App Load Speed Expectations

Here are a few things I’ve been thinking over via some research done earlier this year:

• 85% of consumers prefer a native app over a responsive-mobile version. Why? More convenient, faster, easier to browse/use.
• 42% expect native to load really fast.
• Almost 60% expect the app to load in 2 seconds or less, 28% in 1 second and 8% less than 1 second.
• 79% will retry an app if it failed to work the first time. 16% would give it more than 2 attempts.
• Average star rating in the App Store is 2.9 stars.
• Biggest complaints of an app is lack of features (26%),  crashing (23%), and poor design (22%).

Things to think about, right?

I love this quote by Edward Rolf Tufte, a statistician and professor emeritus at Yale University, who’s noted accomplishments include information design:

When principles of design replicate principles of thought, the act of arranging information becomes an act of insight.

I think about this often and how challenging it is to create a fluid experience that requires as little thought as possible; a mere extension of the mind.

There is so much to improve and so much that I’d already like to change, especially for a fully-designed iOS-native and integrated experience. I think the 2.0 version of Pressgram is going to blow you away… and I’m honestly just saying that because I have very little idea of what v2.0 really looks like (I’m neck-deep in working through v1.0 performance, scalability, and bug-fixing)!

But I have a few ideas and naturally I’d love to hear yours.