How to Conduct User Interviews and Surveys for Mobile App Development

One of the first things you need to accomplish when working on a new project is to provide a response to the question, “Who will use this product?” If you don’t have a clear response to this query, you risk launching an app that is useless as a whole.

Applying user interviews for mobile app development is a method for gaining this understanding. When conducted effectively, an interview can give you an in-depth understanding of your consumers’ objectives, viewpoints, and experiences. On the other hand, poor interviewing can provide you with false information that can lead to a misguided design.

You should know the methodology and peculiarities of conducting interviews and user surveys for mobile app development. Devlight examines the guiding principles of effective user interviews in this article.

Why Do User Interviews and Surveys?

Creating a positive user experience is key to your product. Knowing the user’s biggest pain, gain, and motivation, you can use this info to create a product that will have great value. 

Both in-depth interviews and general surveys bring about many benefits:

• they help you to gather opinions on a fresh offering that your company has made;
• surveys make you comprehend the demands and anticipations of your clients during persona-gathering meetings;
• they are great for developing fresh suggestions on how you could enhance an already-existing good or service;
• conducting a usability study helps to comprehend better what use clients can make out of your app;
• user researches generally help us learn more about how users perceive particular design aspects.

As you can see, user interviews for mobile app development work best when combined with other research techniques like usability testing and online surveys. Interviews, in particular, help us:

• Get truthful commentary

One-on-one in-depth interviews are free from any distractions or potential pressure that could be present in bigger focus groups. The direct dialogue with a participant may take an hour, leaving no room for the influence of other users. Also, some individuals feel more at ease sharing open comments in conversation than through a printed questionnaire. 

• Get a deeper comprehension of user behavior

Researchers can decipher body language during in-person or remote face-to-face in-depth interviews. Interviewers can also evaluate alterations in voice tone and word choice. Interviewers may create a comprehensive picture of user behavior using these subtleties, which is impossible using other online or offline feedback channels.

• Increase your knowledge of user goals and expectations.

With an in-depth interview, seeking further information, asking follow-up questions, and delving deeper into specific themes are simpler. They work well for open-ended inquiries that invite participants to provide lengthier, more in-depth answers.

When to Conduct Interviews and Surveys?

The timing for conducting user interviews and surveys in mobile app development may vary depending on the stage of the development process and the research goals. However, there are two general cases where we can conduct user interviews and surveys:

Discovery Research

Discovery research is typically conducted during the early stages of product development when a product has not yet been created. You may already have a general idea of your product, but you must research the market need and the issue you’re attempting to tackle before developing. Finding out about your users’ experiences and how they currently resolve problems is the aim of conducting user interviews during the Discovery stage.

Gathering In-Depth Feedback About an Existing Product

Have you recently launched a new feature or product? It’s time to get customer input after releasing the product with all of its features and user flows. Asking about their experience using the product will help you identify any unmet user needs and pain issues.

Types of User Interviews

A qualitative research method, an “in-depth interview,” entails conducting numerous individual interviews. These entail one-on-one interaction with participants, typically taking either in-person or remotely. Compared to moderated usability research, they have a more adaptable structure. In-depth interviews are employed to obtain a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of users’ viewpoints, experiences, and emotions regarding user experience.

In-depth interview questions can be customized for the interviewee and their particular usage as opposed to more general qualitative or quantitative questionnaires that are distributed to a larger range of clients. You have a few choices regarding the structure of your user interviews for mobile app development:

Structured Interviews 

The methodology of structured interviews is predetermined. Only preset questions focused on certain experiences would be asked by the interviewer. A structured approach constrains the potential for deeper exploration of the issues covered.

Semi-structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews use a set of guidelines known as protocols. Although it’s a two-way dialogue, and the interviewer might enquire about specifics, most of the questions are prewritten. While interviewers will have a list of opening questions and topics to discuss, the course of the interview will be determined by the respondents’ responses.

Unstructured Interviews

Unstructured interviews are not pre-planned and are not defined. The interaction is akin to a dialogue between the researcher and the subject.

How to Conduct User Interviews for Mobile App Development

Thorough user interviews for mobile app development require preparation. It helps you better use your members’ time by pre-planning themes and conversation starters. Customers may be reluctant to participate in subsequent drives for consumer insights if they feel that their time was squandered or that the in-depth interview was simply too lengthy.

