Here’s what happens when I download a new application from any app store.
- I launch the app and judge how long it takes to let me see content.
- I look at the user interface to gauge how I will respond to it.
- I tap around to see what functionality is in there.
- I create data.
- I delete newly created data.
- I invite my friends to join if it’s one of those new social networks and I like it.
If at any point in that process I see a crash, frustrating design decisions, confusing experiences or perceive a lack of functionality, I delete the app and go on with my day. Put more succinctly, if at any point in the first use experience I experience friction, it’s game over.
Friction is the catch-all term I use to describe anything related to an app that causes the software to get in my way. The best mobile apps are the ones that disappear in your hand as you use them. You didn’t notice you were using Tweetie because experience was frictionless. The same cannot be said for the latest version of Twitter for iPhone. Beyond the much slower performance compared to its predecessor (no app should ever take 5+ seconds to load on an iPhone 4S), the app is missing functionality, is unresponsive at times and overall lessens the enjoyment that Twitter brings me.
Expensify is another app I have recently started to use. The service they provide is fantastic, but I am blaming the two grey hairs I found the other morning on their iPhone app. It’s not that the app doesn’t perform the functionality it describes. It’s that it executes those functions so poorly that I can’t help but notice all the cut corners while using their mobile product.
Friction is also locking your app’s entire experience behind a signup barrier. Mixel, a recently released collaborative collage app, was panned in its initial AppStore reviews for showing a Facebook sign-in screen as the first thing a user saw. To actually see what sort of content creation you can do on Mixel, you had to hand over your Facebook credentials.
I have a Facebook account, but I still balk anytime a new service I have never heard of wants me to trade access to my account for access to their service. Part of offering a product or service is building trust and relationships with your customers. When you are a new, unknown entity that just appeared on the AppStore I don’t trust you and likely won’t give you the benefit of the doubt. If, however, you offer me an idea of what I can experience in your app in exchange for access to my personal information I am likely to be much more receptive if what you’re producing intrigues me.
If your job is to write software, don’t just write software. Write great software. Write frictionless software. Most customers may not be as picky as I am right now, but as they continue using A-grade apps designed by platform vendors as well as top tier third parties, they’ll be further conditioned to expect that experience from all the products on their mobile device.