From E-Commerce to Mobility: Six App Reviews in Six Weeks

There are millions of apps out there — some are good, some brilliant, and others...well, they need a little help. Our passion for UX led us to select six apps across six different industries for a UX review, aiming to highlight both the strengths and areas for enhancement. To make it even more challenging, we limited each review to just six hours — what our designers found in that time, they reported on. 

The results were posted every Monday on our LinkedIn page — if you’re not following us yet, what are doing? Just kidding, you can still find the posts there, but if you’d rather see everything in one place, just keep scrolling. We’ve summed up the highlights for you.

About the Review Process

We picked apps that significantly impact their industries or that our team personally uses and loves. For a well-rounded perspective, we intentionally chose apps from various industries to review, such as e-commerce, loyalty, and mobility, among others.

The review process included:

1. Selection: We chose apps that either made an impact in their industries or that we personally use.
   
   
2. Categories: Our UX experts analyzed each app’s user journey, focusing on accessibility/joy of use (depending on the app), usability and utility, design quality, and functionality.
   
   
3. Focus points: Rather than reviewing the entire app, we concentrated on some key areas, like architecture and core features.
   
   
4. Insight sharing: We shared our findings with our LinkedIn audience, showcasing practical ways to elevate user experience.

The reviews were conducted by senior UX/UI designers at COBE, with extensive experience across various industries. Each designer had six hours to review the app they chose within the predefined categories. To ensure the best possible review in a short amount of time, some of our designers worked together — after all, two heads are better than one.

Why We Took on This Challenge

The answer is simple: we think that there’s always room for improvement, even for the best apps. So, by doing these reviews, we hope to provide some useful insights into UX design, showcase best practices, and encourage innovation in app development. 

But, of course, as app users ourselves, we naturally want the best possible experience too. So, maybe we hope that brands take our feedback into account and make the necessary improvements.

Which Apps Made the Cut?

As mentioned before, there's a big pool of apps to choose from, but these are the ones that we focused on. Don't worry — we're planning another session of reviews soon, so there will be plenty more to explore.

1. Splitwise: A handy app that makes splitting expenses with friends and family super easy. Whether you're traveling, dining out, or sharing household expenses, it helps you easily track who owes what.
   
2. Vinted: A marketplace app for buying and selling secondhand clothes, accessories, books, and even some home goods. It's like a big online thrift store but way more convenient and fun.
   
3. ARD Mediathek: An entertainment app offering on-demand streaming of TV shows and movies from ARD, one of Germany's leading public broadcasters.
   
4. OMR: Your ultimate guide and companion for the OMR Festival.
   
5. DB Navigator: An essential tool for anyone traveling by train in Germany. Created by Deutsche Bahn, it helps plan and book train travel with ease.‍
6. Payback: A loyalty app that allows users to collect points, access exclusive offers, and earn rewards from various partners. It’s a great way to maximize savings and enjoy extra benefits.

Deep Dive

Splitwise 

We kicked things off with Splitwise, a finance app designed to simplify splitting expenses with friends and family.

What we liked:

• Easy account setup: Creating an account is straightforward and quick.
• Effortless expense management: Adding and managing expenses within a group is simple and efficient.
• Practical design: The color scheme is effective, and the overall user experience is friendly and intuitive.

Areas for improvement:

• Navigation challenges: Some buttons and navigational elements lack clear guidance.
• Redundant information: The same details appear in multiple tabs, which can be confusing.‍
• Limited engagement: The app could use more engaging animations or gestures to make interactions more enjoyable.

Overall, Splitwise offers a solid foundation but could stand out more by integrating with popular payment providers, simplifying navigation, and introducing more engaging design elements.

Vinted

Next, we reviewed Vinted, a popular app for buying and selling secondhand clothes. 

What we liked:

• A simple and intuitive navigation: The app is easy to navigate, thanks to its clear layout and hierarchy.
• Simple selling process: Uploading and selling items is pretty straightforward.
• Buyer protection: Features like item verification and buyer protection enhance user trust.
  

Areas for improvement:

• Lack of emotional touches: The app could benefit from more emotional highlights and supportive micro-interactions.
• Confusing filters and bookmarks: The logic behind filtering and bookmarking items needs improvement.‍
• Shipment-only option: There's no on-site pickup option available.

In general, Vinted provides a secure and convenient experience with a simple interface. The core features are easy to figure out and use. However, the app could benefit from improvements in its architecture and search mechanisms, particularly in terms of accessibility and design quality.

