Keep your eyes on the users
The best way to power through the stress of running a startup in these crazy times is to focus on the problem you solve.
I stay focused on Kraftful’s mission by reading app store reviews for other smart home apps as inspiration on how to create the ultimate smart home experience.
From our research, we found that 80% of all smart home apps have three or less stars in the app stores. Many of the problems users complain about are usability issues. Here are some examples:
A smart lock app that doesn’t let you unlock your home.
A smart light app that makes you scroll before letting you turn on/off your lights.
A smart home app that makes firmware updates inaccessible.
Firmware updates are key for keeping a product up to date. Sometimes they’re used for security patches. So making firmware updates less accessible is a terrible move.
A common misconception is that most bad reviews of smart home apps are related connectivity issues that can’t be solved with good UX. The user frustration around connectivity issues can be minimized with actionable error messages.
A good error message clearly states what’s wrong and the action the user needs to take (e.g. “please check your internet connection”). If the action doesn’t technically require the users’ participation (e.g. “try again”), it often makes sense to retry on behalf of the user rather than overloading them with error messages that make them feel like the app is completely broken.
