First, let’s clarify two concepts: “aggregation apps” and “subscription apps”. Many people confuse these two concepts, but in fact there is a difference between the two. Aggregation apps emphasize the aggregation of the app itself, meaning that basic needs do not require manual subscription to use. News and information apps are mostly presented in this form, such as Today’s Headlines . Subscription apps emphasize manual subscription by users, meaning that basic needs require manual subscription to use. Information subscription apps are mostly presented in this form, such as Hammer Reading.
There are many articles on the Internet about the classification of reading apps, but there are loopholes in the accuracy and non-overlap of the classification. I divide reading apps into three categories based on product form: news and information apps, book and magazine apps, and information subscription apps.
News and information apps : Based on the content source, they can be mainly divided into portal apps (such as NetEase News, Sohu News, Sina News), media apps (such as Phoenix News, The Paper, BBC News), and aggregation apps (such as Toutiao and Yidian Zixun).
Book and magazine apps : Based on the source of content, they can be mainly divided into books (such as WeChat Reading, QQ Reading, NetEase Cloud Reading), magazines (National Geographic, Global People Magazine, Caixin Weekly), and newspapers (New York Times Chinese website, Wall Street Journal, Southern Weekend).
Information subscription apps : refers to apps that users can subscribe and read according to their personalized needs. Compared with news and information apps and book and magazine apps, it is a latecomer and relatively niche. The market is currently in a stage of fierce competition, and the subscription dimension and granularity have not yet been fixed, and each App has its own focus. Smartisan Reader, ZAKER, Wandoujia.com , and Jike.com all belong to this category of apps.
2. Market prospects
The above three types of apps have each developed to a certain stage, and the homogeneity and bottlenecks caused by their own product attributes are becoming increasingly obvious. In order to ensure the core competitiveness of their own products, retain existing users, and develop incremental users, there may be different forms and degrees of combination of the above three forms.
2. Identify competing products
1. Identify competing products
immediately
Wandoujia Overview
ZAKER
2. Reasons for determining competing products
Smartisan Reading is an information subscription app, so I selected three of the more representative apps of this type, namely "Jike" with extremely high efficiency in information acquisition, "Wandoujia Yilan" with a novel product form, and "ZAKER" from the old aggregation app.
All three have their own outstanding advantages and inevitable disadvantages.
3. Purpose of Competitive Product Analysis
Through the analysis of Hammer Reading and its competitors, we discovered the problems in the Hammer Reading App and put forward reasonable and feasible suggestions.
4. Experience the environment
5. Download statistics
Statistics were collected on the download volumes (or installation volumes, usage volumes) of Android app stores including Wandoujia, App Store , 360 Mobile Assistant , Baidu Mobile Assistant , Huawei App Store , PP Assistant , AndroidMarket, Anzhi Market , and App Store . The data comes from ASO (because ASO's statistics do not cover all Android app stores, the actual download volume will be larger than the statistical data).
Hammer Reading: >194,000
ZAKER: >199 million
Immediately: >1.1422 million
Wandoujia list: >1.8671 million
3. Competitive Product Analysis
1. Strategic level
(1) Overview
(Right-click and open in a new tab to view a larger image)
(2) Detailed description
1) Hammer Reading
Business model: Commercialization is not considered for the time being.
Promotion and operation : built-in App in Smartisan series mobile phones; SNS communication by Smartisan CEO and internal employees; community promotion; Smartisan press conference promotion; promotion on Smartisan official platforms (official website, forum, etc.).
2) Immediately
Business model: The immediate target users are relatively narrow and it is in the initial growth stage. Advertising forms that monetize traffic are not considered and are not suitable. The current commercialization channel is relatively simple, which is soft-text advertising.
Promotion and operation : app store distribution; SNS dissemination; self-media promotion.
4) ZAKER
Business Model:
Advertisements : splash screen ads on the startup page, splash screen ads after pulling down to refresh the home page, banner ads on the home page and each channel page, bar ads interspersed in each list page, and interstitial ads on each content page.
O2O guided consumption : through monetization in the field of life services, advertisements are inserted in Tab 4 "Fun" to guide users to consume online or offline.
Promotion and operation : SNS dissemination; App store distribution; early PR soft articles.
2. Scope layer
(1) Overview
(1) Detailed description
1) Login and Register
(From left to right: Hammer Reading; Jike; Wandoujia.com; ZAKER)
①Hammer Reading
List:
Third-party login is not supported.
You must fill in both your mobile phone number and email address to register, neither of which can be missing.
After registration, you can log in using your mobile phone or email.
Supports direct login via Smartisan ID.
You can read or subscribe when you are not logged in. You will be prompted to log in when subscribing. After logging in, you will be asked whether to merge the information sources subscribed when you are not logged in.
analyze:
If third-party login is not supported, it will be impossible to obtain the initial user's behavioral data. In other words, it is possible that Hammer Reading did not intend to take the path of personalized recommendations at the beginning, or it may be that there was no such demand in the early stage of the product.
You must fill in your mobile phone number and email address when registering for future marketing purposes .
Of course, one's own products support one's own ID, there is nothing wrong with that.
suggestion:
The lack of third-party login increases the cold start cost. At the same time, as other products are adding third-party login, Hammer Reading does not have it, which makes it more difficult for users to get started. It is recommended to add third-party login.
In the registration page, there are 4 bars and 1 button at the same time. Too much content to fill in may scare users. It is recommended to display the registration process in pages, and only display one item to fill in on one page.
② Immediately
List:
Support third-party login.
When registering, you only need to fill in your username and password; after registration, you will be prompted to bind a third-party account.
You can read or subscribe when you are not logged in. After logging in, you must merge topics subscribed to when you are not logged in.
analyze:
Jike's core competitiveness is to recommend extremely granular topics based on personalized user behavior, so third-party login is a must. After registration, you will be prompted to bind a third-party account, which shows their determination to obtain user behavior data.
You don’t need to fill in your mobile phone number or email address when registering, which means that Jikeji doesn’t pay much attention to future marketing. It still focuses on user needs and does not add features that are not needed by users.
suggestion:
When registering, you must meet two conditions: "Username 5-20 characters" and "Password 6-20 characters". When the input conditions are not met, it is recommended that the system highlight which condition is not met.
