for the future of work.

As companies move towards more flexible hybrid work dynamics and hub-and-spoke paradigms, office-on-demand models will make more sense for many organizations instead of overpaying for underutilized real estate. WeWork and other co-working spaces will be the biggest beneficiaries of this trend. They can provide these businesses with turnkey solutions and an intimate office footprint where team members can work together. In such scenarios, “hot desks” that employees coming in and out can use for the week will replace dedicated workspaces.

Commercial real estate will likely hurt for some time due to all of these pandemic-induced work changes. But it will eventually reinvent itself. This industry will pivot more to mixed-use buildings; a proportion of space will be reserved for industrial or work-related endeavors while the rest is used for residential property. With that said, I’m sure the day will come when a remote work employee has to attend a meeting at one of their company’s “spoke” offices, and it happens to be located a few floors down from their loft!

The Future of Work Is Closer Than It Feels

Several promising COVID-19 vaccines are being expedited to roll out to healthcare workers and the general population. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has even alluded to the possibility that we may all return to a normal semblance of life by this summer. But although COVID-19 may soon be in humanity’s rearview, its effect on how companies get things done will be everlasting.

COVID-19 has accelerated the future of work to an unprecedented pace. This means that we fortunately won’t have to wait long to see the fruition of these predictions. Are you ready?

Want to leverage emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and IoT in your organization? Get in touch with my team for a Free Consultation.

As devices and sensors start becoming increasingly connected and technologically advanced, mobile apps are springing up to help users manage their Internet of Things (IoT) applications and systems. These mobile apps offer access, connectivity, and communication with technology to improve the smart city and smart home experience. But mobile app development is complex and requires planning and continuous optimization to better serve users.

For mobile apps that control IoT devices, sensors, and systems, user happiness is of the utmost importance. Here are seven challenges that a mobile app development firm may face when designing and developing an app for smart devices.

#1: UI/UX Design

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design are important facets of any consumer-facing technology. In mobile apps, UI and UX can make or break an app’s success with users. And without users, a mobile app is worthless. Ultimately, proper investment in UI and UX will attract more new users and engage loyal users.

It’s important to establish an app’s UI and UX guidelines early on so that any future changes are made in accordance with previously-established principles for branding, device support, user profiles, and more. With these instructions, new and old designers can work to maintain a consistent user experience. Although it can be tempting to skip UI and UX, don’t make the mistake of putting your users in the corner. Without their feedback, constant use of the app, and word-of-mouth recommendations, your mobile app could be doomed to fail. The time spent in introspection to develop UI and UX specifications will also help inform decisions and ideas further down the development cycle.

#2: Data Flow Management

It’s imperative to create a consistent experience for users by controlling the management of data flow. This requires a stable Internet connection, strong device and connectivity uptime, and a stable database connection. Databases are often used to collect data from multiple types of devices and sensors and aggregate it for use in an application with a front end, like a smartwatch, mobile app, or web app.

Because smart devices differ in their singular data management, it can be difficult to organize data together in a way that makes sense. However, this is an extremely important and foundational part of IoT systems management, so exemplary data flow is necessary.

#3: Network Connection

Speaking of stable and consistent data flow, network connectivity is an important cog in the IoT system. From there, anything is possible: smart analysis, predictive insights, and real-time notification systems are just a few features that can set your mobile app apart from its competition. The network connects all devices and sensors together before they collate their data into a database for later use.

As IoT technology advances, network demand will continue to grow. Networks need speed, a stable connection, and proven performance to adequately aggregate all devices and sensors under one umbrella.

#4: Network and Sensor Compatibility

It may not be enough to spring for a top-of-the-line network connection and infrastructure if devices and sensors aren’t compatible with the network. Because real-time communication and data transmission are necessary to allow users control over the IoT system, ensuring compatibility between the network and devices is essential. The compatibility needs to be stress-tested to ensure many devices and sensors can connect without issue, and the testing needs to occur periodically to make sure nothing has fundamentally changed.

The reason for this issue is that sensor and device manufacturers and vendors don’t work under standardized protocols. Besides the network and device compatibility, this can also lead to major issues with device-to-device compatibility. Thus, it is important to test this early on, rather than being close to the end of the development cycle and having to nearly start over.

