Navigating the Pitfalls of Mobile App Redesign
What lessons can we learn from Sonos’ 2024 App Failure?
At Adapptor, we understand that innovation is key to staying competitive in the digital world. With over a decade of experience designing and developing mobile apps, we’ve seen how a well-executed app can elevate a brand, while a misstep can damage even the strongest reputations.
Personally, I’ve been a loyal Sonos user for the past decade, and their products have become an integral part of my home. From seamlessly controlling audio across rooms to enhancing my home theatre experience, Sonos has always delivered. My Sonos Arc, paired with Sonos One speakers as rear channels, has turned movie nights into immersive cinematic events. And I must say, the Sonos Move is one of the best purchases I’ve made – it’s the perfect blend of portability and excellent sound quality, fitting seamlessly into my day-to-day life.
While I don’t rely heavily on the Sonos app myself, as my 7-year-old daughter often takes charge by asking Alexa to play her favourite music (my playlist has changed dramatically in the last few years), I know how crucial the app is for many users. The ability to control audio settings, group speakers, and manage the entire Sonos ecosystem from a single interface is a core part of the Sonos experience. That’s why, when Sonos released a redesigned app on the 7th of May 2024, it came as a shock to many when what was meant to be a modern upgrade instead became a cautionary tale of what not to do in app development.
In this article, we’ll delve into the issues Sonos faced during their app redesign and provide insights into how companies can avoid similar pitfalls to maintain both innovation and customer trust.
Sonos App Redesign 2024: A Case Study of Critical Failures
In May 2024, Sonos released a redesigned app intended to modernise its interface and improve scalability. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a sleek upgrade turned into a fiasco. Reports surfaced from various sources, including “Sonos Admits Its Recent App Update Was a Colossal Mistake”, detailing widespread customer dissatisfaction caused by missing features, bugs, and performance issues.
Feature Removal
One of the most critical issues highlighted across multiple sources was the removal of core features such as volume control and alarms. Users found themselves unable to access these daily essentials, resulting in frustration and widespread backlash. Articles like “The Sonos App Is a Mess Right Now” emphasise how this drastic feature removal alienated loyal customers.
Performance Issues
The app was plagued with slow navigation, crashes, and bugs, particularly for older devices. These performance issues were covered in-depth in the Wired article, “Sonos Admits Its Recent App Update Was a Colossal Mistake”, where it was revealed that older Sonos products struggled with the updated software, making their use almost impossible for some.
Accessibility Failures
Perhaps one of the most severe criticisms came from the app’s accessibility failures. Blind users reported that vital functions were broken, rendering the app unusable. “New Sonos app breaks accessibility for visually impaired users, here’s what this advocate recommends” explores this in detail, outlining how Sonos neglected to maintain critical accessibility functions in the new update. This oversight caused significant damage to the brand’s reputation among its disabled users, leading to further calls for reversion to the previous version.
Cloud Reliance
Another significant issue was the app’s reliance on cloud infrastructure, which introduced latency and connectivity problems that disrupted the seamless multi-room audio experience Sonos was known for. According to “The Sound of Failure at Sonos”, this cloud dependency led to widespread frustration as users experienced frequent dropouts and delays, undermining the reliability of the system.
Impact on Sonos’ Business
The botched redesign had a tangible impact on Sonos’ business. Widespread dissatisfaction was evident not only in user reviews but also in the company’s financial performance, as discussed during Sonos’ Q3 2024 earnings call and covered in “Sonos Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Results”.
Chart courtesy of Tradingview.com. The new app was released on the 6th of May.
Customer Dissatisfaction and Revenue Decline
Customer sentiment plummeted, as reflected in declining product sales during Q4 2024. In “Sonos (SONO) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript”, CEO Patrick Spence confirmed that the app issues directly contributed to lower sales numbers, forcing Sonos to revise their revenue forecasts downward. The company also admitted that delays in new product releases, compounded by the app issues, had taken a toll on their financial performance.
Recent reviews from the Apple App Store. Not cherry picked.
Financial Losses
Sonos predicted it would need to spend between $20 million and $30 million to fix the app and restore customer trust. This significant financial burden was highlighted in their Q3 earnings report and has become a stark reminder of how costly poor app development decisions can be.
