Maestro in review
Android App can be found here.
iOS App can be found here.
The idea behind maestro app is simple: studying music is boring, how to make it fun? An app starts with ideation, but grows with execution. As I fumble my way through building a great product, I learned a few things along the way.
How is Maestro doing after 4 months? The data seems little comparing to many other popular. However, given it’s one of my early product, I’m pretty encouraged by the results: 700+ app downloads from iOS and Google store combined, with 60+ registered users, all of which from organic downloads (no ads or SRE). Interestingly, the number of Google Play download is twice as much as Apple downloads.
One area I’ve been focusing on is design. In Maestro, I took a “design first, develop later” approach. As an engineer I tend to pick features that are more technically challenging, but this time I put on my designer hat first and start with user flow and experience. I ask myself questions such as:
- What is a key user goal upon getting into the app?
- How can the app facilitate what a user aims to achieve?
- How can I measure the effectiveness of a feature?
The Maestro app is designed to feel personal, every user started off by choosing a personal “maestro”, and that character interacts with users through various lessons and exercises. This small feature is less technical however provide tremendous value in user experience. I received feedback from people where the first thing they mention is how cute their personal “maestro” is. Small delightful designs go a long way.
Make the app social. As more people download the application, I noticed a poor retention — people seem to click around the app for the first time, then they never come back or more often, uninstall the app. To make the app more “sticky”, I built out a leaderboard feature where people can complete with other users in Maestro. Personally, it was exciting to see other people use the app and gain points!
Push notification is a great way to gain user retention, in the latest product update I added daily practice reminder and inspirational quotes to motivate people to learn music.
Reviewing current Maestro (1.2), and thinking about the 2019 product roadmap ahead, I want to focus more performance and content. A few key updates for Maestro include:
- Enable offline mode for the app
- Add scale and arpeggio exercise
- Add more theory lessons
Let’s make music learning fun!
Android App can be found here.
iOS App can be found here.
