Microsoft’s #CodeAndCoffee project is a series of interviews with members of the Microsoft developer community. We linked up with @WindowsDev to talk about how User Camp got started, our app development process, and some thoughts on monetization and user engagement in the Microsoft Store.
The Twitter thread is a bit hard to follow in retrospect, so here’s a time-ordered sequence of the tweets from the interview. Enjoy!
In today's #CodeAndCoffee, we're talking with Ben Fox (@ductionist) from @User_Camp and finalist in the 2018 #WindowsDevAwards, to discuss the business side of building apps; user management, monetization & more! @kaosspad pic.twitter.com/RFI8pH95RQ
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
#CodeAndCoffee Q1: Hi Ben, welcome! Please tell us a little about yourself, @user_camp, and how you got started. @ductionist
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
👋 Hi! I'm in Victoria, Canada. I love to build businesses - @user_camp is my seventh. User Camp is a publisher of Microsoft Store-exclusive apps. We develop most of them ourselves but we've also acquired a few.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
.@kaosspad and I started User Camp in 2015 when we noticed how serious Microsoft was about the Store.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
#CodeAndCoffee Q2: If you had to start a new app, with no predisposition for an idea, how do you recognize opportunities in the marketplace to come up with an idea? @ductionist
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
Looking at the Store's top charts is a great way to pick a niche - if there are 3 or 4 apps of the same kind there, there's going to be room for one more.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
We also look at the macOS and iOS App Store and the Play store on Android, if something is hot there but absent in the @MicrosoftStore then that's a good opportunity.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
Also - following Microsoft's lead. At #MSBuild 2017 we heard that Microsoft was serious about ink and that @WindowsInk users monetize much better than average users, this became part of our business case for developing @penbookapp .
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
I wrote a piece for our blog in November that covers our thinking on this: https://t.co/AaLuIbkMFt
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
#CodeAndCoffee Q3: When that new idea is decided on, how do you begin? Do you and @kaosspad devise a road map to follow, or is there a more flexible route?
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
We start by designing the biggest/baddest/scope-creepiest app we can imagine, and then boil it down until it's realistic for our small team. We try to keep our dev cycles to 4 weeks. Better to have a well-made humble app than a badly-made ambitious app.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
#CodeAndCoffee Q4: Speaking of feature/scope creep, does feature creep become a problem? And on that note, do you iterate on existing features or leverage user-feedback?
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
It's definitely something to watch out for. You can't please every user but we respond to all of our reviews and keep a vote (complaint) tally for feature requests.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
Usually there's a coincidental alignment between what we wanted to build anyway and what the users request :)
#CodeAndCoffee Q5: Now down to business. After features are locked in and the app is planned, how do you decide on a monetization strategy? Does this depend on the app or the user-type? @ductionist @user_camp @kaosspad
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
We default to making paid apps. For a small team this is the simplest choice - managing a monetization funnel to collect IAPs or subscriptions is a big job.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
If the app has lots of free competition, or a clear way to include an IAP, we'll go that route. More on our blog soon :)
#CodeAndCoffee Q6: When the app is finally published, do you take advantage of the newer features of DevCenter? For example A/B testing, customer segmentation and targeted notifications to help with user acquisition, future feature planning or user-experience problems?
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
Oh boy do we ever. I think we as Microsoft Store developers are a bit spoiled; the Dev Center is lightyears ahead of iTunes Connect and the Google Play Console.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
Customer segmentation and targeted notifications are a big part of our user engagement strategies, especially for requesting app reviews, launching a new app, or begging for votes in an awards contest pic.twitter.com/WT0wLP7tkq
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
#CodeAndCoffee Q7: Last question! Is there anything we haven't discussed today that you think would be useful for other teams or developers to know? @ductionist @user_camp @kaosspad #DevAwards #MSBuild
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
The advice I'd give to other Store developers is to respect your app and value it. Be bold when asking for money from your users, and invest in your app's non-code aspects like branding and marketing.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
I see a lot of apps that have had feature updates every month since 2015 but haven't had their icon or screenshots changed for years. Those devs' great work is buried under dated metadata.
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
#CodeAndCoffee That's a wrap! Thank you for joining us, Ben (@ductionist). And don't forget to vote for our #WindowsDevAwards finalists here: https://t.co/2GNBiJpF9e
— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) April 20, 2018
It's been a slice!
— Ben Fox (@ductionist) April 20, 2018
Thanks @windowsdev and see you at #MSBUILD 👋
— Slaven 🆚🖥 (@kaosspad) April 20, 2018
User Camp is the place for Microsoft Store developers. You should follow us on Twitter.
