thanks for sharing your experience. Not sure should i read it as a cautionary tale or as definitive how to mannual for release and roadmap planning. looks like you released stand alone app in a week , i personally feel that you should have waited a little long. unless the functionality is broken you shouldn't pay much attention to change . people get used to it . everytime ffacebook change something there is a exsitential crisis for some section of users But they stick to it and anger die down .
app redesign are a bit like your wife getting a new haircut , you still love her but you think she did terrible tHing to herself. you are mad on her . but it grows over you and in Few week you start loving her in same way . you find beauty in her new hair cut . this is how i explain my relationship with gmail. Sent from my MIPHONE John Coryat <[email protected]> wrote: >On July 1st, we published a new version of our app RadarNow! that featured an >improved UI and more free features. It was a huge step up in capability. The >beta test with over 3,000 users went well and we had crashes and functionality >pretty much conquered. Then we published the beta to production in Google Play. > > >Over the course of the next week, we handled hundreds of customer service >complaints regarding the new version. Some of the complaints and suggestions >were good and we iterated immediately. Others were just "I want the old one >back" type comments. A lot of users lashed out at RadarNow! through the >ratings and comments in Google Play. Our rating, which had been 4.32 and >steady for years, dropped by .01 to 4.31. That might not seem like a lot but >it lost us a coveted position as a solid #5 in weather, dropping us to #6. >Essentially, we were off the front page because of this. > > >Yesterday, to appease those that crucified us in the store, we released a >"RadarNow! Classic" version as a stand alone, frozen app. The release was >announced to all those that had sent us negative feedback along with a request >they amend their rating in Google Play. > > >The bitching stopped. The complaining stopped. There were no more one star >comments along the lines of "want old one back" or their ilk. Instead, we have >dozens of five star comments in their place. The count of one star ratings is >actually dropping. > > >This is a lesson learned: > > >Before introducing a major UI update of any kind, publish a "classic" version >with a different package name. Be sure to reference the classic edition in all >release materials and help text included with the new version. There is a >small percentage of humans that cannot tolerate change. Even if it's in their >best interest. It's a fact of life and it has to be dealt with. No logic or >reason can sway these people. They want their old one back. Period. > > >There's a funny epilogue to this story. As if this writing, there are less >than 100 installs of "Classic" - a free app. > > >-John Coryat > >-- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"Android Discuss" group. >To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >email to [email protected]. >To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss. >For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
