App Audit: Enhancing Performance and UX in a Sport Management App

Technical Challenges

During the client's transition from Xamarin to MAUI and .NET 8, they released a new iOS version of their Mobile Application for Team Management. While this update introduced significant improvements, it also led to a dip in user satisfaction, with average ratings decreasing to around 2.5 stars. Despite the efforts of the internal QA team, certain issues persisted. To address these concerns and improve the user experience, the client commissioned an external audit to identify the underlying causes and develop targeted solutions.

Solution

Leveraging our unique Mobile Application Assessment Framework
To address the challenges, we leveraged our proprietary Mobile Application Assessment Framework—a holistic evaluation approach that integrates user feedback with in-depth technical assessments. This framework is specifically designed to provide comprehensive insights into application quality, identify potential issues, and recommend actionable improvements tailored to enhance the user experience and overall app performance.

Key Areas of Assessment

 

1. Application Use: Where Every Interaction Shapes the Experience

 Exploratory and Functional Testing:  Our mobile experts rigorously tested the app’s core functionalities and usability. By simulating real-world scenarios and analyzing user feedback, we focused on resolving key issues such as notification failures and complex feature interactions, ensuring the app delivers a seamless and reliable user experience. A vital component of our exploratory efforts was the thorough analysis and categorization of every piece of user feedback, which played a crucial role in guiding the testing process and prioritizing areas for improvement.
Our team conducted structured "review tours," strategically targeting key user activities and expectations. Tours serve as the backbone of the audit plan, much like a test plan is integral to software testing. They provide a structured approach to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the app’s functionality, usability, and user experience.

Rather than navigating aimlessly, we concentrated on these critical paths to uncover potential issues:

 

As the next step in our comprehensive evaluation, we focused on two critical areas:
First, we conducted Conditions and interruptions testing to evaluate the app’s performance under various real-world scenarios, such as incoming calls, network changes, and connections to external devices like CarPlay and screen mirroring. This was essential to ensure that the app maintained stability and reliability regardless of the conditions users might encounter.

Following that, we performed Accessibility testing to ensure the app was inclusive and user-friendly for all audiences. We utilized tools like Google Accessibility Scanner and Apple’s Xcode Accessibility Inspector, with a particular focus on compatibility with accessibility features such as VoiceOver and TalkBack. This step was vital in making the app accessible to users with diverse needs.

 

To further strengthen the app's reliability and user trust, we expanded our assessment to include critical aspects of security and performance:

Security testing: We evaluated permissions, authentication, session management, and user role security, following the OWASP Mobile Application Security Framework to mitigate risks such as session hijacking and unsecured libraries.

Performance profiling: We conducted an in-depth analysis of the app’s performance, examining CPU, RAM, disk, and battery usage. This profiling helped us identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, ensuring that the app remained stable and responsive across a wide range of devices and operating conditions.

 

3. Cross-Platform Compatibility and Integration: Bridging Boundaries, Unifying Experiences

Once the major issues were resolved, our focus shifted to ensuring that the application performed consistently well across all devices and operating system versions. We conducted extensive testing to verify that the app maintained its quality and functionality, regardless of the platform. Additionally, we established a compliance review monitoring process to assist our client in continuously aligning with Store requirements, reducing the likelihood of rejections, and ensuring smooth updates and releases.

 

4. User Engagement and Retention: Fostering Connections, Cultivating Loyalty

To strengthen user engagement and retention, we focused on understanding user concerns and enhancing their overall experience.

Feedback analysis: Analyzed customer feedback from app stores to identify common issues and understand the decline in user satisfaction, categorizing feedback to prioritize critical improvements.
Custom feedback process: Developed a custom tool and process for categorizing and managing customer support requests, allowing for efficient identification and resolution of unique issues and common complaints.
Sprint planning integration: Integrated feedback analysis into sprint planning to prioritize and address major issues, particularly those impacting user experience.