Automation has become one of the most sought-after features in custom app development. Businesses are eager to replace repetitive tasks, speed up operations, and reduce human error. But once the idea of automation is on the table, a new challenge quickly emerges: what should we automate first?
Without a clear strategy, automation can become a scattershot effort—one that adds complexity without delivering real value. Whether you’re building an internal tool or a customer-facing platform, knowing how to prioritize automation efforts ensures you’re solving the right problems with the right tools, in the right order.
1. Clarify Business Objectives First
Before deciding what to automate, step back and define why you’re automating in the first place. Are you trying to cut costs? Improve turnaround times? Reduce staff workload? Deliver faster customer support?
By aligning automation initiatives with specific business outcomes, you ensure every development hour is focused on impact—not just convenience. This clarity also helps stakeholders agree on what success looks like for the app as a whole.
Tip: Start by listing business goals and mapping potential automations to each one. Discard projects that don’t directly support your broader strategy.
2. Identify High-Impact Candidates
Not all processes are equally worth automating. Focus on areas where automation can deliver the greatest return. Key indicators include:
- High frequency: Tasks done daily or multiple times a day
- Time-consuming: Manual steps that absorb valuable staff hours
- Error-prone: Areas with a history of mistakes or inconsistencies
- Customer-facing: Tasks that impact speed, service quality, or satisfaction
- Cross-functional: Processes that touch multiple teams or systems
These high-impact opportunities often become the backbone of a successful automation rollout.
3. Balance Quick Wins with Long-Term Value
Some automations are easy to build and show results quickly—others require more time but solve foundational challenges. Your development plan should include both.
Quick wins (like auto-generating daily reports or triggering confirmation emails) help build trust in the solution and demonstrate early ROI. They also provide a learning opportunity for your team to adapt to the new system.
Long-term automations (like dynamic pricing engines or intelligent workflow routing) may take longer to implement but can drive significant transformation.
A balanced roadmap keeps momentum going while investing in strategic improvements.
4. Weigh Technical Feasibility
Just because something can be automated doesn’t mean it should be—at least not right away.
Some tasks may:
- Require integrations with third-party systems that don’t offer APIs
- Involve unstructured or low-quality data that’s difficult to automate
- Depend on legacy systems or infrastructure that can’t easily scale
- Raise compliance concerns if sensitive data is involved
Evaluate the technical complexity and cost of development for each idea before assigning it priority. In many cases, simpler automations can be launched first while complex ones are staged for future phases.
5. Map Automation to User Experience
Automation should never complicate the user experience. In fact, one of its biggest advantages is removing friction—especially for internal users who rely on the app daily.
When evaluating automation ideas, ask:
- Does this make the user’s workflow smoother or more confusing?
- Will this replace unnecessary clicks, data re-entry, or manual follow-up?
- Does it speed up service or slow down the interface?
User-first automation helps increase adoption, reduce training time, and ensure the app delivers on its promise of usability.
6. Use a Framework to Rank Projects
To move from brainstorming to execution, use a consistent way to rank your automation ideas. One popular approach is the Impact vs. Effort Matrix:
|
Effort → |
Low Effort |
High Effort |
|
High Impact |
✅ Prioritize immediately |
Plan for later phase |
|
Low Impact |
Consider or batch later |
Defer or discard |
This visual tool helps teams align on where to focus development resources and reduce debates over pet projects or “nice to haves.”
7. Involve Stakeholders and End Users
Your automation roadmap shouldn’t be created in isolation. Talk to the people closest to the workflows you’re trying to improve—department leads, operations staff, customer service reps.
Stakeholders can:
- Uncover pain points you may not be aware of
- Highlight edge cases and risks
- Flag processes that are more complex than they appear
- Offer ideas for sequencing or dependencies
This collaborative approach increases buy-in and creates a better blueprint for success.
8. Don’t Automate Broken Processes
One common mistake is trying to automate a process that’s inefficient or unclear to begin with. In these cases, automation simply locks in a bad system.
Before development begins:
- Map the workflow in its current form
- Identify bottlenecks, redundancies, or unnecessary steps
- Simplify and document the improved version
Then—and only then—should you begin building the automation around it. Clean processes lead to clean automations.
9. Think Iteratively
Instead of attempting to build an entire automation suite all at once, treat automation as an iterative process. This means:
- Building a few key automations first
- Testing and collecting feedback
- Measuring time savings or error reduction
- Refining based on real-world usage
- Expanding over time with confidence
Iterative rollouts reduce risk, maximize learning, and help ensure the final product truly serves your business.
Thoughtful Prioritization Leads to Smarter Automation
Automation is one of the most powerful ways to unlock efficiency in custom applications—but only when it’s done with purpose. By tying automation to business goals, identifying high-impact candidates, and ranking them with both feasibility and user experience in mind, you ensure that every line of code delivers value.
Whether you’re just beginning to explore automation or already have a backlog of ideas, the key isn’t to automate everything—it’s to automate what matters most.