The fact that @ FusionSheep we're now preparing a big news for the next week, made me think about the lifecycle of an application. I need to carefully plan the entering and existance of our flag product on the markets where it will be published.
It is interesting how much the lifecycle of an application shortened in mobile space in comparison to desktop space. I still, on ocasion, play UFO: Enemy Unkown, but have not play Angry Birds in months now, and actually I'm not planning to.
So I came with some mental framework, how to think about the lifecycle of an app. If you have anything to add to it please share your thoughts below.
For me there exist thee phases of a product. Awarness -- Usage -- End.
Awarness is the time of discovery. It is facilitated by Store presence, reviews of an application, your reputation, app icon and description. Your task as a product officer is to create as good first contact as possible.
Hint #1 make rating easier for heavy user of your app!
To do it just measure programatically how many times user opened your app, and just open some dialog box with this possibility of redirection to an app store to give your app some love. If you're working in android space there is a decent library for that link to github - AppiRater.
Second phase is Usage. There is always major promise of how your app will benefit your User, and how easily (s)he can achieve this goal. But, I believe there are major milestones as well.
In this we have following elements, First Use, Support, Update Cycles and New Features.
Hint #2 make a tutorial for the first-timers!
I like the apporach of Pulse.me Application to the Tutorial.
As you can see it's fairly complex application, and helping user understand the process in this immersive way is way to go.
Hint #3 plan update cycles in week long iterations, at least in Android.
It takes a week come to the top of the Android Just In list.
Last phase is the End, sad moment when user found that the job your app is doing is not satisfing enough.
Make sure that you're thought launch over in every direction couple of times.
Anyway wish us luck, if all will go as planned next week we will start our beta tests :-). If you want to be a part of this group, send me a email at mailto:info@fusionsheep.com with type of OS/Browser combo you're using (for now only Chrome and FF will have our support), and what mobile platforms you use on daily basis (Android, iPhone/iPad).
Here I want to share with you my perception of torunament which is currently ongoing in capital of Poland, European Blizzard Invitational. It will be mostly about event itself and how epic it was. So if you're looking more in-depth information about game or esport please go chceck SCReddit instead.
Poland is a young democration. For some history you can always go to Wikipedia, here I just want to underline that there are possibly way more important problems than some computer games competition in this country, yet thousands of people came from all over the country to root for their favorite players (Tarson and Nerchio, not to mention favorite of many ukrainian player WhiteRA). What makes it so special we can leave to the specialists for example from Stanford. But where it will lead us this on what I want to focus here.
Here is some footage from the beginning, two first players greeted by public. Like you see enegry level was spectacular.
One of the most memorable moment of this event for me was cheering up for Tarson, one of the most distinguished representants of Poland, after he won a game with Socke from Alternate. Whole public was chanting Tarson's name and he recieved a standing ovation.
Here is a final moments of game two.
Other fantastic moment was when public chanted WhiteRA's nickname after he was eliminated from the torunament by Nerchio.
There moment of finals when Carmack says "This is for you", and public gives him a standing applaud, was one of the sickest esport history. NaNiwa is famous in cummunity for beeing very ambitious, having really high expectations, this is reflected in this confusion after a lost game with Liquid_Ret. When he finally breaks and squeezes out a nerd tear, was the best moment in this Torunament.
And a guy who was teaching his kid to play StarCraft, there was at least one guy. But I bet this is happening right in many places now.
So here are the facts, several hunderds of people came today to the venue to watch comptetition live, cheer for their favorite players meet with friends with whom they usually play just online and to gather some loot of course. Many thoudsands of others watched it in home, streamed. Countless sumissions we're made on Reddit it was not trending topic on Twitter, partially it was a fault of the organisers partially because penetration of Twitter in Poland is still not satisfactional, in one word esport, and Starcraft 2 especially became a vital part of many people.
Thanks to courtuasy of my friend I've added some media to this post. Hope you will enjoy it. I will definietely give more attention to this topic in time. So stay tuned.