When registering, it prompts that you can enter letters and numbers when filling in the user name, but in reality, if the first character is a number, the registration cannot be successful. This is a bug and it is recommended to be fixed.
It is recommended that after logging in, you can choose whether to merge topics subscribed when not logged in, rather than forcing a merge.
③ Overview of Wandoujia
List:
Support third-party login.
When registering, you need to fill in your mobile phone number or email address.
Supports Wandoujia account login.
When not logged in, you can read (but not through the information flow entrance) or subscribe. After logging in, you cannot merge apps subscribed while logged out.
analyze:
Supports third-party login, can obtain user behavior data, and reduce user registration costs.
After registering with a mobile phone or email address, users will not be prompted to bind a third-party account, so there will be no harassment to users.
suggestion:
It is recommended to add a function that allows users to choose whether to merge applications subscribed in the non-logged-in state after logging in.
④ZAKER
List:
Support third-party login.
Registration is disabled.
Only email login is supported.
You can read or subscribe when you are not logged in. After logging in, you cannot merge channels subscribed when you are not logged in.
analyze:
Supports third-party login, can obtain user behavior data, and reduce user registration costs.
suggestion:
It is recommended to add a function that allows users to choose whether to merge subscribed channels in the non-logged-in state after logging in.
2) Subscription
(From left to right: Hammer Reading; Jike; Wandoujia.com; ZAKER)
How to subscribe : Tap the "Subscribe" button, no need to classify.
Subscription entrance : Tab 3 "Subscription", above the content page, above the site page, search site.
Unsubscribe entrance : Tab 3 "Subscription", above the content page, above the site page, search site, Tab 4 "My" - "Subscription List".
analyze:
Subscription sites : The subscription sites are few but good. A large number of sites in the previous version have been cancelled in the iterative version. It seems that with limited editorial staff, Hammer Reading chose quality rather than quantity. The site dimension is relatively single and does not have a wide coverage. The site granularity is relatively general, mainly consisting of media and self-media. The editors do not edit the specific content of the site, but screen the site. What makes Smartisan Reading different from many aggregation apps is that it carries more responsibility for highlighting the values of Smartisan Technology, rather than blindly pursuing user base and commercial value. Therefore, there are sites such as "Literature and Art" and "Non-fiction" that seem niche but can well highlight the values of Smartisan Technology.
Subscription channel : Smartisan Reading is unique in that it does not use algorithms or make blind recommendations. The advantages are that the subscription page has clear logic and a concise information architecture; it avoids the embarrassing situation of inaccurate recommendations in most current apps ; the degree of user infringement is low, and users can browse and filter the site independently; it is easy to develop; the product has a popular taste and a large user base. The disadvantages are that, although it has a similar architecture to news apps, it lacks their timeliness; the content is general and not smart enough, making it difficult for users to find sites and content that suits their interests; without personalized recommendations, it is impossible to distribute the long tail, which results in a large reliance on classified indexes; most sites are general themes and are big-pot meals, making it difficult to enhance the core competitiveness of products, and the barriers to competition are low. In general, content distribution mainly relies on editor recommendations and category indexes, and the routine is relatively conventional; the interaction is simple and intuitive, without any functions that do not meet user needs and grab attention. In addition, the current version only supports site name search, not content search within the site, and the search efficiency is low. In other words, if you don’t know the name of the site you want to subscribe to, this search is almost useless.
Subscription method : Because there is no information classification in the information flow, you can subscribe directly after clicking "Subscribe" without manually selecting the classification item. The user threshold for use is very low, and there will be no major problems in the early stage when there are fewer sites subscribed by users. Moreover, the UI of the “Subscribe” button is also very simple and not eye-catching. It does not force users to click to subscribe. The product manager still hopes that users will subscribe to the site out of genuine interest, rather than because of the eye-catching UI. But the button after successful subscription is too eye-catching.
Subscription entrance and unsubscription entrance : The entrance is unified and there is no redundant entrance, which is commendable.
suggestion:
Among the more than 5,000 user feedbacks and more than 100 questionnaires I collected, too few sites was the biggest pain point. It is recommended to enrich the site dimensions, add popular sites such as "sports", "music", and " games ", and also try to add some long-tail sites based on background data and user feedback.
In order to solve the problem that the current site is popular and cannot cover long-tail users, it is recommended to break up the site granularity and add personalized recommendations in the topic module in the category. Such as "Apple's latest new products", "Douban's highest-rated movies", etc.
Add custom personalized recommendations alongside the “Editor Recommended Sites” and “Site Classification” architectures. The specific form is that users select keywords, and the system intelligently pushes relevant content. The initial idea is to customize through any of the two paths, namely "career" and "interest", which can basically cover the user's usage scenarios. Users can determine their career or hobby step by step through selection. In the early stage, a small number of keywords can be selected for pilot testing. This demand solves the pain point of "having fixed needs but being lazy and having difficulty finding related sites", and it is also a point in App marketing and communication.
The information in Tab 1 "Hammer Reading" is repeated in Tab 2 "Discovery". It is recommended to avoid this.
The button color after successful subscription is too abrupt. It is recommended to lower the saturation.
It is recommended to improve the timeliness of the content.
Add articles that provide in-depth analysis of current hot topics.
Subscription channels : Guess you like, latest topics, editor's picks, special topic selections, more topics, search topics, search messages.
How to subscribe : Tap the "+" button, no need to classify. When subscribing to a topic page, you will not be asked whether to push. When subscribing to a non-topic page, you will be asked whether to push (you can choose not to ask in the settings, and the default is push or not push). Whether it is a topic page or a non-topic page, the number of subscribers is displayed next to the "+" button.
Subscription entry : Tab 1 "Now", above the topic page, search for topics or messages.
