Download - Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer
![Page 2: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
• Indie App developer (ImaginationOverflow)
• Freelancer
• Game Developer (wannabe)
• Teacher (wannabe) at ISEL
@dvd_pthttp://blog.imaginationoverflow.com
![Page 3: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Agenda• The process
• Technical aspect
• Marketing & Users
• Making Money
• The numbers
• Tips
![Page 4: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
The Process1. Idea
2. Research
3. Naming and Branding
4. Development
5. Testing
6. Release
7. jmp 4.
Inception
Research
Initial Marketing andBranding
AppDevelopment
BetaTesting
AppLaunch
Maintenance
FeatureEnhancements
BetaTesting
AppUpdate
![Page 5: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
The Process - Idea• A necessity
• Something cool
• Technical challenging
![Page 6: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
The Process - Research• Can it be done?
• Can it be built?
• Am I motivated?
• Are there enough users to justify building it?
• What is the competition?
• CAN IT MAKE MONEY?
![Page 7: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
The Process - Naming and Branding• Social presence, twitter, facebook, domain, etc
• Name, should be something related to its purpose• Should contain 1 search keyword
• Iconography• Consistent in all mediums• Visual appealing
![Page 8: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
The Process - Development• Design centric
• UI first, code after
• User experience > (code quality + feature count)
• Code is not importantTaken from http://goo.gl/h3p3X
![Page 9: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
The Process - Testing• Beta test program
• Offer your testers something
• Unit Tests
• Development Tests
![Page 10: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
The Process - Release• Choose the release date carefully
• Let the press (Blogs, sites, forums) test your app first
• Make soft launches
![Page 11: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Technical aspect• Architecture
• Codebase
• Localisation
![Page 12: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Technical aspect - Architecture
![Page 13: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Technical aspect - Codebase• Make your app a set of Micro services
• Storage• Settings• Navigation• Error handling• etc
• Reuse as much code as possible
• DRY (Don’t repeat yourself)
![Page 14: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Technical aspect - Localisation• Always support multiple languages
• No magic or explicit strings
![Page 15: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Marketing and Users• Know the media
• Users
• Analytics
![Page 16: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Marketing and Users – the media• Create a relationship with the media
• Know trend setters
• Press Kits
• Press releases
![Page 17: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Marketing and Users – Users• Feedback Channels
• Store Review replies
• Media Comments
• Treat them like princesses
• Act quickly
![Page 18: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Marketing and Users – Analytics (1)
• Track and get familiar with:• Retention• Churn rate• User Lifetime Value (LTV)• Average Revenue per user (ARPU)
• Vanity (Motivation) metrics:• Downloads• Sessions• Clicks
• Know the when, what and how.
![Page 19: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Marketing and Users – Analytics (2)
Example:
How many users click on the Unlock Features and how many actually purchase something?
0.3%
Purchases By Events0.0003%
Purchases on View12%
Income +/- 507€
![Page 20: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Marketing and Users – Analytics (3)Issue: Low click rate on the unlock features:Possible Causes:
◦ User don’t know it exists◦ User doesn’t need to acquire anything for it’s regular usage
Possible Solutions• Create a better call to action.• Use periodic popups• Add more premium features
Admitting1% clicks
Purchases on View12%
Income +/- 1576€
![Page 21: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Making Money • Premium
• Freemium
• Ad Supported
• Subscription
![Page 22: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Making Money – The choice• How many times will your users open the app everyday
• How long will the users stay on the app
• What kind of content are your giving your users
• What kind of feature set is your app going to have
• The platform that you are targeting.
![Page 23: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Making Money – Our ChoicePremium + Freemium (Ads + In App Purchases)
Advantages◦ Two apps on the market, double the visibility◦ Three sources of income, Ads, IAPs, Direct Sales
Disadvantages◦ Store ranks divided◦ User confusion◦ Harder to manager
![Page 24: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
The numbers• Vanity
◦ Downloads◦ Sessions◦ Crashes◦ Interactions
• Earnings◦ Premium◦ In App Purchases◦ Ads
![Page 25: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
The numbers - Vanity> 7MDownloads
> 60MSessions
> 500kCrashes
> 23kEmail Replies
> 12kFacebook Messages
> 2kTweet Replies
> 7kUserVoice Votes
3Skype Calls
> 230kStore Reviews
> 200Reviews/Blog/Site Posts
7App Awards
1.5Persons
> 100kLines of code
![Page 26: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Tips (1)• Deploy Early, update often
• Aim low
• Shotgun effect
• Take it as a business
• Keep the Motivation
• Expect nothing
• Have fun
• Learn one thing every day
• Work smart
![Page 27: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Tips (2)• Users are people not € bills
• Let the users develop the app
• A submitted app is no longer yours
• Fix what’s wrong
• Brake what is right
• Make a work schedule
![Page 28: Indy 500 - 4 years as an indie developer](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062503/58ed91e21a28abf3378b467d/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Questions