#5: Hardware Compatibility

When devices aren’t compatible with each other, it usually becomes obvious pretty quickly. To avoid lengthening the development timeline with this issue, set specific hardware requirements early on in the project. When resolved early, it can prevent issues with the app’s functionality later on.

#6: Performance and Security

Although it’s difficult to optimize for, speed and performance are what a user requires as a prerequisite to user experience. With a slow or lagging mobile app, you’ll create frustration in your users, prompting them to leave negative reviews on your app’s page. Extensive user testing and interviewing is a great way to avoid major bug reports and application crashes while gathering UX and UI feedback.

Similar to speed and performance, security is a foundational requirement for users. If they find out that their data, especially sensitive information like login credentials, is stored insecurely, you can face substantial user backlash and even lawsuits. To ensure your application’s security is robust enough, set security standards at the beginning of the project for all designers and developers to follow. Make this a best practice if you’re planning on developing more mobile apps in the future. At our mobile app development studio in Los Angeles, we always prioritize security and performance in our mobile apps from day one.

#7: Choosing Development Technology

Early on in the development process, the development team has to agree upon the technology stack they’ll use to develop the application. The choice between building a native, hybrid, or cross-platform app can be made by looking at what existing interfaces exist and how the mobile app fits into the IoT ecosystem. Often, one technology will be the clear frontrunner that will allow for a strong user experience, flexible data flow management, and performance and security optimizations.

If needed, reach out to an experienced IoT app development firm for a short consultation. Ultimately, it’s important to squash this issue early.

Taking On Challenges

These seven challenges may seem difficult to overcome, but they are common and every mobile app development team faces them. How you tackle them and continue on to the next issue will determine how well your mobile app will meet your business requirements and users’ preferences. Above all, make sure you’re rising up to the challenges early on, rather than waiting until users start complaining about the issue.

Original Article Featured in Forbes.

We live in a time of uncertainty. It has been a year since the global Covid-19 pandemic started, but there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Has your business adapted to this “new normal” yet?

Before the pandemic, Dogtown Media, my mobile app development firm, had a mixture of in-person and remote team members. Today, my entire team is fully remote. But this didn’t happen without some trial and tribulation. Here are the most important takeaways my team has learned about making remote work actually work, which will hopefully enrich your organization and make it more adaptable than ever before.

1. Practice being proactive and adaptable.

Things change fast these days. To adapt to this frenetic pace, you and your team members should adopt a proactive, flexible mindset. With several companies suddenly turning to remote work, many employees have been forced to contend with suboptimal workspaces and unexpected parenting responsibilities. The only way to move forward effectively is to set your expectations properly and account for the different potential scenarios that could occur.

Reacting without a plan usually leads to chaos. So plan ahead for various possibilities. Regularly take some time to map out goals and define outcomes with your team. This gives both you and your team a “north star” to guide you. Doing so greatly increases your chances of staying operational and progressing in the right direction, even if things don’t go exactly your way.

Speaking of things not going your team’s way, that’s okay — it happens. Adopting a proactive, flexible mindset doesn’t only mean to make plans; it also means making plans with the assumption that they could change. If you practice this and stay adaptable, you’ll be better positioned to navigate and pivot in the months ahead. So while others are waiting for the “right time,” your team will be transforming obstacles into opportunities.

2. Revamp social structures to catalyze remote work collaboration.

Remote work tends to amplify a lack of clarity. This can make it difficult for team members to navigate their tasks at hand. Fortunately, an easy way to fix this is to revise your current social structures in place. For instance, many organizations employ large, siloed teams to get things done. But with remote work, I’ve found that smaller, cross-functional teams with defined objectives work better.

Another structure you should reassess for remote work optimization is how you hold meetings. In this era of remote work, a lack of check-ins could mean that many of your workers are wrestling with more ambiguity than you know. Establish a clear cadence of scheduled daily and weekly meetings with your team. Strive to strike the right balance of communication to give your team guidance on goals and allow them to consult with you about any questions or concerns.

Meetings shouldn’t be the only communication structure in place: Quicker collaboration is sometimes required. You must have other communication avenues open. With a plethora of options available, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and email, your team will feel freer to conduct simpler, less formal conversations about time-sensitive matters.

