App User Testing Made Simple

App User Testing Made Simple

Launching your new app or a new version of your existing app takes a great deal of work, meeting deadlines, pre-launch publicity, marketing, coordination, communication and so more. Just before you launch your app it is essential to conduct App User Testing to ensure the app’s all ready to woo the user. Slightest lag in User Testing can actually induce app ‘uninstalls’ which can be more fatal than ‘fewer installations’.

App User Test is not the ‘quality check’ that your technical department does with programmers or staff testing out different functions of the app. Developers often see the app from a certain angle. The promptness of the design is assumed, functionality is assumed to be simple, and the whole UX is simulated. App User Test is when real users or a random group of common people get the real feel of usability, functionality, UX and design of your app. Here is where you get the actual answer of whether your app meets its purpose, raison d’etre. User App Testing helps the user get an objective view of the usability and functionality of the app at an early stage, which can help solve so many issues even before they crop up.

Even though App User Test is imperative, you don’t necessarily need to burn your budget to get high tech labs, testing agencies, paid user groups etc. Given below are some tips to get your App User Test done in an amazingly simple and budget friendly manner.

1. Use your contacts – Get in touch with your contacts, both personal and professional. Ask them to download the app and give their feedback. You can also design a feedback form. Provide an incentive for every feedback offered.
3. Test across devices – If your app is going to be launched across platforms, Android, iOS, Windows, make sure you get feedback on all platforms and devices like cell phone, tab, laptop etc.
4. Launch a Social Media campaign – Create a Facebook page where you could ask users to provide feedback on the app. Make the campaign so compelling that it goes viral, users actually share it on social media. This will also help marketing a great deal.
5. Ask random people on the streets – Ask people for quick opinions or feedback about the app. At the end of the exercise you’d be overwhelmed with the precise points and exact suggestions that come to you. And actually speaking a lot of the users would be forming their opinions in quick glances only.

There are many interesting ways you can get real feedback from the real users. Think of some? Share with us in the comments below.

App Marketing

App Marketing – Quick Tips For Quick Results

If we read expert advise for app marketing, most would strongly suggest that app marketing should be integrated with the holistic marketing plan and there should be a consolidated marketing strategy that should not alienate one customer touch point from the other. This is the ideal way it should be done too. But there are two problems here. First, with an app in place, CEOs start expecting fast results and second, an app per se is in itself a whole new product that needs to be sold to the user.

While tampering with the consolidated marketing strategy might not be the sensible option, here are some quick tips that would help you popularize your app without making any changes in the company’s marketing strategy.

Promote your app on the mobile website: Show the carrot. Tell users the benefits of installing the app. Give compelling reasons.

ASO: ASO is to apps what SEO is to websites. Google Play Store and Apple Store have specific criterion on the basis of which they feature apps in a certain order. Although this is a comprehensive study in itself, but you could quickly look up the criteria for your app category. It’s a combination of user ratings, tags, screen shots, app title, download data etc., find out what works best for your category.

Get your app reviewed on top app review sites: The app review sites not only command user attention but also get your app some useful ASO links.

Advertise/Broadcast your link on Social Media: Study suggests that users are more likely to respond to social media ads than to ads on the web. Make sure the social media ads are interesting, humorous and compelling. Such ads have a chance to go viral that can be perhaps the best publicity your app can get.

Get a video explaining the functionality of your app: A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a thousand pictures. Get a video on the functionality of the app and post it across the web on video blogs, YouTube, social media, your company website and every where you can think of marketing your product.

This is just the hint of what you can do. There are a whole lot of interesting ways to market your app. If this blog has spurred some interesting ideas on app marketing, please do share them with us in the comments below.