ARD Mediathek

Moving on to the entertainment industry, we reviewed ARD Mediathek, a streaming app from one of Germany's major public broadcasters. It offers live TV, on-demand content, and a user-friendly interface for a comprehensive streaming experience. However, the latest mobile update has led to some performance issues for users, which we further explored.

What we liked:

• Clear navigation: The categories in the navigation and top bar are clear and easy to scan.
• Smart search: Relevant options appear quickly based on user input, making searches more efficient.
• Accessibility settings: Audio and sign language, subtitles, and audio descriptions are available, though not for all content. However, the range is quite extensive.

Areas for improvement:

• Limited live streaming: App live streaming is available for selected broadcasts only.
• Accessibility: To meet accessibility standards, it's essential to increase the touch target size. Currently, some buttons, icons, or links are too small, while others show narrow spacing between linked items.
• ​​Visual appeal: Adding more detailed design touches could make the app visually stand out compared to other streaming platforms.

Overall, ARD Mediathek provides a high range of quality content and features a user-friendly interface. The planned merger of ARD and ZDF technologies in 2025 is expected to address some current technical issues and streamline maintenance. There are significant opportunities for enhancing design and functionality, with a particular emphasis on inclusive content and design. By addressing the areas for improvement and focusing on these enhancements, ARD Mediathek could offer an even more engaging and accessible streaming experience.

OMR

The OMR Festival is one of the largest events for digital marketing and technology in the world. To help attendees get the most out of their experience, the festival has developed an app that allows them to create personalized watchlists of speakers, exhibitors, and much more. 

A dedicated conference app can be great for real-time updates, centralized information, and networking opportunities — when it's done right, of course. 

What we liked:

• Event overview: A large calendar view provides a clear layout of talks, stages, and schedules. 
• Bookmarking: Users can easily bookmark talks and workshops they’re interested in. 
• Consistent design: The app’s design is cohesive and visually appealing.

Areas for improvement:

• Map functionality: Although the map is intended to facilitate navigation, the lack of internet access during the event makes this feature ineffective.
• Search option: The search bar in the main search lacks hint text, making it unclear what can be explored. The same applies to finding food. Here, users can only look up stall names, not cuisines, which limits their search options. ‍
• Illustrations: More website illustrations and better use of highlight colors could improve the app’s visual appeal and draw attention to key information.

The OMR app provides valuable tools for enhancing the festival experience with its personalized features and clear event organization. However, some improvements in navigation, search functionality, and design are needed to fully optimize user experience and accessibility.

DB Navigator

The DB Navigator app is widely used by those traveling with Deutsche Bahn, whether for business or pleasure. 

What we liked:

• Simple ticket booking process: The app opens with a well-structured search mask for finding train connections.
• Push notifications: Shortly before starting your journey, you receive a push notification with the most relevant information.

Areas for improvement:

• Seat reservation process: Adding a seat reservation to an existing ticket isn’t intuitive. Currently, it’s in the search mask dropdown and requires a new booking, even though users expect it under ticket options.
• Multi-account support: Introducing multi-accounts would benefit users with both private and business accounts, as well as those booking for several people.‍
• Notifications: By default, you receive the same push notifications for bookmarked journeys as for the ones you actually take, which can be confusing.

Overall, the app serves as a vital tool for enhancing the travel experience, although it could benefit from improvements in the seat reservation process, support for multiple accounts, and clearer notifications.

Payback

Last but not least, we explored the Payback app — a leading multi-partner loyalty platform where users can collect points, access exclusive offers, and earn rewards. Despite their strong presence in the loyalty app market, there are still some strategic enhancements that could elevate Payback even further. 

What we liked:

• Coupon visibility: Seeing upcoming coupons helps users anticipate and prepare for future purchases.
• Engaging features: The Spielewelt feature offers a fun and interactive way to engage with the loyalty program, with clear instructions for earning points and rewards.
• Inclusive design: A design strategy that prioritizes simplicity and neutrality, catering to a wide and diverse audience without excluding any segment or partner brand.

Areas for improvement:

• Search limitations: Restricted ability to search for specific deals.
• Translation issues: Challenges with availability and completeness of translations in different regions.‍
• Lack of keyword search: The app lacks a keyword search feature for specific products or product types. Users can only search for partners, which feels restrictive.

Overall, Payback integrates offline and online shopping experiences, offering various interactive features. To enhance user experience and efficiency, the app could make some improvements in search functionality, translation consistency, and filtering options.

Wrap-up

Through this six-week challenge, we’ve gained valuable insights into what makes an app excel in user experience. We hope our reviews inspire improvements and innovations in the apps we covered, and we look forward to sharing more UX adventures with you in the future. 

Let us know if you have any questions, we’re here for you.