Perhaps it’s just me, but does anyone else think that the new feedback question asked in iPhone OS 2.2 when an app is deleted is a bad idea?
If you’re not familiar with the new feature, it is just a simple pop up that appears when you delete an app from your phone and asks you to rate it out of five stars, or just say no-thanks.
When analyzing data in any field from scientific analysis to reviews that others have made, you should always be on the lookout for confounding factors. And what’s more confounding than skewing your data to be mostly from people who have deleted an app they paid money for?
I’m sure the system works moderately well for free apps. There’s less to loose if you delete a free app – you can always download it again (if it’s still free..). And there are reasons why you wouldn’t want hundreds of free apps cluttering up your phone. But if you’ve paid for the app then it’s a different story. You’re either cleaning up your phone and it’s at the bottom of the ‘want-to-keep’ pile, or you just plain don’t like it and want it gone. It’s just far easier (and economical) to keep an app if you like it.
So where does that leave us? Now we have many reviews from people who don’t like your app or think it’s the worst one on their phone. Personally I’ve noticed a decline in all my ratings with an influx of non-comment reviews.
An obvious way around this would be to ask to rate after the nth running of the app. It would be a nuisance but far less biased towards people who don’t like the app.
Has anyone else seen this phenomenon? Any other solutions?
