User behavior in App with Flurry Analytics

This blog post is a short summary of my experience with the Flurry analytics SDK. Adding the SDK to our application has been a good experience (so far) and has drastically improved our ability to make data driven decisions.

Why ?

We have a connected app and are able to gauge the performance of the app (we thought) based on the server based transactions but we found that there were certain questions that we just could not answer with our logs on the server.

• Why isn't there a direct correlation between the number of downloads and the number of transactions ? Do our users even launch the app after they download it ?
• We spent a lot of time adding a feature, do the users understand it ? do they even navigate to the screen ?
• many more ...

What ?

We started looking for ways we could answer these and other questions. The stress was on figuring our how users interacted with our application:

• Do they use the features we put into the application?
• How often do they use them ?
• What screens do they visit in the app and how often ? (should we really be spending the time and effort in updating help section inside our app?)
• Once they visit the screen do they perform the action we want them to perform or get side tracked by something else ?
• ...

We already had transaction based data on the server already about our users but we were looking to finding out what percent of our users actually reached the point where they could perform a transaction.

How?

The engineers in us already knew the answer : we had to put in some sort of logging mechanism in our application that logged the user activity. Nothing ground breaking, we have been doing that in web applications already. Things we considered:

• Should we build our own ? This was interesting from engineering point of view and we could just extend what we were already doing in our web app. We decided to look for third party libraries as we just did not have the bandwidth and time to invest in building and testing something for all the platforms. Reinventing the wheel is a sin that modern dev teams should stay from.
• Impact on app performance. We decided very early on that what ever library we choose should have minimal impact on the app performance. User activity was important but not at the cost of our apps speed.
• Dashboard: we did not want to invest time in building a dashboard that displayed the metrics for the same reason we started looking for a third party library.
• Cost: It almost always comes down to cost. All the stakeholders loved the idea of knowing the user behavior but no one wanted to put down a number on the spend. We started looking for the cheapest option we could find.

Flurry

We looked at a few packages (not a lot) and quickly decided on using Flurry analytics SDK. Here is a breakdown of the reasons:

• Free : Talk about in-expensive.
• Reported activity offline and did not impact app performance.
• Required very little development effort, the documentation was simple and to the point and we just added the library as a black box into our app.
• Self service system, we did not have to speak to account managers or do a webex to understand how the system works. (I hate these calls)
• Widely used in the industry. That took care of the end of life questions.
• Support for the mobile platforms we cared about.
• The analytics dashboard was just awesome.

Notes:

• Adding the SDK impacted our test cycle more than development. We had to add a relatively large number of test cases in our functional and performance tests.
• We decided against using the pageviews in the SDK. We created our own custom events for page views.
• Sessions on Android were handled differently from the default behavior. We made the implementation decision based on our application needs.
• As with any good SaaS platform, the SDK website allows us to download all our data through APIS and we plan to do this periodically. We found that the data for the past few days often changes due to the nature of the SDK so we plan to download data before the last 7 days.

All in all, it was pretty easy getting up and running and we were able to add the SDK and track some of the core events within one iteration along with solving other worldly problems.

Privacy
Tracking anything about the user has taken a beating in the recent months especially when mobile applications are involved. Though I agree with most of the arguments made for privacy, some of the concerns that have surfaced are way over the top. I will leave this topic for another blog post.

Privacy was one of the first hurdles we had to cross internally before implementation could begin. We set our goal: We wanted to know what "users" did when they opened our application, not a particular "user". The privacy concerns played a important role in our implementation decisions (rightly so) and we made a conscious effort not to include any PII in the data we logged. We are also not using the data we collect in making any real time decisions on what to display to a particular user (we cannot, it wasn't built for this.).

Summary

Adding the analytics sdk in our application(s) did not solve all our issues but it definitely provided us more data to base our product decisions on.

Moving forward:

It is awesome that Flurry has recently added HTML5 to its list of supported platforms. It makes my life easier if i can use the same engine for mobile web and apps.

I also love the user segmentation and funnel features they have recently added to their dashboard.

Continous Mode 2d barcode reader for Iphone

The QuickMark reader (v 3.8) was release early in march. Among support for the other major platforms, this version has a build for the Iphone (availabe on App Store). 