Unsubscribe entry : Tab 1 "Now", above the topic page, search for topics or messages, Tab 3 "My" - "My Topics".
analyze:
Subscription topics : Use extremely granular topics of interest as themes to accurately match user subscription needs. The main channel caters to the general public, but the themes within each channel are organized based on topics of interest. The topic names are mostly presented in the form of "basic needs + extreme scenarios", such as "new movies with Douban scores above 8.0", where "new movies" is the basic need and "Douban scores above 8.0" is the extreme scenario. The subscription page is used as the homepage, which shows that the Jike team attaches great importance to "users discovering topics that they are grateful for." For subscription apps with extremely fine granularity of information sources, content distribution is a difficult problem, and Jike also faces the same problem. Through "user feedback + crawler capture + efficient background + manual editing", a large number of practical and interesting topics are instantly generated, but the problem that this brings is that the topics are relatively new and the updated content is limited. In addition, the content of the themes is mostly high-end, which means that although the product has a high tone, its audience is narrow and it is difficult to commercialize it in the form of advertising.
Subscription channel : Personalized recommendations are mainly made through user behavior data. From the current situation, the algorithm is relatively accurate and has a good reputation among users. The small granularity of topics leads to decreased topic indexability and low content distribution efficiency. From the distribution form, Jike did not put the classification index in a prominent place, but presented the topic in a timely, fragmented and interesting form. This is because the classification index will make users feel serious and burdened. Jike hopes that users can discover interesting content in a relaxed and lively way.
Subscription method : Many users don’t know that they can choose to be asked whether to receive push notifications when they follow in the settings. This causes trouble for users who have kept push notifications for a long time or have not kept push notifications for a long time.
suggestion:
The high tone of the brand has resulted in a narrow user audience. It is recommended to appropriately add lifestyle, service, and general themes to expand the user base. Because Jike mainly distributes content through personalized recommendations, it does not infringe on the core users' demands for high quality.
Due to the small granularity of the topic, the indexability is reduced and the distribution efficiency is low. It is recommended to integrate the content originally displayed in vertical screen and display it in horizontal screen on the top Tab. You can quickly switch by swiping left and right.
In order to make the system understand users better, an entry for filling in interests and hobbies is added and placed on the "Guess You Like" page.
In the text that pops up when subscribing and asks whether to push notifications, add a reminder that "You can choose to turn off the query in the settings."
Many users have reported that the "Discover" page is confusing. In fact, it is not because the information architecture is complicated, but because the UI does not strike a good balance between primary and secondary. It is recommended to revise the UI to make a clear distinction between primary and secondary, and ensure that secondary content does not occupy too much attention.
③ Overview of Wandoujia
List:
Subscription applications : WeChat public accounts , magazines, quality of life, books, movies and music, beauty and creativity, the second dimension, overseas, in-depth reading, boredom cure, and learning.
Subscription channels : Overview, User Favorites, Random Browse, Category Index, Popular Apps, Latest Collections, Search Apps, Search Content.
How to subscribe : Tap the "+" button and categorize as needed.
Subscription entry : Tab 1, at the bottom of the content page, search for apps or content.
Unsubscribe entry : Tab 1, at the bottom of the content page, search for apps or content, and the upper right corner of the information bar in the information flow.
analyze:
Wandoujia.com is the work of the Wandoujia team, whose CEO is Wang Junyu, who previously worked at Google . Why do you say this? It is because Wang Junyu has a strong Google color. Google is a great company, but there is one thing that cannot be said to be a shortcoming, that is, when Google makes products, it starts from the perspective of Feasibility, that is, first there is a hammer (resources), and then finds nails (demand). Let’s talk about Wandoujia again. Wandoujia was founded in 2010, which was at the initial stage of mobile Internet . However, with the changes of the times and the market, the usage behavior of mobile Internet users has become solidified, resulting in the distribution system of the application store gradually losing its voice, and users are more likely to search for apps. Because he was unwilling to be the Yahoo of the Internet era, Wang Junyu decided to transform himself into Google, and Wandoujia came into being. In fact, the essence of Wandoujia is in-app search, and the aggregated information is just a carrier. In other words, Wandoujia has found a point of entry for aggregating information based on its own accumulated technology in in-app search. This leads to unclear user needs, which is currently the biggest problem of Wandoujia. Users don’t know what this app can do? I won’t go into details about this, otherwise I’ll have to write another long article.
Why don’t users know what Wandoujia can do for them? The granularity of information sources based on applications is too large, and aggregating content at a coarse granularity is a directional error. This is because the early product model was misaligned, and adjustments need to be made from the bottom up.
Subscription sites and subscription channels will not be analyzed for now. It is meaningless to discuss these under the premise that the product model is misaligned.
The interaction of subscription categories is too complicated, and do users really need to classify subscriptions in an app that uses applications as subscription sources? Moreover, the entrance to delete category items is relatively hidden and difficult for users to find.
Each application pushes an overload of information within a unit of time, but Wandoujia has also made optimizations, allowing you to choose whether the channels within the application appear in the information flow.
suggestion:
Cut the granularity of subscription sources and change the original subscription sources based on applications to channels within applications (the granularity of subscription sources such as public accounts does not need to be changed). Wandoujia is aware of this problem and has added a channel switch on the subscription feed page to control whether the channel is displayed in the information flow. But this is not enough, this unit should also be used in the subscription module. The benefits of doing this are: First, users have clearer usage requirements. Second, the subscription category interaction can be removed. Each channel is a subset, and of course there are other total sets. Finally, reclassify subscription applications and readjust subscription channels.
In-app search may be the right direction. The search entry can be placed in a prominent position, or even separated out as a bottom tab, and an introduction and index of in-app search usage scenarios can be added to the page.
I won’t go into details about the interactions and some small functions, as they still need to be optimized. For example, there is no need to make icons in different shapes, as uniformity is a high priority. The outer color of the icon overlaps with the background color of the page.
Wandoujia adheres to many of the design specifications of Material Design, and it is recommended to consider the usage habits of iOS users.
④ZAKER
List:
Subscription channels : 24 channels including news, entertainment, technology, finance, etc.
How to subscribe : Tap the "+" button, no need to classify.
Subscription entry : Tab 1 "Subscribe", search for articles or channels.