Lastly, it’s vital that you build in social interaction opportunities. Remote work conversations shouldn’t only revolve around work. Always take some time to catch up with your team members. Don’t be afraid to bring some levity to the table. This goes a long way toward establishing trust, transparency and camaraderie. Whether you’re doing in-person or remote work, all three of these factors are key ingredients to catalyzing meaningful collaboration.

3. Empower your team with the tools they need to succeed.

To properly equip your team members in the era of remote work, you must pay special attention to how they leverage technology in their workflows. You should mentally walk in their shoes to understand each tool they use to achieve business outcomes. Doing this allows you to assess each component’s efficacy. The main goal here is to identify and address any gaps in access and adoption. This helps keep your employees engaged, which in turn fuels the right results for your business.

Whether it’s a communication platform like Slack or a workflow tool such as Jira Basecamp, examine each piece of your team’s “productivity puzzle.” No matter how basic each element seems, don’t underestimate the friction or advantage it brings to your team. If you identify any weak links in your tech stack, either train your team to improve productivity or try another option.

Remember, your tech stack should empower employees at every level to work efficiently from anywhere in this “new normal,” but don’t forget to keep data security and privacy top of mind. Doing so now may seem like more work, but it only serves to protect your business in the long run.

4. Put your team’s health and safety first.

Remote work isn’t always easy. It’s critical that you prioritize your team’s health and safety during these tough times that we’re all living in right now. Nothing, including projects or deadlines, takes precedence over this.

When the pandemic started, we decided to go completely remote right away. We honestly didn’t know how this would impact our company, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was that all of my team was safe and that they didn’t have to risk their lives just to come to an office.

During emergencies, all great leaders practice empathy. Let your team know that their mental and physical health will always matter more than work. Give them the support they need to maintain both aspects. If you put your team’s well-being first, the right results will follow.

Want to leverage emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and IoT in your organization? Get in touch with my team for a Free Consultation.

2021 may have just begun, but it’s already shaping up to be a promising year for Dogtown Media. We were recently recognized as one of the best iPhone app developers by Digital.com! Thanks to our clients, team, and community for your support — we couldn’t have done this without you!

iPhone App Development to Meet Your Unique Needs

Mobile app development is a fast-growing and rapidly-changing industry. Whether they’re trying to reach new customers, improve user experience, or engage with an existing audience, businesses from a variety of sectors turn to iPhone app developers to deliver a product that lets them stand out from the crowd.

Since Apple’s App Store launched in 2008, development companies have sprung up all over the world. Each offer their own unique features and services. With such stiff competition, it’s an absolute honor for us to be featured as the best of the best by Digital.com. Let’s take a moment to learn more about their meticulous evaluation process for this prestigious award.

How Digital.com Digs Deep for Insights

Originally founded in 2015 as Review Squirrel, Digital.com has quickly become a trusted source of information for small businesses to find the best tools and services to solve their needs. By analyzing public sentiment through social media and scoring companies’ products and services, the website has established a solid reputation for finding unique insights into what would work best for small businesses across a multitude of industries.

Digital.com’s list of 2021’s best iPhone app developers originally had 160 candidates for consideration! To narrow it down to the top 15 companies, Digital.com’s team spent 40 hours researching and analyzing companies with gleaming reviews on the internet. During this time, Digital.com evaluated three criteria: the service lines offered by each company, the sizes of firms they’ve worked with, and the industries they focused on.

Each candidate had to be capable of providing a wide range of services such as mobile app development, marketing, and design. Candidates also had to demonstrate a consistent track record of successfully helping both large and small businesses. Last but not least, each development firm had to be versatile — that is, could they help businesses in a variety of sectors? With Dogtown’s previous work ranging from machine learning to the Internet of Things (IoT), Digital.com knew that we were a top contender.

Above all else, Digital.com emphasized firms who made the complex capabilities of emerging technologies easily accessible: “Making your service or software accessible to iPhone users requires an efficient and expert iPhone app developer,” says Christelle Feniza, Communications Manager of Digital.com. “This review guide was designed to help small business owners find top firms that can tailor services to meet their industry and needs.”

Thank You for Your Support!

Besides being recognized as one of the best iPhone app developers of 2021, we’re also grateful to have been recognized as a top mobile app developer in Los Angeles by Digital.com! These awards come off the tail of recently being featured as one of the Clutch 1000 List of Best B2B Service Providers for the third year in a row, so we couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in this new year.