Also, keeping your In-depth interviews succinct and organized will aid in participants’ ability to concentrate throughout. Longer interviews with unclear goals risk exhausting customers and lowering the quality of their responses.

Step 1. Determining research goals 

Before conducting any in-depth interviews, it’s critical to understand the results you hope to achieve clearly. This aids in directing both your questions and, ultimately, the conversation. It will be simpler to formulate questions to help you better grasp what your end user wants to accomplish once you have determined your goals.

Step 2. Creating an interview guide for the interview

• Define your scope and Optimal Sample Size
  

Define your scope for conducting user interviews for mobile app development and the minimum number of responders. That should specify how many users you must interview. A five-minute interview with 120 participants, for instance, serves little purpose. Spending the same time interviewing 20 persons for 30 minutes each would be preferable. In this manner, rather than hurriedly going through a list of questions, you would have time to discuss themes more thoroughly with each participant.

In general, a sample size of 5-10 users is a good starting point for user interviews. This sample size is typically large enough to identify common issues and themes while being small enough to conduct in-depth interviews and analysis. Nevertheless, one situation requires you to speak with more users: if your product caters to diverse user groups. Interview three or four participants from each user group if you have two; or three participants from the three or more user groups.

However, larger sample sizes may be needed for more complex or diverse projects. Ultimately, the ideal sample size will depend on the goals of the research and the resources available.

• Set a time limit

Be aware of your participants’ time when conducting user interviews for mobile app development. Remember that if you talk for a long time, the quality of the answers may suffer toward the end of the exchange. Tell participants how long each interview will last… and adhere to it. Limit each interview to no more than an hour. This length is optimal enough for them to agree to the interview.

• Make a list of Good Questions

The correct questions will encourage participants to express their genuine opinions. Use a variety of question styles in your user interviews for mobile app development, such as:

1. general icebreakers: “Tell me about your main challenges right now,” for instance.
2. detailed questions with greater specificity: “What are you trying to accomplish by utilizing app, for instance?”
3. insight-driven questions: questions regarding new or existing features. For instance, “How helpful would you find this new calendar function?”

Asking the correct questions will help you better understand customer input and subsequently adopt it successfully. Also, you’ll collect qualitative data that helps improve your user experience decisions.

• Avoid Bad questions (Leading questions, Judgemental questions, Compound questions)

Asking participants about the future is not appropriate. They must make up the scenario they haven’t experienced to respond to the question. Besides, when a question is closed, only two potential replies exist. As a result, we don’t concentrate on what users care about; rather, we just validate our presumptions. These are a few illustrations of poor questions:

How often do you fail to do [a task]?

NO — this question makes the interviewee feel guilty

Would this [product] be useful to solve this [problem]?

NO — this question is begging for an affirmation and a compliment

Would you be willing to pay a bit more than you are paying now to get a much faster solution?

NO — the answer will never predict the future.

Step 3. Test your interview questions (conduct at least one trial run of the interview)

Get your teammates or friends to test your questions, and then get their comments on their clarity. Do they respond with the information you anticipated? Or ask you what you meant after each question? You should clearly identify what needs to be altered or improved going the future based on the feedback.

Step 4. Recruit the right participants for the interview

Recruiting the right participants for user interviews is crucial to ensure that the insights gathered are relevant and representative of the target user population. Here are some tips for recruiting the right participants for user interviews:

• Define the target user population: Before recruiting participants, it’s essential to define the target user population based on the research goals. Consider demographics such as age, gender, location, and other relevant factors.
• Develop a recruitment screener: Create a screening questionnaire to filter out participants who don’t meet the criteria for the target user population. The screener should include questions related to demographics and relevant user behaviors or experiences.
• Use a combination of recruitment methods: Use multiple recruitment methods to reach a diverse group of potential participants. This can include social media, email, online forums, or other relevant channels.
• Offer incentives: Providing incentives, such as a gift card or cash, can encourage participants to take the time to participate in the interview.
• Leverage existing user groups: If you have an existing user base, consider recruiting participants from this group. This can provide a more relevant and engaged participant pool.
• Use a professional recruitment service: If resources permit, consider using a professional recruitment service to find and screen participants. These services can provide a more targeted participant pool and can save time and resources.

