5 keys to Application success

Posted on by Thomas CORVAISIER
Reading Time: 3 minutes

You work hard on the design, ergonomics and UI which are prerequisites to the success of your application. But that’s not enough: more than 7 out of 10 users are ready to uninstall an application if they feel it to be too slow. Battery consumption is also a leading criterion for them. But how can you master these “technical” aspects, when you are a Product owner or Business owner? Now there is a solution…

Mobile apps have become the brand’s new showcases. They are often the main point of entry for customers – whether the purchase happens in the application, or continues in-store. A bad “user experience”, and sales drop down. Note that e-commerce applications aren’t the only ones concerned: branding and e-reputation are at stake for any application which targets people.

What are the criteria that make the quality of this famous “user experience”? The design, the ergonomics, the visual aspect are necessary answers. But these aspects – which often get all the focus of digital teams – are not enough.
Indeed :

  • The most important success factor for an app is its power consumption;*
  • For 71% of users, slowness of an application is the first reason for uninstalling it.*

Hence a popular app is a nice application, user-friendly, but also an application that is fast and sparing the smartphone’s resources. Speed and economy of resources – in other words “performance” and “efficiency”, are issues often perceived by the product owners or the business owners as technical, complex to master, only to be delegated to the responsibility of the IT team.

It’s for them that we have created a new tool, which relies on the technological power of the GREENSPECTOR solutions to render simple and easy to manage business indicators.
The necessary virtuous dialogue that will ensue with the IT project management is not forgotten – those who appreciate a more technical vision of their application will also find their share of indicators.

These vital business KPIs about your application are:

Inclusion

You work hard on marketing, communication, SEO, ASO to attract new users. But are you sure that you are not excluding a part of your target audience? An application too demanding – in terms of Android version, disk space (etc.) is an application that will struggle to find its place on the user’s device.

Sobriety

Your application is installed? Bravo. Now it must stay there! If it’s being called a “battery hog” by the device, or if the user has he feeling that you’re draining his battery without his knowledge, the end is near. Ditto for the place taken into memory, or mobile data consumption … This indicator is all the more interesting to master as sobriety is the key to success. By working on this aspect, all the other indicators will benefit from the improvement.

Performance

You already know that just as for web sites, speed is paramount. A few seconds too much, and the user gives up. Needless to blame the poor quality of their network connection … They only consider the result. On the other hand, if your application is working fast in 2G, then you are sure to do better than your competitors in all situations. (And yes, it’s possible. Uber does it, so why not you?) However beware of the solutions you’re considering to improve performance: seeking “performance at any price” often threatens the sobriety.

Discretion

The respect of the user’s privacy is a growing adhesion factor. Do you really need to ask for all these permissions? Are these analytics, tracking, RUM, and notification SDKs (and so on) all really useful? If you’re not sure, bear in mind that every SDK removed is a step towards a lighter, more reliable and faster application. The misuse of trackers and permissions is bad for the consumption of resources and battery.

Ecology

Last but not least … We do not call ourselves GREEN SPECTOR for nothing. People have realized that ICT does impact heavily our environment. A more sober application is an application that will consume less electricity, will not encourage the early renewal of smartphones, in short: an application that will emit less greenhouse gases, eat less rare earths, poison less soil surface… And for that, not only will your users thank you, but also a lot of other live beings on this planet.

And now ?

You are certainly wondering how your application is doing on these 5 indicators. Is it rather virtuous? Is there any risk? How is it ranked against its competitors? Do you have quick progress actions?
If you ask us, we will tell you! Call us, and we will introduce you to your own inclusive, sober, fast, ecological and discreet evaluation – just like your application very soon.

* Source : Open-EBG-Testapic, Baromètre des Usages Mobiles 2018