BENGALURU: When we started Rooter, our focus was to get technology right in terms of functionality. We spent a lot of time working around the concept of connecting sports fans and also to make the prediction game. We however kept working with same UI/ UX even when the game was improving manifolds. So while the game kept improving and the format kept users interested, the experience didn’t evolve beyond the earlier format. This led to some uninstalls and we decided to arrest the issue right away.
I wish we had equally focussed on the experience to be able to have less churn of users.
Once we realised our mistake, we decided to focus on UI/ UX and hired a very senior resource. The new UI/ UX was launched within few weeks and it changed the user experience completely. Users really liked the new look of the app and it led to more engagement and average time spent went up from five to 13 minutes daily.
In retrospect, I feel we should have probably focussed equally hard on the look and experience of the app. The biggest learning here is that experience of a tech product is as important as functionality.
My advice to all tech entrepreneurs is to focus a lot on experience and hire a good UI/ UX resource from Day 1.That should never be compromised.
(The writer is the CEO and founder of Rooter, a sports social gaming platform that connects sports fans around the world through a live match prediction game)