Overall, recruiting the right participants for user interviews requires careful planning and consideration of the research goals. By defining the target user population, developing a recruitment screener, using multiple recruitment methods, offering incentives, leveraging existing user groups, and using professional recruitment services, you can increase the likelihood of recruiting the right participants for your research.

Step 5. Conduct the interview. Define your user’s biggest pain, gain, and motivation. Test hypotheses while user interviewing

The team should pinpoint the key user issues the product can solve during the initial stages of product development. Extensive market research and competitor analysis are required to determine the nest things:

• the primary issue that needs to be resolved (user pain); 
• the current approach being taken and how it will benefit the user (gain).

Begin the interview with open-ended questions that allow users to share their experiences and opinions in their own words. For example, “Tell me about a time when you struggled with using an app” or “What motivated you to start using an app in the first place?”

Use follow-up questions to dig deeper into specific pain points, gains, and motivations. For example, “Can you tell me more about how that feature caused you frustration?” or “What specifically about the app was most appealing to you?”

Ask users to share their experiences using the app in specific scenarios, such as when they first downloaded the app, when they encountered a problem, or when they achieved a goal. This can help identify pain points, gains, and motivations related to specific app functions or features.

Use hypothetical scenarios to explore potential pain points, gains, and motivations. For example, “If we removed this feature, how would that impact your experience with our app?” or “If we added this feature, how would that improve your experience?”

Pay attention to nonverbal cues: Observe nonverbal cues, such as body language and tone of voice, during the interview to identify areas where the user may be experiencing frustration or excitement.

Summarize the user’s pain points, gains, and motivations throughout the interview to ensure that you have a clear understanding of their experiences. Validate your understanding with the user to ensure that you are accurately capturing their perspective.

Testing the hypotheses is critical in user interviews for mobile app development and surveys to define users’ needs. The primary objective of user research is to test hypotheses through contact with potential users. Testing seeks to determine whether the problems are real and validate previously developed assumptions.

Step 6. Analyze and report the results

Analyzing and reporting the results of user interviews requires careful organization and prioritization of the data, as well as clear communication of the insights gained and recommendations for improvement. The first step is to transcribe the interview recordings and organize the data into themes or categories. This can help identify common pain points, gains, and motivations. Look for patterns and trends in the data, such as frequent mentions of specific pain points or gains. This can help prioritize areas for improvement.

Use quotes and examples from the interviews to illustrate the pain points, gains, and motivations identified. This can help make the insights more tangible and relatable. Creating visual aids, such as charts or graphs, can also help illustrate the data and identify patterns and trends.

Next, prioritize the findings based on their impact on the user experience and the feasibility of addressing them. This can help identify the most critical areas for improvement. Use the insights gained from the user interviews to create an action plan for improving the mobile app. The action plan should prioritize the most critical areas for improvement and include specific recommendations for addressing each area.

Finally, communicate the findings and action plan to the development team, stakeholders, and other relevant parties. This can help ensure that the insights gained are acted upon and integrated into the development process. 

Tip: In-depth Interview Best Practices 

The user interview is a research technique that allows you to develop empathy for users while learning about their requirements, problems, and desires. User interviews necessitate meticulous attention to detail and strong interviewing abilities. The best practices listed below will assist you in conducting user interviews successfully:

• Before each interview, warmup

While the first few seconds of user interviews for mobile app development can be difficult, your first objective should be to get to know the participant and establish a casual atmosphere. Set the stage for the interview by outlining its goals and estimating its length. If you wish to record the interview, the ideal time to request permission is now.

• Pose follow-up questions

Unplanned follow-up queries are those. Based on the knowledge you’ve gained from the interview, pose questions to them. You will learn the most from asking follow-up questions.

• The same questions might be asked in several ways

Reiterating your original query is an additional follow-up strategy. This technique is frequently used to identify the true cause of a problem and ascertain the user’s viewpoint. Here, using synonyms, introducing a perspective, or referencing the user’s prior experiences can all be very beneficial.

