Most People Aren't Creative
In my previous post I talked about my product Grid Draw. Recently I spend some time giving it an overhaul—new branding, pricing structure, and I re-did the intro video.
This was a significant investment in time and effort so it’s worth reflecting a little on how it went, or, how it continues to go.
Downloads for Grid Draw are great, and perhaps one could say they’re increasing (but only time will tell if that’s true).
I’m impressed by the number of organic downloads that the app gets on a daily basis and the new branding definitely helped with that.
However, the app still struggles with poor retention.
As indicated by my internal tracking, the majority of users open the app, watch the how-to-video then jump ship—never to be seen again :(
There’s something about my App Store presence that draws them in but upon experiencing the app itself they are left wanting. Bummer.
My App Store screenshots depict art that I have created using Grid Draw so perhaps that is what people are expecting when they open the app; Only to find two lonely avenues of engagement—watch the how-to video, or create a grid of their own.
My guess is that most people are not artistic, or creative and they’re looking for ready-made art to use in whatever project they’re working on.
I suppose this is not helped by my app-title with contains the phrase “Logo and Icon Creator.” Perhaps this leads people to expect a hand-holdy experience where the technology will guide them through the creation of a perfect logo for whatever they’re working on.
In any case, I can only make an educated guess as to what these folks are expecting after downloading Grid Draw.
Evidence seems to indicate that they come in to the app expecting to see some art only to find a blank canvas.
A blank canvas is very appealing to some. And by some I mean a very small minority.
A minority of the people who happen upon my app engage with it A LOT. I can see that they’re creating art… really working on something.
This is great to see, and should be worth something.
So… why not give this creative minority the tools to share their creations with the world because, after all, what is the point of creative work without an audience?
Long story short, when and if I poor my attention back into Grid Draw, It will be focused on giving the creative minority the means to share their work with other users of the app. So, if all goes as planned, when people open the app for the first time, they’ll be greeted with a cornucopia of ready-made art to peruse.
Of course this brings up the question of incentive. Why would people want to give away their art? I don’t exactly know and I don’t care to speculate at the moment but I can say with certainty I’d be more than happy to give away my own creations. Although my incentives are obvious it should be enough to justify putting in the effort.