Why you should analyze user-behavior data before developing a mobile app?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when we say “mobile app”? If you are a user, you are probably thinking of, it is something that’s convenient, and eases your life. However, in a business context, an idea that can be converted into an app model and helps boost your profitability.

When successful entrepreneurs launch their original idea, they do not just design and develop it for the market; they research, understand the market minutely and more importantly study the users in-depth. One part that leads you to success is the complete understanding of the user.

Here, we will try to understand why user behavior analysis is important and how you can best deliver it.

Why analyze user behavior?

Instead of asking this question, let’s ask the most important question- who are you designing the app for? The users of the app will be members of the target audience, and technically it is for them that you are planning the app layout and coding the all new idea for. In this case, you need to ensure it is usable for them, and they find the app convenient.

You need to understand every aspect of user behavior, ranging from an understanding of how they use the app to what engages them. Analysis of user behavior will help you design the UX accordingly, and allows you to deliver effective app solutions. For this, we need to identify the different ways in which you can identify user behavior and what you need to consider, in order to deliver a perfect app solution.

4 Effective ways to analyze user behavior data

Here’re four effective ways that will help you to analyze user behavior data to design and develop a mobile app accordingly.

1. The app goal: Whenever the user uses an app, they do it with a specific goal in mind. For instance, when you use Uber, you are choosing travel convenience and avoiding haggling with the driver over the fare. The Uber app allows its users to book their ride with ease and know the amount for the ride beforehand. When you are designing for the user, you need to understand the goal they are attempting to achieve with the app, and how best you can help them achieve it, in the simplest way possible.
2. The mobile usage: While designing an app for the users, you need to understand how they use the mobile phone. What is most convenient for them?
   • For instance, 79% people use their left hand instead of the right hand to cradle their phone or use the apps. Have you considered them while designing the app?
   • Most people prefer the portrait mode for certain apps; however, when they are viewing videos, they prefer to hold it in the landscape mode. If your app does not change the view according to the preferences stated, then you are likely to lose out on the customers.
   • Do users use the thumb to access the buttons on the screen or, do they use their finger? How do they navigate through the screens? Do they hold the phone in one hand or cradle the phone? When you are able to answer these questions, then you have nailed the design strategy
   • You would know just where to place the buttons and how to design the interaction? There are places within the mobile screen which have been marked as inaccessible. If you place the buttons or other clickable elements in that part of the screen, then you are halting the access to the mobile app.

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3. Acknowledge feedback: What do users like the most about the mobile app in general, and what are the aspects that frustrate them? For instance, there are mobile app designs that don’t connect well with the user. An app that takes more than 3 seconds to load can be frustrating. If the images don’t load faster, then the app can be discarded immediately. This is true for e-commerce apps, as there are lots of images, and people tend to expect an immediate response from these apps. When the users give you their feedback, make sure you incorporate that into the app.
4. The motivations: Finally, you need to take into account the motivations of the user towards using the app and completing an action. What makes them want to click on the buy now or, the action button in your app? Study your users. For some users, safety plays the predominant motivator while for others, the motivation factor is the value for money the app delivers. Along with the motivators, there are barriers too, which you need to consider in order to design the best user-centric app for the business idea.

After identifying different ways to identify user behavior, now, let’s talk about two simple methods that can be used to analyze user behavior data:

1. Questionnaire: Prepare a questionnaire including questions like what do you like the best about our app? Which other apps would you use as our alternative? What do you want us to improve? The questions are endless, but make sure these questions give you insights on your users. Spread this questionnaire among a group of people and based on their answers, you can drive user-behavior data and develop a mobile app accordingly.
2. Mobile App Analytics Platforms: Another method is mobile app analytics platforms. Prepare navigation flow, a flowchart of all the app screens, to submit it on mobile app analytics platforms and identify how users are going from one screen to another. Through this navigation flow of your app, you can identify how users are interacting with screens and how they move through your app. This data will help you to know user behavior. This data helps you make data-driven changes.

Conclusion

Analyzing user behavior always must be a high priority for businesses who want to make a successful app and grow over time.

When it comes to analyzing user behavior, top companies and brands like Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest, and Starbucks are using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to provide a personalized experience to their users. Through AI and machine learning, businesses will learn about customer or user behaviors on a deeper level and get help in delivering a better application. The possibilities are endless. The point is - are you utilizing already existing data to optimize the overall process?

Author Bio

Yuvrajsinh is a Marketing Manager at Space-O Technologies, a firm having expertise in developing Uber-like apps. He spends most of his time researching on the mobile app and startup trends. He is a regular contributor to popular publications like Entrepreneur, Yourstory, and Upwork. If you have any confusion, or question, or need any consultation regarding the mobile app development process, feel free to contact him.

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