Unsubscribe entry : Tab 1 "Subscribe", search for articles or channels.
analyze:
The wide range of channel coverage includes news, services, and themes. The channels are mainly media and self-media with medium granularity, among which magazine channels are the majority. ZAKER's magazine-style layout has both advantages and disadvantages, which is closely related to the historical context in which it was born. ZAKER was born in 2010, the initial stage of mobile Internet. People had not yet started to use smartphones in large numbers. The skeuomorphic magazine-style layout allowed users to feel like reading a paper book, minimizing the cost of use. It was also a period when skeuomorphism was popular. However, sometimes the learning cost and usage efficiency are inversely proportional, that is, the easier it is to use a product in the early stage, the lower the efficiency of use may be in the later stage. Although magazine-style layout makes it easier for users to transition from paper books to smart devices, it is inefficient because users need to interact in multiple steps to see the content. Why doesn’t ZAKER keep up with the times and optimize the way it presents content? This is why HAO123 has remained the same since its birth. For one thing, users are already used to it. Although it is not the best way to present the information. Second, the tone of the company will not change easily. A company, a team, or an app will not easily change its tone, just like a person will not easily change his or her values. This is not just because of the characteristics. In general, the advantages of magazine-style layout are that it is unique and the product differentiation conveys the product tone well; the user learning cost is low; there is a sense of closeness due to familiarity; and it is difficult to have information overload. The disadvantages are that the efficiency of information acquisition is low, and multiple steps are required to see the information content; the magazine-style skeuomorphism conflicts with the current popular flatness; because you need to click on the channel to enter the content preview area, it is not as natural as "swiping" the information flow, so users are likely to miss the wonderful content of other channels; it is only suitable for users who browse information selectively, and requires high user initiative, and the DAU of such users is low; the number of channels displayed on the screen is limited, which makes it difficult to distribute long-tail information.
There are very few subscription channels, only selections, channel index and search. This should be intentional by ZAKER. The magazine-style layout is not suitable for subscribing to many channels. Because less is better, it is inappropriate to put a big pot of selections on the first screen of the subscription. Of course, if it is commercial pressure, there is nothing wrong with it. The timeliness of news is average. ZAKER often follows up only after Tencent Video releases a piece of news information, and not immediately. This is a flaw for information aggregation apps. Fundamentally speaking, ZAKER does not want to take the high-quality niche route, but wants to commercialize its user base, so most of its channels are "big pots" and the channel content is mostly "big pot meals". The content quality is average, but better than the headlines of a certain day (on the headlines of a certain day you can often see news about "a certain water monster appeared in a certain river in a certain place").
suggestion:
Since the product positioning is a mass route rather than a niche route, it will be difficult for users to actively subscribe to information for reading. Subscription apps are still niche products (different from aggregation apps, which are relatively mass products). It is recommended to increase the priority of "hot spots" relative to popular demand so that they can be better commercialized.
Based on ZAKER's commercialization goals and pressures, I do not deny the value of modules such as "Fun" and "Community", but the links between ZAKER's major modules that promote commercialization are a bit rigid. Each module has one requirement, resulting in one App meeting N requirements at the same time. It is recommended to connect these modules more smoothly through user scenarios, and to interweave and merge modules with similar usage scenarios as much as possible to achieve a true closed loop.
Enhance the accuracy of personalized recommendations and add more detailed user preference selection entries to "hot spots".
3) Reading
(From left to right: Hammer Reading; Jike; Wandoujia.com; ZAKER)
①Hammer Reading
List:
Information flow : no classification; subscription content bar: content name, 2 lines of content, 0-3 pictures, site name and LOGO; read prompt.
Content page : from the site and LOGO, subscribe (unsubscribe) button, title, time, content, collection, share, read the original text.
analyze:
Information flow : In terms of layout, Hammer Reading intentionally reduces the size of the images to highlight the text, probably in an effort to make users focus more on substantive content rather than marketing images when filtering information. However, the text is small in size and light gray in color, making it difficult to read. There is no display of the time when information was released. This is probably because Hammer Reading hopes that users will not feel time pressure when browsing. It may also be because the product was not mature in content editing in the early stages. Some sites have more content than others in a unit of time. Not displaying the time avoids the embarrassment of uneven update time. It may also be that this function was not implemented in the early stages. However, there is no time display and the timeliness cannot be conveyed to users. This is a major flaw of aggregation apps. The problem of site clustering is serious, and it is common for the screen to be filled with one site. Although this may be because I subscribe to relatively few sites, I am indeed a representative of a certain type of user.
Content page : Although the font size can be adjusted in the settings, the default font is still small and difficult to read. Hammer Reading advocates "clean reading" and is very restrained in terms of information architecture and UI, and everything seems to be fine. However, in terms of product positioning, Hammer Reading is a "comfortable and profound aggregated reading application". The "depth" of the content requires users to read "in depth". Since in-depth reading is required, a perfect reading experience must be provided. Every user has different reading habits and different reading scenarios. In order to provide a perfect reading experience, it is necessary to adapt to all of this, that is, to provide powerful personalized reading experience settings on the content page. Obviously, in terms of reading experience, Hammer Reading is almost blank. The content layout also needs to be optimized. For example, the space between paragraphs should not be 1 line height, but 0.5 line height.
suggestion:
Information flow : It is recommended to increase the font size of the title and content, and darken the color of the content to ensure the efficiency of information screening; 2 pictures per line, which neither takes away the sight of the text nor makes it difficult to see the content of the picture, is a balanced move; increase the display of information release time, but do not display it accurately, and can use 10 minutes as the minimum unit. This will not only reduce the user's sense of time pressure when browsing, but also highlight the timeliness of the information. It is recommended that the operation team can evenly push out the content of the site while ensuring the quality and timeliness of the information (richness can be ignored in the early stages of the product) to avoid the problem of one site filling the entire screen.
Content page : Optimize reading experience and enhance immersive reading. When you swipe up, the status bar and navigation bar move out of the screen along with the content, and reappear when you swipe down quickly or click (they don't appear when you swipe down slowly). Added font size adjustment (5-8 levels), font settings (system font, Founder Song 3, Source Han Sans, Hanyi New Wen Song), text and background color settings (text black background white, text brown background light yellow, text light gray background dark gray, text white background black), screen brightness adjustment (consistent with system brightness adjustment). In order to keep the page simple, the four added functions are grouped into one entrance and placed in front of the collection in the navigation bar.
