Doodle Buddy is a doodling/drawing iPad application. It is targeted at kids and thus does not have more sophisticated drawing and editing features that are found in other drawing applications in the market, such as Photoshop Express. Although I feel that softwares such as Photoshop Express and Doodle Buddy are targeting completely different demographics, as others have pointed out as well.
I completely agree that the application can be fun and it does seem fairly easy to use for all ages. Actually, when the group was presenting one particular iPhone/iPad app came across my mind - weDoodle. It is a very simple doodling game where you are given a word, and you need to draw them as well as you can for your friends to guess. It also has stencils, different types of brushes/pen tips/chalk types and various colours to choose from. However, it is primarily a game and it lacks many cool features that Doodle Buddy has, such as changing backgrounds or inserting images, and users cannot just doodle an image whenever they want to and save it. I think that if both apps are merged, it would be really awesome.
As for the intrusive ads, I think we have come to a point to accept that there will be ads with free apps. Many companies adopt this model to keep their applications on the iTunes store. And usually an ad-free version will be available at a nominal fee. So I think most users don't really see that as a huge minus point. In terms of UI, the colour option does seem a little complex for young children to choose from. As they are not really bothered by what shade or hue they are doodling in, a simpler option of choosing a few colours to doodle might be more appropriate. It might even be an additional monetization option - users are given basic colours to doodle in, but for additional colours, say for little Sally who likes pink, her parents would have to make an in-app purchase for the colour. Or they can be gained through points, like Doodle bucks which you guys suggested, that are earned through interacting with friends or other mechanisms. Basically I think it can be "gamified" to encourage users to want to use the application more. This is especially good for encouraging young children to cultivate their artistic talents and have more fun doing so, and parents will also be grateful for the additional peaceful time they are getting.
Overall, I think the app is a great one!
Ah, I did not realise that the color hue option is confusing for kids. I agree with you on that point, and the monetization ability also make sense. Now that I think about it, maybe all the navigation options can be made cuter and more colorful to allow kids to have a more fun time.
ReplyDeleteDoodle Bucks is actually already in the app.
When we were searching for the information, someone reviewed that some of the advertisement is not appropriate for kids. That's why we pointed out ads as a con. And also, parents are usually willing to pay $.99 to hide the ads. This is common to see but really a smart way to make money.:)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we can purchase additional colors using doodle bucks. Also, as what we stated, sell them as a separate application which serves as a library.
We seem to come to this point that Doodle buddy focuses on only kids maybe because its tools are simple and easy to use. However, it's for people of all ages. Only that mostly it's downloaded by parents for their kids. Since its brand is now popular, maybe it can create updated version for professional use to cut in ps express's market as well.
it is totally targeting different group of people as compare to PS.... just try to pronounce the word doodle :D doodle :D doodle :D
ReplyDelete@xianyou: Yes! Actually I tried to get a friend to download weDoodle yesterday but somehow it was not in the app store! Such a pity because I thought the UI it has is very simple and intuitive, and are very cute and cartoony, certain to appeal to kids!
ReplyDelete@Xiangxin: Heh, ya. Either way, I think if the kids keep asking the parents too much about the ads they will eventually pay just to shut them up :)
I disagree that they should make a professional version though. It would appear that they have a lack of focus and not really sure what market they want to capture. I think the demographics of the 2 markets in point here are vastly different. It would not make sense to develop in that direction as it would require a lot of resources and essentially like developing a completely new product. I think they should focus on developments that has high synergy and are complementary to their present product, which in their case would be products for kids and people of all ages looking for some fun doodling time :)
@Hao Yuan: Yep, I agree completely.
Nice post though I would like to say I still believe it should not make a professional version.
ReplyDeleteIt should focus on a market and be a leader in it rather than try to get its hands everywhere. They don't even concentrate on DoodleBuddy as much as they should I think. They should have a separate website for DoodleBuddy with its own support site. Maybe they are waiting for it to become bigger and then they'll branch.(Just wondering randomly :P)
V
http://cs3216v.blogspot.com
@v : er... isn't that what many of us agreed upon -.-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the app can be "gamified" to encourage users to want to use the application more. Also, there could be a possibility for in-app purchases for 'educational packs' for the kids, things such as those templates found in kids colouring book. :)
ReplyDeleteBasically I think it can be "gamified" to encourage users to want to use the application more.
ReplyDeleteHow?
@prof Ben: One way would be to implement an in game currency(Doodle Bucks as suggested) and provide reward mechanisms to obtain the in game currency to buy additional features(such as colors, advanced functions etc). Can implement some mini word guessing game where 1 player draws a word and the others guess what he/she is drawing, and award Doodle Bucks for the players. Just may thoughts :)
ReplyDelete