2 things stand out:

Conitnous Scanning mode for Iphone ... wow, I was under the impression that the Iphone camera worked in the snapshot mode similar to J2ME but apparantly not. Cannot wait to get my hands on the app and try it out. The user experience will knock the other 2D barcode readers on the Iphone out.

Support for 1D barcodes with configurable server url. This is good news for third party developers offering product comparison services. I am not sure of the actual support though, I bet the HTC Dream ( G1) would have the 1D support but not sure if the Iphone supports 1 D scanning. The QuickMark site mentions that the 1D scanning is supported only on auto focus and macro focus based camera phones.

Links:

QuickMark   Release.

Via:

Jump Mobile

2D Barcodes to assist mobile content download

The 2D barcode model by its very nature works well in facilitating the download of content ( wall papers, ringtones, games etc) on the mobile device. I have been a strong supporter of the use of the barcodes in helping download content and I believe that digital content rather than mobile advertising would make the 2D barcode scanning adoption wider.

The use of 2D Barcodes (QR Codes) began in Japan and we had all sorts of applications coming out including the use of barcodes to deliver content.

 

The first time I saw barcodes being used for downloads close to home was back in 2006 when GetJar was using the GOD application to allow users to scan ShotCodes . The model was simple, the scanner worked on most camera phones, the Shotcode was easy to scan even with the quality of images from most cell phone cameras at that time, the scanner would shoot the code and launch the WAP browser that pointed to the download page for the application. The barcodes were published on the website under the Camera download section.  For some reason, I guess GetJar stopped using the 2D barcode system on their site, I do not find it anymore.

I recently came across Cellufun using the same download model using ScanLife EzCodes to facilitate downloads.  They have placed a barcode with all their content, the barcode is displayed in a "GET IT NOW" web widget displayed on either the left or right of all content pages. The barcode currently points to the main cellufun wap site rather than to the individual content page. I was hoping for a similar flow as the Camera Download on GetJar earlier but was disappointed. Its promising to see barcodes pop up on content download sites nevertheless. 

Competing with SMS

The short code SMS technology has long been used in downloading content and rightly so, it works !!!. I believe the mobile 2D barcode technology will work even better in some cases. The way I see it, usability plays a big role:  Launch the scanner app ( hopefully through a shortcut key), wave it over the barcode and voila information is captured and sent as opposed to opening up the compose box and texting in the characters and pressing the send button.

 SMS technology will still remain superior when it comes to pushing downloads on radio or television ( I really don't see people scanning the barcodes of their TV screens ... not yet at least) but its the pushing of content downloads from printed material and regular web sites where the 2D barcode technology can make a significant impact.This being said, the industry behind the 2D barcode technology needs to get its act together and tackle the issues:

1. Standardization: The industry is going through its own "browser wars" phase with everyone coming out with their own proprietery 2d symbology.  The industry must agree on certain formats, I do not think just the one format would be the clear winner as every symbology has its advantages in its own space. 

2. Interoperability: Lets face it, there are plenty of Scanner applications out there and as many resolution systems. The systems need to learn to talk the same language to interoperate. The GSMA and OMA standards for mobile barcodes looks like a step in the right direction.

3. Preloads Preloads Preloads: Burn the scanner app within the native camera module. The end user doesnt need a scanner app, he already has the camera. The 2D system that does this on a larger scale wins...

Peek into the Future

The 2D barcode technology has a Ace up its sleeve, "download content directly from the barcode" , No data connection required(take that SMS).  Imagine downloading a game or wallpaper without a data connection.

Applix and Mediaseek had announced that would work together on a camera based content management system (using CamReader) back in february. The CamReader app in Japan has already been use to download Jpegs and videos directly off QR codes.

The Mobile Multi Color Composite 2D codes (MMCC)created a buzz when they were announced and show a lot of promise in delivering content.  Cant wait till they get adopted in the main stream.

The V-Code (video 2D code) is another technology that could completely revamp the content download space. The only drawback is that since its a video code, it cannot be used on printed material but delivering content from websites would be a breeze especially in markets like India where data service on mobile phones is just picking up and there is a big demand for graphic content.

