Conversation with the creators of top iOS-applications: "Marketing is nothing, design is everything." Path
In the process of developing my first mobile application, I really lacked the experience of more advanced market mates. I decided to fill this information gap. Here is the first of a series of materials written on the basis of my communication with the creators of various applications. Selection criteria - popularity and availability of the application in my iPhone.
The most operative responding to my requests were the creators of Path , they and the word. In the following posts we will tell about applications Twitter, 4square, Pedometer, Bump, Shazam and others.
Path is a mobile-only social network with 6 million users. Already only these two parameters make it interesting in terms of development and marketing. In short, the meaning of Path and its answer to the meme question “Why another social network?” Comes to this. Like, Facebook, Twitter and so on. create a platform for sharing your personal information with everyone. Path limits the number of possible friends to 150. Only close people in subscribers allow users to be more open and upload all important moments of their lives to the application. True, some “features” for this chronicle of their own lives are touching to affection: there is even a separate button with which you can indicate that you have gone to sleep or woke up.
You can criticize or praise the idea, but you can’t argue with the relative popularity of the Path. I, too, would not refuse to have 6 million users use my application. So I tried to figure out the secret.
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What is important
To the question, in what “dimension” of the application is the “secret of success” hidden, representatives of Path answered simply: design is all . And when the design and the idea are good, specifically promote the application, buy downloads, advertising, etc. not necessary. Path has become a kind of fashion dictator in the AppStore design. In confirmation, the creators indicate TechCrunch Crunchies awards in the Best Design and TechFellow Awards nomination for product design and marketing for the chief designer.
The creators of Path believe that design becomes even more important when it comes to smartphones (as opposed to desktops). Then a little pathetics and PR, beautifully said, so let me give the answer from the Path quote:
Platform
The application is for iOS and Android. Explanation of this choice, developers give quite predictable: the largest market share for these operating systems. By the way, the Android version was released 8 months after iOS - according to Path representatives, they received a request from users and therefore decided to make a version for this OS. Port to other platforms application is not going to.
At the end of 2012 , a separate version for iPad appeared. This is also the answer to the demand of users.
About how intersecting the audience of iPhone and iPad versions, was not told in Path, but I am sure that the proportion of intersection should be large.
Protection
It seemed to me that the application, the whole idea of ​​which is built on the enhanced security of users from the outside world, should have a good security system. The developers said that they protect the transmitted information using SSL, and since last year the data in the database is encrypted. In the future, Path will also receive a TRUSTe certificate.
In the case of Path, there is another aspect of protection - users from themselves. So that they are not carried away by posting to other social networks, there is no automatic posting in the Path (such as on Instagram): every time a user is posted, they ask if they want to duplicate the post to another social media. By the way, by and large, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and so on. are Path competitors. The creators of Path did not comment on this fact and didn’t respond to my question about the popularity of the posting function in other social services.
Marketing
This point I was very interested in, as many here, on Habré , and at various conferences, forums, etc. They write that no matter how beautiful, interesting, useful and thoughtful the application was, marketing is almost half the success. According to Path representatives, this statement is false, at least for their creation. “All users found out about us through word of mouth, Facebook and Twitter,” they say. Maybe this is true, all the more tight binding to marketing in the AppStore today is more likely due to a lot of competition, which was not at the time of launching Path. Your opinion?
Monetization
I could not ask a question about how they are going to make a profit there. While money comes from using premium filters for photos and commissions from downloading songs through the app. And it seems to me, about billions here we are not talking. But Path has a huge array of data about users, including those about which users on Facebook and other more open social networks prefer to keep silent. This information could be used for super-targeted effective advertising.
In response to my assumption, Path representatives “vowed” promised that they would not use this information in this way, but now they are looking for alternative sources of income. Although I would say that it’s time to look for “your billion dollars” from “your Facebook”.
Advice to developers
I hoped that this question would give interlocutors a chance to philosophize. But by this time they, apparently, were already tired and confined to a brief “focus on design”. Simple design requires a lot of time and close attention to detail, but at the same time it is extremely important for user experience. Well, here you can not argue.
What the creators of Path still did not mention: the difference in Android and iOS audience activity, server software, databases, in-app purchase details, frameworks or libraries, staff, getting into the top AppStore, the Russian version and attracting a Russian audience, methods of working with negative and problem solving, etc. By the way, if one of the creators of the hits of the AppStore / Android Market is ready to tell frankly about all this without too much conspiracy, welcome: info@zomiesapps.com.
The most operative responding to my requests were the creators of Path , they and the word. In the following posts we will tell about applications Twitter, 4square, Pedometer, Bump, Shazam and others.
