For the past one year, I’ve been working really hard on building and scaling the android app for TravelTriangle and have done a reasonably good job at it. As a company, we recently decided to build the iOS app to improve on our business perspectives, and I was given the responsibility of being the product manager for the iOS app.
Being a hardcore android fan, it was hard for me to understand what an iOS user really thinks like. Because honestly, I thought that an iPhone user doesn’t really think. “Touch achcha hai” and “Phone se selfie achchi aati hai” were the reasons I’d heard from the iPhone buyers for purchasing one afterall.
So I decided to completely move to an iOS device, from my Samsung Galaxy S6 to really understand the iOS user interface better, and to better understand what an iOS user thinks like. Sometime into using the iOS, I did find a few exclusive goods(The global search feature, Siri, the amazing camera quality among various others) and a few bads(Some essential UX issues, limited number of apps compared to android, the poorly built push notifications etc) . But that’s not what I’m not what I’m going to deep dive on, because I’m sure you already know about it enough, and there’s plenty of content about it on the internet already.
The major difference that I actually observed was in the behavior of the folks around me. People, I realized actually look up to the iPhone as something that a rich person possesses, despite me having an S6 prior to this which too was a pretty amazing, and an equally expensive device. They ask you to click a selfie because you have an iPhone, and they stare at the phone because it’s a bloody iPhone! But wait, why is that so? Why does an equally expensive android device find it hard to feel like a rich phone?
Because that’s exactly how the iPhone devices are built and marketed. They are made to make you feel rich and exclusive. That’s the user persona that apple has always targeted.
There’s a reason why iPhones have such high buyers from day 1, despite the exorbitant prices.
Most android devices, on the contrary bank on the number, and the quality of features they push on their device. Don’t believe me? I’m sure you must’ve checked out the iPhone 7 advertisement a few months back, check it out again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeoUELDgyM4
What are the most important takeaways that as a user can remember from this advert? That this is a black phone, has an amazing camera, and of course the wireless headphones. The amount of time the advert gave to the number of new features was hardly a few seconds. HARDLY A FEW SECONDS to the the essential features of the device that the developers, designers spent sleepless nights on! Why? Because they exactly know what their target group. Achcha touch, camera and an irresistible black color is all the Apple wants you to remember.
Now check out the advert of the Google pixel, a competitor to the iOS device.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rykmwn0SMWU
Do you notice the difference?
They’ve spent a good amount of time on the features they’ve built, want their users to know about them, and bank on the features for the purchase of the phone!
How does this essential difference matter to product managers/startups? In our case, the average ticket size( the average value per purchase) for an iOS is significantly higher than the android devices(of the similar price range). An android user, atleast in Indian context makes a purchase basis the value add on it’ll have to his daily life, while the iOS continues to be a brand that the feel riches want to continue getting associated with. Not that iPhones are bad, I’ve honestly quite enjoyed the experience of using one! But that’s just how the iPhone has been marketed as.
It matters because the way you present content has to be very different for both the devices and personas, you can take your cues from here on 🙂