Tapping into user feedback to make apps users love

Making  Apps  People  Love:      

How  to  tap  into  user  feedback  Claire  McGregor  

Co-­‐founder,  Appbot.co  

Making  apps  people  love  =  listening  to  users.    

 Key  techniques  are…  

IdenGfying  (or  creaGng)  a  “Wow!”  moment.  

AggregaGng  feature  requests  in  app  reviews.  

Understanding  the  impact  of  listening  to  users  (or  not  L).  

StarGng  conversaGons:    Review  workflows.  

PuSng  your  inbox  to  work.  

Using  TwiVer  to  your  advantage.  

Loving  your  compeGtors.  

IdenGfying  or  creaGng  your  app’s  “Wow”  moment?  

Really  successful  apps  have  3    things  in  common:    

•  They  delight  users  •  They  understand  exactly  what  in  their  app  leaves  users  feeling  delighted  (the  “wow”)  

•  And  they  use  that  informa=on  effec=vely  – Marke=ng  – ASO  

What  is  a  “wow”  moment”  

It’s  the  moment(s)  in  your  app  that:    •  Makes  users  smile  •  Users  show  their  friends  and  family  •  Is  oGen  shared  on  social  media  •  Is  repeatedly  men=oned  in  5  star  reviews  •  If  you  talk  to  users  (other  than  your  mum),  it’s  probably  the  thing  they  say  “I  really  love  how  it….”  

Really  life-­‐changing  apps  oZen    have  more  than  one.  

A  properly  leveraged  “Wow!”  moment  maximizes  online  &  offline  referrals  to  your  app.    Some  examples…  

The  voice  prompts  in    7  Minute  Workout  

The  accuracy,  speed  &  simplicity  of  Shazam  

The  transparency  &  efficiency  of  Uber  

Why  “Wow”  maVers  so  much…  

Get  your  users  to  “Wow!”  fast  

Use  it  in  MarkeGng  

Make  it  easy  to  share  

Ask  for  reviews  at  the  right  =me  

A  properly  leveraged  “Wow!”  moment  maximizes  online  &  offline  referrals  to  your  app.  

Great  “Wow!”  moments  don’t  happen  by  accident…  

How  did  these  companies    create  and  capitalize  on  these?  Where to look What to do

5 star reviews Read and cluster by word and theme

Competitor reviews Read and cluster – look for feature requests

Social media channels Look for most favourited/retweeted/shared suggestions or existing features

Competitors’ social media channels Look for most favourited/retweeted/shared feature requests or pain points

Feedback channel – review workflow Organize & cluster feature requests and compliments in feedback from happy users

Support emails Organize & cluster feature requests and compliments in emails

Finding  feature  requests  in  reviews,  fast  

Low-­‐tech  opGons  

•  Search  for  clue  phrases  in  app  reviews  – "Would  be  great  if…"  – "Could  you  please…"  – "Please  add…"  

•  Record  results  somewhere  shareable:    – Excel  via  Dropbox  – Google  Sheets  – Trello  

Clustering  by  topic  

Clustering  –  Word  Clouds  

Clustering  –  rank  words  by  count  

Results  of  listening  closely  

What  about  when  things  don’t    go  to  plan?  

Iterate  quickly  based  on    data-­‐driven  prioriGes.    

Make  use  of  release  notes    in  App  Store.  

NoGfy  requestors  of  changes.    

Monitor  raGngs  &  reviews  for  reacGon.    

Start  conversaGons:  Review  workflows  

Well-­‐located  prompt  

Qualifying  Ques=on  

Funnel  happy  users  to  review  

Un-­‐happy  users  to  send  feedback  

More  5  star  reviews  

Ability  to  iniGate  a  conversaGon  –  ask  for  more  info  etc  

Increased  text  feedback  

Less  1  star  reviews  

The  benefits:  

If  you’re  lucky…  

PuSng  your  inbox  to  work  

Clustering…  again  

•  Manually  – Trello  – Gmail  labels  – Google  Spreadsheet  

Clustering…  again  

•  Manually  – Trello  – Gmail  labels  – Google  Spreadsheet  

•   Automate  – CRMs  like  Zendesk    – More  basic  version  with  Gmail  filters  (teams  of  one)  

Using  CRM’s  for  feature  requests:  

Build  what  is  requested  most  oZen,  not  most  recently.    

Close  the  loop:      NoGfy  requestors  when  you’ve    built  the  feature  they  asked  for.  

Hard  lessons  about  support  

•  Start  straight  away  •  Make  sure  it’s  shareable  •  Think  long-­‐term  •  Best  if  in-­‐line  with  other  channels  like  reviews  and  social  media  –  run  reports  in  one  tool.  

Use  TwiVer  to  your  advantage  

If  you  have  a  large  TwiVer  presence:  •  Learn  your  customer’s  response  to  your  “wow”  moment  or  UVP  – Search  “Your_handle  wow_moment”  

•  Track  down  (and  correct)  known  issues  – Search  “Your_handle  known_issue”  

Or  if  not:  

You  can  do  the  same:  

•  If  you’ve  got  hunches  about  compe=tor  pain  points,  quan=fy  them:    – Search  “compe=tor_handle/name  pain_point”  

– Then  solve  them!  

•  If  you  want  to  test  your  point  of  difference  really  macers  to  compe=tors  users:  – Search  “compe=tor_handle/name  point_of_difference/wow_moment”  

Two  good  reasons  to  love  your  compeGtors.  

CompeGtors  do  your    research  for  you  

You  are  probably  faster  than  they  are!  

Watch  them  closely  

•  Google  Alerts  •  Monitor  them  with  a  Twicer  search  •  Follow  their  Facebook  page  •  Follow  them  on  Quora  •  Subscribe  to  their  content    •  Monitor  their  reviews  •  And  anywhere  else  that  you  can  measure  user  interac=ons….  

Look  for  

•  Pain  points  •  Requests  •  Sugges=ons    Then  do  it  faster  or  becer  (or  both!).  

A  quick  recap  

•  Iden=fying  your  “wow”  moment  •  Quick  ways  to  aggregate  feature  requests  •  The  impact  of  listening  to  users  (or  not  L)  •  Star=ng  conversa=ons  with  review  workflows  •  Pueng  your  inbox  to  work  •  Using  Twicer  to  your  advantage  •  Two  good  reasons  to  love  compe=tors  

Tweet  me,  maybe?    @clairesayshi  @AppbotX  

 Read  more:  blog.appbot.co