What we have learned from creating multiple apps
The Signal Ocean Platform Mobile Combo App
Undoubtedly, we are living in the Internet Era. Today we can easily find which product fits our needs and we also have the power to quickly choose between good and bad products.
Based on a study nearly 25% of all the apps downloaded in 2019 have only been used once.
Technology nowadays is cheaper and more accessible to everyone who has an idea and wants to start a business. This makes alternative solutions easier to find and it’s simpler for more people to get a market share.
Shipping professionals most of the day are on calls, checking their email or visiting clients to book a good deal for their vessels. Mobile applications offer convenience and enable professionals on the move to have access to critical information at all times.
At the beginning of our journey at Signal Ocean, we created four individual mobile apps as a support to our main platform to help our users to monitor the shipping market while they were on the go. We had Tonnage List, Distance Tool, TCE Estimation, and Fixtures.
The audience found every app useful and needed but the usage was not good. Our users wondered what the rationale was behind our decision to create four apps instead of one.
Our data supported that question because most of them had the first released app but while we were releasing apps with one month difference, we observed that the unique download and the overall usage were dropping.
It was time to take some action. After conducting discussions with our users, running a couple of user interviews, and doing user testing, we concluded that we needed a unified app that would give them full control of their data in an easy way without having to switch between different apps.
The concept was simple: Create a roof for all individual apps to live in. We created a distinct and simple royal blue header indicating the app that the user was using.
We needed to create a new working prototype to validate our assumptions.
We kept the same graphics from the old ones but with micro-adjustments in their flow. We created an easy way to navigate between apps without losing anything and reduced significantly the size.
After releasing the new combo app to the AppStore our userbase increased by 42%!
Lessons Learned
You should always test with users.
User testing will show you exactly which parts of your design frustrate people, where they get confused, and what keeps them from converting and keep using your app. It is perfect because it provides insights into why your users do what they do inside your product.
When you’re too close to your work, it’s impossible to look at it without bias.
What matters to you and your colleagues down the line might be different from what matters to your end-user. And when you have a real user test on your design, you get a fresh, unbiased perspective. That way you can make changes that have the biggest impact.
Since many things impact a user’s experience, the focus of the testing can be comprised of many different things. It can be a new product or an existing one, as well as, a new feature or existing one.
Studies have shown that when a company shifts its focus to user experience, customer satisfaction also increases. So, you must:
- Deeply care about the experience your users have with your product
- Know that improving customer satisfaction will likely have an impact on sales and your bottom line.
This is not the end, this is just a simple start. We will keep adding amazing features gradually to help our users even more. We hope to continue the journey for a long time, and we’re excited to share more of what we’re doing along the way.
If you are a shipping professional and interested in joining us, request a demo from our website and one member of our team will contact you as soon as possible.
Bonus
If you are interested in working on complex data-driven problems that impact the real world, apply for one of The Signal Group’s open positions.
