{"id":113,"date":"2016-04-11T07:14:16","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T07:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-staging.cdn.persona.ly\/blog\/?p=113"},"modified":"2022-01-20T15:03:52","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T15:03:52","slug":"why-your-app-optimization-might-be-lacking-without-ux-app-analytics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-staging.cdn.persona.ly\/blog\/2016\/04\/why-your-app-optimization-might-be-lacking-without-ux-app-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your App Optimization might be Lacking without UX App Analytics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you have an app, you probably have an app analytics system or at least considering one (or maybe even multiple).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bet that many of you are using Google Analytics, which is certainly the most used solution on the market- but there\u2019s an important discrepancy within that well-known stat. According to the recent report by VentureBeat, Mobile App Analytics: What winning mobile developers use<\/a>, only 30% of the app developers surveyed said Google Analytics is their primary<\/em> analytics choice. At the end of the day, developers \u201cuse a wide range of tools to analyze and understand what is happening inside their apps, and while Google is by far the leader, it\u2019s not the only important player in the space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is partly due to the rapid specification of the needs of apps and the sheer mushrooming of the mobile app industry. Nowadays, the top app developers use distinct analysis tools for marketing automation, acquisition, engagement, A\/B testing, monetization, and most notably UX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this piece, let\u2019s zoom in on UX app analytics and what it can do for your app in terms of optimization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, what does it mean? I presume you already know what UX is. By definition<\/a>, User eXperience encompasses all aspects of the end-users interaction with the company, its services, and its products. Yet to really understand the UX of your app, you need to essentially see<\/em> what your users are experiencing and how they behave. This is where the power of effective UX app analytics comes into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going Beyond Traditional Mobile Analytics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So I have prefaced that UX app analytics is critical to your understanding of your users and optimization of your app, but what fundamentally sets it apart from the traditional analytic systems out there? The answer: qualitative data. Traditional mobile analytics tools provide you with quantitative data and emphasize key metrics, such as the number of new users, engagement rate, user retention, and geographic breakdown.\u00a0These metrics are important yet how often do you get the feeling that you have too much data and not enough insights? It\u2019s a commonly felt sentiment. In order to truly understand the \u201cwhys\u201d behind all the numbers, you need visualization of what\u2019s going on inside your app. This is the fundamental goal of UX app analytics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"drowning<\/a>
Source: vizioninteractive.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got a metaphor that perfectly signifies this value. Let\u2019s say someone told you about an amazing trip that they took to the Great Barrier Reef. This act of telling you about their experience is like traditional, quantitative mobile analytics. Now say someone actually showed you pictures and videos of that reef- you are now getting visuals of their trip and can understand their experience at a much higher level. This is the essence of qualitative, UX app analytics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UX app analytics like Appsee<\/a>, empowers app teams to go a step beyond passive data<\/a> and gain visual insights, allowing them to fully examine user behaviors, conversion funnels, UI updates, and new features, and ultimately streamline the app optimization process. For example, maybe a specific user pathway from an \u201caccount creation\u201d screen to your app\u2019s shop has an extremely high quit rate. Why is that? Traditional mobile analytics isn\u2019t going to break things down for you in a clear-cut manner. A table of data can only take us so far, and often times there are insights we simply cannot deduct from numeric data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"confused<\/a>
Source: seroundtable.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

User Recordings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This unique tool enables you to watch active user sessions in real-time and see exactly how users interact with your app through their eyes, plus when and where they might be encountering friction within your app. By analyzing these recordings, you are presented with information that will help you learn which problems your users encounter and why they don’t complete important processes within your app (such as in-app purchase and mobile onboarding). This is powerful because it is practically like glancing over your users\u2019 shoulders and seeing exactly how they behave with your app. Did you detect frustration in a recorded user\u2019s session due to your app\u2019s navigation menu design? It would be very hard to pick up on that by looking at a list of metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a look at the sample recording below which shows a user who cannot log in via Facebook due to a technical problem. The user attempts to log in and encounters the error pop-up message. This quick yet powerful visual can highlight why users are dropping off your valuable sign-in screen. No more guesswork- you can just click the play button and see for yourself how your users behave.<\/p>\n\n\n