Apple

“Number 1 app in UK, France and Germany…”. Those who regularly browse the Apple AppStore hunting for applications (apps) will undoubtedly be familiar with this type of catch phrase.  It’s generally what users first read when they land on app description pages (as if they were all number one!). Developers and designers use this type of technique to lure candid users to download the app by making them believe it’s the best of its kind on the market. This also illustrates how the success of an app is often assumed: the higher in the ranking, the more successful it is. But as you may probably know already, this approach is entirely flawed.

First of all, one can wonder how these rankings are built. As it is rarely clearly stated, we can only suppose that the number of downloads of an app governs its position in the table. But again, over what period of time? Number of downloads in the last month, quarter, year? This brings in the process a lot of vagueness and can surely not be used as a success measurement tool. Moreover, as Jakob Nielsen suggests in his column about iPhone App (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mobile-apps-initial-use.html), users download more app than they actually need and use, which corroborates the idea that the number of downloads is not representative of the usage and can be resorted to as success criterion.

Then comes the question of the popularity of an app. App owners can write comments on the app description pages of the AppStore and rate them on a scale from 1 (negative) to 5 (positive). As a user experience professional, I strive to get the voice of the customer heard by my clients but I don’t consider it to be a viable success measurement method. Personal opinions are very subjective and tend to be only expressed when something goes wrong or incredibly well. Moreover, most of the app ratings derive from the ‘rating prompt’ that pops up on the iPhone when a user decides to delete an app. This biases the results in a negative way.

So how should the success of your app be measured? From a business perspective, the response is simple: the success of an app should be measured just like the success of a website, i.e. by defining and tracking KPI. Most of the apps provide a web-based service, which implies a digital connection between phones and web servers, just like there is a connection between PC and web servers. This allows data to be captured, such as number of information requests, conversion rates, app usage duration, app usage frequency, etc. In terms of web analytics tools, the capture of mobile phone applications usage is only at an embryonic stage but the trend is on the up and some of the current tools on the market are already capable of monitoring app usage.

Boasting about an app being the most used rather than the most downloaded would surely be more credible to end users!

When searching for the best Top 5 applications (apps) for the iPhone, I often found reviews based on the personal preferences of their author and how well the apps were addressing particular user needs. This made me want to have a different perspective by creating my own Top Apps list based on how well apps use the iPhone capabilities to meet user requirements. For example, which app best used the new digital compass feature of the iPhone. Read more…

Not one to follow the hype or emerging trend, I was still intrigued by why anyone would queue from 5.30am to buy something, namely the new iPhone which launched last week in the UK. On catching up with my brother-in-law last weekend, an avid iPhone user (and essentially all things Apple), I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. He proudly pulled out his phone and handed it to me, initially I was amazed he would trust his new prised possession in my hands, what if I ‘broke’ something by pressing the wrong button? It would seem that it’s not possible. Read more…

Podcast by Ronan Tighe

Welcome to the first episode in our new Innovations series.

Foviance Consultant, Ronan Tighe talks with Charles Cohen, CEO of Probability plc. Probability is the recognised leader in the emerging segment of mobile phone gambling games.

In this podcast with Charles, a number of very interesting and current topics are discussed including; the challenges of designing for mobile, the impact of Apple and Google’s entrance into the mobile space, the user experience of current mobile games and the upcoming innovations that will change the experience for both users and companies.

• Episode title: An interview with Charles Cohen, CEO, Probability plc.
• Episode number: 1
• Series: Innovation in eGaming
• Duration: 25 minutes

Listen now:

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Or, download Interview with Charles Cohen podcast, 17.5mb

Alternatively you can also read the Podcast transcript.

Back to Gaming podcasts

About our ‘Innovations in eGaming’ podcast series

The ‘Innovations in eGaming’ podcast series highlights companies within the industry that are doing something different. By talking to those responsible for this innovation, we aim to inspire others to push the boundaries of what is possible.

The podcast also deals with the challenges and opportunities that come with being innovative and also how innovation impacts on the user experience. It could be argued that in recent years there has been a real lack of innovation within the gaming industry.

Foviance hopes that by talking with people within the industry who are pushing innovation within their organisations, we can learn from their mistakes and be inspired by their successes.

Blog by Ronan Tighe

It goes without saying that the iPhone and in particular the App Store has revolutionised the mobile market. It has opened up the possibilities of mobile computing that were promised before (WAP anyone?) but never materialised.
The gaming industry obviously wants to get a piece of the action, however Apple’s refusal to allow ‘play for real’ applications in its store has become a major barrier. It’s clear from the popularity of ‘play for fun’ apps such as Apple’s own Texas Holdem game that there is huge demand from iPhone users (myself included).To get around the problem, gaming sites have been making iPhone friendly pages and trying their hardest to direct users to them. Since getting my iPhone I’ve been trying lots of these sites out and have come to the conclusion that there are 3 key factors behind what makes a good site.

Firstly, the layout and design of iPhone sites can be designed very similarly to real apps, which is great, as in the short space of time apps have been around, some helpful design conventions have emerged. Ensuring your site conforms to these conventions ensures that users will learn how to use it very quickly. Betfair’s iPhone site does this really well with the exception of having the ‘home’ button where the ‘back’ button is normally on an app. This frustrates me greatly when I use the site as I still continually hit it by mistake.

