Prototyping is often presented as a universal solution to many intractable information systems project problems. Prototyping is known to offer at least three advantages (1) provide users with a concrete understanding, (2) eliminate the confusion, (3) cope with uncertainty. A possible consequence of the breakdown of prototyping is the direct reversal of these advantages. Thus broken prototyping projects may be evidenced by (1) user misunderstandings, (2) confusion over the process and the product, and (3) rising uncertainty. Direct management of these factors can help recover from prototyping breakdown. Based on an analysis of a prototyping project case from the health-care sector we derived a 3-by-3 framework of coping strategies for managing prototyping breakdowns; the framework was based on the theory of the iron triangle for project management. We found all the coping strategies to be applied in the project case at different points in time. The strategies led to a partial recovery of the project but the recovery emerged not from a single strategy, but from an interdependent and interactive process of using several coping strategies in a sequence.

https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/hicss/2009/3450/00/09-09-06.pdf

In summary, few analytical methods exist to model and analyze the product development process. Existing project management tools are inadequate because product development processes are inherently iterative, and information in product development processes can be profitably exchanged multiple times in preliminary form. This paper contributes to the research on the management of the design process by (i) highlighting the limits to concurrency and developing a simple model of the overlapped development process, (ii) presenting a conceptual framework to facilitate managerial decision-making about overlapping a currently sequential process, and (iii) illustrating both the model and the framework with industrial applications thereby demonstrating their potential value. (p. 451).

http://web.mit.edu/eppinger/www/pdf/Krishnan_MS1997.pdf

Iterate as you Prototype: Why? During the Live Prototyping you should still be able to quickly redesign and improve existing prototypes based on peoples’ feedback and your observations. How? Consider what is the best way to gain feedback; ask for people’s verbal feedback, watch and observe people using the prototypes (often, what they say, think or do, is different from how they actually interact). Take the key insights from the feedback and think about ways to redesign the product/service touch-point accordingly. (p. 40).

https://www.nesta.org.uk/toolkit/prototyping-framework/

The Developers Alliance is the world’s leading advocate for software developers and the companies invested in their success. Alliance members include industry leaders in consumer, enterprise, industrial, and emerging software development, and a global network of more than 75,000 developers.

http://www.appdevelopersalliance.org/about/about-the-alliance/

The primary advantage of the spiral model is that the range of options accommodates the good features of existing software process models, while its risk-driven approach avoids many of their difficulties. In appropriate situations, the spiral model becomes equivalent to one of the existing process models.  In other situations, it provides guidance on the best mix of existing approaches to a given project. (p. 69).

http://www.dimap.ufrn.br/~jair/ES/artigos/SpiralModelBoehm.pdf

The app ecosystem has an extremely harsh power law where app adoption and monetization are heavily skewed towards the top few apps. It’s nowhere near 80/20. In fact, it appears to be more like 99% of the value is centralized to the top 0.01%. Let’s call it the app store 99/0.01 rule.  This would indicate that the App Store became saturated back in 2008 when we hit 1000 apps.  Why on earth is the power law so harsh for the app ecosystem? How could adoption be so centralized? Let’s walk through the typical app adoption decision cycle for a mobile consumer.  First, a user must discover the potential new app. This is by far the most challenging problem that developers face. There are two portals for discovery today: 1. paid promotion, which is dominated by Facebook, and 2. the app stores themselves. The biggest issue is that these two forms of promotion only work for the apps that have already been discovered.  [Second,] the app store page is incredibly limited in terms of display and only serves to dramatically reduce conversion to adopt the app. Centered near the top of the page are the user ratings. Without substantial investment and cultivation, the only people who will have the energy to review and rate most apps are the people that had a poor experience.  One last deciding factor in whether or not to adopt an app is whether or not the user is willing to give away their precious disk space to the app. Everyone’s phone is always running out of disk space.

https://medium.com/swlh/mobile-app-developers-are-suffering-a5636c57d576#.w7xdztm3e

#1: App discovery doesn't just happen in the app store. People are finding out about apps in all kinds of instances while using their smartphones—when they're engaged in an app, searching for another specific app, watching a YouTube video, or even surfing a mobile website. Search is a major source for app discovery, according to our research: One in four app users discovers an app through search. Take action: Make your app discoverable everywhere, including search. People not only turn to search to find new apps; they actually download apps because of search ads. They're among the most effective ad formats for driving app downloads: Of those who downloaded an app based on an ad viewed on their smartphone, 50% said they were prompted to do so by a search ad.

#2: App engagement and reengagement is key, as app users tend to lose interest People turn to apps to ease their daily grind. And they're more likely to use them if they serve a specific purpose. Our research revealed that two in three will use an app frequently when it simplifies their lives. Take action: Make your app's value clear. Given the sheer number of apps available in the market, it's more challenging than ever to gain an app user's attention. That's why your app needs to stand out from the crowd—both in and outside of an app store—so people can find it and use it, again and again. To make sure your app makes the cut, it's important to show that it has clear value for your users, well past the initial app download.

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/mobile-app-marketing-insights.html