On Dec 30, 6:05 pm, b0b <[email protected]> wrote: > I cannot help to be regularly infuriated by what I see there even if I'm > trying to take this with a grain of salt (not easy I tell you after > pouring hours into development!) >
I've been there. We do need to take control of what we allow to infuriate us. Get plenty of sleep and exercise. Make sure you are making some good money from your app. That seems to take the sting off. > I'd like to know how other developpers deal with unwarranted bad > rating/comments. Here's how I would sum it up: 1. You can respond through the description, your website, your weekly newsletter, or even the app. What response is appropriate for your users is up to you. For me, I don't want to waste the top of my description on responding to comments, and noone reads to the end of the description. I do respond to comments in weekly newsletters. 2. You are NOT trying to reach the user who left the comment, reeducate him in hopes he'll change the comment. He's probably long gone. What you are trying to do is educate the masses with helpful tips. 3. You are in this for the long haul, and you are trying to make the app and the user experience better for everyone, not specifically for the complainer. 4. You can get a better return by maximizing good comments rather than minimizing bad comments (which is hard to do). Encourage the people who have learned your app and used it to comment, through your newsletter, through the app, through your facebook fan page, etc. If you got the same number of whiners, but got three times as many fans, would that change the situation? > We have: > > - users thinking the comment system is a support forum In your newsletter, mention where your helpdesk has hints and a place to report this if anyone has seen the same problem. > - confused users about the features of your app and making false claims You'll never get everyone, but reducing number of confused users is an activity with a good return. However simple you think your UI is, it can probably be improved. Its amazing, but just a couple of buttons have caused users confusion for months. There are tradeoffs. Making one feature more obvious can make another one less obvious. Make them all obvious and someone will complain about how cluttered your app is. For example, I have enough features that I've decided to keep using a menu even though there are people who will never make it to that menu, even if the opening screen shows a picture of how to open the menu. > - users downgrading ratings if you ever make the sligthest mistake in a > upgrade: "..bla..bla...used to work....NOW USELESS!!!" Don't ever make the slightest mistake in an upgrade, ie beef up your QA processes so that you never break existing functionality. But I can't exactly say i am very strong or set a good example in this department. On December 23rd, there was an update I just needed to get out, but with all the fixes and improvements, I couldn't help but feel there was something I missed that would break, particularly when I hired out some of the code. I was right! ;( > - condescending users giving you orders: "bla..bla..., please fix!" Take your time. Put it in proper priority with the other hundred feature requests I'm sure you have. > - users stating the obvious: "trial version is limited. WHAI IT IS NOT > FREE????" No need to respond at all. These are ones I just skip right over in my newsletter, along with: "I like it but it should cost half as much. . ." "App XYZ is better and it is free" Sooner or later some one will post "This app saved me $400!". I think that puts it in perspective. There is no need to feel the least apologetic for charging for your app or trying to make money on it. Even if someone contacts me directly, I do not respond to comments about price. At most, I would ask "what would make this more valuable for you?". > - users perverting stars as a tool: "...5 stars if ZZZ feature is > implemented" Don't count on them coming back to update the comment when you do have ZZZ feature. But be sure and loudly proclaim when you do have feature ZZZ, in your blog, newsletter, social media, description, youtube video. Somebody else might very well comment. > - haters that just hate randomly If they use bad language, even abbreviated, mark it as spam. Most of those comments will be against Market policy. You can't count on Google enforcing it - but you can try. Nathan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en.