• Remember your script, but be adaptable

If you completely adhere to your script, you could become a bit robotic, which is not how you want to inspire empathy. Also, if you adhere too strictly to your plan, you risk missing out on important insights and details. Hence, have your script handy but be prepared to improvise.

• Provide a secure setting for your participants

When a user interview develops into an open discussion, it works best. Participants will feel comfortable giving their thoughts if you foster a nonjudgmental environment and project your credibility. Create a safe environment by making the necessary effort.

• Finish on a cordial note

Your closing remarks are crucial. It is insufficient to thank you and depart merely. Devote the time remaining after your user interviews for mobile app development to express gratitude for the participants’ time, inform them of what will happen next, and ask if you may contact them again if necessary. You might also ask them for suggestions on other people who would be eager to participate in an interview.

How to Conduct User Surveys for Mobile App Development

A survey, which frequently takes the form of a questionnaire, is a quantitative user-research technique. Your questionnaire needs to be well-planned and simple to complete – you will get insightful answers if you pose precise, research-relevant queries. 

Step 1. Determining research goals 

Before starting a survey, lay out your main research questions and establish a clear aim for the survey. These goals should be specific and actionable, such as identifying user pain points, determining user preferences for features, or understanding user motivations for using the app.

It’s crucial to comprehend the statistical significance and pay attention to the quality of your data. You can make inferences about benchmarks and trends based on your data.

Step 2. Select an online survey tool

Online survey tools for mobile app development can help you gather valuable feedback from users, identify pain points and areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about the design and functionality of the mobile app.  Here are some features that an online survey tool should include:

• Customizable survey questions;
• Multiple survey formats. The tool should offer multiple survey formats, such as multiple-choice, open-ended, and Likert scale questions. This can help you gather more detailed and nuanced feedback from users.
• Mobile-friendly: The survey tool should be mobile-friendly, meaning that users can easily complete the survey on their mobile devices. This can help increase the response rates.
• Automated data collection: The survey tool should automate the collection of survey data, making it easy for you to gather and analyze the data.
• Analytics and reporting features that allow you to visualize and interpret the survey data. This can help identify trends and patterns in the feedback gathered.
• Secure and confidential. The survey tool should ensure that the data gathered is secure and confidential, protecting the privacy of users who complete the survey.

At Devlight, we employ the following equipment for a variety of uses:

Screeners and surveys: Typeform and Google Forms.

Remote usability testing with moderators: Figma + Zoom/Google Meet;

Whiteboarding and group meetings: Miro + Zoom/Google Meet;

Results of usability tests: Google Sheets, Notion;

Step 3. Recruit participants

The ideal sample size for user surveys in mobile app development can vary depending on several factors, including the research goals or target audience. For example, if the mobile app is targeting a small niche market, a smaller sample size may be sufficient to gather reliable data. On the other hand, if the mobile app is targeting a broad audience with diverse needs and preferences, a larger sample size may be required to ensure that the data gathered is representative of the entire user population.

However, as a general rule, a sample size of at least 100 participants is recommended for user surveys in mobile app development. A good maximum sample size is usually around 10% of the population, as long as this does not exceed 1000. For example, in a population of 5000, 10% would be 500. In a population of 200,000, 10% would be 20,000. This exceeds 1000, so in this case, the maximum would be 1000. Even in a population of 200,000, sampling 1000 people will normally give a fairly accurate result. Sampling more than 1000 people won’t add much to the accuracy given the extra time and money it would cost. This sample size is considered statistically significant and can provide reliable data to inform design and development decisions.

Your online surveys should be brief. Your objective is to increase the response rate; you can accomplish that with a short survey. A survey should not take more than 10 minutes to complete.

