Firstly, a HUGE thank you to every respondent. I was somewhat surprised, but very pleased, that there were sufficient responses to compile a meaningful result. A sample group of is good in terms of surveys and therefore the following data gives a fair indication of how Android Central Users feel about these issues.
It is certainly something that developers of all levels should read and consider whilst compiling their projects.
Having said that, there are a few provisos:
The User group may be biased because they are all drawn from one source;
There can be no control group, so proper analysis to establish statistical significance is not possible;
No data was collected about the Users themselves and therefore variance between social groups/gender/geographical locations could not be established.
NB. I will post a separate thread on this subject from a new developers? point of view, but I have attached a few comments to the results.
FINDINGS.
1. Do you find it easy to discover new apps on the Android Market?
Yes - 20% Responses = 105
Conditional Yes - 32%
Indifferent - 5%
Conditional No - 21%
No - 22%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
I was slightly surprised by this result. I felt that since the ?Just in? section had been axed there would have been a more negative reaction. However, it seems that most users are satisfied with the current service.
2. Do you rely on recommendations or do you search categories to find new games?
Recommendations - 83% Responses = 103
Search Categories - 39%
App review sites - 51%
(Total is more than 100% because most respondents gave more than one answer)
Comment:
The interesting thing with this result is that only 6% of respondents stated that they relied solely on Search Categories to find new games. As you can see the vast majority went on recommendation and/or app review sites. This suggests that the result for Q.1 could be misleading, in that most users already have a game in mind when they go to the Market.
3. What is the most annoying problem with a new game e.g. force close, poor graphics?
Force Close/Bugs - 50% Responses = 100
Graphics/UI/Controls - 31%
Drag/Lag/Long download - 14%
Device incompatibility - 21%
Poor game play/derivative - 5%
Drain on phone resources - 7%
Other - 6%
Comment:
No big surprise here, other than the vast array of things that users find irritating. Most are seemingly caused by programming errors, possibly indicating impatience on behalf of the developers to release their apps before they are completely finished. The second largest complaint suggests that developers may not be considering the end-users requirements sufficiently.
4. Do you read the instructions on how to play or just Wing it?
Wing it - 58% Responses = 105
Instructions - 24%
Both - 18%
Comment:
Although the majority of respondents said that they ?wing it? this was usually until they got stuck, and then they would read any instructions. Furthermore, although I haven?t measured this there were a significant number of respondents who stated that they prefer play ? through - tutorials to written instructions.
5. When would you pay for a game? (Other than mobile versions of best selling PC/PSP etc games).
Like the look of it - 18% Responses= 103
Recommendation - 16%
Use free version/ playability - 68%
Price - 24%
Other - 4%
Never - 3%
Comment:
Again, most respondents cited multiple reasons for paying for a game. The majority wanted to be able to play a free, albeit limited, version of the game, to decide on things such as enjoyment and playability. No surprise that reasonable pricing was the second most popular reason. It was encouraging to see that only 3% never pay for games.
6. Do you play games where multiplayer involves passing the handset round?
Yes - 6% Responses = 104
Conditional Yes - 14%
Indifferent - 1%
Conditional No - 13%
No - 65%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
A lot of respondents were horrified at the thought of passing their phone to another person, with comments ranging from a fear of germs to comments about them being extensions of themselves.
7. Do you prefer single player or multiplayer games?
Single player - 65% Responses = 103
Multiplayer - 7%
Single player / Multiplayer (online) - 9%
Single player / Multiplayer - 18%
Comment:
Single player was most popular by far. However, overall 34% commented favourably on multiplayer games and I wonder if the result is skewed by the ratio of Single Player to Multiplayer games available.
8. Where do you download most of your games i.e. Android market, Amazon, GetJar?
Android Market - 57% Responses = 106
Amazon Appstore - 5%
Both the above - 21%
Other - 18%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
Android Market is the most popular, with reliability and more frequent updates specifically mentioned as favourable comments. Amazon?s share was mostly for it?s Free App of the Day offer. There was a sprinkling of GetJar, AppBrain and the like but no other major contenders.
9. Do you like games where you can upload your scores to Facebook or other websites?
Yes - 9% Responses = 103
Conditional Yes - 13%
Indifferent - 23%
Conditional No - 15%
No - 41%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
Only 22% of respondents found anything positive in having this feature. The negative comments were mostly focussed on clogging up feeds with unwanted score updates.
10. Do you recommend games you like to friends?
Yes - 86% Responses = 103
Conditional Yes - 11%
Indifferent - 0%
Conditional No - 2%
No - 1%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
This shows that recommendation is a crucial part of the gaming experience. It could be interpreted as the user?s way of applying Quality Control to a fairly unregulated market.
