How should an iPad app be made while you don’t know the market nor preferences of your readers? Should you wait and try to figure out what are the users’ expectations? The Telegraph took different path – they prepared an app that would be simple to use by their readers. After a year a second version of the app was built, sewn perfectly to match the users’ expectations.

Before the first version of the app was released, the publisher had been standing before the unknown. The following questions, asked by all market players remained unanswered:

• who would buy iPad?
• would they be Telegraph’s readers?
• how would people use the device?
• is it better to create a live breaking news product or an edition?

So the first product came out in September 2010. It was very simple and all about the news. The decision to introduce such product was strategic for two reasons:
1. it was the only possibility, the only answer for ‘to be or not to be?’ question
2. the application was simple and therefore very much user friendly. At the same time it was a great tool for measuring users’ preferences.

Reality has overgrown the publisher’s expectations. The application was downloaded 160,000 times. 60,000 of the readers opted in their personal data. The average time of usage was 20 minutes per user, with 41 pages read on average. The weekends proved to be more popular than weekdays for this application.

The publisher decided to ask Telegraph’s reader about their expectations. 20,000 readers were asked (with high response rate of 32%). They were divided in few focus groups. At the same time the publisher kept on reviewing his competition.

According to the research, here is what Telegraph’s readers wanted and expected from the application:

• it should be finite, finishable
• it should have once a day edition (no all-day updates)
• it should contain familiar elements of the newspaper
• it should be entertaining and include crossword, sudoku, cartoons
• it should have access to the archives
• it should be simple to use
• it should be free

Knowing all these readers’ expectations, the publisher did not agree only to the last one. The updated app has everything the users asked for, and features a 30-day archive, night reading mode and greater depth of content, including video, graphics and picture galleries created for the iPad edition and cartoon archives. And it comes with a well thought-out pricing plan, both for the readers and the publisher (1,19 pounds daily).

Key learnings from that process were:

• iPad is not yet a direct substitution for print
• users wanted a curated product
• content production is the headache, building the app is trivial
• there more over 55 years old with iPads than there are under 35
• customer service is crucial

The most important key learning was that despite their statements, the readers are actually willing to pay.

Most importantly, the publishers should know their audience. In order to do so, they should prepare a simple app first, next learn, learn, learn about the readers, and then do something to please them.