Many times I am loaded with many questions from my readers, asking,” Is it really easy to win the heart of our users through mobile apps”? And I always hit the answer pad with a simple line YES IT IS…and easy to achieve even, but requires a good deal of patience and empathy to come together and get submerged in quality…a little more dose of adjectives I have infused here, but this actually speaks for the laying foundation for your mobile app’s success.
A mobile app is not successful unless users accept it with their open arms and show you the way to improve it further, but this journey is not easy to achieve, but needs to be invested with a correct dose of the above-mentioned ingredients. Many app developers usually get worried that what if their mobile app receives any bad review, then it would destroy the app reputation…although this thought is absolutely correct and there is no second opinion to it, but have you ever heard of ‘ Precaution is better than cure’ it means better to avoid the ways to avoid the bad reviews to flaunt on your mobile app, and it can be achieved with the number of steps, which I am going to share here with you all…so just stay tuned and read it ahead…
User’s Need
Many apps daily make an entry in the app stores and lose their battles within few hours…this majorly happens due to the worst mistake a developer adopts…that is neglecting your user’s need. To illustrate it further; when you walk into an apparel store, no matter what that store has in stock, but if it doesn’t suit your need, you simply walk out empty handed, something like this happens to your mobile app as well, when users don’t find it convincing enough to fall on their requirement meter, they simply uninstall it, so create a mobile app which is accurately speaking the need of your users. This is easy to adopt by analyzing why your mobile app is in need? What issues your users are facing? Who are the users, means their demographic and regional barriers need to be considered? How your mobile app is going to solve these issues? Once you find answers to these questions, you would be able to create a mobile app which your users want.
Perfect App
Well, when the term perfect comes, it gives some sort of goosebumps and creates a stress around us to achieve the best, but with the ongoing apps existing in the market, the confusion fever increases further and you feel lost. As a matter of fact, nothing is perfect in this world, and always holds a scope for further improvement, the only thing you need to hold is that keep your app according to your user’s requirements and what they need and let the further needs of your users to be translated through your app. A perfect example for this is WhatsApp and Facebook, which have improved with the time and still in the mode of upgradation depending on the user’s demands. So don’t feel your first attempt to the app would be PERFECT, but only invest efforts to make it user-friendly and high in usability as per your targeted user’s demand.
Test To Avoid The Issues
Once you have chosen to give your thoughts to be painted on the canvas of mobile app platform, you need to proceed with the app testing from that initial phase only. Yes, you heard me right, a mobile app testing does not suffice to a concept which needs to be incorporated only once the app development process ends, rather the Testing process needs to be conducted from the very initial stage of app development and continues through the app development process and after the app development process, in the form of 3 different stages:
Conceptual Testing– it is an initial validation to test the app concept and helps you to overcome the major loopholes of app concept.
Usability Testing– It’s a non-technical way to test your app workflows, much before it gets into the development phase. With this, you would be able to create an app solution which actually your users want.
Functional Testing– it is conducted with each segment of app development and then at the end of development as well, to test any bug/crash or technical error in the mobile app user interface.
Keep A CHECK
The app development is not a 2-3 month process, which gets over with the development phase, but to be précised it is bifurcated into different stages, which speaks something like this; pre- app development phase, app development phase, post app development phase and these all stages need a thorough check, so once your app development process marks the green signal and launches on its respective store, you need to keep a strict watch on your app reviews. The worst quality of a negative review is that it piles up in few minutes, once your users, find a bug and a complaint related to it, just in few hours you can find an unending thread to it, so you need to keep a constant watch over the review section, and the moment there is a complaint , be prompt enough to reply, your reply might not solve the problem, but your users would get a feel of personalized treatment, where somebody is there to hear their grievances. Also, your reply would curb the negative feedback chain.
Turn The Table
Sometimes many app developers find it difficult to deal up with some app issue, due to many unavoidable circumstances; in this case, you can offer an app update with required app changes. With this, you offer your users to reevaluate your mobile app with the new features.
Look for a right time
Many mobile apps give a pop-up to rate their apps, but it is little frustrating for many users, to rate your app in between the app operation. You need to look for the right time to ask for the reviews from your users, like if your users have completed a tough level in a game or achieving a new high score or after unlocking a new feature. These are some of the steps wherein your users would prefer to rate your mobile app.
I personally feel a bad review helps you our services and make you improve your app services and its functionalities further. So let there be an improvement factor accelerating from a bad set of review because a bad review is not always bad, but it helps in getting a learning experience for the developer.
So keep watching this space for more app related information …till then CIAO
The point about asking for reviews at the right time is something that I feel is especially important here, and a great point to make. There is massive potential for a poor review of an app at the wrong time. Whilst they are somewhat helpful for improvement, many app store reviewers will leave a poor star rating and leave very little that is constructive in the way of feedback however, so I think bad reviews are best avoided in any case. Helpful article!
Thanks a ton Oliver…will try to post more informative article…