We had a quick twitter lecture (;-)) by Tomi Ahonen on the fact that SMS is in decline on some markets (currently in Sweden and Chech Republic).
Here are the link to notes about both markets: Chech, and Sweden.
Quick introduction.
As you may now SMS is currently most popular data exchange service in the world (and a matter of fact most profitable), in 2010 ITU estimates 6.1 Trillion of SMS'es will be sent worldwide. Each mobile phone on the planet is prepared to work with this format, so the user base is simply stunning. Usually during holidays time the biggest number of text messages was sent, and it looks that in Chech and Sweden for the first time in history the number was smaller than the last year.
If we will see it confirmed on other well developed markets we may be witnessing significant shift in technology consumption.
Tomi Ahonen suggested that the best candidate for SMS heir will be IM. Why it's unlikely was well pointed by John Kyronhere.
I want to share some thoughts why it can be accomplished by IM:
Android has a decent user base, and each Android phone is equipped with gTalk. (market), still it's smaller than SMS of course.
IM is free. Even if SMS costs 5 euro cents, cost of IM is nothing. (budget)
gTalk is rich with features. Allows me to preview youTube links, links to photos etc. (experience)
gTalk is connected to my Google Profile, if I will lost my phone in seconds (if I will use new phone I will be able to be online, with phone number is not so easy) (convenience)
Google ID is way more personal than phone number. (experience)
One of the reasons mentioned by John was the fact that the IM market is fragmented. I would say that the problem is not the brand of IM itself (ICQ, gTalk, AIM), but the protocols and integration. After all I can connect to my Fring (one of the leaders of IM integration services): MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, AIM, Facebook, Twitter, SIP and something from Yahoo. So the problem of dependency on the platform is not so relevant. But it goes even further.
In the near future most of IM services should be based on open(!)XMPP communication protocol, gTalk already is.
Security argument mentioned by John Kyron are also less relevant when it comes to XMPP standard, simply because XMPP has build in security layers like TSL and SASL, what makes it safer than SMS as a matter of fact :-).
Of course we will need to wait, like Tomi suggested couple of years for adoption of this technology. But it's good to know that technology is already in use.
Also IM allows (BB and Android users already know it), for more interesting experience than simple text message, what can be a good information for making this services profitable.
Now if anyone can give me informations what is the market segmentation on devices in Chech Republic and Sweden, and why this two markets looks more advanced that the rest...
From the website of manufacturer, Tesla Motors we're taking the specification.
What we have there when it comes to a Battery usage:
- it takes 3.5h to fully charge battery at 240 Volts and 70 Amps. What does this mean?
To calculate the cost we need to know how much power do we need to fully recharge. 1W [Watt] = 1V [Volt] * 1A [Amper]. So to fully charge the Tesla Roadster battery we need 16800W = 16,8kW.
On a fully charged battery we can make 245 miles, so approximately 360 km.
On this websitewe check the costs of energy in different countries of Europe.
Few examples:
Electricity prices:
United Kingdom cost of 1kW is 0.138 Euro.
In Netherlands cost of 1kW is 0.241 Euro.
Poland cost of 1kW is 0.14 Euro.
Fuel prices:
United Kingdom cost of one litre is 1.41 Euro.
Netherlands cost of one litre is 1.53 Euro.
In Poland cost of one litre is 1.17 Euro.
To make 400 km, in two scenarios, one using electric car, second using fuel powered car in three different countries we will need to spent:
United Kingdom, to make 400km on electric we need to spent 2,32 Euro, on a fuel 23,15 Euro.
Netherlands, electric car 4.45 Euro, on a fuel 22.95 Euro.
In Poland, for electricity powered trip 2.6 Euro, on a fuel 17,55 Euro.
As we can see this can be an amazing investment for companies and normal people as well, but keep in mind there are many other factors to incorporate to calculate the profitability (service costs are the most obvious, and I'm very interested in them, if you have any data about it please let me know).
Even if Simplicity is not an universal answer for usability problems. Importance of this approach is very important in mobile. The reasons why mobile is unique and requires simplified solutions are few:
1. reaction time of a user is much faster on mobile (especially with touch screens) than it's on desktop computers.