② Immediately
List:
Information flow : Consists of recent hot topics, weather (optionally closed), instant tabloids, and subscribed subject content; no classification; subscribed content items: subject LOGO and title, release time, title or content, likes, comments, shares, and external links.
Content page : Open the browser within the App. There are functions such as sharing, liking, commenting, and opening Safari reader.
analyze:
Information flow : In addition to subscription topics, the header also adds recent hot topics, weather, and instant tabloids, which makes the information flow look messy, but it is intended to obtain user behavior data, commercialize, and increase DAU. In order to "provide operations for users", the buttons for appreciation, comment and sharing are made very large, but they are a bit too distracting. In terms of interaction, Jike is quite special. Pictures, videos, GIFs, and music can be previewed and played directly by clicking. Although it improves the efficiency of information screening, it makes the interactive area for opening all content smaller, which is out of tune with other information flow products on the market. Although an external link button has been added to the lower right corner, it is still a bit difficult to get used to. This may also be a marketing point for the product. In order to improve the efficiency of "user-provided operations", likes and collections were turned into "one organization, two brands", avoiding the situation where many apps have a bunch of operation entrances such as "agree (said what I wanted to say), thank you (said what I wanted to know), and collection (said what I want to keep for a long time for future use)", which confuses users. But this also leads to a problem, that is, users mostly click "like" on content that will be useful in the future or that they don't have time to read now. Short, easy-to-understand, and timely content cannot be highlighted through "user-provided operations." In fact, liking and collecting are two usage scenarios. In general, the interaction methods within the information flow include "external link interaction" and "non-external link interaction". Among them, some external links are opened as a list of information titles, and the specific content cannot be seen directly, and the page hierarchy is relatively messy. Although the interactive method without external links improves the efficiency of information screening, the experience of "click and shake your head" is really not satisfactory.
Content page : The app does not format the information itself, but opens the browser directly in the app. In order to ensure the reading experience, an "Open Safari Reader" button is added in the lower right corner of the page. The reading experience of Safari Reader is excellent, but it requires one more step of interaction to enter this reading scene. When opening the Safari reader, it is immediately optimized and the title bar is retained to ensure that users can find the return entrance. This may be a reverse demand. The immersive reading experience should be free of any interference. In addition, Jike has also created a "message card" to promote user sharing, but the entrance is too deep.
suggestion:
Information flow : First, reduce interference. Although the product goals are to obtain user behavior data, commercialize, and increase DAU, too much content that users are not interested in is displayed at the top of the screen. It is recommended to reduce the entrance height and area; at the same time, reduce the like, comment, share, and external link buttons; insert instant tabloids into the information flow; remove the share and external link buttons in the information flow; and secondly, optimize the interaction. There are too many ways to interact with information. It is recommended to simplify the interaction methods. Put the interaction of the information list in the information flow, not in the list page after clicking. Users can directly click on a title in the information flow. Although "no external link interaction" improves efficiency, this kind of interaction is neither friendly nor goes against the user's wishes. If users want to click to see the details of the information, it means they are interested in the information and want to see more information or related information. It is recommended to abandon the interaction without external links, and optimize it to display details after the user clicks, and display recommended content without details. Finally, the effect presented is that clicking on all the information flow content will directly open the content.
Content page : There is no content page for the moment, but the browser is opened directly internally. The advantage of doing this is that it saves development costs and facilitates the access of third-party content (without destroying the third-party business model and presenting more third-party content); the disadvantage is that the reading experience is not good and affects the reading conversion rate . The immediate solution is to jump to the Safari reader, so for now, I will not mention any suggestions on the reading experience of the content page. I will only suggest highlighting the entrance to the Safari reader and darkening the color of the entrance. Of course, under the premise that feasibility (resources) and value (business) allow, it is still recommended to typeset the content pages yourself to improve the reading experience. In addition, it is recommended to remove the title bar of the Safari reader.
③ Overview of Wandoujia
List:
Information flow : There are categories; search, settings, and content bars. The content bars include: offline reminder, application logo and title, up to three lines of content, pictures, release time, sharing, collection, deleting applications and ignoring channels.
Content page : share, favorite, open in Safari, app logo, title, release time, content, error report, personalized recommendation, add (or cancel adding), and shortcut key to return to the top.
analyze:
Information flow : The format of information flow is very regular, basically with text on the left and pictures on the right, or pictures on the top and text below, and the content is clearly prioritized. Regarding the demand for offline reminders, I don’t think it is a popular demand. The buttons for sharing and collecting are very small and the colors are very light. The effect of "user-provided operation" has not been achieved. Basically, there are zero shares and zero collections throughout the article. Many options in the settings have nothing to do with the reading experience. It is recommended to put the redundant options in Tab 1. Focus on complaining about the classification. Let’s start with adding applications. There are many interactive steps when adding categories. In fact, they can be simplified. However, Wandoujia does not want to interfere with users who do not classify, so interactive steps are added. This is very contradictory. Does it want users to classify or not? Moreover, as an aggregation app that uses applications as information sources, classification is almost meaningless. The logic behind this is that the applications do not have the most basic non-overlapping property in classification. Take "Southern Weekend" as an example. Should it be classified as technology, reading, or news and information? Finally, let’s talk about “Delete App” and “Ignore Channel”. These two features were added based on the high number of user feedback about information overload. I mentioned above that “channels in the app” are the subscription units, so you can decide whether to keep or remove this feature based on data and feedback.
