Speak with an Expert

A 30-minute call with a senior researcher: bring the decision you need to make, and we'll talk through the right study, who to speak to, the timeline and an indicative price. No obligation.

Obodo

Research estimator

2 min

Turning app usability research into shipped engineering fixes

Next PLC
  • Usability testing
  • Review mining
  • Product & engineering

Unmoderated task-based usability with 30 UK Android users across two rounds, combined with UK Play Store review analysis, to find exactly where Next's Android app was costing conversion and ratings and which fixes to prioritise first.

Visit next.co.uk

The challenge

Next's Android app was underperforming. Where exactly was it costing conversion and ratings, and which fixes should the development team prioritise first?

Real shopping missions, at volume

Unmoderated sessions where users completed real shopping missions from home to checkout and rated the difficulty of each, combined with analysis of UK Play Store reviews to corroborate and quantify the pain points. Thirty UK Android users, Next and non-Next, across two rounds: 20 in January 2025 and 10 in June 2025. Eight weeks in total.

What we found

Performance and reliability bugs: slow loads and failed launches, a black screen on My Account that blocked payments, and crashes that lost the user's place in the journey. Funnel friction: filters returning out-of-stock or wrong-gender items, an unclear listing swipe, no add-to-bag feedback, a bag that empties between sessions, and favourites that don't persist or sync across devices.

No guest checkout, and a disingenuous email opt-out, were real barriers for first-time users: "I wish there was guest checkout, especially as a new user."

The impact

Nine prioritised, engineering-ready recommendation areas, several already actioned by the app team. In their words: "As part of native we've updated the styling of the superzoom view so this won't be an issue moving forward." A clean demonstration of research feeding directly into shipped product fixes.

Our involvement

What we did

Research

Unmoderated Usability Testing

Thirty UK Android users, Next and non-Next, completed real shopping missions from home to checkout across two rounds and rated the difficulty of each.

Get an indicative price No sign-up required.

What it is

Unmoderated, task-based sessions at scale, with difficulty ratings on every mission.

When you need it

An app is underperforming and you need to see the failures happen, at volume.

What you'll get

Where the app costs conversion and ratings, from slow loads to a bag that empties between sessions.

How we do it

Two rounds, 20 users in January 2025 and 10 in June 2025. Typical timeline: 3 weeks per round.
Research

Review Mining

Analysed UK Play Store reviews to corroborate and quantify the pain points the sessions surfaced.

Get an indicative price No sign-up required.

What it is

Structured analysis of public app-store reviews to size problems users have already reported.

When you need it

You want to know whether the issues in a handful of sessions are the ones thousands of users are living with.

What you'll get

Quantified pain points, matched against the session findings.

How we do it

Coded review analysis alongside the usability rounds. Typical timeline: 1 week.
Synthesis

Engineering-Ready Recommendations

Nine prioritised recommendation areas written for the development team, several actioned by the app team before the programme ended.

Get an indicative price No sign-up required.

What it is

Recommendations written so an engineering team can pick them up and ship.

When you need it

Research has to feed directly into the backlog, not into a deck.

What you'll get

Nine prioritised, engineering-ready recommendation areas, with the app team already shipping fixes against them.

How we do it

Synthesis across both rounds and the review analysis. Typical timeline: 1 week.
Case studies

Our research work