2. mobile is usually used in much more hectic environment. On the street, in a car, I believe soon it will become obvious that each doctor will use some kind of tablet/smartphone to support his decisions. Because of that when user has only seconds to decide designer must create simple tools.
3. space and tools to interact with the interface are much more scarce. Because of that designer must answer a question how to deal with this issue.
So how to create more usable product by simplifying interface?
The solutions can be grouped in four approaches:
A. Removing Features. Get rid of the features user barely use.
B. Hiding Features. Put some of the features behind some layer where they won't be seen all the time.
C. Group Features. Put everything in logical groups.
D. Displace Features. Move some features to other device to which mobile is a controller and allow navigation in some kind of on screen menu.
Ad A.
Of course is not a such a simple. If you remove some features someone will care. Probably in this context Pareto rule is in use (80% of users use 20% of features), but the problem remains how to find this 20% of features. Also removing the features may lead to more complex interaction with the object. The iPhone philosophy of one Button, in my case is causing lot of problems, because it requires from me constant switching
In this short post I want to present you some framework how to think about usability. The reason why I'm doing it is strictly egoistic, I want to see better solutions in both products and services, and to get my thoughts on this structured ;-). Let's start with most common miss conception about usability.
Most of us are living in a culture of technology, on a daily basis we use our smartphones, e-readers, laptops, remote controllers, cars etc. All this tools we're years ago designed by engineers for which efficiency and effectiveness was way more important than simplicity. Today when computers are used by majority of population in developed countries, simplicity becomes most important factor when it comes to choose what service, and what tool user will choose from a variety of solutions offered by Today's market.
Why people are demanding from designers less?
1. Simple gets your stuff done faster.
2. We do more stuff Today, than any time before. With limited time resources, we have no time to cope with complicated interfaces and steep learning curve.
3. No one reads a manuals! We need something simple. Something what we can pick up and use right away.
4. Because we're using technology in safety critical environments (like GPS navigation software), complexity may cost human life.
Simplicity has become a goal for itself for our culture. Alain de Botton, pointed out that cultures are drawn to create the things that are missing from their age and environment. It's anthropological explanation but maybe, just maybe, in our world of relativeness and globalization we aspire to things which are minimalistic, pared down, and simple, because we may be so easily distracted at any time by a stranger in other part of the world. It's an open topic I would love to hear your thought on it.
"Less is more", famous sentence by Mies Van Den Rohe, has become kind of panacea for designers. But it's not the answer, Less is not an answer. As a matter fact what we consider to be usable varies depending on context. The ISO definition of usability contains three elements: Efficiency, Effectiveness and Satisfaction.
Let's take three context as a examples:
Few weeks ago I was introduced to system created by Comarch, one of the major software producing companies in Poland, for managing financial side of a enterprise. The simplicity was very low, other factors was really high. Overall impression from a perspective user was low, but it's not a point, because Enterprises are not interested in simplicity the main goal is Effectiveness. And this software was terrific in filling this market gap.
A good example of a system which is focused on Efficiency is each huge fast food restaurant. The main goal is to make as many transaction in a small amount of time as possible. That's why Effectiveness and Satisfaction are not so important. Of course they will say hello and goodbye, but you cannot expect the same level of interaction like one you have in a top-notch restaurants where some decisions are made for you and your convenience is as much important as the quality of food is.
Finally we have a Consumer oriented services, like restaurants where you experiencing whole process from the entrance to the exit doors. In this context, Satisfaction is most important factor, Efficiency is much less important. Because in each consumer oriented business this is a main focus, you need to leave Satisfied by any cost. This is the reason you're paying few hundred percent more for a bottle of favorite wine in such places.
If you want to create something Simple for all customers you need to take under consideration all this criteria. And it's not a simple task.
Tomorrow I will describe how to be closer to designing simpler but usable products. See you Tomorrow!
And thanks for reading. All comments are welcomed :-).
