How to scale Ap’?
Part 3
Why are some apps massively successful while others are forgotten?
Why do some apps have great reviews and others only 1 star?
Of the best-performing apps, there are some common characteristics that shine through their diversity. From e-commerce platforms and retailers, to personal finance and sports news apps — they all tick the right boxes in terms of usability.
What is usability?
Usability is in a few words how easily people can learn and use your product.
Is the product behaviour predictable, expected, and usable? Who set the basics for usability?
The two main platforms in mobile are Apple and Google with their iOs and Android operating systems. These giants have shaped and defined how users interact with their mobile phones: swipe, scroll, tap, double tap — all the gestures we are now used to, have for sure origins from the web / computer / mouse world but are rapidly translating it to a mobile only set.
Thumbs Ap´
Mobile phones are small screens where we interact with our fingers. In terms of usability it is a totally different experience than interacting with a website on a computer screen using a mouse. The mouse movements are transponded in a small pointer that rarely inhibits user view of the selected element while a finger does that most of the time.
Visibility of the UI elements and system status is one of Jackob Nielsen´s heuristic for user interfaces and a good design make thee users feel in control with the system, and this sense of control helps to build trust in the app/service.
We frequently interact with our phones with just one hand and one finger: the thumb. With the increasing size of the devices the “reachability” of the interactive elements (menu, buttons, etc) is a key element and the mobile interface setup reflects that. (the main menus are at the bottom not at the top for example).
As we stated in previous posts, mobile phones are a unique medium with its very own specifications, requirements and type of interaction.
Not only do the media require a different type of interaction but also each specific Os have its differences. There are some gestures and interaction for Android that you won’t find on iOS mobile devices and vice versa. An example of a gesture that’s exclusive for Android is the one for going back a page. Android mobile devices have a built-in navigation bar with a back button.
In iOs swiping from left to right allow users to toggle back and forth between an app’s pages and when it comes to images or closing an app, most iOS users are accustomed to specific navigation gestures by default, such as flicking to get out of a selected image in a gallery app or in Instagram and to close an app.
Design for humans
People are more and more used to this different type of interactions and developed mental models.
A mental model is what the user believes something is supposed to work.
Google and Apple have created guidelines to help designers and developers create apps that are following those platform “rules” : Google Material and Apple human interface guidelines.
When we design apps we ensure we respect users’ mental models and the specific system guidelines.
We make apps easy to learn, efficient, easy to navigate and satisfactory to use.
From thoughtful onboarding experiences, flexible layouts and personalisation of interfaces — a great app design is all about helping users enjoy themselves, getting their tasks done and getting the absolute most out of the product
Providing a positive user experience is fundamental for success.
One of the best ways to make sure that the time and effort spent on developing each of these features is worthy is by analysing how effective and well-received they are.
The secret app´ ingredient
“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions” — Ken Blanchard
Altering existing features or adding new ones can be costly and ineffective especially if these changes are informed solely by instinct.
Collecting and analysing those who have already experienced the app for themselves — will help us make meaningful changes and avoid unnecessary spendings.
We start analysing app reviews to understand what engage or frustrate the users. As an app, feedback is something you get, if you want to or not.
Address a negative feedback before it lands in the app store as 1 star review it’s something we can do thanks to our inApp Feedback system.
With in-app feedback, we are able to better understand a customer’s viewpoint.
This allows businesses and product managers to:
- Increase the adoption and/or popularity of the application,
- create new features or make improvements to existing ones to improve customer experience
- Provide better customer support
Why Collect In-App Feedback?
1. Avoid Abandonment
90 percent of all downloaded applications are only used once before eventually being deleted by users. Having an in-app feedback system will provide us insight on where the users leave the app and why.
2. Plan the app Future
Most of the clients don´t know exactly what they want to do with their apps. They think about features, build something as fast as possible and publish it without planning the next steps.
But this is usually a mistake.
A better strategy is yes, try to hit the market as fast as possible, but with a plan of actions and a strategy for growth.
First define the apps KPI´s. What results the client would like to achieve. Then publish the first version of the app “rigged” to listen users feedbacks, analyse them and act accordingly.The insights learned from the in-app feedback will be indispensable when it comes to determine which features to roll out next.
We can see which aspects of the app are highly valued by users and which ones they don’t care for.
The information can be used to help prioritise the product roadmap.
This can help us refine our design for optimal flow.
3. Save Money
Building an app is not a cheap undertaking. Altering existing features or adding new ones can be costly and ineffective especially if these changes are informed solely by instinct.
Instead, collecting feedback from customers – those who have already experienced the app for themselves — will help us make meaningful changes and avoid unnecessary spendings.
4. Engage with customers
In-app feedback won’t only give greater insights into the user experience, it can also provide granular information about users. These insights can allow the creations of marketing personas.
For content marketing purposes, we need personas to define content that will be most relevant and useful to the audience.
With in-app feedback and analytics we can learn things like demographics, browser type, OS, and much more.
5. Increase Apps Performance
Things are going to go wrong, it’s nearly inevitable. But the longer it takes to fix those issues and the more the users are non informed about what’s happening the more likely will get away from the app.
With in-app feedback we can ask the users to flag bugs or things that are not working and manage their expectations by communicating for example that their voice is be heard, the issues is under examination and we can communicate the time necessary to fix it.
Who I am:
Italian product designer based in Oslo (13 years). Currently working as Head of design Ops in Shortcut. I have over 15 years of experience in concept development, product design, UX-UI design, branding, industrial design, interaction design, marketing and advertising. I love to explore interaction between physical and digital worlds and I always look for user centric solutions without losing focus on the customer’s needs and results.
