App makers know the drill — envision an app, commission a team to make it happen, test it, promote it, and develop a following. Getting downloads is the ultimate dream for an app maker. Well, until they start abandoning the app, that is. Developing an app can require unimaginable amounts of time and financial resources and the last thing anyone putting all that effort into something they have poured their heart into wants to see it crumbling before their eyes.
The problem? Users download the app and never return or remove it altogether. It can be devastating to watch all that work go down the drain and not understand why. Even if the app was tested before its release and seemed to work flawlessly, there are evidently issues that were not previously detected and are not simply explained. But could they be?
Enter Analytics
With the advent of apps came the advancement of mobile analytics. Much like the web in the decades prior, tracking the success of an app has become not only necessary, but standard. Learning exactly how many users have downloaded an app, how long they spend in the app, which screens they visit, etc. is par for the course for app developers. But taking it one step further is the difference between getting app downloads, turning them into active app users, and retaining these users. Having someone download an app does not ensure they will become an active user, and not every user will become a returning user.
Enter Visual Analytics
That aforementioned step is known as visual mobile analytics, and it offers insight into user behavior and actions not available with traditional analytics, which tend to focus primarily on key metrics. What places it above traditional analytics is the visual aspect, which grants an app maker the ability to see the app through their users’ eyes and helps them determine what the problems are and how to improve them. More than anything else, user experience in an app is vital. Competition in the app market is fierce and the only way to stand out in a saturated app world is to offer the very best product you can, with exemplary UX. The way to achieve that is through understanding your users’ experience; precisely what it is that works them – and what does not.
Measuring Mobile UX Using Visual Analytics
Imagine an app that is unique, well-designed, and easy to use. Surely this app is destined for long-term success. In theory, it is, but in reality, there is a user experience issue that wildly affects the future of the app. Visual mobile analytics provides next-level insights, like allowing app makers to watch actual recorded user sessions or track a series of heat maps. By utilizing user recordings, touch heat maps, and UI analysis reports, app makers are able to view exactly what is behind users’ actions.
Users in this day and age are savvy and have an understanding of how things typically work. An m-commerce app, for example, should present product images in the in-app purchase process that are clickable, much the same way images generally are on websites, to maintain some sort of consistency. If they are not, and the user encounters an unresponsive gesture, user frustration begins to build and the user experience suffers. The chances of a user dropping off is great, and the chances they will never return to use the app after a few more tries even greater. Traditional analytics will report a high drop-off rate from this screen, but does not elaborate on why users are not completing the in-app purchase. UI analysis reports and touch heat maps can detect those unresponsive gestures and specify what stops a user from advancing.
Similarly, if a user attempts to create an account on the app using the Facebook sign-in option but encounters a technical problem during this onboarding experience, they will likely drop off the registration screen, never to convert to an active user. A recording of this session will highlight the issue the user encountered, display the “failure to register with Facebook” popup message they received, and provide insight into what the problem is that would not otherwise have been detected.
There are multiple things that can go wrong within an app: the user interface might be flawed, with design, font, or spacing issues that impact the way a user navigates the app; the user experience may not be as smooth as initially thought; technical issues may pop up that at one point ran smoothly. It can be hard to know what causes problems when looking at traditional analytics, but visual evidence of user interaction removes any doubt
The Payoff
Learning how a user behaves is of paramount importance when optimizing the app experience. The greatest thing an app maker can do for the continued success of their creation is to make sure it is optimized to the fullest. Understanding not only what actions users are taking but why they are taking those actions is the key to providing the best possible product and UX, and the best way to gain and retain users.
About the Author:
Robin Schwartz is the Community Manager at Appsee Mobile Analytics. She has been working in Hi Tech for over 9 years and loves working in the Mobile space. She can be reached on LinkedIn and invites you to follow along as she posts for her company’s blog on everything mobile.
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