Roadmap for Avoiding App Redesign Pitfalls
The Sonos app redesign failure offers a comprehensive blueprint for what not to do when overhauling a digital product. To help companies avoid making the same mistakes, we’ve outlined a roadmap based on insights from the Reddit AMA, “August Office Hours w/ KeithFromSonos”, and various detailed articles like “Sonos Admits Its Recent App Update Was a Colossal Mistake.” The following steps form a best practices framework for app redesign, with processes that Adapptor implements to highlight how we approach these challenges.
1. Thorough Testing and Iteration
Sonos’ Mistake: The app was released with unresolved bugs that weren’t addressed through adequate testing across varied environments. Sonos later admitted in their Reddit AMA that many issues were hard to replicate in their lab environment, which delayed necessary fixes.
Best Practice: Adapptor emphasises the importance of rigorous and continuous testing throughout the development lifecycle. Our Testing Process includes multiple stages, such as Unit Testing, Integration Testing, System Testing, Security Testing, and, critically, Beta Testing. These stages are vital to catch bugs and usability issues before they reach the general public. By employing automated testing alongside manual quality assurance checks, we ensure that every component of the app is validated under diverse real-world conditions.
Automated Testing: Automated tools like Jest for JavaScript and Go test are integrated into our CI/CD pipelines to continuously validate code changes. This helps to quickly identify regressions or bugs that arise from new code.
Beta Testing with Real Users: At Adapptor, we advocate for a phased beta release strategy. After thorough internal testing, we deploy the app to a group of beta users who represent the target audience, allowing us to gather feedback from real-world usage. Tools like TestFlight for iOS and Google Play’s Beta Program for Android are used to facilitate this process. Gathering this feedback before a full rollout helps to identify edge cases and address them promptly, minimising the risk of a failed launch.
Iterative Development: Testing and iteration are not a one-off process; they are continuous. We implement agile methodologies to release, test, gather feedback, and iterate over the product. This ensures that we are always working towards improving app stability and performance based on user insights.
2. Prioritise Core Functionality
Sonos’ Mistake: Sonos removed key features like volume control and alarms—essential functions that users relied on daily. This created disruption and alienation among its user base.
Best Practice: Preserving and enhancing core functionality during redesigns is central to Adapptor’s Design and Architecture Process. Our process starts with an in-depth discovery phase where we work closely with clients and users to identify the features they rely on most.
User-Centric Research: We use techniques like User Story Mapping and Journey Mapping to understand the most critical interactions users have with the app. This allows us to prioritise these features and ensure they are preserved or improved during the redesign. User stories act as a guide for the development team, ensuring that core features remain intact and any changes enhance the user experience rather than disrupt it.
Prototyping and Validation: Before making any changes to core features, Adapptor creates interactive prototypes that simulate the user experience. These prototypes are tested with real users to validate that any modifications maintain or improve functionality without causing frustration.
Balancing Innovation and Stability: While innovation is essential, it must be balanced with maintaining functionality. At Adapptor, we avoid cutting essential features without a replacement or clear upgrade path. Instead, we work on enhancing these features to ensure that the redesign aligns with user expectations and adds value.
3. Maintain Strong Communication with Users
Sonos’ Mistake: Although Sonos eventually opened a dialogue through several AMAs, the delayed communication led to a lack of trust and growing frustration.
Best Practice: Communication is key to managing expectations during an app redesign. At Adapptor, we incorporate regular communication touchpoints with users and clients throughout the project lifecycle . Our Product Management Process ensures transparency at every stage of development.
Pre-Launch Communication: We believe in keeping users informed about upcoming changes well before the redesign is released. Through announcements, email updates, and in-app messages, we explain what’s changing, why it’s changing, and how it will improve the user experience. By doing this, we manage user expectations and minimise the shock of new features or design changes.
Active Feedback Channels: Once the redesign is live, Adapptor suggests setting up feedback channels where users can express concerns and ask questions. These might include in-app feedback tools, social media monitoring, and forums. Gathering feedback in real-time allows us to address issues quickly and build trust with the user base.
Ongoing User Engagement: Post-launch, we recommend continuing engaging with users, providing updates on fixes, improvements, and future releases. This ongoing dialogue reassures users that their feedback is valued and acted upon. Regular updates and transparency during the process help prevent a breakdown in trust, as seen in the Sonos case.
4. Focus on Accessibility from the Start
Sonos’ Mistake: The app’s redesign broke essential accessibility functions for blind users. This severely impacted user trust, especially among disabled communities.
