Mobile app analytics can help understand how users are engaging with an app. Key metrics include acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue. Location, device, and timing data can provide insights into users. Funnels, cohorts, and A/B testing help optimize the user experience and measure what is working. Privacy regulations like GDPR require compliance.

1. Mobile App Analytics
why, when, what, where, how & gotchas
@niallrochen.roche@ucl.ac.ukGet in touch
Niall Roche

2. why use analytics?
find out who users are
find out how they are using your product (or not)
find out what they are/are not interested in
saves wasted effort or can try differently
either way you have learned something!
can help with innovation accounting

3. Industry Baselines
compare with other apps in same category
mine data from App Stores and Analytics Libraries
user baselines sourced from the industry
• app annie
• visionmobile
• Flurry
• apptopia

4. without analytics
no idea how users are using your site/app/device
hard to prove to investors and prove metrics
how to measure against KPIs?
how to know if something new or different is working

5. metrics
• Acquisition
• Activation
• Retention
• Referral
• Revenue
• many many more…..

6. know your users
where geographically (may not be accurate)
how did they get there (referrals & campaigns)
gender & age (may be implied)
what devices
what languages are they using
when are they using it (any interesting trends?)

7. where?
identify milestones along a journey
different decision points for user
all major events
should be mapped to KPIs and metrics
if in doubt - track as much as possible!

8. what?
decide what to track
and how to interpret
what are the user journeys to focus on
what goal performance to measure
look crash reports exceptions and bad things
don't forget about some feedback!

9. Product product = new Product()
.setName("Dragon Food")
.setPrice(40.00);
ProductAction productAction = new
ProductAction(ProductAction.ACTION_PURCHASE)
.setTransactionId("T12345");
// Add the transaction data to the event.
HitBuilders.EventBuilder builder = new
HitBuilders.EventBuilder()
.setCategory("In-Game Store")
.setAction("Purchase")
.addProduct(product)
.setProductAction(productAction);
// Send the transaction data with the event.
tracker.send(builder.build());

10. heatmaps

11. Examine Funnels

12. cohorts
cohort analysis
match campaigns to cohorts
ignore vanity metrics!
no of page impressions + signups not as important as engaged users
can always buy users to visit your site
what campaigns convert into paying customers for lowest acquisition
cost
useful when calculating lifetime value of customers

14. A/B Testing
source rahulrodriguez

15. A/B Testing
implementation options
AB Tasty
Convert
Optimizely
Unbounce
many analytics tools have simple implementations built
in too with reports on variance

16. app launch events
app icon
spotlight
push notification
from other app / device
url scheme
intent (Android)
Document Handler
proximity trigger
geofence
beacon/iBeacon/eddistone/NFC
system event (low battery)
background mode may bypass initial
start logic

17. multiple paths
A -> B -> C is not always straightforward
may be multiple routes to same point in app/site
how did the user get there?
Tab / Swipe / Press / Gesture
from Hamburger menu, context and other menus
tracking context of how an event was reached

18. actioning with data
platforms like Liquid (onliquid.com) can adapt an app
experience based on data
identify variables to change inside the app
trigger an actions on a funnel of users (e.g push
notification)
set rules to automatically intervene based on trends
personalised experiences

19. technical problems
• some technical issues for websites
• leaving page on form submit
• careful with placement of code
• missing images, load events may not fire
• add timeouts for error handling

20. analytics tools
Google Analytics
MixPanel
Liquid
Flurry
Crashlytics
Keen.io
AppSee
UXCam
AppAnalytics
UsabilityTools
Localytics
Apteligent
Amazon
Segment
Kissmetrics
customer.io
mparticle
Facebook
Crittercism

21. privacy
new EU legislation changes to Privacy regulations
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations)
check you are compliant
and the analytics provider is too!

22. UX Testing Tools
Usabilla (https://usabilla.com/)
CrazyEgg
(http://www.crazyegg.com/)
Heatma.ps ( http://www.heatma.ps)
Testplant (http://www.testplant.com/)
Usertesting
(http://www.usertesting.com)
Utest (http://www.utest.com)
Silverback (http://silverbackapp.com/)
Clicktale (www.clicktale.com)
Five Second Test -
https://usabilityhub.com
Feng-GUI (automatic eye tracking)
http://openhallway.com/
www.trymyui.com
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.html
http://www.loop11.com/
http://www.feedbackarmy.com/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icon-
testing/
http://www.ethnio.com/
https://marvelapp.com
http://entypo.com
http://www.inspectlet.com
http://www.invisionapp.com/
www.usertesting.com
http://ethn.io