Once again thanks to all you participants.
It is certainly something that developers of all levels should read and consider whilst compiling their projects.
Having said that, there are a few provisos:
The User group may be biased because they are all drawn from one source;
There can be no control group, so proper analysis to establish statistical significance is not possible;
No data was collected about the Users themselves and therefore variance between social groups/gender/geographical locations could not be established.
NB. I will post a separate thread on this subject from a new developers? point of view, but I have attached a few comments to the results.
FINDINGS.
1. Do you find it easy to discover new apps on the Android Market?
Yes - 20% Responses = 105
Conditional Yes - 32%
Indifferent - 5%
Conditional No - 21%
No - 22%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
I was slightly surprised by this result. I felt that since the ?Just in? section had been axed there would have been a more negative reaction. However, it seems that most users are satisfied with the current service.
2. Do you rely on recommendations or do you search categories to find new games?
Recommendations - 83% Responses = 103
Search Categories - 39%
App review sites - 51%
(Total is more than 100% because most respondents gave more than one answer)
Comment:
The interesting thing with this result is that only 6% of respondents stated that they relied solely on Search Categories to find new games. As you can see the vast majority went on recommendation and/or app review sites. This suggests that the result for Q.1 could be misleading, in that most users already have a game in mind when they go to the Market.
3. What is the most annoying problem with a new game e.g. force close, poor graphics?
Force Close/Bugs - 50% Responses = 100
Graphics/UI/Controls - 31%
Drag/Lag/Long download - 14%
Device incompatibility - 21%
Poor game play/derivative - 5%
Drain on phone resources - 7%
Other - 6%
Comment:
No big surprise here, other than the vast array of things that users find irritating. Most are seemingly caused by programming errors, possibly indicating impatience on behalf of the developers to release their apps before they are completely finished. The second largest complaint suggests that developers may not be considering the end-users requirements sufficiently.
4. Do you read the instructions on how to play or just Wing it?
Wing it - 58% Responses = 105
Instructions - 24%
Both - 18%
Comment:
Although the majority of respondents said that they ?wing it? this was usually until they got stuck, and then they would read any instructions. Furthermore, although I haven?t measured this there were a significant number of respondents who stated that they prefer play ? through - tutorials to written instructions.
5. When would you pay for a game? (Other than mobile versions of best selling PC/PSP etc games).
Like the look of it - 18% Responses= 103
Recommendation - 16%
Use free version/ playability - 68%
Price - 24%
Other - 4%
Never - 3%
Comment:
Again, most respondents cited multiple reasons for paying for a game. The majority wanted to be able to play a free, albeit limited, version of the game, to decide on things such as enjoyment and playability. No surprise that reasonable pricing was the second most popular reason. It was encouraging to see that only 3% never pay for games.
6. Do you play games where multiplayer involves passing the handset round?
Yes - 6% Responses = 104
Conditional Yes - 14%
Indifferent - 1%
Conditional No - 13%
No - 65%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
A lot of respondents were horrified at the thought of passing their phone to another person, with comments ranging from a fear of germs to comments about them being extensions of themselves.
7. Do you prefer single player or multiplayer games?
Single player - 65% Responses = 103
Multiplayer - 7%
Single player / Multiplayer (online) - 9%
Single player / Multiplayer - 18%
Comment:
Single player was most popular by far. However, overall 34% commented favourably on multiplayer games and I wonder if the result is skewed by the ratio of Single Player to Multiplayer games available.
8. Where do you download most of your games i.e. Android market, Amazon, GetJar?
Android Market - 57% Responses = 106
Amazon Appstore - 5%
Both the above - 21%
Other - 18%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
Android Market is the most popular, with reliability and more frequent updates specifically mentioned as favourable comments. Amazon?s share was mostly for it?s Free App of the Day offer. There was a sprinkling of GetJar, AppBrain and the like but no other major contenders.
9. Do you like games where you can upload your scores to Facebook or other websites?
Yes - 9% Responses = 103
Conditional Yes - 13%
Indifferent - 23%
Conditional No - 15%
No - 41%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
Only 22% of respondents found anything positive in having this feature. The negative comments were mostly focussed on clogging up feeds with unwanted score updates.
10. Do you recommend games you like to friends?
Yes - 86% Responses = 103
Conditional Yes - 11%
Indifferent - 0%
Conditional No - 2%
No - 1%
(Conditional Yes / Conditional No indicates a mostly positive or negative response)
Comment:
This shows that recommendation is a crucial part of the gaming experience. It could be interpreted as the user?s way of applying Quality Control to a fairly unregulated market.
Once again thanks to all you participants.
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