The screenshot is a promise

The screenshot is a promise

An app store page is the first screen of the product. Almost everyone sees it before they open the app, and I think it deserves the same honesty as anything inside.

Today we submitted MIZE 1.1.0, our minimalism coach, for review. It's on its way to the App Store and Google Play. Along with the build went new store pages: fresh screenshots and listing copy on Play, and on the App Store a new header, "Less baggage. More freedom.", a search asset, custom product pages for people looking for minimalism, decluttering or habits, and alternative screenshot sets to test against each other.

Every one of those images was captured from the real app. No mockups.

Now it sits in review, which is its own small exercise in letting go.

The pull of the perfect phone

You know the look. A phone floating at an angle on a pastel gradient. A screen full of sample data nobody has ever typed. Sometimes a screen that isn't in the build at all, because it was drawn for the listing.

It's easy to see why teams do it. Store pages compete on a thumbnail, and a polished render usually beats a real screen with real spacing and real text.

The trouble is what happens next. Someone installs the app because of that image, opens it, and the first thing they learn is that the picture was nicer than the product. It's a small gap, but it's the first thing the app teaches them.

So the choice isn't really between a pretty page and an honest one. A real screen, framed well, can be both. The design work just moves into the app, where it should have been anyway.

Why it matters more for MIZE

MIZE asks people to carry less: a list of items to let go of, habits to avoid and habits to cultivate, a few monthly goals, a Coach to talk it through with. An app that sells that with a dressed-up version of itself would be making the exact mistake it's trying to help you out of.

Real captures are also a useful test. If a screen doesn't look good enough to sell the app, the fix belongs in the app, not the listing. Putting a headline over your own screen makes you look at it the way a stranger would.

What real still leaves out

Real captures aren't neutral. We still chose which screens to show, and we wrote the words above them. "Less baggage. More freedom." is a headline, not a screenshot. Choosing is fine. Inventing is where I'd draw the line.

And mockups have their place. In client work, early concepts are mockups by definition, because the thing isn't built yet. That's fine as long as everyone knows it's a concept. The problem starts when a mockup stands in for something you're asking people to download today.

Real screens also go stale. Every release means new captures, so this is a habit, not a one-off.

Show what's there

The store page is the first promise an app makes. I'd rather it promise exactly what you'll find when you open it.

More about MIZE.