Thanks so much to Digital.com for awarding Dogtown Media with this prestigious honor. And we’d also like to take a moment to thank our clients, team, and community again. We’ll continue to work our hardest to make you proud!

ABOUT DIGITAL.COM

Founded in 2015, Digital.com reviews and compares the best products, services, and software for running or growing a small business website or online shop. The platform collects twitter comments and uses sentiment analysis to score companies and their products.

By 2030, the United States is expected to have a tech talent shortage. This year alone, 4.3 million jobs in America’s technology sector are projected to go unfilled — that equates to lost revenue of $162 billion. Luckily, Ted Lieu, California’s 33rd Congressional District Representative, has a solution for the state: Inspire our youth to innovate with the Congressional App Challenge.

Held last Thursday, the 2020 Congressional App Challenge featured sixteen students from ten high schools across Los Angeles County. Altogether, they submitted eleven amazing mobile app concepts. And Congressman Lieu invited Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media’s Co-Founder and CEO, to participate as a judge in the competition!

About the Congressional App Challenge

The United States House of Representatives established the Congressional App Challenge in 2014 to “connect today’s Congress with tomorrow’s coders.” The event encourages students from all corners of the country to get more hands-on with their STEM education by creating and submitting mobile app concepts. The winner receives national recognition and also has their work featured in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Building!

For Congressman Ted Lieu, the event is a special occasion that connects him back to his own education: “As one of just four computer science majors in Congress, I believe it is essential to encourage and nurture a generation of technology-savvy students who will continue to innovate our economy and advance our technological edge. The App Challenge provides young students throughout my district an opportunity to pursue their creative and technical talents. I encourage all eligible students to participate.”

Since its first year, the Congressional App Challenge has grown exponentially. In 2019, 10,211 students submitted mobile apps. To put this number in perspective, that’s a 373% increase from 2016! This event also now outpaces Silicon valley in terms of diversity: Compared to America’s tech innovation hub, participants are five times more likely to identify as latinx, four times more likely to identify as black, and two times more likely to identify as female.

On the other side of the equation, the Congressional App Challenge is also increasing STEM’s visibility in politics. Since 2016, 54% more Congress members have become involved in the competition and the mentions of STEM and computer science in congress have grown by over 2000%.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s reception was completely remote. Dr. William Goodin, Industry Relations Coordinator at UCLA’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Mr. Howard Stahl, Santa Monica College’s Department Chair for Computer Science & Information Systems, judged this year’s submissions alongside Marc.

And the Winners Are…

Dylan and Winston Iskandar of Mira Costa High School and Chadwick School were selected as this year’s winners! Inspired by the ‘new normal’ we all find ourselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo developed a mobile app called “GroceryBuddies” that connects volunteers with at-risk individuals so they can help them run errands and get groceries. You can learn more about it in the video below:

Jake and Kate North of Stanford Online High School came in second place with their mobile app concept, “Ideos.” “MyChemistry,” a pocket-reference tool for chemistry information that was developed by Rachel Fox of Agoura High School, came in third place:

And “MaskCheck,” an app created by Jayden Bulexa of Beverly Hills High School that helps to educate people about and enforce mask-wearing, received an honorable mention:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8cHHSW9wPY&feature=youtu.be

Each of these entries was incredibly innovative. “As a recovering Computer Science major, I am inspired by all these students who have committed themselves to creating these innovative apps,” Congressman Lieu said.

Marc was also astounded by the level of creativity and quality that these young mobile app developers brought to the table: “It’s an exciting honor to witness the next generation of innovators harness the potential of STEM to improve our lives. I thank Congressman Lieu for the opportunity to help inspire, educate, and foster a passion for technology in our youth.”

It’s absolutely amazing that there’s so much young tech talent in the Los Angeles County area alone! We can’t wait to see what 2021’s participants have to offer.

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! This year’s AppCon, the App Economy Conference just wrapped up. While past AppCon events took place in Washington, D.C., 2020’s conference went completely digital. Fortunately, this change in the medium didn’t stop attending mobile app developers and tech innovators from opening a meaningful dialogue with political leaders about the impact of emerging technologies on society.

From broadband and 5G to telehealth and data privacy, here are the favorite AppCon 2020 highlights of Marc Fischer, our CEO and Co-Founder.

