If you are contemplating launching an application for your brand or business you will want to take note of how NOT to do it with the Dunkin’ Run app. Dunkin’ Donuts had an original idea that would help streamline the process of order taking for the office coffee “runner” (see video of how it works here). In Dunkin’ Donuts’ press release they describe the service as “an innovative interactive web site and iPhone application that will enable customers to solicit and place Dunkin’ Donuts group orders in just a few clicks with unprecedented ease, speed, accuracy and fun.” Sounds great, right? Dunkin’ Donuts was positioning itself on the cutting edge, as a more consumer friendly brand than the increasingly indistinguishable competition McDonalds and Starbucks.
The Pitch to Users
Dunkin’ Donuts had stumbled upon a unique opportunity, to further their customer engagement while actually delivering value to users through an iPhone and web application. And the marketing team at Hill Holliday crafted a powerful narrative around the groundbreaking innovation. Hill Holliday’s Chief Media Officer was quoted as saying the app “perfectly complements the ‘we’re in it together’ ethos of the Dunkin’ Donuts brand” and their site goes as far as to quote an internal employee who says that “Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t just serve coffee, it also fuels the “hope and ambition and energy and drive” of America”. Wow.
The Negative Response
The problem with such bold positioning and a large launch hype-fest was that the app does not actually work from a user’s perspective. So the narrative comes across as a naive oversell and a typically “corporate” attempt at marketing. What has followed has been UGLY – I have seen very few iPhone applications with such poor ratings and reviews. Users are angry, at the time of writing this 225 of 376 (60%) ratings are ranked 1 out of 5 with 298 out of 376 being 3 or below (79%). User rejection has been nearly unanimous. So why did the application fail? Because its designers ignored the very thing that it was offering to users, “speed, accuracy and fun.”
“What Did I Do Wrong?”
To describe the problem all you have to do is look at the first screen input screen of the app. Imagine you are a user who has read about this revolutionary app that will help make your life easier, and then you open it and you wonder what to do next. You think to yourself, “Do I have a password? Maybe I can just enter one and it will work. Who knows?” So you try and it says invalid password, and you look for clues as to what to do next but there are none. Most users just deleted the app at this point (probably most of the 225 1-star ratings happened at this point through Apple’s ratings prompt that occurs upon app removal). In 10 seconds Dunking Donuts had managed to anger and alienate some of its most loyal customers.
What is worse is that the web experience for those who do go the extra step is even more frustrating, where the problems can be summed up with this one review: “You have to register from your computer which is stupid. Secondly, why does it need my address, phone number, and mother’s maiden name? We are talking about a dough nut order here, not banking information.” Well said.
The shame here is that the application, once you get past the sign-up hurdles is actually nicely thought out. This is not worth anything though if the most important step, the first one, is made so cumbersome that 60% of your users decide to delete your application and give up.
The Solution: Talk Less, Deliver More
The app store is all about user expectations. And in a place where reviews and ratings come all too easily, you need to be careful that you actually deliver on your what you offer. And while the Dunkin’ Run idea is a great one, it was oversold too soon and that only contributed to the user backlash.
The point is that you can deliver value and create a truly useful application for your users without risking your brand, and the way you do that is to launch something useful and complimentary to your business but first make sure it works! Good app design has little to do with a huge project or marketing budget and more to do with listening to your users. Whether it be through Beta testing before launch or iterative improvements after a soft launch, it is a fundamental step that can’t be ignored if you dare to claim you have created the next big thing.
To check out the latest ratings/ reviews for the Dunkin’ Run app press here to be directed to iTunes.
Update: The app has been updated to 1.1 and now includes a prompt at the bottom of the screen (shown above) that allows the user to sign-up. Still the reviews appear to be very poor (as of 7/18 34 of 76 ratings are still a 1 with an average of 2.5) and the comments reflect that the app is still more work than it is worth.
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Any time a so-called innovative iPhone app gets beaten hands-down by the ability to use the telephone part of an iPhone to dial up and order a pizza, you know it’s time to run from bad marketing disguised as product design.
“In 10 seconds Dunking Donuts had managed to anger and alienate some of its most loyal customers.”
I think it would be better to say “potential” customers rather than loyal. After all, wouldn’t a loyal customer already have a password?
Well I wouldn’t necessarily correlate loyal users to having a password as there is not much point to having a password to Dunkin Donuts without the app…I was thinking more along the lines of any user willing to try the app is probably either a frequent visitor or in fact already a coffee “runner.”
On the subject of user experience and expectations, I have a couple of suggestions to improve your site:
1. On this blog page, the right bar of links (archive, popular, tags) is weirdly anchored to the right margin which then ends up overlapping the body text area when I reduce the width of my browser. As I increase my browser width, a large gap forms between the body text area and the right bar. Better to anchor the bar to the body.
2. The body text on the home page looks odd, sitting in the center, all by its lonesome. You’ve obviously customized your design from a blog format as blank space to the left would normally contain the date. Without the date element, though, the home page looks off.
3. Too many clicks to get to see the apps you’ve done. It takes 3 clicks to get to an example. Custom app > portfolio > social, for example. You’d do well to bring pictures of your apps up front, perhaps your homepage. And also add them to the side of blog. I came to the blog from another site and didn’t know until I clicked to the front page that you created apps. I thought at first you were just a review site. Nothing in the blog pages tell me you make custom apps.
Bud,
Thanks for your suggestions…we absolutely agree on points 2 and 3 and are going to fix. The site is always a work in progress so we love the advice. I don’t agree with point 1 however, we chose the spread out feel and that is why we right bar is anchored. As for how it looks when opened to half screen, well that is a downside risk we are willing to take to give the desired effect at full screen. In fact that link bar on the right will eventually be a short description of what we do to avoid your confusion around what the purpose is of the website. Thanks again.
I agree with your points but would be curious to know what your thoughts are on the mobimeet app you’ve developed – seems to be failing just as dramatically….
Tim,
A valid criticism of the post, but I would point out the important difference between a soft and hard launch. The Dunkin’ Run application had an advertising agency as well as a digital agency involved and they launched a press release campaign likening the Dunkin’ Run app to being a gift to all mankind. My point is that as a brand you risk looking hyperbolic when your app does not match the promises given by your marketers.
Miguel