Conversion, Statistics, Data: It’s All about Happy Users

Communication between PMs, developers, and designers can at times resemble a peace summit between three tribes, with each speaking a different language and holding different ideals.

In a recent post to Medium, Facebook product designer Julie Zhuo proposed a few ideas to help project managers and iPhone app developers mesh with designers. Among those was an interesting suggestion that PMs should “stop talking about metrics and start talking about users.”

Most of the time the goal of metrics is to increase a user action — conversions, payments, uploads, interactions, etc. — so wording the challenge in terms of how it helps users is actually very similar to citing raw statistics. (For example, “increase completed checkouts by 5%” vs. “design a checkout system that doesn’t confuse or scare users.”)

This got us thinking about the idea of “user happiness,” and how easy it is to lose sight of in the whirlwind of iPhone app development. Let’s look at a few of the problems we face as iPhone app developers, and re-think the math in terms of user happiness.

UX design

UX may be the most human-focussed stage of iPhone app development, since it centers around the concept of flow and discoverability.

Here, it can help to push back against the default thinking of “get the user through.” Get to checkout, get to the next level, get to the main screen. At it’s best, UX designers help users achieve their goals along the way through the flow, versus reaching a “home station” with millions of options.

UI design

PMs play a very important role in the UI process: making sure that designers keep the data in mind while they build a visual identity.

At it’s best, a tuned-in UI acts as a friendly guide cushioning the user from an app’s raw logic. That doesn’t mean it needs animations for every action, though — the key here is to facilitate micro-interactions guided by restraint.

Marketing

Marketing is as much a part of a brand identity as any other part of the design process for Houston iPhone app developers, but it isn’t always treated that way.

Conversion rates may boost when you push out click-bait content to a particular platform, but if that content erodes your brand identity the app may be better off without it. Fast growth is critical for startups, but never at the cost of user trust.