Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The emergence of Mobile Experience Management platforms enable brands to understand mobile user experience in native mobile apps.

Ported Post: This entry was originally published in the Artisan Mobile blog. Artisan was rebranded as In-App Marketing after being acquired by TUNE in July of 2015. 

Recently it occurred to me that the old saying “actions speak louder than words” could be applied to understanding native mobile user experience.  In fact, it is actually applicable to understanding customers in general. Often times we rely on asking customers what they think, but observing customers interact with a product or service can be even more valuable. That is why human-centered design is becoming increasingly important.

Think about fancy hotels. If only they actually observed customers trying to figure out how to use the shower, they would know that sometimes the shower experience becomes more frustrating than relaxing!

To avoid the fancy hotel scenario with native mobile apps, it is important to observe how your customers are interacting with your app in real situations. To date, brands are limited in the feedback that they can get on mobile user experience. They can hear from customers via reviews on the app stores or watch customers interact with their apps in contrived environments during usability labs. Both of these options don’t tell the whole story – just like words alone don’t tell the whole story!

However, the good news is, the emergence of Mobile Experience Management platforms will enable brands to observe their customers’ interactions with native mobile apps in real settings. Imagine being able to know what pages of your app are most frequently visited, how much time customers are spending with your app, or how they are actually navigating the app. Brands will be able to use this mobile user experience information to make their native experiences even more engaging and user-friendly.  They can see firsthand how their customers are reacting to the app!

So, as you are thinking about your native mobile app strategy, make sure you not only understand what your customers are saying, but also how your customers are behaving. This will help you create a more compelling mobile user experience and get more out of your investment in mobile.