作者：Ryan Ruud

应用领域最大的挑战就是满足既有用户，促使他们持续回访。这也是我们最近推出的FlipToast所面临的最大挑战。我们目前的MAU（月活跃用户）已突破4.5万（系2011年7月11日标准），且还在不断发展之中，但我们希望能够留住既有用户，获得更多新用户。这意味着我需揣摩用户喜好，及时做出调整。以下是提高用户留存率的相关内容。

满足用户需求

好应用或好产品需满足目标用户需求，这亦是最初制作应用的目的所在。FlipToast正是秉承这种理念，旨在帮助用户跟进Facebook消息动态的信息（游戏邦注：这是FlipToast最主要的功能）。有人爱，有人嫌，但只消稍作调整，我们就能转变消极态度。讨厌弹出窗口的用户不过是不想受其干扰，若用户能移动窗口位置，或变更其大小，或调整出现时间和频率，那么他们的态度将有所改变。

Fliptoast Settings from w3i.com

简单易用

若应用过于复杂，浏览不便，开发者同样难令用户开心。FlipToast使用非常便捷，只有设置少量功能，并以简洁和简单方式呈现给用户。任何应用都能提高易用性。

确保功能设置处于醒目位置。目前仍有用户无法发现FlipToast功能设置。功能设置出现在任务栏中，点击图标便能访问，通过将功能移至主菜单，或访问FlipToast所有窗口的功能设置，用户便能轻松调整其设置。另一简化FlipToast内部功能的方式就是把常用功能置于边栏右上角（游戏邦注：或让用户根据自身喜好移动按键）。

保持用户注意力

照料不慎就会功亏一篑，应用也不例外，你需不断添加内容，留住用户。你无需添加所有功能，满足用户所有要求，但要留心应用评价，获悉用户都在谈论什么。根据自己所想添加新功能很难满足用户需求。其中一个选择是设置通知图标，提醒用户所收消息或警告。另一个选择是添加好友生日提醒，这样用户能及时送出生日祝福。再来就是图片浏览器，这样用户就无需登陆Facebook浏览图片。开发商还可以通过添加许多小功能和强化功能留住用户。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Three tips to increase an app’s user retention

by Ryan Ruud

In the app business, the biggest challenge is keeping existing consumers happy and coming back for more. This challenge holds true with our latest app FlipToast. We have an ever growing user base with more than 45,000 active monthly users but we want to keep those users and add to it.  What this means is that we need to figure out what our consumers like and what they don’t like and react to that and do in in a very timely fashion. Here’s what I’ve learned about user retention

Fulfills consumer’s needs

Every good application or product needs to fill some gap of the intended audience otherwise why develop it in the first place.  FlipToast was developed with this in mind by first and foremost keeping people up to date with information from their Facebook feeds.  This is the most prominent feature of FlipToast. Some love it, others hate it but with a few small changes we can change the minds of those that don’t like it.  It stands out that those that don’t like the popups are just annoyed by them, giving the consumer the ability to move their placement and or size, and also the duration they stick around or even times of the day when they popup can  change their minds.

Simple and Easy to Use

If an application is too complex and hard to navigate it is equally challenging to keep your users happy.  FlipToast is simple to use by only having a handful of features and showing them to the consumer in a neat and simplistic manner.  Any application can increase ease of use.

Make sure settings are easy to find. Currently the settings on FlipToast are hard to find to some users. The settings are in the task bar and accessed via a click to an icon, by moving that functionality onto the main bar or by having access to the settings from every FlipToast window users will find it easier to change their settings.  Another way to simplify some of the cool features inside of FlipToast is by putting the most common used features right at the top of the side bar or allow the user to move the buttons around to their liking.

Keep the consumer’s attention

If you don’t tend to a fire it goes out, applications are no different and you need to keep adding to keep it going and exciting for your consumers.  You don’t have to add every feature under the sun and everything that all consumers want but pay attention to your application reviews and see what your consumers are talking about.  A few features come to mind to add to the current feature set without overwhelming the users; one is by giving the users a notification on the icon if they get any kind of a message or alert.  Another one could be adding a birthday reminder for a user’s friends so they can quickly wish them a happy birthday, and one more could be a photo viewer that you can use instead of going to Facebook to user theirs, there are hundreds of small features and enhancements that can keep the users coming back for more! （Source：w3i）