30 installs, virtually zero real users. Nobody even made it to the first screen, let alone signed up. This wasn't a technical problem. It was a me problem.
I Ran Google Ads
After focusing purely on development, I finally started marketing. I ran Google Ads including India for broader reach, and even on a small budget, I got decent impressions and about 30 installs.
"Now the feedback will start rolling in," I thought.
It didn't.
They Didn't Even Open the App
Out of 30 installs, almost nobody actually used the app. My first thought — as a developer — was that the app was crashing. But I checked, and there was no crash. The app was fine.
The problem was somewhere else entirely.
What Went Wrong
The first impression was garbage. Looking at KOOTD's app icon again, it was way too plain for a fashion app. You couldn't tell what the app was supposed to do at a glance. Once you opened it, you landed straight on the main screen with zero time to understand what was going on. People probably went "What is this?" and closed it immediately.
There was no usage guide. Take a photo, upload it, and AI evaluates your outfit. Dead simple. But users had no idea that's what they were supposed to do, so they just left.
The targeting was wrong. Including India boosted install numbers, but I wasn't reaching people who actually cared about fashion. I was optimizing for "number of installs" instead of quality. The same pattern showed up in other regions too — it wasn't a regional problem, it was the app itself.
What I Learned
I'd been heads-down on development and started marketing way too late. I should have been thinking from the user's perspective from day one. The app icon, splash screen, onboarding — those first few seconds when a user encounters your app are everything.
I needed to bring in people who would actually use the app, not just inflate install numbers.
What I Changed
Added onboarding. First-time users now get an app guide showing them how things work.
Redesigning the look. The design was objectively trash. I didn't think it was pretty at the time either, and I still don't. I'm improving it by studying other fashion apps.
Opened the core feature to non-logged-in users. After a lot of deliberation, I made the style check feature available without signing up. Try it first, sign up if you like it — that's the right order. Showing an interstitial ad after the style check helps offset API costs too.
Retargeted. A lot of fashion apps only target women. I'm different. I want to include people like me who are clueless about fashion. People who are too self-conscious to post photos on social media, people who struggle to pick outfits — those are the people who actually need KOOTD.
Switching marketing channels. Google Ads alone had clear limitations. For a fashion app, Instagram makes more sense. I'm thinking taglines like "It's okay to have no fashion sense" and "Let AI evaluate your style." I want to go with a clean, straightforward approach focused on the clothes and the app screen rather than AI-generated model images.
The Lonely Developer Life
User testing is hard to arrange when you're too shy to ask friends for help. Free promotion is impossible these days.
The only person who'll thoroughly QA my app is still me. Building alone, testing alone, marketing alone.
It's lonely, but it's the path I chose.
I can't give up, though. An app that helps fashion-clueless people find their confidence. I believe that someday, someone will say "this app is actually useful." This time, I'm rebuilding it from the user's perspective.
Want to check out KOOTD for yourself? Visit the KOOTD page.