Chapter 3. Where and when is the app used?
This chapter covers
- Considering location on a macro and micro scale
- Thinking about the time when an app is used
- Thinking about how much time the app is used
- Appreciating how other activities affect the app
The circumstances of use for your app extend beyond the person who’s using it. Where and when people use an app can be as important, or, in some cases, even more significant. The place and time of use can impact who’ll use your app. Who’s using it can influence when and where they do so. Understand how the location and time of use can affect what people experience when using an app so you can apply this to your apps.
In this chapter, I’ll introduce you to Harriet. She’s an app and game developer. Harriet used analytics about where and when her apps were used to enhance their success by improving the experience of the people using them.
We know that people use apps everywhere, but what about your app specifically? Location can affect what people can and want to do. You could build an app that looks and behaves the same in all locations, but this might lead to a sub-optimal experience in some locations, or even to the app becoming unusable in others. Location can cover a broad range of places with varying levels of specificity. To help you think about how this can affect your app, this section looks at location from the macro and micro perspectives. Let’s begin with Harriet.