"Mobile is all about people" that was one of the opening statements made by Peter Giblin, director of the mLove conFestival. But first what is the conFestival? Following Pete's explanation it's a merge of Conference and Festival. On the one hand you have a group of top-notch specialists in the specific field. On the second bunch of frighteningly creative artists. Merge it together, add highest standards of organization, add a sponge of fantastic cuisine. And you slowly will be closer to draw in your mind a picture what mLove is.
From the first day, I knew that it will be one of the most important events attended by me. Beautiful venue, with flaws which only added the flavor. Speakers which shares the passion on the highest world level, like Kazi Islam, founder of Grameenphone IT, company which stated Village Phone program. Powerful idea to provide mobile communication solutions to rural areas of the Bangladesh. Following Wikipedia: "In September 2006, there are more than 255,000 Village Phones in operation in 55,000 villages around Bangladesh. This program has been replicated also in some other countries including in Uganda and Rwanda.
Top specialists in User Interaction like Amish Patel. His speak about future of interfaces makes Star Trek not such a distant future. Gadgeter Marc Mielau, presented common flaws in interfaces around us, and possible way how to make our life more bearable by making them more intuitive.
To unbelievable talk of Lama Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Imagine 200 people, very busy people, involved in so many different project, constantly connected to their Twitter feeds, hardwired to the Internet with smartphones, listening to and understanding thousands years old teachings of Buddhism. That was most powerful experience I had during this three days.
Art part was so powerful that words cannot describe it. Projectil team made a Castle a living creature, you can take a look here, but it only gives you a small fraction of whole experience. Anyway it will allow you to catch the idea.
Fantastic musicians like Rocky and Balls
and a String Quartet from local philharmonic during first day, added additional space to this amazing event.
In final, I want to thank all mLove team for making this possible. If inspiration is a derivate of happiness, you made a world slightly better place, and in the end it's all that matters.
I want to inform you about small change in our planes. Rest of our sensors series will be published on www.droidnova.com. It's great place to learn Android. And I think that sensors series, should belong there. It's run by Martin Breuer from Berlin. He is a great Android progammer.
Still I'll post informations about ongoing progress of the series here with proper links.
Sorry for problems, but I feel it will be better for all of us. You will have access to bigger number of materials, and bigger community.
Hello busy reader, in following few posts I want to introduce you to Sensors in Android. Today we will build some general picture, in following days we will digg much deaper into this fascinating topic.
Sensors is a overall term refering to ways how Android can detect elements of the phisical world around it. It can be very benefitial. And this technology is now used in great extend in industry i.e. cars now are far more complicated in terms of software than planes.
Android can support following sensors: 1. An accelerometr, to detect motion of the device. 2. An ambient light sensor, telling you how dark or how bright sourrounding is. 3. A magnetic field sensor, to detect magnetic fields nerby. 4. An orientation sensor, tells how device is positioned in all three dimensions. 5. A proximity sensor, detects distance to other objects. 6. A temperature sensor, tells temperature of the surrounding environment.
Of course not all sensors are included in current devices, what for sure is present in HTC phones are: 1. The accelerometr. 2. The magnetic field sensor, and 3. Orientation sensor.
In few following blog posts I will describe how you can work with sensors and what kind of benefits user can expect. We will start with orientation sensor and we will build simple compass. Next we will build shake app with accelerometr sensor. In finish we will make steering wheel app. Which possibly will allow you to build some sweet race game.
This is longest known to me palindrome, it has 224 and was written by Demetri Martin.
Dammit I’m mad. Evil is a deed as I live. God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt. To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss. Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help? Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell. I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”. Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp, In my halo of a mired rum tin. I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin. Is evil in a clam? In a trap? No. It is open. On it I was stuck. Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web. Be still if I fill its ebb. Ew, a spider… eh? We sleep. Oh no! Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position. Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name. Both, one… my names are in it. Murder? I’m a fool. A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash, A Goddam level I lived at. On mail let it in. I’m it. Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet! A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name. Name not one bottle minus an ode by me: “Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog” Evil is a deed as I live. Dammit I’m mad.
