With millions of apps available on various platforms, competition is fierce in the app market. To stand out and attract users, it is paramount for mobile app developers to gather feedback and reviews from their users continually. User feedback and reviews play a crucial role in the success of any mobile application. They provide valuable user experience insights and help developers improve their apps.
Nonetheless, not all feedback is constructive or relevant. Oftentimes, developers come across vague and irrelevant feedback that can be challenging to handle. This situation can be highly frustrating and overwhelming, as it presents a level of confusion that hampers the ability to address the core issues effectively.
As a result, it becomes indispensable to have a proper process to handle such feedback effectively. This article will discuss the significance of addressing this issue and furnish practical strategies for handling it through mobile app testing. But before that, let us briefly understand the importance of user feedback and why it is essential to receive user feedback.
Why is User Feedback Essential?
Gathering feedback is the best way to understand what your end-users want. This way, you can improve the same in the app. With cut-throat competition in the market, it is vital to build an application that furnishes functional and engaging value to its users. After receiving user feedback, taking necessary actions in the right direction is paramount. Otherwise, users may perceive a lack of interest on your part in prioritizing their needs and preferences.
Here are a few reasons for regularly receiving feedback from your users.
Makes Users Feel Involved
Asking the users about their opinions and considering feedback shows them they are valued. It also demonstrates to the users that they are active participants in improving the app. When users feel appreciated and valued, they have positive connotations for your organization, which they exhibit by sharing their experience with other potential users. This results in more sales in the future.
Ensure that you utilize gathered opinions to inform your decision-making process regarding your application and effectively communicate these decisions to your users to maintain their engagement. By not doing so, your users may feel neglected. One effective approach is establishing a customer feedback loop, which entangles implementing a strategy for continuous product improvement based on valuable input from users.
Locates Features for Improvement
It is necessary to get insight into what the users like and their preferred functionalities. The application must be close to the user’s preferences as it is built for them. Put all your ears to the relevant feedback. Implement a robust feedback system that authorizes users to voice their concerns and opinions, enabling us to gain valuable insights on which features resonate with them, identify areas needing improvement, and determine the direction for developing new features.
After receiving the feedback, put the stuff in the feedback bank rather than the feature backlog. You must be very careful while choosing the feedback opinions for product management. Each feature has a lifetime outlay, including debugging, maintenance, additional server load, and more. So, filter the feedback and sort your priorities. This will ensure that your product meets users’ expectations.
Bad Feedback for Doing Well
Don’t worry after receiving vague or irrelevant feedback, rather than being frustrated and disheartened, try to see it as an opportunity. Negative feedback should be valued more than positive, as these users stepped out to share their inadequate experience, expecting you to act on it.
Building an action plan to deal with the negative feedback is crucial. Reach the users and address the issue. If the problem is complex, compensate the user for the unpleasant experience.
Types of Negative Reviews and Feedback
Before responding to reviews and feedback, you need to form a workflow. Approaching this ongoing endeavor methodically will result in time savings and increased efficiency. Before that, let us learn about the different types of reviews and feedback:
Useful Negative Reviews: These reviews mention a specific issue, design flaw, or other problems a user experienced while using the app. These reviews furnish you with strategically vital information if you can organize them.
Empty Negative Reviews: The old silent 1-stars. No feedback, no explanations, just a rating and one or two random words. Sometimes, these reviews say good things about the app, but accidentally, the reviewer set it to 1 star instead of 4 or 5.
Updated Negative Reviews: Whenever you witness an updated review, it is necessary to keep a close eye on it and furnish a quick answer. The review updates highlight the user’s activity and willingness to participate in the discussion with you.
Spammy and Offensive Reviews: These reviews violate the ToS (Terms of Service) of the app store. A few common examples include:
- Critique of the organization/organization staff or other things irrelevant to the app
- Offensive language/discrimination
- Spam links or advertising
- Random messages
Feature Requests: The wishes and desires. To be regarded as a successful app developer or publisher, most negative app reviews should pertain to the following factors in your case. Furthermore, without seeing the big picture, you could not capitalize on such feedback.
How Can You Handle Vague Or Irrelevant User Feedback And Reviews?