Barcodes, Barcodes and more Barcodes....

Qr Code started off as de facto standard in Japan but never really caught on in the rest of the world in the early years as the phone cameras were incapable of handling the density, this seems to be changing now as there is a wider adoption of smart phones. Datamatrix, more prevelant in Europe did get a good start with the Imode specification in France but I am now not sure as to its international appeal. Proprietery technologies (EzCode, Qode, BeeTagg, Microsoft Tag ... ) have had success in the recent years in several mobile phone based campaigns due to the ease of scanning that they offer.

I do believe that the 2D barcode industry should actively focus on the digital content market and provide solutions that make it easier for content providers to push content to the end user through the 2d codes. Content embedding barcodes show promise but until they become a reality the 2d barcode technology can rely on the on the in-direct model of taking the end user to the wap page with the link to download the content. 

ScanLife: Multiple Action Codes aka Menu Codes

Checked out the Menu Codes on ScanLife yet?

If not then you should definitely give it a try. ScanLife allows publishers to associate multiple actions with the same barcode. The actions are displayed to the end user in a menu, the end user selects the action he wants to execute.

- From Scanlife Website:

"These codes come in handy when you have a lot to offer. They're also incredibily useful when you want the user to choose what's right for them. They can check out a movie preview, find the closest theater or maybe even buy tickets - all in one code!"

At present 7 different actions can be embedded into a Menu code in any order: Web (for web sites), SMS ( snd txt), CALL ( phone call), MMS (snd mms),  CONTACT (vcf), EMAIL and NOTE (txt note).

The possibilities of this code are endless, these are ideal for Voting Campaigns (allow users to vote by Web or SMS for the options), Product Mktg campaigns (allow the user to choose the promo material he wants to see specs, wall papers, more info).

I used the menu code to publish my personal information (img on right). The menu code can easily replace the barcode on the back of my business card as it gives the end user the option of what information he would like to use rather than having to download the entire info and then having to sort through it.

You can scan the my barcode  (img on the left) to get my personal menu on your phone. To download the scanlife reader visit http://getscanlife.com on your mobile phone.  At present the menu code is supported by Windows, palm, symbian, Iphone and the Android platforms. There is limited support for this feature in the Java based readers.

To create your very own Menu code, login to your account on scanlife.com and select the Menu icon () from the create code section on the left.  If you do not already have a account, you can register for a personal ( free) or Commercial account. 

12Pixels, Draw on your mobile phone, 1 pixel at a time.

The 12Pixels sytem provides a end user the ability to draw and share pixel based imagery using only the keys on the standard mobile phone. See the video below, you will be amazed at the stuff you can do with such a simple interface.

12pixels was recently released in Japan in association with Sony Style. The images drawn by the end users can be saved on the phone as wallpapers, converted to emoticons and even sent to friends in messages.

I loved the simplicity of the user interface to make the images, even though the system is not flexible enough to make the monalisa but sure makes it simple to make emoticons. Cool toy to have !!! Some of the works of art are below, you can find more here and here. A blog post by the creator describing the project is here.

                 

Cardstar : Scan 1 D codes from your phone and save

Picked this up on barcode.com.

The CardStar iPhone application allows users to store their rewards and membership cards on their IPhone from where most merchants can scan them directly from the IPhone screen using the regular laser scanners.This is neat ! think about the clutter it will remove from people's key chains. My key chain currently has (apart from keys) the little barcoded tags of Pathmark, Shoprite, Stop n Shop, NYSC....(the list goes longer each time I visit a new store).

Whats taken such a app to come out for so long?
Previously, 1D barcodes, which are used at most stores, could not be scanned directly from the LCD screen by Laser scanners (used in almost all retail stores at point of sale). Working with the Symbol CS 1504 scanners in my early years taught me this lesson the very painful way.

The CardStar people however, have figured a way out. Scanning a barcode from the screen is difficult as the screen is really made up of red, green, and blue lines, which interfere with a laser scanner. The folks at CardStar were able to get around this by re-configuring the way the barcode/image is rendered on the LCD in portrait mode. Nice !!!!