Content page : I don’t think the interactive method of “swipe up and swipe down to close the content page” is very good. Instead, I feel it is unstable and insecure. Although it is convenient, the false touch rate is extremely high. The layout is pretty standard. It's worth noting that the shortcut key for returning to the top is probably not a popular demand. Mobile devices have been popular for so many years that most users know how to return to the top by tapping the status bar, so there's no need to add a shortcut key. The application is highlighted too much, which is a gesture of goodwill and a relaxed policy towards third parties, but it's still a bit abrupt. The layout has been optimized, so is the jump button redundant? It’s hard to say without data. If the click rate of the Turn Button is high , it means that the layout needs to be optimized. There are multiple entrances for sharing and collecting. Although I understand why this is done, the solution is a bit rough. From the above points, we can see that Wandoujia’s thinking on product positioning is immature, but it pays great attention to user feedback, especially the feedback from core users. However, there are two points. First, the feedback from core users is often undifferentiated demand and cannot represent ordinary users. Second, the product implementation plan after seeing the feedback is not ideal.
suggestion:
Information flow : remove categories; put options in settings that are not related to the reading experience into Tab 1; remove the downloaded prompt; put the delete and ignore options after the release time; darken the color of the share and favorite buttons to enhance the effect of "user-provided operations". Display 1-2 more lines of text because the position of the image results in too little text.
Content page : In the interaction of "Swipe up and down to close the content page", add a finger retention function to prevent accidental touches, that is, the finger must be kept pressed for 0.5 seconds while swiping up or down to close the content page; remove the shortcut key to return to the top level to ensure immersive reading; put the jump button at the end of the article; reduce the display weight of the application title and LOGO; remove the add (or cancel add) button at the end. See if the data retains the sharing and collection at the end of the content.
This competitive product analysis is mainly aimed at information flow products, and ZAKER has been online for 6 years. The product is relatively mature and complete. If suggestions are made, they are also issues related to product values and demand priorities, which may not be inconsistent with the style and approach of ZAKER product managers. Now many of ZAKER's demands are commercial considerations. The routine is nothing more than increasing the number of users, personalizing advertising recommendations, and continuously improving advertising click-through rates and conversion rates. Therefore, ZAKER will not take the high-end niche route. The general direction is to reduce the weight of the subscription module and increase the weight of the recommendation module.
The "Discovery" module has three functions: First, it helps promote cold start. First, make up for the problem of fewer user subscription sites in the early stage of product launch; second, strengthen content distribution. Users can find sites of interest to them from the massive content in "Discover" and subscribe to them; thirdly, it makes up for the weak links in product positioning. As of now, aggregation apps are still niche products, while "Discovery" is closer to news and information apps. After all, news and information apps are mass products, which makes up for the embarrassment of having a tone but no users. But I have a point of view that "in subscription apps, putting any structure or any form of information flow at the first-level entrance will boil the frog in warm water and go against the long-term goal of the product." In other words, from a short-term perspective, "discovery" improves activity, retention and even conversion, but from a long-term perspective, users' dependence on "discovery" makes Hammer Reading more like a news and information app than a subscription app. As a news and information app, Smartisan Reading does not have the timeliness of Tencent News, the user comments of NetEase News, or the freedom of speech of Phoenix News. In the field of news and information, several giants have already occupied the territory. Hammer Reading does not have the advantage of a single breakthrough, so it is dangerous to put "Discover" at the first-level entrance of the Tab bar. Another point is that if you want to follow the route of a popular news and information app, you must have a lot of clichéd content. Chuike has always been known for its tone, and following the news and information route goes against the brand culture.
suggestion:
Place Tab 2 "Discover" in the upper right corner of Tab 1 "Hammer Reading".
② Immediately
List:
Recently popular (including 4 channels: popular, video, GIF, music), weather, newsletter (15 messages per day)
analyze:
These three modules carry the mission of instantly acquiring user behavior data, increasing DAU, exploring commercialization, and enhancing fun. The recent hot topics are mainly about fun, but the content is mostly meaningless jokes. The "Weather" module has no external links, it is just a simple message to remind you of the temperature, and it takes up a large part of the screen. Currently, it may be intended to increase DAU and encourage users to develop the habit of opening it every day. In the future, it may push some commercial things based on air pollution. The instant tabloid is pushed out daily, covering topics such as news, sports, technology, and movies, probably to obtain user behavior data and speculate on user preferences.
suggestion:
Based on the data, the entrance sizes of the three were appropriately reduced to reduce interference to users, and tabloids were interspersed into the information flow. Improve the quality of recent popular content, enrich its dimensions, and push tabloid content based on user preferences. In general, the responsibilities of the three can be divided more carefully: Weather is responsible for increasing DAU and exploring commercialization; Recent Trends is responsible for obtaining user behavior data from a large dimension; Tabloid is responsible for obtaining user preferences and commercialization exploration in a more concrete way from a single dimension based on Recent Trends.
③ Overview of Wandoujia
List:
Application content search
analyze:
Every App is a gold mine, and its value has not yet been fully developed. I believe there will be more usage scenarios in the future. However, how many APIs each app can open and how many usage scenarios these APIs can provide are issues that need to be resolved. From the current perspective, the APIs that each App can open are very limited, Wandoujia has not explored the specific usage scenarios, and the entrance for in-app search is not obvious enough.
suggestion:
Negotiate with third parties to open more APIs, explore usage scenarios of in-app search, and increase entry priority.
④ZAKER
List:
Hotspots, Beijing, Fun, Community
analyze:
In addition to basic needs, ZAKER covers many other functions, and the usage scenarios are not strongly related and are scattered. Most of these functions carry the mission of commercialization, increasing DAU, and expanding target users. For ordinary users, many of these functions are not useful, but there is no other way, as companies need to make profits and survive. When commercialization is the highest priority demand of an App, any slight change will inevitably affect the user experience.
suggestion:
Enhance the accuracy of personalized recommendation algorithms and improve business conversion rates; transform from a niche subscription app to a mass aggregation app to broaden target users; visualize the usage scenarios of each module; and guide users to comment on high-quality content.
3. Structural layer
(1) Hammer Reading
(2) Immediately
(3) Overview of Wandoujia
(4) ZAKER
analyze:
The information architecture of Hammer Reading is very simple. It is all about basic needs, with clear priorities. It is easy for users to use, does not involve algorithms or blind recommendations, and the main function entrances are obvious.
Content distribution is immediately placed on the homepage, which shows the importance attached to this aspect, and the information architecture is also very concise. The product pays great attention to operation. No matter it is product operation or user-provided operation, all function entrances related to operation are very prominent.
