The latest update of “Cologne Train” (aka “Bahn Köln”), which hit the App Store a couple of days ago, reflects furryfishApps continuos effort of narrowing the focus while at the same time increasing the value for the user.
We believe that the focus of our App, even though it was already very narrow, was still too wide and needed some redefinition. This is by the way quite opposed to what people tell us in their App Store ratings. They always want more bells & whistles and they all want it for free. So our decision to narrow the focus of “Cologne Train” might seem contradicting. However, we believe it’s the right step:
The more narrow focused an App is, the better it can be at what it does - hence more valuable for the user.
As outlined in a previous blog post: the original purpose of the App, which was notifications about train disruptions, has already been demoted to a second class feature. With the latest update, it disappears into the background and is merely an add-on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still there and works as advertised, however the main focus of the App has shifted to displaying the most up to date train arrival times in Cologne.
This change has come a long way. We have been thinking about this move since September and running a prototype with various versions for a couple of months. We wanted to get it right and integrate the former main feature as seamlessly as possible with our vision of a more narrow focus.
So far the feedback has mostly been positiv and we are quite happy to have once more narrowed the focus and at the same time increased the value of “Cologne Train” (aka “Bahn Köln”).