User Research, User Segmentation, and User Feedback for Mobile App Based Businesses

When it comes to designing and developing mobile apps, you want to create something users will use and enjoy.

That means collecting user feedback.

Sometimes you’ll receive great feedback and learn about all the good things your app has going for it. Other times, users will feel confused, disappointed, and share how much they dislike parts of the app.

After you collect user feedback, you’ll join an almost endless cycle of designing, testing, and iterating your app. Or you should if you want to create a successful app people will love.

Rather than getting frustrated and giving up, take advantage of user feedback, no matter how much it stings. It’s valuable for the designing process and helps make your idea better.

If you’re designing or developing an app, here’s how to find the right users and get the right feedback for your design.

Before you start designing your mobile app, you need to learn who your users are and how they behave. User research focuses on people as the center of the research of your app or website. Understanding your users and having empathy for them in the design process will allow your app to be truly user-friendly.

There are 2 main methods of user research, qualitative and quantitative.

Quantitative user research methods study user behaviour. Quantifying these behaviours into numerical data will help with statistical analysis. Research methods include surveys and formal experiments.

Qualitative user research seeks to understand the user and their environment. It’s more in-depth and takes a look at the user’s environment, how they behave, and why. Qualitative research methods include interviews, group studies, and (sometimes) user tests.

Each method has a set of benefits and drawbacks to help you reach different goals with your app design.

User research will help you create relevant and easy-to-use designs. It also helps you and your stakeholders understand the value or return on investment of good user experience (UX) designs. Keep these 3 reasons in mind to create a useful mobile app with great user experience.

As mentioned above, user feedback allows you to improve your app idea. Better yet, it gives you an insight as to what isn’t working and why.

Collecting user feedback should be one of the first things in your design process. The earlier you start it, the easier it will be to tweak your designs. Waiting until you have a completed app will make the iterating process more difficult and longer.

Your app design is usually for a particular group of people and you want the app to help that group, right? Keep those people at the center of your design process.

If done right, your app should feel specifically designed for each person in your target audience.

User feedback saves you time by focusing on the major problems in your app. You’re less likely to waste time editing something that doesn’t need fixing. Or edit a part of your app that leads to a similar issue.

But user feedback doesn’t only focus on the negatives of your app. You can collect information on what is working on your app from your target users. Learning about what does work can help your design and iteration process later on.

Now that we know the importance of user feedback, it’s time to find users.

User segmentation is a group of users that are likely to use your app. This includes specific demographics such as age, lifestyle, and location. It also includes their behaviours in the app, such as the user’s commenting or buying habits.

Use user segmentation to find the right group of people who will benefit from your app with the right user experience. Once you collect enough user data, you can start designing your app knowing what your users will want.

For example, you wouldn’t design an app for people ages 40-50 the same way you’d design one for people ages 20-25. While you want your app to be easy-to-use, the younger age group will be more comfortable with technology. You can add more shortcuts and customizations.

From there, you can find the best group of users to help with user testing. Say your app is for millennials who love hiking with their dogs; you’ll want to find people in that age range (20-25+) who have dogs and like hiking. These people will be the likeliest to use your app and give you quality feedback.

User segmentation benefits both you and your users. In the end, you’ll be able to design an app that caters to your ideal users.

Not all feedback you receive from your user testing is useful. Follow these tips to gain useful user feedback.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. You’ll gain honest feedback from your users that will help you gather both qualitative and quantitative information. You can use these tips and questions in surveys, user testing, and user interviews.

As you gather this information, you’ll want to maintain a welcoming upbeat attitude regardless of the users’ answers. Otherwise, it doesn’t hurt to have an unbiased 3rd party lead the interview or testing while you take notes or observe.

The number one thing to remember when designing an app is to keep your users at the center of your design process. Understanding the value of user feedback and user research will help you design apps your users will love.

Do you have app ideas you want to make a reality? Let’s talk about it. Our skilled team of designers will help you create an app or website both you and your customers will love!