The launch history of the Hideninja VPN application for Android (Part 2): The path to the correct UI, the importance of testing
In the first part, I talked about how the first prototype was made and how we experienced a hacking in-app purchase.
After the successful release of the first prototype, version 2 of the application was released, the UI and UX of which were already rethought with more attention to competitors and the wishes of our first users. A list of servers for connecting on a separate screen was added, the main screen was completely changed: a visual IP checker with a country flag, buttons on the social network were added, the main call-to-action button became large and colored, and it looked like this:
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In fact, it was the second version that became the proof of my hypothesis, the application was warmly accepted by users and proved that I was on the right track.
The second version lasted several months. In late April, I began to think about changing the design, since it was still quite clumsy and did not satisfy the growing functionality.
I began to carefully study the Google Now card interface and think over the new UI “Hideninja VPN” in this style.
On May 8, version 3.0 with a completely new UI was posted on Google Play. May 15 for Russia released the fourth version of Google Play with an updated design in the same card style.
The decision to make the third version of “Hideninja VPN” card-style UI was absolutely correct: if the user experience from interacting with my application is similar to that from using the most popular Android applications, this will help my user to more quickly understand “Hideninja VPN” and more positively perceive it. When we put version 3.0 on the page, we received hundreds of extremely positive reviews - the design was 100% successful!
As before, as in previous versions, I did the design; third-party experts were not involved. 1 sleepless night was spent on inventing and rendering the layout. We've been using the card UI for five months now, making only minor changes due to changes in functionality. Here's what version 3.0 looked like:
Compare all three versions (first prototype, 2.0, 3.0, respectively):
The rake "lack of quality testing" came and we. Until a certain point, everything went well until the application was updated with new features and the design was not changed. How we tested the application: it was going to build, put on my personal smartphone, and I poked all the possible buttons in different sequences for a couple of evenings. But the danger of Android is that even within the same OS version, different manufacturers allow themselves to change not only the graphical shell but also the kernel components. So we faced the problem of the VPNService API cut out on Chinese smartphones and tablets, as well as on some new SonyEricsson / Sony products. There is a solution to this problem - manually install the tun.ko component - but for the user, firstly, it’s not obvious, secondly, everything should work out of the box.
But they were still flowers. Imagine all the horror when in the evening you put in production fresh and, oh yes, of course, the tested version, and in the morning you get dozens of ratings in 1 star and angry comments that nothing works! Check - and really, in the application, two far from the most important buttons do not work: start the VPN and buy ... Moreover, this bug is not found on all devices! Test, test and test again! It is highly desirable - on different devices, at least on the top-5 of those used by your customers (interesting, there are applications that Samsung is not in the top ?!):
The application should be improved gradually, based on the feedback and wishes of users, but you should not do it thoughtlessly, satisfying any request for a feature.
It is necessary to provide the user with the highest quality experience from interacting with the application.
Each build needs to be tested qualitatively, one poor-quality build in production will cost a significant reduction in the rating in the stack.
By the third version of the application “Hideninja VPN” has risen to 5th place in the top for the query “vpn” on Google Play. The budget for marketing in the period of growth in the top - $ 50 total, in general, spent on consultations on ASO .
About the factors that have shaped our success in the highly competitive VPN market for Android - read the next section.
Second version of the application
After the successful release of the first prototype, version 2 of the application was released, the UI and UX of which were already rethought with more attention to competitors and the wishes of our first users. A list of servers for connecting on a separate screen was added, the main screen was completely changed: a visual IP checker with a country flag, buttons on the social network were added, the main call-to-action button became large and colored, and it looked like this:
')
In fact, it was the second version that became the proof of my hypothesis, the application was warmly accepted by users and proved that I was on the right track.
The second version lasted several months. In late April, I began to think about changing the design, since it was still quite clumsy and did not satisfy the growing functionality.
The third version of the application
I began to carefully study the Google Now card interface and think over the new UI “Hideninja VPN” in this style.
On May 8, version 3.0 with a completely new UI was posted on Google Play. May 15 for Russia released the fourth version of Google Play with an updated design in the same card style.
The decision to make the third version of “Hideninja VPN” card-style UI was absolutely correct: if the user experience from interacting with my application is similar to that from using the most popular Android applications, this will help my user to more quickly understand “Hideninja VPN” and more positively perceive it. When we put version 3.0 on the page, we received hundreds of extremely positive reviews - the design was 100% successful!
As before, as in previous versions, I did the design; third-party experts were not involved. 1 sleepless night was spent on inventing and rendering the layout. We've been using the card UI for five months now, making only minor changes due to changes in functionality. Here's what version 3.0 looked like:
Compare all three versions (first prototype, 2.0, 3.0, respectively):
Seven times - test, once - release
The rake "lack of quality testing" came and we. Until a certain point, everything went well until the application was updated with new features and the design was not changed. How we tested the application: it was going to build, put on my personal smartphone, and I poked all the possible buttons in different sequences for a couple of evenings. But the danger of Android is that even within the same OS version, different manufacturers allow themselves to change not only the graphical shell but also the kernel components. So we faced the problem of the VPNService API cut out on Chinese smartphones and tablets, as well as on some new SonyEricsson / Sony products. There is a solution to this problem - manually install the tun.ko component - but for the user, firstly, it’s not obvious, secondly, everything should work out of the box.
But they were still flowers. Imagine all the horror when in the evening you put in production fresh and, oh yes, of course, the tested version, and in the morning you get dozens of ratings in 1 star and angry comments that nothing works! Check - and really, in the application, two far from the most important buttons do not work: start the VPN and buy ... Moreover, this bug is not found on all devices! Test, test and test again! It is highly desirable - on different devices, at least on the top-5 of those used by your customers (interesting, there are applications that Samsung is not in the top ?!):
Experience
The application should be improved gradually, based on the feedback and wishes of users, but you should not do it thoughtlessly, satisfying any request for a feature.
It is necessary to provide the user with the highest quality experience from interacting with the application.
Each build needs to be tested qualitatively, one poor-quality build in production will cost a significant reduction in the rating in the stack.
What's next in the story
By the third version of the application “Hideninja VPN” has risen to 5th place in the top for the query “vpn” on Google Play. The budget for marketing in the period of growth in the top - $ 50 total, in general, spent on consultations on ASO .
About the factors that have shaped our success in the highly competitive VPN market for Android - read the next section.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/198046/
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