This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Antirequirements
The App Store lets customers browse all the software available for the platform, all in one place. Being up front about what your app is good at can make all the difference in whether people give it a chance. But it’s just as important to differentiate your app from other apps in the store by specifying what it isn’t for.
There are heaps of expense-report apps for business travelers and money-management apps that aim to balance your entire household budget. SnackLog is neither of those things, and making that clear will help you find your niche and keep you focused as you design. You don’t necessarily need to be explicit in your App Store description about what your app doesn’t do. But after potential users read your description and see your screenshots, there shouldn’t be any doubt in their minds about what your app does. There should be as little chance as possible that people will get the wrong idea about your app and download it when they actually wanted something slightly different.
User feedback is crucial to understanding how people feel about using your app. But some often-requested features might be things that you genuinely don’t think fit with your philosophy. Don’t go up against your competition feature-for-feature, or implement popularly requested features, if you don’t really think they fit with the personality of the app you want to make. Stick to your antirequirements! There is plenty of room in the App Store for a slew of apps that concentrate on alternative approaches to solving the same problem. See Chapter 11, Focused and Versatile, for more about narrowing the features in your product.