Mobile App Design Risk Assessment & Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A mobile app team discovers that a third-party SDK they rely on has not been updated in 18 months. Which risk category does this represent?
- Operational risk
- Dependency risk (Correct answer)
- Regulatory risk
- Market risk
Correct answer: Dependency risk
Relying on unmaintained third-party SDKs is a dependency risk because updates, security patches, and compatibility fixes may never arrive.
Question 2: When performing a risk probability-impact matrix for a mobile app, what does the upper-right quadrant typically represent?
- Low probability, low impact risks
- Low probability, high impact risks
- High probability, high impact risks (Correct answer)
- High probability, low impact risks
Correct answer: High probability, high impact risks
The upper-right quadrant of a probability-impact matrix represents high probability and high impact risks, which require the most immediate attention.
Question 3: A fintech mobile app stores sensitive financial data locally without encryption. This is best classified as which type of risk?
- Performance risk
- Usability risk
- Security risk (Correct answer)
- Scalability risk
Correct answer: Security risk
Storing sensitive data without encryption is a security risk because it exposes user data to unauthorized access if the device is compromised.
Question 4: Which risk mitigation strategy involves designing a mobile app to continue functioning with reduced features when a backend service fails?
- Risk avoidance
- Risk transfer
- Graceful degradation (Correct answer)
- Risk acceptance
Correct answer: Graceful degradation
Graceful degradation is the strategy of designing a system to maintain partial functionality when components fail, rather than failing completely.
Question 5: A mobile app team underestimates the complexity of integrating a payment gateway, causing a 3-week delay. Which risk type did they fail to identify?
- Technical complexity risk (Correct answer)
- Market adoption risk
- Compliance risk
- Resource availability risk
Correct answer: Technical complexity risk
Technical complexity risk arises when the difficulty of implementing a feature is underestimated, leading to schedule and budget overruns.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of a risk register in mobile app development?
- To track app downloads and revenue
- To document identified risks, their likelihood, impact, and mitigation plans (Correct answer)
- To list all app features and their release dates
- To record user complaints and bug reports
Correct answer: To document identified risks, their likelihood, impact, and mitigation plans
A risk register is a document that records all identified risks along with their probability, impact, owner, and planned responses.
Question 7: An app relies on real-time GPS data. The team identifies 'GPS signal unavailability in tunnels' as a risk. Which mitigation is most appropriate?
- Remove GPS features from the app
- Implement dead reckoning or cached location fallback (Correct answer)
- Charge extra for indoor navigation
- Display an error and close the app
Correct answer: Implement dead reckoning or cached location fallback
Dead reckoning or cached location data allows the app to estimate position using last known data and sensor inputs when GPS is unavailable.
Mobile App Design Risk Assessment & Management 2
A mobile app team discovers that a third-party SDK they rely on has not been updated in 18 months.
Which risk category does this represent?