Segmenting your audience based on the survey’s goal will help you find suitable respondents. For instance, gathering information from users who have used a certain function more than once if you want to update it. Here are the top resources to seek survey participants:

• Your personal network.
• Social media. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram can be great places to find survey participants. You can post your survey on social media accounts and also in relevant groups and forums.
• Online survey panels. There are several online survey panels, such as SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and Qualtrics, that allow you to create and distribute surveys to a large audience. These panels also provide access to a diverse pool of participants, making it easier to find participants with specific characteristics or demographics.
• User testing platforms. User testing platforms, such as UserTesting and Userlytics, allow developers to recruit participants for user testing and surveys. These platforms provide access to a large pool of participants and can help you gather feedback.
• Customer support channels. Customer support channels, such as live chat, email, and phone support, can also be used to invite customers to participate in surveys. This is a great way to reach out to users who have already interacted with the app and may be more willing to provide feedback.
• Email lists: you can leverage your email lists to invite subscribers to participate in a survey. This is a great way to reach an engaged audience who have already shown interest in the app or brand.
• In-app survey: you can also include a survey within your mobile app to gather feedback from users. This is a great way to reach users who are already engaged with the app and can provide valuable insights on how to improve the app.

Step 4. Conduct the survey

Develop survey questions that are clear, concise, and relevant to the research goals. When creating survey questions, it is essential to use clear and concise language that is easy for participants to understand. Avoid using technical jargon or complicated terms that may confuse participants.

Open-ended questions are great for allowing participants to provide detailed and nuanced responses. However, it’s crucial to avoid leading questions that may bias the responses.

Likert scale questions are great for gathering quantitative data on user preferences and opinions. These questions ask participants to rate their level of agreement or disagreement on a scale. For example, in the question, “How satisfied are you with the service you have received from an app?” the respondent might be offered this 5-point Likert scale from which to select a response – Very satisfied; Moderately satisfied; Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; Moderately dissatisfied; Very dissatisfied.

Focusing on one topic per question is essential to avoid confusing participants and ensure that the responses are relevant to the research goals.

Including skip logic in the survey can help tailor the questions to the participant’s previous responses. This can help ensure that the survey is relevant and engaging for the participant.

Using visuals, such as images or videos, can provide context for the survey questions. This can help participants better understand the questions and provide more accurate responses.

You can do an A/B test to determine whether making little changes to your survey will improve response rates. Consider the number of questions or the timing, etc. Put various surveys into various designs, then run A/B test studies to determine which kind of survey performs best in whatever situation.

Finally, it’s important to test the survey questions with a small group of participants to ensure that the questions are clear and relevant. This can also help identify any technical issues with the survey.

Step 5. Analyze and report the results

The most important step in this process is undoubtedly the analysis of user feedback. It entails transforming qualitative and quantitative user data into insights that can be used to improve products. 

First, organize the data in a spreadsheet or other data management tool to make it easier to analyze and interpret. Then, clean the data to remove any incomplete or irrelevant responses and ensure accuracy. Next, use descriptive statistics like mean, median, and mode to summarize the data and identify trends and patterns. 

After analyzing the data, identify key insights like user preferences, pain points, and areas for improvement. Use graphs, charts, and tables to help visualize the data and make it easier to understand. Report the findings in a clear and concise manner, providing recommendations for improving the mobile app based on the survey results. Finally, validate the findings by testing the recommendations with a small group of users to ensure they are effective and meet user needs.

By following these steps, you can gain valuable insights into user needs and preferences, and use this information to make informed decisions that improve the user experience of the mobile app.

Tip: User Surveys Best Practices 

To ensure the success of your upcoming survey, check out Devlight’s best practices:

• Keep your surveys short

Most of the time, those who complete your user surveys for mobile app development do you a favor. What better approach to appreciate their time than to refrain from occupying it excessively? Higher completion rates and more considerate answers to the questions you decide to include will be your reward.

• Ask the right questions

Add the third open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire if the previous two are screening questions for clarification. It is crucial to understand users’ behaviors and discover their significant issues during user surveys for mobile app development. Leave the respondents room for improvisation. 

• Avoid bad questions

Never use the same range of numbers twice. For instance, the same age mentioned in multiple age ranges is highly perplexing. Which option—10-20 or 20-30—would you pick if you were 20?

Questions that lead participants to a particular response, such as “Don’t you think this app is easy to use?” or “Don’t you agree that this app is the best?”

Questions that ask two things at once, such as “Do you find this app easy to use and visually appealing?”

Questions that are too vague or general, such as “What do you think of the app?” or “Do you like the app?”

Questions that use technical or industry-specific jargon that may not be familiar to participants, such as “What do you think of the app’s UX/UI design?”

