[Cross-post]
A quick note to announce that Kiwix released this morning a new version of the Wikimed App called Wikimed Mini [1]. It basically complements the earlier app in that it is 90% smaller and should therefore make it easier to download and store by users who need it most (50% of installs for the English version happen on the Indian subcontinent; for the French one, 80% are in Africa).
But apart from this PSA I wanted to share the thinking that went behind the design of this particular app, as I’ve been told it could be of interest to this list: There basically were three reasons for this "mini" version: 1. When connectivity is an issue, size does matter. If you look at the 20+ main offline medical apps out there, you'll see that they all range in the 25-40Mb (the largest being 120Mb). Several of them have 1M+ downloads, and even if I am no physician I'd say their content is rather minimal and that WP content is far better: yet people download the other, smaller apps rather than our gigantic, all-encompassing 1.2 Gb one; 2. You may have heard that thing about 60% of mobile readers not going past the Lead section [2]. We did too, and took the drastic step of removing everything below that - basically keeping only the lead part and infobox. That saved us about 60%; 3. Then we looked at what was left and figured that infobox illustrations weren't that helpful: either because they look good but are not very informative, or because if they are in fact informative offline limitations make it impossible to see more than a thumbnail. Don't get me wrong: the ability to see high-res images comes high on the list of requests, but a choice was to be made and that one was a low-hanging fruit. So we removed the illustations as well, and now we're left with a 90% smaller app. In spite of its size, the current Wikimed is rated higher (4.7) and kept longer (75% retention at D30) that most apps (4.2/20%, respectively on average): we’ll keep you posted on how the new app fares in comparison to that.
Cheers, Stephane
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kiwix.kiwixcustomwikimedmi... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kiwix.kiwixcustomwikimedmini [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Which_parts_of_an_article_do_reader... https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Which_parts_of_an_article_do_readers_read
Hi Stéphane,
Congrats on this achievement! Do keep us posted on how the new app works out. This new mini-version is definitely a very interesting concept to test out.
Abrazo, Jorge
On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 12:38 AM, Stephane Coillet-Matillon < stephane@kiwix.org> wrote:
[Cross-post]
A quick note to announce that Kiwix released this morning a new version of the Wikimed App called Wikimed Mini [1]. It basically complements the earlier app in that it is 90% smaller and should therefore make it easier to download and store by users who need it most (50% of installs for the English version happen on the Indian subcontinent; for the French one, 80% are in Africa).
But apart from this PSA I wanted to share the thinking that went behind the design of this particular app, as I’ve been told it could be of interest to this list:
There basically were three reasons for this "mini" version:
- When connectivity is an issue, size does matter. If you look at the 20+
main offline medical apps out there, you'll see that they all range in the 25-40Mb (the largest being 120Mb). Several of them have 1M+ downloads, and even if I am no physician I'd say their content is rather minimal and that WP content is far better: yet people download the other, smaller apps rather than our gigantic, all-encompassing 1.2 Gb one;
- You may have heard that thing about 60% of mobile readers not going
past the Lead section [2]. We did too, and took the drastic step of removing everything below that - basically keeping only the lead part and infobox. That saved us about 60%;
- Then we looked at what was left and figured that infobox illustrations
weren't that helpful: either because they look good but are not very informative, or because if they are in fact informative offline limitations make it impossible to see more than a thumbnail. Don't get me wrong: the ability to see high-res images comes high on the list of requests, but a choice was to be made and that one was a low-hanging fruit. So we removed the illustations as well, and now we're left with a 90% smaller app.
In spite of its size, the current Wikimed is rated higher (4.7) and kept longer (75% retention at D30) that most apps (4.2/20%, respectively on average): we’ll keep you posted on how the new app fares in comparison to that.
Cheers, Stephane
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org. kiwix.kiwixcustomwikimedmini [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Which_parts_ of_an_article_do_readers_read
Offline-l mailing list Offline-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/offline-l
Congrats on the release! It'll be really interesting to see how this one stacks up in usage and usefulness against the fuller version - can't wait to see how it evolves.
Anne
On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 3:54 PM, Jorge Vargas jvargas@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hi Stéphane,
Congrats on this achievement! Do keep us posted on how the new app works out. This new mini-version is definitely a very interesting concept to test out.
Abrazo, Jorge
On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 12:38 AM, Stephane Coillet-Matillon < stephane@kiwix.org> wrote:
[Cross-post]
A quick note to announce that Kiwix released this morning a new version of the Wikimed App called Wikimed Mini [1]. It basically complements the earlier app in that it is 90% smaller and should therefore make it easier to download and store by users who need it most (50% of installs for the English version happen on the Indian subcontinent; for the French one, 80% are in Africa).
But apart from this PSA I wanted to share the thinking that went behind the design of this particular app, as I’ve been told it could be of interest to this list:
There basically were three reasons for this "mini" version:
- When connectivity is an issue, size does matter. If you look at the
20+ main offline medical apps out there, you'll see that they all range in the 25-40Mb (the largest being 120Mb). Several of them have 1M+ downloads, and even if I am no physician I'd say their content is rather minimal and that WP content is far better: yet people download the other, smaller apps rather than our gigantic, all-encompassing 1.2 Gb one;
- You may have heard that thing about 60% of mobile readers not going
past the Lead section [2]. We did too, and took the drastic step of removing everything below that - basically keeping only the lead part and infobox. That saved us about 60%;
- Then we looked at what was left and figured that infobox illustrations
weren't that helpful: either because they look good but are not very informative, or because if they are in fact informative offline limitations make it impossible to see more than a thumbnail. Don't get me wrong: the ability to see high-res images comes high on the list of requests, but a choice was to be made and that one was a low-hanging fruit. So we removed the illustations as well, and now we're left with a 90% smaller app.
In spite of its size, the current Wikimed is rated higher (4.7) and kept longer (75% retention at D30) that most apps (4.2/20%, respectively on average): we’ll keep you posted on how the new app fares in comparison to that.
Cheers, Stephane
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kiwix. kiwixcustomwikimedmini [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Which_parts_of_ an_article_do_readers_read
Offline-l mailing list Offline-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/offline-l
-- Jorge Vargas Head of Strategic Partnerships - LATAM Wikimedia Foundation jvargas@wikimedia.org +1 415.404.9536 <(415)%20404-9536> Skype: jorge.a.vargas.p
Offline-l mailing list Offline-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/offline-l