Better Internet Access Is Essential for Every Aspect of Society

The growth of the $1.7 trillion app economy and numerous other sectors depends on widespread internet access. Whether it’s educational opportunities, work, or healthcare, hundreds of millions of Americans turn to the internet every single day to get things done. With that said, do you know how many U.S. citizens currently lack access to adequate broadband connection? 20 million! Unsurprisingly, this transforms the digital divide into an enormous chasm.

During AppCon 2020, attendees got to meet with several members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discuss the benefits that television white spaces, (TVWS), better broadband connectivity, and 5G infrastructure can bring to America. FCC Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr joined in on the conversation and respectively honed in on ensuring broadband exists everywhere in the U.S. and making more spectrum available.

COVID-19 has made it readily apparent that internet access and connected devices are integral to carry out remote learning successfully. That’s why FCC Legal Advisor Umair Javed and Travis Litman, Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor for the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, dedicated their time at AppCon 2020 towards discussing the digital divide’s effect on education and how it can be mitigated. AppCon attendees also got to talk with Evan Swarztrauber, a Policy Advisor of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, about increasing rural healthcare budgets and improving broadband access in these regions.

Whether it’s 5G, broadband, or TVWS, we strongly believe that everyone deserves strong internet access; it’s a necessity for practically every aspect of our modern lives. But this can only occur through more investment on a federal and private level.

Connected Health Tech Will Be a Cornerstone of Medicine, Even After COVID-19

Besides pulling back the curtain on how integral internet access is to remote education, COVID-19 has also unveiled the necessity of telehealth. Connected digital tools have been invaluable in the U.S. healthcare system’s battle with the pandemic. Doctors and patients have benefited immensely from the temporary restriction lifting on telehealth and medical app usage. That’s why a big part of AppCon 2020 focused on meeting with congressional leaders to ensure that digital health remains a cornerstone of our health system.

The U.S. currently spends $3 trillion on healthcare annually. $1 trillion of this goes through Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, the country is still short by roughly 30,000 physicians, and this deficit will leap to 90,000 in approximately ten years. Around this exact same time, 70 million Americans will be 65 or older, and 80% of them will have at least one chronic condition. To make matters worse, 40% of Medicare patients have inadequate broadband access right now.

During their discussion with AppCon attendees, members of the U.S. Commerce Department acknowledged that telehealth has been extremely beneficial to Medicare. But for this technological paradigm to grow in the right direction, innovators and legislators must embrace what works and discard anything inefficient. We should take a lean approach to data management and prioritize the information that makes the most positive impact for the fewest dollars.

Dr. Donald Rucker, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), also spoke with attendees about the need to examine data gathering and usage so that patients can have agency over their healthcare. Rucker also discussed the difficulties of EMR integration, HIPAA compliance, and the often incomplete pictures of patient data that doctors around the country deal with.

COVID-19 has spurred a new age of digital innovation in the healthcare domain. We strongly believe that establishing telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other digital advances as permanent fixtures is the right way to go. These technological capabilities allow patients to get treatment from the comfort of their own homes while drastically cutting costs. We hope that more political leaders start to see these clear-cut advantages for what they really are — a path towards a healthier future for all U.S. citizens

Data Privacy and Encryption Must Be Prioritized

There’s no doubt that we live in the information era. ACT’s member companies alone handle millions of terabytes of data every single day. We know that proper data security is imperative to protecting sensitive information and ensuring it’s being used appropriately. That’s why an entire week of AppCon 2020 was dedicated to this topic!

AppCon attendees and congressional leaders delved into the critical issues surrounding privacy legislation as well as the need for ubiquitous end-to-end encryption. They also made room to discuss the timely topic of facial recognition.

While the development of artificial intelligence has brought humanity several unprecedented capabilities, some of them demand more careful consideration regarding their usage. Facial recognition is one such matter. Attendees and political leaders talked about the implications that facial recognition and its accompanying legislation could have for both the near and far future.

See You At AppCon 2021!

As always, AppCon was an amazingly insightful event! The candid discussions that Marc gets to have at these conferences are something he looks forward to every year. They’re the reasons why Marc always makes the trek out to D.C. from Los Angeles!

As much fun as AppCon 2020 was, we hope that the world beats COVID-19 by next year’s event so that things return to normal and we can hold AppCon 2021 in-person. Until then, stay safe, and stay informed!