Questions that can be interpreted in different ways, such as “How often do you use the app?” without specifying a time frame.

Questions that contain emotionally charged language or assumptions, such as “Don’t you think this app is much better than the competition?”

• Absolutes can seriously lower precision

Terms like “every,” “always,” and “all” are absolutes. They forbid more nuanced responses and force the respondent to either agree or disagree with a forcefully worded question. What if only part of the question sounds right? What if the question already contains a negative participle? Those are common errors. 

• Always review the survey before sending
  

Make sure to preview your survey to avoid any design errors. Even better, distribute it to others so they can correct any errors you may have missed.

User Interviews and Surveys for Mobile App Development: Devlight’s Case 

In recent years, the financial industry has seen a rapid increase in the number of digital banks, also known as neo-banks. The convenience and flexibility of neobanks have made them tangibly popular among consumers, especially the younger generation, who are accustomed to a mobile-first experience.

As a result, many traditional financial institutions and investment companies are now considering creating their own neobank concepts to tap into this growing market. An investment company approached us with just such a request.

During the introductory workshops, together with the client’s team members, we were able to formulate the vision of the business and the final product:

• Increasing users’ financial literacy and providing personalized financial savings tools;
• Building an effective and convenient tool for the investor to deposit and withdraw funds and other operations with an investment account;
• Closing all the daily needs of the client by creating universal services;
• Inclusive investing for a mass audience.

After that, we started research with the aim of:

• Conducting competitor market analysis;
• Detailing of user portraits;
• Validating hypotheses;
• Building and validating VPCs.

Hypothesis 1 — There is a banking segment of users who currently do not receive the required level of service — Disproved

During qualitative interviews, the majority of respondents were satisfied with their experience of banking interaction and pointed out one of the competitors as a standard of quality banking in the country. It should be understood that those users who keep up with the global fintech market understand that the competitor has many disadvantages, such as lack of payment using NFC, commissions for withdrawing funds of more than 1,000 conditional units, unstable operation of the program, lack of personalized experience, etc. 

Accordingly, it was worth thinking about deploying our potential product in the niche of Neobanks and not spending a lot of resources and time in order to compete with the most successful player on the market.

Hypothesis 2 — The level of financial literacy of a wide TA segment does not allow competent management of their finances — Approved

During the qualitative interviews, several respondents noted that, in their opinion, their country’s population holds an insufficient level of financial literacy, as well as experiences fear and mistrust of banks and financial infrastructures.

If you compare the results of the questionnaires, you can draw an analogy between the answers of our client’s customers and the wider audience (bank users). Namely: our client’s users interested in learning new savings methods, do not prefer to save their funds in the country’s currency, unlike a wide segment of users. From which we could conclude that users who have experience in investments do not save money in national currency due to inflation.

A sample of bank users showed that 59.9% of users do not plan a budget for the next month; 50% do not analyze expenses for the previous month.

Insight 1: TA uses deposits as the main way of saving their funds, despite the fact that the percentage of return on the deposit account did not exceed the annual percentage of inflation.

Insight 2: 87.9% of surveyed users would like to access an investment education platform.

Insight 3: 48.5% of respondents were receiving information about the investment market via Telegram, 30.1% via mass media.

Hypothesis 3 — TA is ready to use a fully digital bank without physical branches — Approved

The main trend of 2020 was the digitization of processes and business. Due to the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, most small and medium small businesses have faced difficulties and have been forced to bring their customers online. Accordingly, the number of online transactions for the year increased by 39.7% worldwide.

Most of the respondents (qualitative interview) noted that they were not ready to go to a physical branch of the bank in order to resolve minor issues if they could be resolved online or over the phone.

It is worth noting the small sample of respondents who noted that physical contact with a live person in the department or on the phone was important to them, because they feel calmer when a live person dealt with their question. (As a rule, those were people aged 35+).

Insight 1: During the first year of quarantine, the number of online transactions increased by 39.7% worldwide.

Insight 2: In the priority of service functionalities, only 2.6% of respondents noted the presence of a physical branch as an important choice factor.

Insight 3: 77.2% of respondents preferred to issue a card online and receive it by courier.