Bill Gates has right said that;
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
The app users trust each other more than sales pitches, marketing copy, or nice screenshots. That is the primary reason why app reviews and ratings are so essential for the app’s success. There is a common illusion among numerous entrepreneurs, “build it, they will come.” But this is not true, especially where hundreds of rivals are in your niche.
Once you have gained some initial traction, maintaining the momentum, cultivating positive reviews, and proactively preventing negative ones is of utmost importance. Nonetheless, the bad ones will inevitably roll in. Therefore, it is imperative to effectively manage negative app reviews to improve your mobile marketing metrics.
Here are some tips to handle vague and irrelevant user feedback and reviews:
Clarify Feedback Before Addressing It
It is essential to prioritize the process of clarifying feedback before addressing it when it comes to handling vague or irrelevant user feedback and reviews. Rushing to modify or address concerns without understanding the context can lead to misinterpretations and ineffective solutions. By taking the time to clarify feedback, it permits a thorough understanding of the user’s perspective, intentions, and underlying issues they may be facing.
Identify Patterns in User Feedback
To effectively handle vague or irrelevant user feedback and reviews, it is crucial to identify patterns in the feedback received. By analyzing multiple feedback instances, common themes and trends can emerge, providing valuable insights into user experiences and pain points. This process entangles carefully examining the feedback for similarities in the issues raised, the language used, or the specific features mentioned. Identifying patterns permits a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying problems and enables the development team to prioritize and address them accordingly.
Consider the Source of Feedback
Not all feedback is created equal, and understanding the credibility and expertise of the source can provide valuable context to better assess and address the feedback. Input from proficient and well-informed individuals, such as beta testers or industry experts, can provide valuable perspectives and recommendations for enhancement.
On the other hand, feedback from newbies or those with a limited understanding of the app’s functionality may require additional clarification or investigation. By considering the source of feedback, app developers can better prioritize their responses and allocate resources for addressing the most relevant and actionable feedback to enhance the overall user experience.
Use A/B Testing to Validate Feedback
To validate feedback received from users, implementing A/B testing can be an effective approach. A/B testing entangles creating two or more variations of a feature or design element within the mobile app and randomly assigning different groups of users to each variation.
App developers can gather quantitative data to determine which version resonates better with users by comparing the performance and user engagement metrics of each variant. This authorizes a more data-driven decision-making process, as the feedback can be validated and backed by objective evidence. A/B testing not only permits pinpointing potential issues or areas for improvement, but it also furnishes valuable insights into user preferences and behaviors. This enables app developers to make informed decisions when making updates or modifications to the app.
Utilize Beta Testers for Feedback
Beta testers are a valuable resource as they provide real-world usage scenarios and invaluable feedback on usability, functionality, and overall user experience. By incorporating a diverse selection of beta testers, you will be able to collect a broad spectrum of viewpoints and uncover any potential concerns or opportunities for enhancement that may have been inadvertently overlooked during the development phase.
Utilizing beta testers assists in uncovering and addressing any vague or irrelevant feedback. Furthermore, it authorizes targeted and precise refinements to guarantee your app meets the needs and expectations of your target audience. The expertise and knowledge they possess can prove to be immensely valuable in steering your decision-making process and assisting you in effectively determining and addressing crucial elements of your application with certainty.
Leveraging Cloud Testing Platforms
Cloud testing platforms authorize developers to simulate real-world scenarios and gather feedback from diverse users. Firstly, these platforms facilitate testers in collecting and organizing user feedback from various sources such as app stores, social media, and in-app feedback forms. By centralizing all feedback in one place, testers can easily pinpoint and prioritize the issues that must be addressed.
Besides, cloud testing platforms like LambdaTest often provide advanced analytics capabilities, permitting testers to gain valuable insights into user sentiment and behavior patterns. This helps distinguish between relevant and irrelevant feedback, facilitating developers to focus on improving the app based on accurate data. It supports all major automation testing frameworks such as Selenium, Appium, Jest, and many more.
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform to run manual and automated tests at scale. The platform allows you to perform real-time and automation testing across 3000+ environments and real mobile devices.
Conclusion
The star rating of your app significantly impacts its success, irrespective of its quality. Working with negative reviews is essential to the commercial success of the app. Irrelevant or vague reviews are a fantastic source of software product feedback. Always remember that with the right approach, handling vague or irrelevant feedback can become an opportunity for growth and success.