Path is a mobile-only social network with 6 million users. Already only these two parameters make it interesting in terms of development and marketing. In short, the meaning of Path and its answer to the meme question “Why another social network?” Comes to this. Like, Facebook, Twitter and so on. create a platform for sharing your personal information with everyone. Path limits the number of possible friends to 150. Only close people in subscribers allow users to be more open and upload all important moments of their lives to the application. True, some “features” for this chronicle of their own lives are touching to affection: there is even a separate button with which you can indicate that you have gone to sleep or woke up.
You can criticize or praise the idea, but you can’t argue with the relative popularity of the Path. I, too, would not refuse to have 6 million users use my application. So I tried to figure out the secret.
')
What is important
To the question, in what “dimension” of the application is the “secret of success” hidden, representatives of Path answered simply: design is all . And when the design and the idea are good, specifically promote the application, buy downloads, advertising, etc. not necessary. Path has become a kind of fashion dictator in the AppStore design. In confirmation, the creators indicate TechCrunch Crunchies awards in the Best Design and TechFellow Awards nomination for product design and marketing for the chief designer.
The creators of Path believe that design becomes even more important when it comes to smartphones (as opposed to desktops). Then a little pathetics and PR, beautifully said, so let me give the answer from the Path quote:
“Great projects start with great design. It is difficult to create a good interface for mobile devices, and one of the main goals in our work on the Path was to solve this problem. In Path, we wanted to ensure that the user felt an intimate and unique atmosphere that is not found in most social services, where everyone sees everything. Our designers and engineers worked together from the very beginning to create a product that could inspire with design, information and communication between Android and iOS users. ”
Original
Great products start with great design. It’s tackle that problem. Path to something in the public and social life. It is a great deal of business for both developers and engineers.
Platform
The application is for iOS and Android. Explanation of this choice, developers give quite predictable: the largest market share for these operating systems. By the way, the Android version was released 8 months after iOS - according to Path representatives, they received a request from users and therefore decided to make a version for this OS. Port to other platforms application is not going to.
At the end of 2012 , a separate version for iPad appeared. This is also the answer to the demand of users.
“The iPad version gives us the opportunity to expand our focus on the mobile version: people carry their tablets with them everywhere, almost like mobile phones.”
Original
ipod
About how intersecting the audience of iPhone and iPad versions, was not told in Path, but I am sure that the proportion of intersection should be large.
Protection
It seemed to me that the application, the whole idea of ​​which is built on the enhanced security of users from the outside world, should have a good security system. The developers said that they protect the transmitted information using SSL, and since last year the data in the database is encrypted. In the future, Path will also receive a TRUSTe certificate.
In the case of Path, there is another aspect of protection - users from themselves. So that they are not carried away by posting to other social networks, there is no automatic posting in the Path (such as on Instagram): every time a user is posted, they ask if they want to duplicate the post to another social media. By the way, by and large, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and so on. are Path competitors. The creators of Path did not comment on this fact and didn’t respond to my question about the popularity of the posting function in other social services.
Marketing
This point I was very interested in, as many here, on Habré , and at various conferences, forums, etc. They write that no matter how beautiful, interesting, useful and thoughtful the application was, marketing is almost half the success. According to Path representatives, this statement is false, at least for their creation. “All users found out about us through word of mouth, Facebook and Twitter,” they say. Maybe this is true, all the more tight binding to marketing in the AppStore today is more likely due to a lot of competition, which was not at the time of launching Path. Your opinion?
Monetization
I could not ask a question about how they are going to make a profit there. While money comes from using premium filters for photos and commissions from downloading songs through the app. And it seems to me, about billions here we are not talking. But Path has a huge array of data about users, including those about which users on Facebook and other more open social networks prefer to keep silent. This information could be used for super-targeted effective advertising.
In response to my assumption, Path representatives “vowed” promised that they would not use this information in this way, but now they are looking for alternative sources of income. Although I would say that it’s time to look for “your billion dollars” from “your Facebook”.
Advice to developers
I hoped that this question would give interlocutors a chance to philosophize. But by this time they, apparently, were already tired and confined to a brief “focus on design”. Simple design requires a lot of time and close attention to detail, but at the same time it is extremely important for user experience. Well, here you can not argue.
What the creators of Path still did not mention: the difference in Android and iOS audience activity, server software, databases, in-app purchase details, frameworks or libraries, staff, getting into the top AppStore, the Russian version and attracting a Russian audience, methods of working with negative and problem solving, etc. By the way, if one of the creators of the hits of the AppStore / Android Market is ready to tell frankly about all this without too much conspiracy, welcome: info@zomiesapps.com.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/170703/
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