Wandoujia has only two tabs. Although the information architecture is simple, it lacks consideration of the priority of needs, the breadth of target users, and the frequency of use, resulting in the emergence of some indifferent functions. At the same time, the in-app search that Wandoujia has always emphasized has not been given a high priority entrance.
ZAKER has a complex information architecture and comprehensive functions. It focuses on commercialization, user base, DAU, and UGC. Relatively speaking, it is an App with a lot of KPIs. Of course, ZAKER has been online for 6 years and has to pay attention to these indicators. However, there is still room for optimization and strengthening in personalized recommendations, usage scenarios, and demand entry points, so as to achieve commercialization on primary users as much as possible rather than at the end of the funnel.
Generally speaking, the information architecture of Hammer Reading, Jike, and Wandoujia is very concise, among which Hammer Reading is the most prominent. ZAKER's information architecture is relatively complex.
suggestion:
It is recommended that Hammer Reading put “Discover” in the upper right corner of the homepage. (The reasons are detailed above)
It is recommended to highlight the primary functions and weaken the secondary functions while ensuring operations. Strengthen content distribution and indexing, such as changing the vertical screen content distribution in "Discover" to a horizontal screen top tab bar.
It is recommended that Wandoujia increase the priority of the in-app search entry, make it appear as a bottom tab, and explore the usage scenarios of in-app search.
It is recommended that ZAKER move towards the mass market; visualize user usage scenarios, and split or merge functional modules.
4. Presentation Layer
(From left to right: Hammer Reading; Jike; Wandoujia.com; ZAKER)
analyze:
The UI of Hammer Reader is mainly light gray, simple and elegant, and as always "biased" towards the anthropomorphic style. However, this may cause discomfort to some iOS users, and there are many users who criticize the anthropomorphic style for "paying more attention to form than content." The emphasis on detail quality well reflects the brand tone.
The main color of the UI is dark gray, which is interesting, lively, youthful, and relatively simple overall. However, the UI has clear priorities, which leads to users’ feedback that the “discovery page is confusing”. Some buttons for auxiliary operations are too large, which is counterproductive.
The UI of Wandoujia is mainly green in color, which is youthful and simple overall. There are too many cutscenes, which are somewhat distracting. The background of the application icons is mostly white, which is confusing when combined with the white pages. Material Design is used extensively.
ZAKER 's UI uses red as the main color and presents content in a magazine-like manner, which is generally quite satisfactory.
In general, Hammer Reader is simple and elegant, Jike is a bit fancy, Wandoujia is inferior to Android, and ZAKER is average.
suggestion:
There is no strict right or wrong in UI. It is more influenced by the design trends of Apple and Google , personal subjective aesthetics, and better functional implementation, so I will not make any suggestions for now.
4. Hammer Reading User Feedback
We reviewed and studied 5,000 user feedbacks on Smartisan’s official forum, Weibo (Smartisan, Luo Yonghao, Smartisan Reading, Minority and other Weibo accounts), WeChat ( WeChat groups , Moments messages), App Store, and 9 Android app stores , and summarized and summarized 473 valid user feedbacks into the following table:
(Right-click and open in a new tab to view a larger image)
V. Questionnaire
Questionnaire title : "Hammer Reading" App Questionnaire
Questionnaire structure : Depending on the selected answers, three answer paths will be formed, namely: the answer path of Hammer Reading users, the answer path of competing products (ZAKER, Jike, Wandoujia) users, and the answer path of those who have never used information subscription apps.
It mainly includes 3 categories (user behavior attribute problems, KANO model problems, and population attribute problems)
(3) Number of respondents
Among the 115 people (questionnaires), 32 people (27.83%) have used hammer reading.
(4) Data aggregation
46.88% of users use it several days a week; 18.75% of users use it every day. Among users of competing products, 44.44% use it several days a week, and 33.33% use it every day. This shows that the usage habits of users of competing products have basically been formed; the usage habits of users of Hammer Reading still need to be cultivated, and there is room for improvement in the frequency of use.
81.25% of users use the app for less than 30 minutes each time. How can Hammer Reading, which focuses on accurate and in-depth articles, fight against the wave of fragmented reading? Should it focus on emotions or users? I believe the PM of Hammer Technology already has the answer in mind.
66% of users use it when they are taking a break, are bored, on their way to get off work (school), or want to discover interesting content. This shows that users’ usage needs are unclear, and more than half of them are used to kill time. In future iterations, we can better meet the needs of users.
64% of users believe that high-quality content and good user experience are the main factors in choosing an information subscription app. High-quality content (basic requirements) and good user experience (expected requirements) should be the highest priority requirements in future iterative versions.
65.62% of users will choose multiple information subscription apps.
There are many ways for users to come into contact with a new app, and the scenarios range from high frequency to low frequency: active search by themselves, sharing on social networks, recommendations from friends, recommendations from App Store/Android app stores, recommendations from KOLs, recommendations from new app recommendation platforms, etc.
90.63% of users are male.
78.13% of users are between 22 and 35 years old.
46.88% of users have a bachelor's degree.
40.62% of users are Internet practitioners; 40.62% of users are non-Internet practitioners; 12.5% of users are students; and 6.26% of users are other practitioners.
56.24% of users have an income between 5,000 and 30,000 yuan. Mid- to high-end users account for more than half.
It mainly includes 3 categories (user behavior attribute problems, KANO model problems, and population attribute problems)
(3) Number of respondents
Among the 115 respondents, 27 (23.48%) have used competing products.
(4) Data aggregation
33.33% of users use ZAKER; 14.81% of users use Jike; 11.11% of users use Wandoujia Yilan; 11.11% of users use Flipboard ; 29.63% of users use other competing products (among other competing products, most users use Toutiao). As an old information subscription app, ZAKER still has the first-mover advantage and has the largest number of users. (PS: I didn’t list Toutiao as a separate option for everyone to choose because I classified Toutiao as an aggregation app, not a subscription app, because its news and information attributes are stronger.)
44.44% of users use it several days a week; 33.33% of users use it every day. Among them, the frequency of daily use by users is higher than that of Hammer Reading (18.75% of Hammer Reading users use it every day).
