Nobody Loves My App with Paul Laberge

Nobody loves my app.

A tale of tragedy narrated by

Paul Laberge,

a Technical Evangelist for

Microsoft, whose Twitter handle is

@plaberge.

• How to Enter:

• Tweet: “Hey @wootstudio #SCREENS13…Hook me up with a Windows Phone”

• One winner will be randomly selected at 4:00pm

• Winner will be announced at the end of the session. Must be present to receive the phone.

• You will be asked to answer a skill testing question

• The Rules & Regulations are printed and available with our event coordinator, Jenna.

Win a Windows

Phone!

Developer Movement 2013 is coming soon

Sign up to stay up to date on launch details…

www.developermovement.com

Prologue

The truth

hurts.

Most apps go

unloved.

Some statistics

Photo Credit: ryoki (Flickr)

App Store App

Populatio

n*

Apple App

Store

~900K

Google Play ~1 Million

Windows

Phone Store

~175K

Windows

Store

~100K

*Source: Wikipedia

According to a 2012

Deloitte report on app

downloads, a mere 20%

of all apps in all app

stores get to the 1,000

download threshold.Source: TMT Predictions 2012, “So many apps – so

little to download” (deloitte.com)

Chapter 1Scoping out the

joint

Why build a mobile app?

Why do you get into mobile development?

1.Sense of achievement

2.Being recognized for your work

3.Starting a business

4.Being part of a new trend (mobile)

5.Revenue opportunity

6.Building something better than currently existsSource: Vision Mobile, Developer Economics Segmentation

Q3 2013

Considerations: Primary Objectives

Source: Vision Mobile, Developer Economics Segmentation

Q3 2013

Top 3 most important platform

criteria

Considerations: Marketshare

Source: Vision Mobile, Developer Economics Segmentation

Q3 2013

Smartphone sales by

platform, Q1 2013

Considerations: Revenue

Source: Vision Mobile, Developer Economics Segmentation

Q3 2013

Average monthly revenue per

developer by platform

Chapter 2Bright Ideas

In a total of 15 seconds, can

you tell me what your app is

awesome at?

Good Examples

My app is great at finding you the

perfect rescue pet for your

lifestyle from your local animal

shelter within 5 minutes.

My app will figure out what object

you are thinking of by asking a

maximum of 6 questions.

Not only does my game have

more zombies than WWZ for you

to kill, but you also get to fight

them in space. Oh, and you get

to compete against your friends.

Bad Examples

My app allows you to create

tasks and delete them when

they’re done.

My game uses augmented reality

to place ghosts on the screen for

you to shoot.

It’s Facebook, but for hamsters.

Figure out what your app is

awesome at. Write it down.

This is your new mission

statement. Now live it.

Chapter 3The Cruel Beauty of

Evolution

Darwin is alive and well in the app world.

Your competition

is out to get you,

even if they don’t

know you exist.

Photo Credit: Les_Stockton(Flickr)

Gut check time.

• Can you name the top five competitors to

your app?

• How does your app compare to these

competitors (be honest with yourself!)?

How do others assess your app to the

competition?

• Think into the future – can you foresee

new competitors for your app? Can you

anticipate how a new competitor’s app

Chapter 4The (Adoring)

Crowd

What do gladiators and apps have in common?

Apps live and

die at the whim

of the crowd. Photo Credit: Johnson Cameraface (Flickr)

Only 26% of all mobile apps

downloaded are ever opened more

than once.*

*Source: Localytics, “ First Impressions Matter”

A user might be willing to download

your app, but if it’s not awesome on

the first run, you’ve lost that user.

Make it as simples as possible for a

user to love your app. Remove points

of friction to that connection.

Case Study: Healthpack Games

Case Study: Bilingual Child

Source: https://medium.com/what-i-learned-building/a8e04b2d85fe

Chapter 5The Secret’s Out

If you’re building an app,

you’re building a business

Every business needs a marketing plan.

A typical App Marketing Plan includes the

following:

1.Goals - how are you defining success?

2.Profit / Loss Analysis – when will you break

even?

3.A Pricing Strategy – do you plan on price

changes down road? When? Why?

4.Audience: - Who is your target audience?

5.Competitive Research – who are your

competitors? How are you addressing them?

Source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/04/40-awesome-iphone-application-websites/

Source: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/04/40-awesome-iphone-application-websites/

Chapter 6Allow myself to

introduce….myself.

What do you think is the very

first interaction your app will

have with the average user?

Hint: It’s not a trick question…

The app marketplace is usually

the first interaction users will

have with your app.

Things to think about with your app submission

• Your app’s

icon or tile

Think about:

• The image

associated with the

app

• Choice of colour

• The message your

Things to think about with your app submission

• Your app’s

description

Think about:

• Pitching your app

• The length of the

description

• Grammar and

spelling

Things to think about with your app submission

• Your app’s

screenshots

Think about:

• Highlighting the

strengths

• The number of

screenshots

• What users are

Chapter 7Jackpot!

The tyranny of price

The average

price of an

iPhone app in

Apple’s App

store in 2011

was $1.61.

The price of an

extra large

coffee at Tim

Horton’s is

$1.90.

Picture Source: http://euroross.blogspot.com/2006/08/workplace-evals.html

$1.99 for that? Are

they crazy??? I’ll

pass.

$0.99 for an app that

does <your scenario

here/>. Must not be

very good. I’ll pass.

If you price your

app too

high, users will

bolt.If you price your

app too low,

users will bolt.

A word on trials…

Yes.

Trial

Mode

70 times

more

downloa

ds

10%

trial-to-

paid

conversi

on

7 times

the

number

of paid

app

sales

The principles of a trial

Don’t give it away

Make the trial

compelling

Use Ads

Chapter 8Hard choices

Mobile Analytics should be built

into your app from day 0.

Analytics allow you to:

1. Determine what features of your

app are most popular

2. How many people open it more than

once

3. Be agile in finding common issues

and crashes

4. Identify mobile profiles that are

using your app

Chapter 9IT’S ALIVE!!!

Apps that get updated are

apps that get downloaded.

Epilogue

If you’re building an

app, you’re building a

business.

You need to love your app for

others to love it to.

[email protected]

Picture Source: nedrichards (Flickr)