Pick me! Getting noticed on Google Play

Abstract

Almost any search on Google Play returns numerous app suggestions. The user quickly skims through the list and picks a few apps for a closer look. The vast majority of the apps - regardless of how well-made they are - go unnoticed. App icons uniquely represent each app in Google Play and help apps to get noticed, as we demonstrate in the paper. We reviewed the visual qualities of icons that could make them noticeable and likable. We then computationally measured two of the qualities - visual saliency and complexity - for 930 icons and linked the computed scores to app popularity (the number of app ratings and installs). The measures explained 38% of variance in the number of ratings, if app genre was accounted for. Not only does such result assert the link between icon properties and app popularity, it also highlights the automatic prediction of app popularity as a promising research direction. HCI researchers, app creators and Google Play (or another mobile marketplace) will benefit from the paper insights on what antecedes app success and how to measure the antecedents.