DEVOPSdigest

Today's mobile consumers are much like the stereotypical teenager; they expect immediate gratification, have extremely high expectations, and possess little patience.

This hormonal mobile movement is disrupting the status quo and presenting a slew of new challenges for software professionals. Compared to legacy software users, mobile consumers have an even lower tolerance for poor performance. They expect stellar quality, and hold a higher probability of abandonment.

In October through December 2014, SmartBear Software conducted a survey aimed at getting to the bottom of the mobile movement for software professionals. More than 1,040 software testers, developers, and mobile consumers participated in the study.

How high are mobile user's expectations? According to this new SmartBear research, 50% of mobile consumers will delete a mobile app after encountering a single bug. One bug could lose a customer forever – and maybe a few of their friends! More than a third of consumers will report a bug on a public forum, to the app provider or to their peers. For app developers and testers, this is a dangerous statistic. Even slightly depleted testing processes could erode brand reputation, not to mention overall revenue.

Now, more than ever, testing processes are imperative to success in mobile. More than 60 percent of survey respondents are using three or more different quality processes when building mobile applications. These can include manual testing, automated testing, API testing and load testing. Despite these steps, app providers still report that quality is their greatest challenge.

Despite the difficulties, software professionals are diving headfirst into mobile. Nearly 30% of app developers are developing in the mobile space. Of those who aren't currently creating mobile apps, 84% plan to begin to do so in the near future.

Consumer demand matches this increase in mobile production. Forty percent of mobile consumers report downloading between five and 20 mobile applications in a single month.

It's apparent that the mobile space is growing at record pace. While the percentage of mobile developers and testers is increasing, most companies are fairly green when it comes to mobile apps. According to the SmartBear study, more than 50% of respondents who are currently building mobile apps entered the space in only the past two years. Fresh faces bring fresh ideas, and the green space of mobile is ripe with both innovation and challenges.

ABOUT Gregory Mooney

Gregory Mooney is the Technical Content Manager at SmartBear Software, specializing in software testing tools. Prior to SmartBear, Mooney held positions as a software tester for Omnilala, IT administrator for CBT Architects and Technical Proctor for Harvard Law School.

Related Links:

Click here for Infographic: The State of Mobile App Development and Testing 2014