When I download an app, I usually look at its overall rating before deciding whether it’s worth trying. If an app has almost five stars, I automatically assume it must be pretty good. However, after looking through App Store reviews for this week’s assignment, I realized that an app’s rating doesn’t always tell the full story.

This week, we focused on Point of View (POV) statements and how understanding different users’ experiences can help us define design problems. For this assignment, I chose three apps that I am familiar with: Pinterest, Goodreads and TikTok. I looked through their App Store reviews and organized the feedback into three categories: positive, negative and suggestive.

From there, I created two POV statements for each app to better understand what users actually need and why they might be experiencing certain frustrations.

Understanding the Problem Before Finding a Solution

One of the biggest things I took away from this week’s readings was how important it is to understand a problem before immediately trying to fix it. I think it’s easy to look at a negative review and start coming up with different features that could improve an app. However, just because a user suggests a specific feature doesn’t necessarily mean that feature addresses the actual problem they’re experiencing.

The Interaction Design Foundation explains that the Define stage of design thinking involves using research to identify users’ needs and develop a clearer understanding of the problems they face.

For this assignment, I used the POV statement format of user, need and insight. Instead of simply identifying something that a user dislikes, I had to think about who was experiencing the problem, what they were trying to accomplish and why the problem mattered to them.

Pinterest: When Finding Inspiration Becomes Frustrating

Pinterest was the first app I chose because I use it pretty frequently for inspiration, whether I’m looking for outfit ideas, creative projects or just saving things I like.

After reading through its reviews, I noticed that a lot of users still love Pinterest but are frustrated with how much the app has changed over time. While some reviewers appreciated being able to discover new content and organize their ideas into boards, others complained about excessive advertisements, constant interface changes and difficulties finding their saved content.

One thing that stood out to me was how frustrating these changes can be for longtime users. When someone has been using an app for years, they’re already familiar with how everything works. Constantly changing the layout can make something that used to be simple feel unnecessarily complicated.

One of the POV statements I created focused on longtime Pinterest users who need a consistent and easy way to organize their saved content because frequent interface changes make familiar tasks more frustrating.

This made me realize that improving an app doesn’t always mean adding new features or changing its appearance. It’s also important to consider how those changes might affect people who already enjoy using it.

Goodreads: More Features Don’t Always Mean a Better Experience

Goodreads was probably the app I was most interested in researching because I’m currently working on creating my own digital reading journal in Notion.

I wanted to see what readers enjoyed about Goodreads and what they wished worked differently. A lot of the positive reviews mentioned how helpful the app is for tracking books, organizing reading lists and discovering new recommendations.

However, some reviewers were frustrated with how complicated certain tasks could be. For example, one reviewer mentioned how time-consuming it was to organize books into different shelves because they had to add each book individually. Other users suggested adding half-star ratings so they could more accurately rate the books they read.

I found these reviews particularly interesting because they relate directly to what I’m working on with my own reading journal. It’s easy to think about all the different features I want to include, but this assignment reminded me that those features need to be easy to use.

One of my Goodreads POV statements focused on readers who track large numbers of books and need a simpler way to organize their reading lists because adding books individually can become frustrating and time-consuming.

I think this was one of my biggest takeaways from the assignment. An app can offer a lot of useful features, but if users struggle to complete simple tasks, those features might not be as helpful as intended.

TikTok: Looking at an App I Use Every Day

The last app I chose was TikTok, which I use almost every day for both entertainment and creating content. I was interested in looking at TikTok because I already have my own opinions about what I like and dislike about the app. However, reading other users’ reviews helped me understand how people experience the platform differently.

A lot of the positive reviews focused on TikTok’s entertainment, creativity and sense of community. On the other hand, negative reviews mentioned technical issues, account restrictions and problems with certain features.

One of the reviews that stood out to me suggested adding a search bar for saved collections. As someone who makes TikTok edits, I save a lot of videos for inspiration, so I can definitely relate to the frustration of trying to find something I know I saved.

This led me to create a POV statement focused on users who save large amounts of content and need an easier way to organize and find their saved videos.

I think this is a good example of how something that seems like a small issue can actually affect someone’s overall experience with an app. Saving videos is useful, but it becomes less helpful when users struggle to find them again.

What I Learned From Looking at Different Perspectives

After looking through reviews for all three apps, I noticed that even though they serve completely different purposes, users experience a lot of similar frustrations. Organization and navigation were two of the biggest themes throughout my research. Whether someone was trying to find a saved Pinterest board, organize their Goodreads shelves or locate a TikTok video, they wanted to complete their tasks without unnecessary complications.

I also thought it was interesting how different users could have completely different experiences with the same app. Something that one person appreciates might be something that another person finds frustrating.

This connects to the Nielsen Norman Group’s reading on problem statements, which discusses the importance of identifying the actual problem and understanding its impact on users before moving forward with the design process.

Another thing I learned was that positive reviews are just as important as negative ones. While negative reviews helped me identify areas where users were struggling, positive reviews helped me understand what people already enjoyed and what made them want to continue using each app.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this assignment helped me better understand how important it is to look at a problem from the user’s perspective rather than immediately jumping into solutions.

Before this exercise, I probably would have looked at a negative review and focused on whatever feature the reviewer suggested. However, creating POV statements forced me to think more about the underlying problem and why it mattered to that particular user.

I also realized that even apps with millions of users and high ratings still have areas that could be improved. Sometimes, it’s not about completely redesigning an app but understanding the smaller frustrations that affect someone’s everyday experience.

As I continue working on my own digital reading journal, I want to keep these ideas in mind and make sure I’m focusing on what users actually need rather than just including features I personally think would be useful.

My App Review Research

For this assignment, I analyzed 27 App Store review summaries across Pinterest, Goodreads and TikTok and developed six POV statements based on users’ experiences.

References

Interaction Design Foundation. (n.d.). Stage 2 in the design thinking process: Define the problem and interpret the results. Read article

Nielsen Norman Group. (n.d.). Problem statements in UX discovery. Read article

Pinterest, Inc. (n.d.). Pinterest [Mobile app]. Apple App Store. App Store listing

Goodreads. (n.d.). Goodreads: Book tracker & more [Mobile app]. Apple App Store. App Store listing

TikTok Ltd. (n.d.). TikTok – Videos, Shop & LIVE [Mobile app]. Apple App Store. App Store listing