62.96% of users use the app for less than 30 minutes each time; 22.22% of users use the app for 30 minutes to 1 hour; 11.11% of users use the app for 1 to 2 hours each time; and 3.70% of users use the app for more than 2 hours each time. Compared with Hammer Reading users, the usage time is longer (18.25% of Hammer Reading users use it within 30 minutes each time, and 81.75% of users use it for 30 minutes to 1 hour each time).
60% of users use it when they are taking a break, are bored, on their way to get off work (school), or want to discover interesting content. This is similar to Hammer Reading, which shows that users’ usage needs are unclear, which is a common problem in information subscription apps.
75.38% of users believe that high-quality content, diverse and interesting content, and good user experience are the main factors in their choice of an information subscription app. Unlike Hammer Reader, users are more likely to choose diverse and interesting content, which is related to the product positioning of competitors (competitors often use discovering more interesting content as their core product competitiveness).
55.56% of users will choose multiple information subscription apps.
There are many ways for users to come into contact with a new app, and the scenarios range from high frequency to low frequency: sharing on social networks, recommendations from friends, active searches, recommendations from the App Store/Android app store, recommendations from KOLs, recommendations from new app recommendation platforms, etc.
92.59% of users are male.
81.48% of users are between 22 and 35 years old.
59.26% of users have a bachelor's degree.
33.33% of users are Internet practitioners; 33.33% of users are non-Internet practitioners; 25.93% of users are students; 3.70% of users are freelancers; and 3.70% of users are other practitioners.
25.93% of users are not working; 44.44% of users have an income between 5,000 and 30,000 yuan. Mid- to high-end users account for a large proportion, followed by student users.
3. Path 3: Answering questions without using information subscription apps
(1) Number of questions
3 multiple choice questions
(2) Types of Questions
Ask users why they don’t use the app
(3) Number of respondents
Among the 115 respondents, 56 (48.70%) had never used information subscription apps.
(4) Data aggregation
Why don’t you use information subscription apps?
46.43% of people were not aware of the existence of such apps;
21.43% of people think that other news apps have met their usage needs;
10.71% of people think there is no demand for it;
10.71% of people think it is troublesome to use and requires manual subscription;
8.93% of people think they have a need to use the service, but are not interested in subscribing to it;
1.79% of people do not use it for other reasons.
There are two reasons why you don’t know about this type of app: one is that you don’t know the term “information subscription”, but you know the product form of this information subscription; the other is that you don’t know the term “information subscription”, and you don’t know the product form of this information subscription. Because the usage requirements of information subscription apps are unclear or the target users are not popular enough, there is no word-of-mouth effect, resulting in many mobile Internet users not knowing about them. Therefore, it can be understood that 78.57% of people have no demand for use.
VI. Conclusion
Hammer Reading
An information subscription app that aggregates high-quality content for people with high-quality content needs.
(1) Advantages
The site content is of high quality;
The page is clean;
The information architecture is simple.
(2) Disadvantages
Too few sites;
The reading experience is simple;
Content distribution and indexing are not strong enough;
Content distribution relies too much on "discovery" and deviates from product positioning.
immediately
An information subscription app based on interest topics and providing personalized push notifications.
(1) Advantages
The topic granularity is small;
Accurately cover user tastes;
The subject matter is practical, novel and interesting;
The personalized push method is novel and highly efficient;
The product operation is powerful, the themes are added quickly, and the theme content is updated quickly.
(2) Disadvantages
Relying on users’ active subscription, content distribution is difficult;
The target user group is narrow due to the high product tone;
Commercialization is difficult due to the narrow target user base.
Wandoujia Overview
An information subscription app that can aggregate and browse the latest content from other apps and public accounts.
(1) Advantages
The in-app search technology is unmatched;
Users can use non-essential, low-frequency apps or public accounts in one place.
(2) Disadvantages
Using apps as the unit of feed is a directional mistake.
ZAKER
An information subscription app that integrates deeply personalized subscription, interactive sharing, and O2O services.
It has a high level of UGC and strong community attributes.
(2) Disadvantages
Demand overload;
Low efficiency in obtaining information;
Commercialization affects user experience;
The product positioning is unclear.
7. Summary of suggestions for Hammer Reading
Login and Registration
Support third-party login
Breaking down the registration process
Sites and Subscriptions
Place Tab 2 "Discover" module in the upper right corner of Tab 1 "Hammer Reading" page.
Add popular sites such as "Sports", "Music", "Games", etc.
Add long-tail sites based on data and feedback.
Add fine-grained "topic" sites, and provide personalized recommendations based on user behavior data.
Added “Official Account” site.
Added "Books" site.
Added "English" site.
Add "original" site.
Add a "customized personalized recommendation" site to provide personalized recommendations after users select keywords. The initial idea is to provide keywords for users to choose from two dimensions: occupation and interest.
Added the ability to search site content.
Weakens the color of the "Unsubscribe" button after a successful subscription.
While ensuring quality, improve the timeliness of site content updates.
Add in-depth analysis articles on current hot topics.
Operationally balance the launch of content on each site.
Avoid duplication of Tab 1 content in Tab 2.
Information Flow
Increase the title and content text size.
Darken the content text color.
Each row shows 2 images.
Add content publishing time reminder, with 10 minutes as the minimum unit.
Content Page
When you swipe up, the status bar and navigation bar move out of the screen along with the content, and reappear when you swipe down quickly or click (they don't appear when you swipe down slowly).
Increase the default font size.
Add a setting button on the left side of the favorites. Click it and a drop-down menu with 4 options will appear, namely: font size adjustment (5-8 levels); font adjustment (system font, Founder Song 3, Source Han Sans, Hanyi New Wen Song); text and background color adjustment (black text and white background, brown text and light yellow background, light gray text and dark gray background, white text and black background); screen brightness adjustment (keep consistent with the system brightness adjustment).
Improve the clarity of content images.
UI
Weaken the skeuomorphic style
other
Added search function in "My Favorites" and "Reading History".
Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising
This article was compiled and published by the author @姜贵闯 (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!
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