Best Practice: Accessibility is a core priority at Adapptor. We integrate accessibility considerations into every phase of development, ensuring compliance with standards like the W3C Mobile Accessibility Guidelines, and providing a seamless experience for all users.
VoiceOver and TalkBack Support: We ensure that our apps are fully compatible with screen readers like VoiceOver (iOS) and TalkBack (Android). This includes labelling all interactive elements correctly, ensuring descriptive text for images and buttons, and maintaining a logical flow of content that can be easily navigated via gestures.
Colour and Contrast: Adapptor employs colour schemes that meet minimum contrast ratios and avoids relying solely on colour to convey information. For users with colour blindness, we use text labels, patterns, and icons to ensure clarity and legibility.
Logical Feature Placement: Our design teams consider the placement of features, ensuring they are structured in a way that makes sense for users relying on assistive technologies. Essential elements like search bars and navigation menus are placed in predictable locations, helping users easily locate and interact with key features.
Keyboard Navigation and Focus: We ensure our apps are fully navigable via external keyboards, with clear focus states that guide users through the app without confusion. This ensures that users with motor impairments can still fully engage with the app’s features.
5. Avoid Rushing for Market Launches
Sonos’ Mistake: In a bid to align with new product launches, Sonos rushed the app release before it was ready, leading to widespread technical issues.
Best Practice: At Adapptor, quality takes precedence over speed. We employ a disciplined approach to managing deadlines through Sprint Planning and Risk Mitigation.
Realistic Timelines: Our product management team works with clients to establish realistic timelines that allow for thorough testing and iteration. By setting clear milestones and incorporating buffer time for unforeseen issues, we ensure that quality is never compromised. Where this isn’t possible, we ensure the risks are clearly outlined, and the client takes responsibility.
Enforcing Testing to Slow Down Release: Adapptor places a strong emphasis on enforcing rigorous testing, which serves a dual purpose. Not only does it improve the quality of the final product by catching bugs early, but it also has the secondary benefit of naturally slowing down the release process. This intentional slowdown helps avoid rushing toward arbitrary deadlines, ensuring that the focus remains on delivering a stable, reliable app rather than meeting tight launch dates .
Change Advisory Board (CAB) Process: Before any major release, Adapptor convenes a Change Advisory Board that includes developers, testers, and product managers. This board reviews the readiness of the product, evaluates any remaining risks, and approves the release only if the app meets all quality and performance standards. This process prevents premature releases and ensures a smoother launch.
6. Run a Public Beta Alongside the Existing App
Sonos’ Mistake: Sonos launched their redesigned app without offering users the option to test it in a beta environment. This led to widespread frustration when users were forced to switch to the new version, which was plagued with bugs and missing features. Users in the Reddit AMA suggested that Sonos could have mitigated much of the backlash by running a public beta of the new app alongside the existing stable app.
Best Practice: Adapptor follows a dual-release strategy, often running Public Betas alongside stable versions during app redesigns. This allows users to opt into the new experience while maintaining access to the previous version.
Controlled Beta Environment: By inviting a select group of beta testers to try the new app version while keeping the stable version live, we gather essential feedback from real-world usage without forcing all users into a potentially buggy environment. This approach not only helps identify bugs but also gives users a sense of participation in the development process.
Iterative Feedback Loop: During the beta phase, we establish feedback loops through in-app surveys, analytics, and direct user communication. This ensures that issues are identified early and can be addressed before the full launch. The dual-release strategy also allows us to roll back changes if critical problems are discovered, ensuring the stable app remains unaffected.
In Summary
The Sonos app redesign serves as a critical reminder of the complexities of app development and the consequences of poor execution. As someone who has enjoyed using Sonos products for years, I’ve seen firsthand how important a seamless experience is to maintaining loyalty. While I’ve been fortunate that my daughter mostly interacts with Sonos via Alexa, I can empathise with those who rely heavily on the app and were frustrated by the redesign.
By following this enhanced roadmap, which includes rigorous testing, preservation of core functionality, strong communication, accessibility, careful planning, and beta testing, companies can mitigate risks and deliver successful, user-friendly redesigns. At Adapptor, we believe that innovation should never come at the expense of user trust. Our processes are built around these principles, ensuring that every project we undertake is executed with care, precision, and a focus on delivering the best possible experience for all users.
Just as Sonos’ products have enhanced my home, we strive to ensure that the apps we create enhance the lives of users – seamlessly and reliably.