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090 How Do I Convince People To Use My App? · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Join us each episode as we tackle the questions you are asking about a career in software development, understanding the industry, and new technology.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're just starting out or you want to grow stronger as a developer, this is the place to get your questions answered.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's your host, expert developer and online educator, Tim Corey.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: How do I convince people to use my application?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: How do I get new customers or get people to use my app that I've built?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: How do I not end up as one more app that no one ever uses?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: These are great questions and the topic of today's dev question episode.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: So the app store right now, every app store you've ever been to, is filled with apps that no one has ever used.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Now you may not know that because you've probably never even seen them.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: But how do you get your application not to be like one of those?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Where no matter how you distribute it, you don't want people to look at it and go, nah, and pass on.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: You want to build an audience of people who want to use your application.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now, we're not going to focus in today on games.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: So just so you know, this is more about uh what I call regular applications, not games, but everything else.
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  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk through how do you get the uh get people to use your application.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: How do you convince people that they want to use your application?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number one is you need to solve a problem.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: If your application does not solve a problem, then why does it exist?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: You need to solve a problem people have because they're not motivated to just install apps because you say so.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to say, hey, if you have this problem, I have a solution.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to and you have to solve some problem the user has because when the user has a problem, they're motivated to fix that problem, even if you have to let them know they have a problem.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes uh part of marketing is really exposing users to the fact that they have a problem.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And they get they start going, oh yeah, I do have that problem.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like, do you walk around a limp?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now you think about it.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I do.
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  SPEAKER_01: Does your knee hurt when it rains?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it does.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, then buy this cream.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, all of a sudden now I want to buy this cream, but before that, I had never even thought about the fact that my, you know, why my knee was hurting or when I was hurting.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you kind of, as marketing, you kind of expose that need.
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  SPEAKER_01: You're not making things up because they don't have a limp, then they're gonna go, no, and they're not gonna buy your cream.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in the same way, you need to expose the problem potentially, but either way, they have to have a problem.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you might say something like, you know, does your hand get tired with typing all the time?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, it they do.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, then you know, use this application that has IntelliSense in it where it types some things for you.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's kind of cool.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Kalk my phone does.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, now you've you've generated a problem and you have solved that problem.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: You have exposed a problem and you have solved it.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number two is you need to solve the right problem.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by this is there is sometimes that applications solve a problem that no one cares about.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe the user does, maybe that the person who created the application does, but nobody else does.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, I use Notepad all the time.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love Notepad on the computer because it's so simple.
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  SPEAKER_01: But some may come along and say, you know what Notepad doesn't have that it needs?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Colors, colored backgrounds.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so they create this whole new notepad app so you can have colored backgrounds.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they come to me and they say, Hey, you use Notepad all the time.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know what you're missing?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Colored backgrounds.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And here I got the solution for you.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't look at that and go, no, I don't need colored backgrounds for my notepad app.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you didn't solve the right problem.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: There are problems with Notepad you could solve that would get me to buy your product or download your app or whatever, but that's not the right one.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number three, you need to be able to summarize your app in one sentence.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you have to take two paragraphs to explain why your application is valuable, it's not going to get through the user.
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  SPEAKER_01: You need to be able to summarize what the value proposition of your application is in one sentence.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, my photo app makes taking social media ready screenshots a one-step process.
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  SPEAKER_01: You see how I have identified a pain point and I have solved that pain point.
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  SPEAKER_01: If you're trying to take screenshots and put them on social media, you might be going, man, that's a clunky process.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And my photo app makes taking those social media ready screenshots, not just screenshots, social media ready screenshots, a one-step process.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm making better screenshots and I'm allowing you to put them on social media or get them ready for social media in one step.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great value proposition that summarizes what the app does, and it may do more, may have peripheral things it does or options or stuff like that, but that's the core of what the application does.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you can't summarize what your app does in one sentence, it's probably too complicated.
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  SPEAKER_01: You've probably not got a clear picture of why your app exists.
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  SPEAKER_01: So go back to the beginning then and think through what is the problem I'm solving?
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  SPEAKER_01: And is it the right problem?
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  SPEAKER_01: So if you've solved a problem, you're solving the right problem, then you should be able to summarize that in one sentence.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number four, show off your app with great screenshots.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is a missed opportunity a lot where the screenshots don't really show you anything, or it's like, I don't know what this is showing me.
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  SPEAKER_01: Show off what the application does, show off how simple it is, show off how it works in great screenshots.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then number five, this goes along with it and make it make number four easier is make the user interface simple.
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  SPEAKER_01: So when you have a great interface, it's easy for the user to know what to do with it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Microsoft gets this wrong all the time.
