The App Center – How to  

Nowadays, our mobile phones are mostly swamped with tons of photos, data and apps. To be honest, how many apps do you have on your smartphone and how many of them do you really use regularly? On the average, a smartphone owner has 80 apps on his mobile device. Currently, there are more than 2 million apps available in Apple App Store, including 133 Allianz apps.

In regard of this application overload, it is of course even more important to develop and design apps that offer a surplus value for the customer and which are highly visible in the app stores. To ensure this and to keep the overview, we at GDF have developed a tool. You might remember? The App Center.

App Center - what was it again? 

Imagine yourself in the position of an Allianz customer. An Allianz sales representative advises you to download the "My Allianz" app. Your first thought might be: "Ahh, not again an app..." Now ask yourself, what does this app have to show at first glance to convince you of its value and encourage you to download it?

That's exactly what we did. Developed in 2018, the App Center is a fully automated tool for monitoring the performance of an app. Based on three central criteria, we obtain information about the performance of an app and how it is rated. It also provides an overview of all Allianz apps on the market.

You can't remember that well? Then check out our former app center article here.

GDF and the App Center – Status Quo 

Like the Allianz app landscape, GDF has evolved over the last 2 years. In the past, GDF focused on tool development in relation to individual customer journeys like PassionPass or MyMobility. In the meantime, however, global, higher-level projects like our global digital design NDBX library have become the focus of GDF Solutions. Now we are faced with the challenge of passing on and maintaining a tool that was created in the past, such as the App Center.  

Continuing the App Center – Our Solution   

Even if the App Center can no longer be developed in the GDF, this challenge should not go unconsidered.  We created a step by step guide for the maintenance of Allianz Apps, which can be given to the experts of the individual OEs, so that they have the possibility to track the performance of their Apps and make improvements.

The booklet contains various flowcharts relating to the three criteria, which provide the app administrator with clear recommendations for further action. Based on the three scoring criteria

  • Correct localization: Is the App published in relevant markets only
  • Regular Updates: Has the app been updated within the last 6 months?
  •  User Rating: Has the App received at least a 3-star-rating?
you can decide whether an app performs well, is still relevant, needs to be updated or can be decommissioned.
Each criteria is assigned a color according the traffic light system. If the recommendation is to adjust something, the booklet gives detailed suggestions on how to improve the app. For instance, how to improve user ratings or a step-by-step manual on how to localize your app correctly on the App Stores. Furthermore you can find useful links and all necessary information as well as screenshots which help to fulfill the different steps.
So, imagine you are the Allianz customer again: Which app would you rather download now?
 
Of course you decided for the left one which is higher rated and recently updated, right? This is also what several studies showed us. The better an app is rated, the higher is the conversion rate, which gives an insight into who is actually downloading the app. A good rating can increase the conversion rate by up to 730 percent.