Performance is the second major factor in the user experience. A number of casino sites I’ve visited have failed badly in this regard. Sometimes the spin will take less the 4 or 5 seconds to complete, other times it takes over 30 seconds and then crashes. Having tried these games several times over the course of a week on both 3G and several Wi Fi networks the problem remained. It should go without saying that this has a major impact on the user experience. Mobile gaming is all about quickly opening up a game and playing for a couple of minutes whenever the opportunity arises. If you don’t have confidence in being able to do that you simply won’t play. On top of that, would you be willing to place real money on a site that isn’t stable?

Finally the third issue is security, sites need to be secure without over doing it. Users will want to quickly access sites without having to enter their usernames and password every time. At the same time there needs to be some level of security as if you lose your phone you don’t want the person who finds it to be able to access your account. Some sites automatically disconnect when you leave the browser however this is annoying if you are just quickly answering a call. The best approach I’ve seen is the use of a short pin number. It can be quickly entered and provides enough security without hindering the user experience.

Amazon is set to unveil the Kindle 2 today – Feb 9. E-books have enjoyed a few false dawns, but when one of the world’s most customer oriented brands gets in on the act things are a little different.

Quick quiz question? The most successful consumer electronics device in the last 10 years?
No prizes there….the ubiquitous iPod of course. The iPod launched in 2001 and in its first full year (2002) sold 378,000 units. But according to a leading analyst, Amazon sold 500,000 Kindles in its first full year of trading.
(Refer to image above)

What could be better than the planets two most customer-centric brands (Apple and Amazon) fighting it out for a share of the customer’s wallet?

By Liri Andersson

What should be the major consideration for businesses looking to increase customer satisfaction while simultaneously creating new markets and driving sales? The answer lies in two words: customer experience. At Foviance we realise that to deliver quality customer experiences, you first have to know your customers, and you have to understand what they perceive as a good experience. But why, if it is so important, do we not have more examples of companies that deliver extraordinary customer experiences, or simply good ones, for that matter? Apple is a perfect example of a business that has succeeded in differentiating itself from its competition by understanding exactly how its customers tick, but there are precious few firms out there getting it so right.

In reality, very few companies genuinely know either their customers, or what an experience is.

Efficiently gathered demographics don’t reveal who people really are, what they love, what they hate or even what they do when they are busy being something other than a customer. Likewise, an experience isn’t just a great product, a powerful brand, a flagship store, a sensational ad campaign or a stylish website – it’s all of this and more, expressed as a single feeling or sensation.

A fundamental lack of understanding of these two things means that most companies focus on selling products and services and not on delivering customer experiences. Diverse R&D, manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution, and customer service departments within an organisation frequently have distinct goals and measures of success. Sadly this often results in a fragmented product or service experience, delivered to a target audience which has been defined by a marketing tool developed for a market environment that no longer exists.

While conducting some recent work for the travel industry, we met customers who believed they were consistently misunderstood, and who felt they had never been able to find the experience they sought. These customers did not see themselves, or define themselves, in the way they were seen or defined by the industry. Agents attempting to sell typical holidays based on age, sex or occupation, for example, were often missing the mark wildly.

So how should these businesses go about creating a better experience for their customers? Developing a memorable end-to-end customer experience isn’t a quick process. It requires companies to observe their customers, to watch them with an objective eye, understand what they do and what they don’t do, to sit down and actually have a conversation with them. Designing memorable customer experiences usually means grouping people together in new ways and experiencing the business from their perspective. Beginning to deliver that experience can even be as easy as asking the simple question ‘What experience have you been looking for that you couldn’t find?’ and immediately starting to provide the experiences long-misunderstood customers have craved.

We surveyed 530 single 31-45 year olds with an even breakdown between men and women, all of whom had travelled at least once in the last year. The report reveals some invaluable insights that are applicable across a diverse range of businesses.

The full research white paper can be downloaded here

Stephen Fry put it best: “What [the iPhone] does, it does supremely well, [so] that what it does not do seems laughably irrelevant.”

There’s no doubt the iPhone, which launched in the UK last Friday, is competing on its own terms. For years, other handset manufacturers have been making small improvements to the mobile phone, adding in new features and upgrading old ones. Now a computer company has entered the market with a phone that seems, in some ways, to be technically obsolete: the camera is only 2 megapixels, and there’s no 3G compatibility (yet). What’s more, it’s relatively big in the palm of your hand and it’s shackled to an 18 month contract with O2.

But Apple has changed the game because it has focused on the user experience. The iPhone is a joy to use, its interface is beautiful and it’s easier to take photos with than it is with rival camera phones. Apple’s significant investment in user testing has clearly paid off: Apple has created a superior user experience without regard for conventional wisdom on what features users prize most highly.

There isn’t a week goes by that I don’t hear someone moan that mobile internet isn’t taking off. There’s a reason for that: all the usability tests we have conducted for mobile manufacturers and content providers indicate that the user experience to date has been poor, to say the least.

The iPhone might well create a market for mobile content and services, in the same way the iPod created the market for downloadable music when it reached critical mass. Even those who buy the iPhone purely for bragging rights will be exposed to its interface and will start to demand content behind it.

Apple took the record labels and retailers by surprise when it became the most powerful force in the music industry with the iPod. Nobody’s underestimating them this time: if the market can stomach the high price of the iPhone (which sales of the iPod suggest is likely), then Apple could make mobile internet truly usable for many for the first time. A whole new industry could be created from this one product launch.