User feedback

Getting user feedback is a great way to stay connected to what folks want out of your app.  I use the issues lists in Google Code to manage defects and enhancements too.  The user reviews and comments from the Play Store are generally very helpful too.  However, sometimes the ratings and comments in the Play Store just leave me baffled.  Here is one example of that.



That rating and comment was recently left for A2DP Connect.  Apparently the user has never placed a widget on his home screens.  Because of his lack of knowledge on how to use widgets, A2DP Connect now has a 1 star rating and a scathing comment.

What this really comes down to is people get frustrated trying to work high tech things.  They read just enough to understand the basics (or in the case above not even that) and just use the device.  I can relate to this as I sometimes do it myself.  Who has time to read all that confusing stuff anyway.  I would be embarrassed however to find out I gave an app a bad rating just because of my own ignorance.

When creating apps it is important to make them as intuitive as possible.  In the case above, I need to think about how I could have guided that person to placing the widget on the home screen without annoying the rest of us who already know.  Do I have the app just put a widget on the home screen for the user?  Do I pop up a dialog after install that give the user a short tutorial?