The success of the application lies in the high successful scanning percentage and the technology offered by CardStar has shown pretty high numbers in controlled environments and general environments. I believe more tests would be conducted before there is a push for adoption. I for one am a big supporter of this technology as it really does not impact the retailers as much and hopefully the application on the phone will be free for the end user in the near future :) (Its currently priced at $0.99).

More info on the App: http://www.mycardstar.com

Perform VooDoo on your phone

Meet a person you dont like, just snap a picture and start casting Voodoo spells on them. 

The VooDude app (new app from Aspyr) for the Iphone platform allows you to do just that. The app is conveniently priced at 0.99 $ for all your Voodoo needs. 

Some of the key features include:

• Use the accelerometer to shake and scramble Voodude
  
• Ragdoll physics ( I wonder what this is)
  
• Touch screen interactivity puts Voodude at the mercy of your fingers
  
• Email your creations to other Voodude users (Share the Voodoo spells within the office perhaps)
  

More info on Aspyr:

http://www.aspyr.com/product/info/99

http://www.aspyr.com/software/news/99/262

Trackback to textually.org

http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/02/022843.htm

CNET Mobile: Reviews and Prices from your cell phone

Played around with the CNET Wap site: http://m.cnet.com. Pretty cool, you now have the powerful reviews on techie products right in the palm of ur hand. The WAP site is simple and relatively well made. It allows you to access information available on the CNET website through a simple naviagation scheme.

The compare prices section also allows you to enter your zip code and then displays the pricing along with the taxes and shipping.

I initially got interested in the CNET shopping service after reading about the launch at Next Generation Shopping. They have recently launched an API (Beta) for accessing 3 of their sites. Integrating the API into existing applications sounds cool due to the type of products these sites carry. Check out the CNET API

iMapia: Mapping Application

"iMapia is a mobile mapping application designed specifically for mobile devices. It enables you to get maps, driving directions and local points of interest such as banking, restaurants, shopping centers etc., directly from your cell phone, Treo, Blackberry or other Java enabled mobile devices. iMapia is free to individual users"

A free application with Maps???... how does it compare to Google Maps ??? ... what got me really interested in the application was the "real" cost of using the app in terms of data service charges. Get the complete description here.

The data presentation is pretty good in terms of maps. I couldnt get the directions to work at the time I was playing with the app but the maps came out all right and fast too. Was using a Moto L7 on Cingular's network. I do think this application will work fine on Sprint PCS handsets too specially since they are using High level controls.

Maps look strikingly similar to the ones available from Maporama... wonder who they are using as their provider.

All in all a neat application.

Windows Live Search for Mobile

Windows Live Search is available for both Java and windows based devices. The stress seems to be in providing location based data to the user bundled into a neat UI. The search is very powerful, I havent been able to check out Yahoo Go yet but I was blown away by the results from Windows Live search. The maps are awesome ... they really are. I have been a fan of the google maps app but the Windows live search now takes the first spot. This is truely an application that I would love to use regularly.. well not the J2ME version but the windows mobile version.

Tried it out on a windows mobile 5.0 ppc and it works awesome with a verizons connection. Would love to see how the app performs on TMobile's network with a similar phone :). The j2me version is pretty neat but they could have done a much better job with the UI. The Map screen is the best (very similar to google) but the other screens are ... not what I expected from Microsoft.

Try it out for yourself, download the app here: http://wls.live.com

WishRadar

Came across this from Lifehacker. Pretty neat service for people who actively manage wish lists. I dont... so really cannot appreciate the value. The thing that got me interested is the use of SMS to get prices.

All in all the wish list synchronization feature seems to work pretty well, atleast they good reviews over the web. Might be a site to look at in the future.

Loved the About section on their website.


Almost every website these days has a mobile presence. SMS implementations are everywhere and the bigger ones also have WAP sites... I wonder how many people are actually using the SMS service on these sites? Why would I wait for minute to get minimal info? hmmm... need to think on this.

Yahoo ! Go 2.0

Was all gung ho about trying out the Yahoo ! Go 2.0 service. They support a limited number of phones and I guess I spent a little more time getting the Samsung A900 :(... Will just have to wait till their beta slot opens up.

