lean startup machine - mobile app development

Lean Startup - Mobile AppDevelopment

Arvi Krishnaswamy

@twitortatarvi@alumni.iastate.edu

Presented At

Lean Startup Machine, Bangalore on May 31, 2014

Hello

Hands-on Entrepreneur and Tech Executive.Now: Building fun, engaging apps at Levitum.

Past: Multiple startups. One Valley IPO. One exit.Polyglot. Android + iOS + Python.

Program Chair, Droidcon India (2011-13).Built apps with > 2 million downloads, 4+ ratings.

Not all Flappy Endings

The average app expends 9-12 man months of effort. #factThe average app gets < 1000 downloads. #fact

~22% of downloaded apps are opened just once. #fact

Seriously, WTF?

We keep building appsthat nobody wants

We keep building appsthat nobody wants to

solve problems that noone has

A Prototype is anExperiment that helpsValidate Assumptions

What makes a prototypeeffective?

0

If it answers the rightquestion

How do you prototypeexperience?

The POP app.

Use pen and paper to quickly sketch mockupsUse the POP app to take snaps of the sketchesStitch the snaps together with a navigational heirarchy.Share your demo with users for feedback.

How would you build anOla Cabs app MVP?

Do ThingsThat

Don't ScaleYes, you read that right. Counter intuitive?

Accrue technical debt, and assessthe importance as a hypothesis

requiring validation.

Choosing a PlatformiOS has more early adoptersiOS has a paying community.Android has no review processAndroid has smoother alpha/beta distributionmechanics.iOS users expect a better user experience.Android apps require testing on more devices.

Get Out Of The Building!Blind test users using your app.Get their permission to screen record their interactions.Review it with them, and probe to understand theirthought process.If you have competitors, have the users blind test yourapp and theirs.

Important Anti-PatternsConsider launching your experiments under different codenames on the app store.Once the experiment is over, direct those users to yournew MVP with a new code name.Users of the new MVP will not see the old app and itsratings.This greatly derisks your 'big bang' app launch.

Launch in a differentcountry

Another possible idea - launch your app in arepresentative country(Australia, for instance) before publishing it in the U.S.

Test These LoopsThese are critical user actions that make you successfulWhat makes the user invite othersWhat makes the user create new content (or postreviews/comments)What makes the user buy things

Ask Me Anything

arvi@alumni.iastate.edu

Follow me@twitortat

www.arg0s.in