Hypothesis 4 — The availability of bonuses or exclusive goodies is an important factor when choosing a bank — Approved

When conducting a qualitative interview, we asked a fairly simple question: “if you had a choice between two banks with the same conditions, would the design of the card be the deciding factor for you?” About half of the respondents indicated that the design of the card would be a decisive choice, even those who practically did not use plastic.

It is worth noting that a small number of respondents stated they did not pay attention to the availability of cashback and the possibility of choosing a card design, provided that the bank’s application covered their basic needs.

Some respondents noted that they were not satisfied with monthly withdrawal fees in their banks, as well as the presence of hidden fees when applying for a loan or installment plan.

Insight 1: Some users were willing to pay extra for a customized card design (quality interview).

Insight 2: Deloitte’s consumer market analysis shows that 1 in 5 users are willing to pay 20% more for a personalized or exclusive product. 46% of users answered that they were willing to wait longer to receive their personalized or exclusive product.

Hypothesis 5 — There is a user segment in the market that is interested in an affordable and simple investment product — Confirmed

Due to the drop in deposit rates, users are actively looking for alternative methods of saving their money. This is confirmed by the volume of trading on the securities and cryptocurrency market.

Despite the fact that respondents had never invested in securities, they, to one degree or another, were following the development of the market and were aware of all the latest events or quotations of shares of large companies (Tesla, Pfizer, Apple).

Speaking of active investors, the mobile application was not considered a professional investment tool, rather a simple tool to implement a previously made decision or to review the current value of a portfolio.

Insight 1: 49.3% of active bank clients were interested in investment or trading.

Insight 2: 80.5% of active bank customers would buy at least one share in their bank’s app if they had the opportunity.

Hypothesis 6 — A wide segment of users does not invest in securities due to a lack of understanding of the market and fear of losing savings — Can be interpreted in different ways

Some respondents answered that they were not ready to invest in securities due to their unpredictability, as well as the lack of guarantees of return of funds. (Thus, it is worth correctly explaining the essence of ready-made strategies or mutual investment funds to such users).

Based on qualitative interviews, as well as the results of questionnaires, most respondents understood that opening an investment account did not take much effort and time. Most likely, this is due to the fact that 49.3% of respondents were interested in the topic of trading or investments.

Insight: 49.3% of active bank clients were interested in investment or trading.

Conclusions drawn from interviews and user surveys:

Super app – not a fact

If you look broadly at the existing players in the market of banking services, most of the user tasks are closed at the basic level. Some giants have their own online stores and capture the market by expanding their spheres of influence and service providers with the help of partner services. 

Perhaps it is worth looking at it from a completely different angle and trying to create a bank that will not depend as much on a large number of integrations and partners but will be able to independently offer users the same bonuses as competitors. For example, the ability to arrange installments for any transaction, which basically eliminates the need to have your own online store.

Invest easily!

A wide segment of users of banking services has an active interest in the investment market, as well as in other methods of alternative capital multiplication. This is our chance to occupy this niche, but we will need to choose the right marketing campaign for this. After all, after the crisis in 2008, there remained a great distrust of banks and financial infrastructures in general. If we talk about the investment concept as such, then it should be simple, because intuitiveness will help us reach a wider segment of users. Let’s leave Tradernet for advanced users.

Know your user

Overall, we had a pretty strong response to our mailings, with over 60% of respondents leaving their email so that we could contact them in the future. This indicator proves the present active and open users and the opportunity to work well with the audience.

User Interviews and Surveys for Mobile App Development: Summary

As a component of a larger user experience research process, user interviews for mobile app development are a fantastic source of unique user insights. When designed and carried out properly, IDIs make it simpler to comprehend the needs and expectations of your users. You can communicate with people directly and delve deeper into how they feel about your UX, which is different from conventional qualitative data collection techniques.

User research is a crucial component of product development and helps guarantee that the final product is more suited to user requirements. You can learn more about your users’ requirements, habits, and problems by conducting user interviews, usability studies, or surveys.
Active listening, asking the correct questions, developing empathy, looking below the surface, patience, and many more abilities are required to be an effective UX researcher. It also calls for interpersonal communication skills. Our article has inspired you to respect user research and be diligent in your user surveys for mobile app development methods.