Five principles for app survival and growth

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What do users want most? How to build a sustainable interactive ecosystem around content? - This is exactly the issue that this article wants to share and discuss with you.

Successfully attracting and retaining users is a core challenge for many developers. Together with Sparkler, a digital insights and strategy consultancy, we conducted consumer research to understand why some apps make it into users’ favorites, while others are quickly forgotten, deleted, or replaced.

What we learned is that, just like in nature, apps thrive in a very “dog-eat-dog” environment. They must strive to fight and persist in a crowded and ever-changing world, and only the fittest will survive and thrive. Through this research, we identified five principles for developers based on the following dimensions: how users engage with usage, what they value most, and what makes them return to certain apps and abandon others.

In the following, you’ll learn how, as a developer, you can build app experiences that ensure you survive the perilous launch phase and thrive in the subsequent growth phase.

Principle 1: Clear positioning

If users can tell from the first glance that an app is simple and clear and immediately communicates its value, they are more likely to continue using it. Users tend to make quick judgments about the usefulness of an app—two-thirds of users admit to abandoning an app if they can’t clearly and easily identify the main goal it’s trying to achieve within the first few tries. Too many features can be distracting and confusing, blurring the app’s main purpose and causing consumers to doubt its value. (Source 1)

The most valuable apps are about more than just functionality - 66% of users say that the best apps give them a sense of familiarity, and when users have a good relationship with an app, they are less willing to look for alternatives. Apps with a strong brand at their core can build a strong and emotional relationship between themselves and their users. Therefore, you must build a strong identity for your app from the beginning and work hard to make users feel identified with it. (Data Source 2)

Principle 2: Intuitive and reliable

When people start using apps, they are very sensitive to usability and quality issues. This seems to be basic common sense, but we are sad to find that it is still the main reason for apps to be deleted in the early stages. How often an app crashes, how much data traffic, memory, and battery resources are occupied, these factors play a big role in users' initial impressions. And users' expectations for apps with subscription functions will only be higher - not just the number of features and content, but also the quality. 82% of users said that quality is their primary concern. (Data Source 3)

In general, users are more likely to fall in love with apps that are more intuitive. If users need to spend unnecessary time and effort to get started, they will find it difficult to accept. For more than 50% of users, an "easy to navigate" interface is considered the most important driver of daily app value. (Data Source 4)

Principle 3: Don’t stand still, and don’t run too fast

Providing new content and developing new features over time is critical to maintaining user appeal. Users also cite this as the main reason for long-term use. (Data Source 5)

If an app slows down in releasing new things, users will feel that the app has stagnated and start looking for better alternatives.

However, different updates mean different things. Regular content updates are often welcome, but feature updates can feel overwhelming. Users want apps to change, but slowly enough to give them more familiarity and control. Apps can easily be abandoned because of major redesigns or too frequent minor changes.

Principle 4: Become part of the user ecosystem

Apps don’t exist in isolation – if an app can intelligently embed itself into the user’s broader technology or life ecosystem, it is less likely to be replaced. Users expect to use apps to achieve technical integration with existing phone functions (calendar, camera, etc.) or with other apps and devices (voice technology, wearables, etc.).

The implications extend beyond the technology ecosystem. When an app helps users connect to others, its perceived value increases. 54% of users agree that they would open an app more often if they could experience it with friends and family. (Source 6) However, the solution is unlikely to be simply adding a chat feature. Users will want to share if and only if the social features of an app are built on the core value of the app.

Principle 5: Meet personal needs while giving users control

Personalization can make users emotionally dependent on the application for a longer period of time (i.e. "emotional investment"). 64% of users think that the application is more valuable after saving their usage preferences and becoming more personalized in the application (Data Source 7). Users think that these applications are more suitable for their needs, have become inseparable from their lives, and are more difficult to give up.

Although people generally like personalization, users still want to be able to control the data that applications access and how the data is used. Therefore, the number of users who like active personalization far exceeds the number of users who like passive personalization (37% vs. 27%), because only in this way can they confirm and adjust the personalized settings. (Data Source 8)

summary

To build sustainable app/user interactions, you need to meet the experiences that users value most: clear purpose, intuitive and reliable services, moderate update speed, integration with the ecosystem, and personalized options based on user control. Focusing on these needs will help increase user engagement and encourage users to build long-term loyalty to the app.

Data Source:

• Sparkler Research 2018, Q24. To what extent do you agree with the following statements... Base: Total Sample N = 2996
• Sparkler Research 2018, Q24. To what extent do you agree with the following statement... Base: Total Sample N = 2996
• Sparkler Research 2018, Q28. To what extent do these statements describe how your expectations change when using paid and free apps? Base: Total sample N = 299t6
• Sparkler Research 2018, Q9. Which of the following factors make apps an indispensable part of your daily life? Base: Total sample N = 2996
• Sparkler Research 2018, Q11. Think about the apps you have been using for a long time. Which of the following factors are most important to their longevity? Base: Total sample N = 2996
• Sparkler Research 2018 Q14. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Base: Total sample N = 2996
• Sparkler Research 2018 Q14. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Base: Total sample N = 2996
• Sparkler Research 2018 Q14. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Base: Total sample N = 2996