IntouchApp, the universal mobile contact management solution revealed what it calls the “7 metrics to track for app nirvana” citing its own example.
Sarang Lakare (*sarang), founder of IntouchApp said “we believe that each app has its own nirvana and we chose to measure these 7 data points that would point to attaining it.”
1. App Installs & Global Distribution
The count of total app installs gives a good indication of discoverability of the app and the pain point it is solving. A potential user being able to find the app and installing it is very important for the survival and growth of the app. Global distribution is another important aspect for apps that are not bound by geographical boundaries. Adoption in multiple countries indicates the app can spread by itself (virality).
2. Registrations
Installing the app is one thing and using it is another. Many apps need the user to register first such as Dropbox, Twitter, etc. IntouchApp also falls into this category. While these apps may come pre-installed on many devices, the actual usage happens only when a user registers and logs in. Since the registration is a barrier, crossing it indicates a strong need and usage intent from the user.
3. User Engagement
Now that the user ha installed your app and registered, the next most crucial check is how is the user using it. We all have many apps on our phone, but we end up using less than 10 on a daily basis. Tracking engagement also gives you insights into what the user is doing with the app, allowing you to iteratively improve that functionality. For an app such as IntouchApp that focuses on multi-platform capabilities, it is important to track how many devices users are using. Multiple device usage indicates user satisfaction and stickiness Total contacts processed is also a strong engagement metric for us. This shows how actively users are uploading their contacts and changes to our servers.
4. Value Generation for User
At the end of the day, an app is trying to make a user’s life easy one way or the other. It is important to track if the app is generating enough value for the user over time. As long as user sees the value, she will not uninstall the app! In case of IntouchApp, automation that saves time and hassles for our users is the key metric we need to track. There are three important chores we automate: syncing the contacts and changes to all devices, merging duplicate contacts, and keeping contact information automatically updated.
5. Reviews and Ratings
What your users think about your app, rather, how they rate and review your product on app stores is extremely important. Not only do good ratings increase the search ranking of your app, the chance of a user installing the app depends on the overall ratings and the reviews. Tracking the ratings quantitatively and the reviews qualitatively is very important in iterating and improving the product. It is also important to put the “rate our app” screen in strategic places in your app to get favorable reviews.
6. The Social Pulse
If users like your app, they tell about it to their friends and colleagues. This is the best and most cost-effective uptake you can expect for your app. Tracking the overall “pulse” of your app: what your users are saying about your app and checking if they are suggesting it to their friends is very important. Monitoring social media can tell you if users like your app and what they do not like about it too. This can help you improve the app by iterating quickly.
7. The Extremes
Often, the extremes can surprise you and hence tracking them is very important. In our case, we track the maximum number of contacts managed and the maximum number of devices connected for a user.
It is also very important to take into consideration the amount of marketing dollars while tracking these metrics. Those with a lot of extra cash can put marketing dollars leading to some good numbers. However, in case of IntouchApp, $0 was the spent on marketing.
Sarang says the next steps for the app is to further automate and simplify contact management. The current incarnation of phonebook on devices are simply digital versions of old style addressbook. Future versions of IntouchApp aims to replace your native phonebook with one that is smarter, aware and automated.
About IntouchApp: IntouchApp is a universal sync solution for mobile contacts that aims to be the “Dropbox for contacts”. Once installed, contacts are automatically backed up, synced and de-duplicated to create a clean master contact list on the cloud. Contacts can be restored to any device by simply logging into IntouchApp on that device. People using IntouchApp can connect with one another to share their latest contact that stays updated automatically on the phone. The app is available on all leading app stores or https://intouchapp.com/apps
IntouchApp is developed by Pune’s Volare Technologies. The company founded by Sarang is advised by Alok Kejiriwal (*rodinhood) and is internally funded. They are now looking for funding to fuel their growth.
This article was originally published here: YourStory.in.
Milan Bavishi
this is cool!
Thanks Sarang and team.
Ash Gairola
This is great story and huge achievement in last 6 months – congrats and all the best. Have you yet made it a paid service or not ??