In this era of blockbuster mobile acquisitions it is easy to narrowly define App Store success in terms of financial payoff or monetary gain. But succeeding in the App Store can take many different forms. In this talk Ben will discuss different ways of defining Success in the App Store, through examples from his own personal experience as an indie developer and his professional experience as a mobile consultant. Through discussions and examples from both well known and not so well known apps, you'll leave this talk with your own ideas for how you too can succeed.

1. DEFINING
APP STORE SUCCESS
or How to Cope with NOT Getting Acquired by Facebook
Ben Johnson @scoober

2. Ben Johnson works at Raizlabs building great mobile
apps for awesome clients.

4. 800 Million iOS Users
1 Billion Android Users

5. 300 Million Visits a Week
75 Billion Apps Downloaded
1.2 Million Apps in the Store

6. THERE ARE SO
MANY APPS

7. LET’S TALK
SUCCESS
(on the App Store)

8. 1. Come up with a cool idea
2. Put it on the App Store
3. Get acquired (by Facebook, Google, or Apple)
Three Step Process

9. SUCCESS IS NOT
THAT SIMPLE
(except for Instagram, Tumblr, WhatsApp, Waze, Mailbox, Pulse, etc)

10. 1. An app that you’re proud of
2. An app that people find useful
3. An app that makes you a living
4. An app that changes someone's perspective
5. An app that changes someone’s life
Redefining Success

11. 1. An app that
you’re proud of

12. MY FIRST APP

13. Bowdoin Dining

14. Find a way to be proud
of what you do

15. 2. An app that
people find useful

16. Just because people use
it, doesn’t mean its
useful…

18. RECALL

19. RECALL

20. YAHOO NEWS

22. 3. An app that
makes you a living

23. MAGIC WINDOW

24. MAGIC WINDOW

25. MAGIC WINDOW

26. MAGIC WINDOW

27. 4. An app that changes
someone’s perspective

28. FREE TIME

31. 200,000 Downloads
150 Countries
Featured 5 times by Apple in 2011 & 2012
CNN, Lifehacker, TNW, AppAdvice
People spent a cumulative 2 years in the app.

32. By most measurements
Free Time was not a success

33. Downloads over Time

34. Users over Time

35. Engagement over Time

36. Revenue over Time

37. “Free Time will completely change the way you look
at your calendar.”
- TNW

38. SUPER
PAC APP

39. SUPER
PAC APP

40. During 120,000 sessions
users identified ads 36,000 times
and added 38,000 ratings.

41. “Finally a candle to light the way through dark
money political ads.”

42. 5. An app that changes
someone’s life

43. RUNKEEPER

46. 1.5 Million Walks & Runs
30 Million Users

48. Simon is Blind

49. “If you had asked me three years ago if
training alone was possible while being blind I
would have said no.”
- Simon Wheatcroft

50. We can change the world
through great software

51. NOW WHAT

52. Four Things
to Think About

53. 1. Limit Your Focus

54. Do One Thing Well

55. YO

56. YO

57. YO

58. 2. Design Everything

61. 3. Iterate

64. 3. Iterate

66. 4. Animate

67. Teach
Your Users

68. Data
Animation

69. Set The Mood

70. Animations that
Surprise and Delight

72. Surprise and Delight

73. In Conclusion

74. THANK YOU
Ben Johnson
ben@raizlabs.com
@scoober