The software we uninstalled together in those years...

Recently, my IQ was exposed by a screenshot of a software uninstallation. I thought about it for five minutes, but I couldn't figure out whether I should check or uncheck the box if I didn't want to keep any of them. Okay, rogue software, you win.

Looking back at PC software in the past few years, in order to obtain user retention data, we can say that "eight immortals cross the sea, each showing their magical powers". We were also confused and laughed at by various user retention actions. Some of them were resentful, some were cute, some threatened users, some were rude, some were brain teasers, some were tempted by huge sums of money, and some were directly hooligans. The only thing to blame is that the uninstall function of PC software is integrated into the software itself rather than a system operation. In this era of "I am a hooligan, who am I afraid of", when users want to uninstall the software, if it does not do something weird, it may feel quite sorry for itself. :)

So I collected some classic user retention tactics from the PC era online, so that everyone can recall the software we uninstalled together over the years.

01. The Resentful One:

"You want to leave me? ...No problem, but ... before you go, can I ask you a question?"

If you have ever experienced a heart-wrenching breakup scene (even in a TV show), looking at the other person's resentful eyes, if you choose to turn around and walk away, your guilt will torment you for the rest of your life.

02. Act cute

If the personification of the software itself is not enough to move your iron will, the cute two-dimensional girl will directly transform into the software girl and look at you with tears in her eyes, asking you coquettishly: "I can fix any problems, please don't leave me~~". I believe that steely straight men like Schwarzenegger and Stallone will also feel "what's the point of tempering steel and turning it into soft silk" after seeing this.

03. Threaten users:

“Don’t say I didn’t tell you. The world outside is dangerous. Are you sure you can cope with it without me?” If the user still insists on leaving, and neither resentment nor cuteness works, saying this with a sneer can sometimes yield an unexpected surprise.

04. Brain teasers

"Please do not cancel the software you do not want to install below." I scratched my head and thought for 5 minutes, but I still couldn't figure out what the system meant!

Oh my god!! Please kill me!

However, some smart users have already thought of a solution, which is to take care of those who never read the content and go directly to the next step. Regardless of whether the checkbox is checked by default, the default selection state must be the state that the system wants to do most and the user does not want to do the most. So if all are checked by default, then uncheck them all. If none are selected by default, then check them all. Look at what users have been forced into by these rogue software!

05. The temptation of huge money

If "a big reward will always bring a brave man", then "a big pay will always bring a man to stay". From the earlier "Cross Fire" to the current mobile version of "Honor of Kings", when Tencent's big data analysis finds that you have a tendency to leave, it will start to give you good props that you can't get no matter how much you spend, "Brother, play another ten yuan one", and many people may go back without any backbone.

Good props for you, keep it

06. Act like a hooligan

"You want to uninstall me?? You actually want to uninstall me??!! Well, let me give you a calculus problem first. If you can answer it, then we can talk about this matter."

"You answered wrong. Sorry. Come back and talk to me about this in ten minutes."

I was pissed off after ten minutes, okay?

The above are all the weird ways to retain users that we often encounter when uninstalling PC software. On mobile devices, because uninstallation has become a system behavior, it is difficult for applications to detect and respond when users initiate uninstallation. However, in the Android system, due to the openness of the system, there are still many applications that use hacks to prevent users from deleting, but they can only be rogue and there are not so many emotional dramas to be performed. However, for some applications, some user behaviors are good indicators and vanes that they are about to uninstall the application, such as refunding deposits, unbinding, canceling accounts, selling props, giving away large amounts of virtual currency, etc. The system can rely on detecting these user behaviors to determine the user's upcoming uninstallation behavior and retain the application in advance.

Overall, we who live in the mobile era are already very fortunate compared to the painful uninstall experiences in the PC era.