This document studies the interactions between users and developers of free apps on the Google Play Store, focusing on how developers respond to user reviews and the impact of these responses on ratings. It analyzes a dataset of over 355,000 reviews, identifying common patterns in developer responses and showcasing the benefits of engaging with users, such as increased ratings. Key findings include that developers' responses often guide users, address issues without requiring an update, and vary based on the sentiment of the reviews.

1. Studying the Dialogue Between Users and
Developers of Free Apps in the Google Play Store
Journal First Presentation | Empirical Software Engineering
Ahmed E. HassanSafwat Hassan Cor-Paul BezemerChakkrit (Kla)
Tantithamthavorn

2. We study user-developer interactions through the
distribution and rating mechanisms of the Google Play Store
2
How developers leverage the distribution
mechanism to publish emergency updates

3. We study user-developer interactions through the
distribution and rating mechanisms of the Google Play Store
3
How developers leverage the distribution
mechanism to publish emergency updates
The dialogue between users and developers

4. Mobile app stores offer rich data
4
The Google Play Store has around
3.6 million apps
March 2, 2018
Need to fix this update, it keeps on freezing.
User

5. For many years, developers were not able to
respond to user reviews
5
October 14, 2015
After listening to one podcast, sometimes I want to go back and
listen to it again. Where can I find the old shows that I have
already listened to?
User

6. Since recently, developers can engage in a
dialogue with the reviewer
6
October 14, 2015
After listening to one podcast, sometimes I want to go back and
listen to it again. Where can I find the old shows that I have
already listened to?
User
The app doesn't delete episode articles. If you don't see them it
means that you pressed on the toolbar 'eye' button to hide
read content. Press once more to display them.
Dev

7. Since recently, developers can engage in a
dialogue with the reviewer
7
October 14, 2015
After listening to one podcast, sometimes I want to go back and
listen to it again. Where can I find the old shows that I have
already listened to?
User
October 16, 2015
After talking to support, my questions were answered. It's a good
app
User
The app doesn't delete episode articles. If you don't see them it
means that you pressed on the toolbar 'eye' button to hide
read content. Press once more to display them.
Dev

8. Analyzing the dialogue between users and
developers
8
2) What are the common patterns of developer
responses?
1) What is the impact of responding to user
reviews on the review rating?
3) What drives a developer to respond?

9. A summary of the studied dataset
9
> 2K
Apps
> 355K
Changes in
reviews
> 128K
Developer
responses
> 4M
Reviews

10. There is a great benefit in
responding to reviews
10
Six times more likely to lead to
a rating increase

11. There is a great benefit in
responding to reviews
11
In 84% of the cases of rating increase,
users increase their rating to four stars
or five stars
Six times more likely to lead to
a rating increase

12. We identified three main reasons for rating
increase
12
Developer guides the user to solve
the reported issue without having
to deploy an app update
34%

13. We identified three main reasons for rating
increase
13
Developer guides the user to solve
the reported issue without having
to deploy an app update
34%
24% Developer deploys an update to
address the reported issue

14. We identified three main reasons for rating
increase
14
13%
Developer guides the user to solve
the reported issue without having
to deploy an app update
34%
24% Developer deploys an update to
address the reported issue
Details of the solution are
communicated outside the store

15. Analyzing the dialogue between users and
developers
15
2) What are the common patterns of developer
responses?
1) What is the impact of responding to user reviews
on the review rating?
3) What drives a developer to respond?

16. Our approach for identifying the common
patterns of developer responses
16
Step 1:
Collect
metrics
We collected 6 metrics:
Review title length, Review text length, Days since last
release, Review rating, Positive sentiment, Negative
sentiment.

17. Our approach for identifying the common
patterns of developer responses
17
Step 2:
Build model
for every
app
Step 1:
Collect
metrics
We built 415 models.

18. Our approach for identifying the common
patterns of developer responses
18
Step 2:
Build model
for every
app
Step 3:
Extract the
key features
for each
model
Step 1:
Collect
metrics
We extracted 12 key features for each model.

19. Our approach for identifying the common
patterns of developer responses
19
Step 2:
Build model
for every
app
Step 3:
Extract the
key features
for each
model
Step 4:
Cluster the
models
Step 1:
Collect
metrics

20. We identified three patterns of developer
responses
20
Only negative reviews

21. We identified three patterns of developer
responses
21
Negative or longer reviews
Only negative reviews

22. We identified three patterns of developer
responses
22
Negative or longer reviews
Only negative reviews
Reviews which are posted shortly after the latest
release

23. Analyzing the dialogue between users and
developers
23
2) What are the common patterns of developer
responses?
1) What is the impact of responding to user reviews
on the review rating?
3) What drives a developer to respond?

24. Our approach for studying what drives a
developer to respond
24
• We manually read a statistically
representative random sample of user-
developer interaction episodes.
• We study the contents of responses to
understand better what drives developers to
respond to reviews

25. We identified four main drivers for responding
25
Thank the user63%

26. We identified four main drivers for responding
26
Thank the user63%
Ask for more details45%

27. We identified four main drivers for responding
27
Provide guidance25%
Thank the user63%
Ask for more details45%

28. We identified four main drivers for responding
28
Provide guidance25%
Thank the user63%
Ask for more details45%
Ask for endorsement24%

29. We identified four main drivers for responding
29
Provide guidance25%
Thank the user63%
Ask for more details45%
Ask for endorsement24%

30. For provide guidance, we observed that similar
responses can be used to provide FAQs
30
AppLock
The user asks how to use the “AppLock”
app to lock other apps
“Please open phone settings security apps
with usage access enable AppLock”
User
Dev
520

31. For provide guidance, we observed that similar
responses can be used to provide FAQs
31
PicsArt
The user complains that the app is very
slow
“HiVincent this issue can sometimes be
solved by clearing the cache.To do so go
to your device’s Settings - Apps - PicsArt
and tap ‘Clear data’ and ‘Clear cache’
User
Dev
271
AppLock
The user asks how to use the “AppLock”
app to lock other apps
“Please open phone settings security apps
with usage access enable AppLock”
User
Dev
520

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Safwat Hassan
shassan@cs.queensu.ca