Enter the $6.1 billon app installation market by turning device manufacturers into publishers.
The product team identified a few scenarios to promote mobile app installation on Android smartphones and tablets. Some questions emerged:
I used these questions to define my research plan, which became a communication tool whenever someone asked “What are we trying to learn?”.
The business needed consumers to install and open mobile applications as an alternative to the current OEM process. As a result, earning revenue for both the startup and device manufacturers. But I was unsure how people would react when their Android device promoted something new—this had to match users' existing behavior or encourage a change. To reduce uncertainty, I proposed an iterative approach of design ⇒ prototype ⇒ evaluate. These are the steps I took to make this happen:
Participants quickly skipped over every app-focused prototype because the suggested content felt random and irrelevant. One quote summarized the fundamental problem with this approach: “Don’t ask for my favorite apps…I’d already get them myself”. This feedback challenged my beliefs and, more importantly, it allowed me to rapidly generate new ideas.
After a few prototyping cycles, I learned that people are painfully aware of pre-loaded software. Simply displaying a catalog of mobile apps isn't an engaging experience. When I integrated customization into the prototype, users responded positively by browsing different options that suited their preference. Continuous iteration elevated a nascent product design into something that could resonate with consumers.