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  SPEAKER_01: And part of the reason why is because Microsoft tries to put in features for everyone.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so what happens is you have this super complex interface that has lots of bells and whistles.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a C sharp developer, think about Visual Studio, think of all the things it does.
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  SPEAKER_01: As a new user, you come in, it's so intimidating because it's got 13 different panels when you first load up.
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  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, I don't know what's going on.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then I load an application, and oh my goodness, it's got even more.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then you go to the view menu, you can find out there's another hundred you can add.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: So make the user interface simple.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, yes, Visual Studio kind of has to be that way, but at the same time, they could spend more time on making it simple to start with, and simple for the common use, and they can add as you need to.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
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  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you make a simple user interface that's easy to understand and is easy to use, then when it comes to that previous step of showing off your app with great screenshots, you'll have an easier time.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just say that you were making an application that took a screenshot that made some modifications to it, maybe put a border around it, something like that, and then posted to social media.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I might think about having on the screen step one, step two, step three, and have like little gray outlines of each step with an explanation of that step is, and you just you do the work right there on step one, and then you go over to step two and do that work, and then go right over to step three and do that work.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so it makes it very clear in a screenshot exactly what you're doing and how it's going to work.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: So making that interface simple will allow you users to get in and use it, and it will allow you to get great screenshots.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why you want users to be able to use it simply is because when the user first downloads it, just like with meeting people, a first impression on an application is vitally important.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: You want to have a great first impression.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want the user to download your app, install it, run it, and go, I don't know what to do here.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because what will happen often is they close it out, uninstall it, and move on.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: They don't even try to delve deep into all your possible options and interfaces and setups and configuration and all the rest.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's too complicated.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Move on to the next one.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: So if you make it simple, they can get right in and start doing it and see just how great your application is right away.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then they start to become hooked and start to use it more and more.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Number six, meet the user where they're at.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: So now you've got a great application that solves a problem that you can summarize in one sentence, it solves the right problem, you've got great screenshots for it, you've made the interface simple so you can use it quickly.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Now go find the user where they're at and talk about it.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: So if your users are um office workers, find out where office workers hang out, either in the real world or online.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe um you're targeting developers.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Stack Overflow is a great place to either advertise or just um start talking to people.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe go to user groups and say, hey, I have this product that's really cool.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, meet the users where they're at instead of just saying, Hey, I'm gonna broadcast this to everyone.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's number six.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: And number seven is allow the user to try it.
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  SPEAKER_01: Give them the opportunity to install it and start to use it before they have to pay for it, before they have to, you know, sign up for a subscription or whatever it is.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Allow them to try it, show off that yes, my product solves your problem.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it does so simply.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then when they start to do that, they go, okay, now I want to invest in this.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the steps that I go through when I'm thinking about an application, how to build an application, how to get it in the hands of users and get them to actually use it.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now, once you get through all seven steps there, start sharing it and encouraging others to share it as well.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: This is when maybe you do have some social media campaigns or you have some marketing campaigns or you know, um advertise in some way.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: But don't do that until you've gone through these seven steps.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you advertise a product or if you're you know broadcasting, hey, I got a new product, people go to it, they'll look at it and go, Yeah, no, and they'll move on.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And now you've potentially lost them for life.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you advertise it again and say, hey, new and improved, they're gonna go, yeah, I've already seen that one.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh no.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you want that first bite at the apple to be sweet for the user.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: You want them to say, Yes, I want this.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And the way to do that is to first prepare before you just start sharing.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Take a step back from being you because you have an investment in your application, you have an investment in how awesome it is.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: You think you're its biggest fan, hopefully.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so take a step back from that and look at it from the user's perspective.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you knew nothing about your application, what would you want to know before you try it?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: So get through those seven steps first, then start sharing it.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: That way you gain the most potential customers or users possible, and you don't potentially lose customers by showing them a half-baked product or one that isn't clear what it does, and so on.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
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  SPEAKER_01: So that's my um encouragement for you when it comes to how to get your application out there and used by users.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: It isn't just about making a great application.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's about making a great application that solves a problem, that is clear, that's easy to use, that is visible and how it works, that is accessible for users to try out, and that really does solve that problem well.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of my steps, my process I go through when thinking about an application, how I'm going to share it with the world and get people to use it.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Dev Questions.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a question about being a developer, then check out the previous episodes of this podcast or this video series on YouTube and see if maybe I've already answered the question.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: But if not, then go to IamtimCorey.com, go to the podcast section, fill out that form, and then hopefully you can get your question answered on a future episode.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great day, and as always, I am Tim Corey.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Tim is committed to making it easier for you to become a developer.
• 14:22
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• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can also send your questions to questions at IamTimcorey.com.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, you are too smart and your time too valuable to waste it making all the mistakes Tim did.
• 14:41
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