Today’s users have high standards for the digital platforms with which they interact. They want to be delighted by functionality-rich apps and websites. If they encounter features that aren’t user friendly or are broken, they will quickly jump ship and look elsewhere.

Broken functionality, lost business

The presence of defects not only detracts from user engagement, it also results in substantial lost revenue. In fact, studies show that software failures cause US$1.7 trillion in lost revenue annually.

Failures come in many shape and forms. For desktop and mobile sites, the most common culprits are broken links and missing images, which affect approximately 15% of pages.

A broken link may not seem like a significant defect, but it can have a long-lasting effect on a site’s reputation and business. If a user is unable to find what they want on the site, they will move on to a different one, most likely that of a competitor.

User trust takes time to build, but it only takes a moment - or one broken link - to lose. If a customer encounters a 404 error on an ecommerce site, they may think twice about handing over their information or credit card details.

Broken links can also affect search engine rankings. Competing sites with fully functional links may get preferential ranking, meaning customers will find those sites and do business with them instead.

Mobile user demands

Mobile users are even more demanding, expecting full functionality and even faster performance.

The impacts of poor mobile functionality are both clear and immediate. For ecommerce websites, 78% of mobile purchases are not completed, and in 22% of cases this is due to technical issues.

For mobile apps, 29% of users will immediately abandon that app if they don’t find it valuable. Interface inconsistency is also a key cause of frustration for 58% of users.

Considering that 44% of in-app defects are found by the user, many mobile apps could benefit from more testing. In fact, almost half (47%) of apps fall in this category.

The repercussions of poor mobile functionality can be long-term. In fact, 62% of users state that a poor mobile experience will negatively impact their overall brand perception.

Driving user engagement

Beyond defects, users often wish they could do more with the mobile apps they already have. More than 66% of millennials, who are some of the heaviest app users, are unsatisfied with the functionality of their apps, and constantly look for new ones.

Improved functionality has the potential to increase user engagement. For example, the global average usage of retail banking apps is approximately seven times a week, with British and Australians logging up to ten sessions per week.

However, in markets such as Japan, users average just over two sessions per week. This low engagement has remained mostly unchanged in recent years, and is attributed to limited app functionality.

The right level of functionality

Forsaking functionality is not only a lost opportunity for engagement, but can have long-lasting effects further down the line.

The above statistics demonstrate the importance of organisations analysing what matters to their customers. In doing so, they can identify delighters and detractors, and then plan a path to incorporate these feature updates and functionality fixes to drive engagement and generate greater sales volumes.

Implementing features that are both useful and perform well is not easy, but it can be overcome with the right partner. Visit our Functional Testing section to find out how we can help deliver the quality your users expect at the velocity your business demands.