Trends 2016 in analytical systems
Systems analytics applications, and even more so, games - the market is interesting and rapidly developing. After talking with clients and colleagues in the industry, we would like to present to you the trends in the development of analytical systems, as we see them in devtodev .
Trend # 1. Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics is a fairly broad concept, and we put the following meanings into it:
Trend # 2. Communication with the player
The logical stage in the development of analytical systems is the combination of an advanced analytical functionality with a service for sending push notifications. The ideal scheme looks like this:
Say, the analytics system predicted ( see trend # 1 ) that the user began to fall under the “leave soon” pattern - for a long time he hadn’t logged / lowered the regularity of entries / was stuck at the level. The application developer immediately generates push-notifications and sends them to users at risk. It is not necessary to send a message in the style of “Come back, I will forgive everything” - you can offer the player a bonus for the next purchase or double the daily gift.
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Screenshot taken from devtodev system.
Trend # 3. Cross Platform Analytics
Here, analytical systems simply catch up with the gaming industry, in which cross-platform is already called one of the trends for next year.
More and more games are coming out at once on several platforms. There is nothing strange for us that in projects like WarThunder or Minecraft there are a console player, a PC player and a user playing from a mobile device. Such games require a special approach to analysis, because it is important to notice deviations in the work of each of the platforms and bring them to balance. In addition, cross-platform analytics helps to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of each platform: how much it costs to attract, what are the ROI for the platforms and so on.
Trend # 4. Comparison with the market (benchmarking)
ARPU = $ 0.15 - is it good or bad? How many percent of games in this genre have higher performance than my project?
The analytical system should be able to answer such questions. As a rule, hundreds and thousands of games from all over the world are connected to the analytics services, and it is not difficult to compare a project with the average indicators for its genre. This information will be very useful to the developer - he will be able to detect bottlenecks in the project and fix them in time. Therefore, we believe that in 2016, benchmarking functionality will become a trend in analytics.
An example of a benchmarking report that we do in devtodev on the client's request.
Trend # 5. Simplicity and learning.
Indie developers are becoming more and more, interesting and successful games from small studios (consisting of from one to ten developers) appear more and more often. It should be understood that these guys do not have time to integrate analytics for a long time and understand how 1-day retention differs from 1-day rolling retention.
Analytical systems should be as simple as possible to integrate and as clear as possible when used. The time interval between the receipt of data and the decision-making on their basis should be minimized. Therefore, we see in the development of analytics an explicit request for the simplicity of the interface, for the development of a system of signals and recommendations ( “Friend! You’re falling retention! The last update of the tutorial has significantly impaired its effectiveness!” ).
Training is also the trend of the next year. Becoming simpler and closer to the user, the analytical service should give him new knowledge, talk about suitable methods and help make the right decision. For example, we conduct webinars for this and have created our own educational center.
Trend # 6, the same conclusion. Analytics with a human face.
The trends listed above change the very concept of an analytical system. We believe that analytics systems will become not just an incomprehensible collection of tables and graphs, but also a friend and advisor to everyone who creates games. After all, in the end, analytics exists only to make the life of the developer easier and to help him make decisions about the development of the project.
How much is all this possible right now is an open question. But we believe that the improvement of communication between the analytics system and its users, the interaction of living analysts with developers at the level of advice and recommendations will definitely become a reality and a natural stage in the development of analytics.
Trend # 1. Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics is a fairly broad concept, and we put the following meanings into it:
- Predicting metrics. Analytical systems know a lot about the main analytical indicators and the links between them. By showing the value of a metric (say, ARPU) on a graph, the analytical system should be able to predict how this indicator will change in the near future, at least in the short term. Such tips will help the client to navigate the situation and plan further actions.
- Predicting user behavior. The analytics system is not only metrics and their values. It also includes various analysis methods: user segments, events and funnels, advanced reports and so on. Again, the analytics system, if it is properly integrated, knows a lot about user behavior, about what affects their retention and monetization, and what contributes to their care.
Therefore, a good analytics should signal the client that the user will soon leave the application.
Trend # 2. Communication with the player
The logical stage in the development of analytical systems is the combination of an advanced analytical functionality with a service for sending push notifications. The ideal scheme looks like this:
- select the user segment, monitor its performance;
- if the values ​​of the indicators do not suit us or begin to fail, send notifications to these users and raise the values ​​of the indicators;
- we make repeated measurement.
Say, the analytics system predicted ( see trend # 1 ) that the user began to fall under the “leave soon” pattern - for a long time he hadn’t logged / lowered the regularity of entries / was stuck at the level. The application developer immediately generates push-notifications and sends them to users at risk. It is not necessary to send a message in the style of “Come back, I will forgive everything” - you can offer the player a bonus for the next purchase or double the daily gift.
')
Screenshot taken from devtodev system.
Trend # 3. Cross Platform Analytics
Here, analytical systems simply catch up with the gaming industry, in which cross-platform is already called one of the trends for next year.
More and more games are coming out at once on several platforms. There is nothing strange for us that in projects like WarThunder or Minecraft there are a console player, a PC player and a user playing from a mobile device. Such games require a special approach to analysis, because it is important to notice deviations in the work of each of the platforms and bring them to balance. In addition, cross-platform analytics helps to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of each platform: how much it costs to attract, what are the ROI for the platforms and so on.
Trend # 4. Comparison with the market (benchmarking)
ARPU = $ 0.15 - is it good or bad? How many percent of games in this genre have higher performance than my project?
The analytical system should be able to answer such questions. As a rule, hundreds and thousands of games from all over the world are connected to the analytics services, and it is not difficult to compare a project with the average indicators for its genre. This information will be very useful to the developer - he will be able to detect bottlenecks in the project and fix them in time. Therefore, we believe that in 2016, benchmarking functionality will become a trend in analytics.
An example of a benchmarking report that we do in devtodev on the client's request.
Trend # 5. Simplicity and learning.
Indie developers are becoming more and more, interesting and successful games from small studios (consisting of from one to ten developers) appear more and more often. It should be understood that these guys do not have time to integrate analytics for a long time and understand how 1-day retention differs from 1-day rolling retention.
Analytical systems should be as simple as possible to integrate and as clear as possible when used. The time interval between the receipt of data and the decision-making on their basis should be minimized. Therefore, we see in the development of analytics an explicit request for the simplicity of the interface, for the development of a system of signals and recommendations ( “Friend! You’re falling retention! The last update of the tutorial has significantly impaired its effectiveness!” ).
Training is also the trend of the next year. Becoming simpler and closer to the user, the analytical service should give him new knowledge, talk about suitable methods and help make the right decision. For example, we conduct webinars for this and have created our own educational center.
Trend # 6, the same conclusion. Analytics with a human face.
The trends listed above change the very concept of an analytical system. We believe that analytics systems will become not just an incomprehensible collection of tables and graphs, but also a friend and advisor to everyone who creates games. After all, in the end, analytics exists only to make the life of the developer easier and to help him make decisions about the development of the project.
How much is all this possible right now is an open question. But we believe that the improvement of communication between the analytics system and its users, the interaction of living analysts with developers at the level of advice and recommendations will definitely become a reality and a natural stage in the development of analytics.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/298478/
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