The features look awesome on the website ... cant wait to try the application out.

Gmail for your phone

Just downloaded and played around with the gmail j2me application on the Fusic. Looks awesome, just like the web version. Couple it up with Sprint's network on the fusic... its a real sweet experience.

Though, I would have liked the ability to use the application when I am not in network coverage like the subway. The application keeps connecting to the server... :(... so ... its really not much of a use to me. If I have to stay connected while using the applcation then why wouldnt I just use the WAP site... hmmm.. but another solid application from the google mobile team, love the ui: neat and simple.

scanR Applications

Found a couple of applications (downloadable) for scanR on GetJar. The scanR website does not mention any downloadable applications or at least I couldn't find any information.

It is interesting that they are coming out with apps for 2 platforms: Symbian (3rd edition) and Windows Mobile. I haven't played with the apps as yet but will do as soon as I can get the right device. From the screen shots it looks like an application that scans the images directory on the phone and list all the images out. The user then selects the image and sends it over to the server. But screen shots can be misleading so will write more once I play with the application.

I remember talking to a scanR rep in CTIA last year about them thinking of putting an application on the phone to make the whole process easier. I believe they were also targeting BREW at that time. To me, you cant get any simpler than a MMS. Having the end user download the application can be a pain.

To me having a downloadable application makes sense if they do some sort of processing on the phone before sending the image out. A sort of Triage of the image. Another reason could be to allow the user to shoot pictures from within the application... though I am not sure this approach would work, you get good results from scanR only if you have a decent resolution. Most of the programming platforms do allow the app to access the camera but the resolutions returned are usually lower than the native camera app.

Addition (From Noah):
Download the applications for Palm, Windows and Symbian here: http://www.scanr.com/download.aspx

Google Ride Finder

Stumbled upon the ride finder app on Google labs. Aint it cool. Have been hearing about this concept for quiet some time now but nice to see some sort of implementation.

Firefox Extension: Mobile Barcoder

Found this interesting extension for firefox. Have been thinking about this for a long time but never got down to doing it myself... kinda feel left out :-).

Its a pretty neat extension, generates a QR code with the URL in the address bar. It does not follow any of the existing Vodafone or Imode specs, the url is encoded without any scheme, now all we need to do is find an application and device that supports it. The site mentions that this is compatible with series 60 third edition phones.. somehow i cannot fail to wonder if this would have been more useful if the barcode generated was a Datamatrix (Semacode).

Extension Site: Ramblings in Utopia

Frucall: "Buy Feature" now AVAILABLE :-)

Frucall now has the Buy now feature available ... way to go guys ... I havent been able to check it out yet.. will do that this weekend. Buying on the phone ... now thats a nice feature.

Revisiting ScanR

Its been a while since I checked out the ScanR application. They have made some nice changes. They now have a seperate address for sending documents and whiteboards. I guess its just some time before they enter into the product matching space. Love the google gadget they have come up with. Added it to my home page instantly. I guess technically speaking it should be simple to implement a google gadget. I am now adding it to my TODO list ;-).

My Earlier Post on ScanR
ScanR Blog

[Cell Phones]Cellfire: Coupons on your Phone

"Cellfire is software for your cell phone. Install it and you'll have access to coupons for a growing number of great restaurants, stores, entertainment venues and more."

Pretty neat application. It works and works quiet well. However, the functionality offered seems very basic to me but I guess thats what they will be working on imprving in the coming days.

Cellfire

[Cell Phones]Slifter: Search stores closest to you

Another neat shopping application for cell phones.

"Slifter is a mobile and online local product finder, which includes a personalized shopping list, and the ability to send products to friends. Slifter contains a wide range of products from diverse online and offline retailers.

In addition to seeing descriptions and images of products you are searching for, you can get the address and phone number of the location selling the product and even a streetmap to help you find it.

There is no cost for using Slifter both on the go and online, although your mobile carrier may assess data service charges depending on your plan."














I tried the application out and after some intial connection issues on my phone it worked like a charm. Having information about the inventory of stores in my vicinity is definitely a plus.

You can download the application by visiting www.slifter.com on ur phone.