Pipedrive’s App Marketplace has been around since the end of 2017 and within that time has added over 200 apps. In order for someone to add an application to the Marketplace, we require that the application uses OAuth authentication and meets minimum viable product criteria. From my experience, I find that, more often than not, the minimum requirement tends to be missed. This prompted me to write an article to help apps have a higher chance of being approved on their first attempt.

Since a particular level of quality is expected in the apps listed on our Marketplace — we monitor UX consistency as well and standards that resonate with the Pipedrive brand. The Marketplace should be seen as a bridge between a 3rd party product and Pipedrive, from the customer’s perspective there’s a user experience expectation that needs to be smooth throughout the whole journey — from finding your app in the Marketplace, to installing it, and finally to using it.

What are the most common roadblocks that app developers often face and what exactly is the quality standard I previously mentioned?

I will divide the journey into 3 separate parts in order to better answer these questions and to separate the important aspects that pertain to each area — whether it’s landing page content, OAuth installation, or API functionality.

Part. 1 — App discoverability in the Marketplace

The first mistake I have noticed many app developers making, is that they don’t consider the users who look for apps in our Marketplace. This leads them to applying very little effort into their own app’s landing page. For us, it’s important that an app maintains a presentation style that is not only consistent with Pipedrive’s own design, but also with the rest of the apps in the Marketplace. A quick solution is to simply check out some of the other apps within the Marketplace to compare.

Marketplace Landing Page

To help new apps stand out, we advise them to utilize all of the options available via the Marketplace Manager to enhance their landing page. Options include adding customized text, links, images as well as a youtube video. All of these aspects together can greatly improve how your app looks for new users — an app that is nicely presented (clearly showing the capabilities and potential via images and video) is much more likely to gain the trust of new users.

We have a few minimum requirements to have your app listed (at least one image, certain required fields, etc), but if an app is sent to us for reviewal with minimal effort placing into its landing page, it may be rejected on this fact alone. As the Marketplace is operated by Pipedrive, the quality of the apps located within also reflect back on our product — this is why we maintain a seriousness for aesthetics and presentation. We expect that once a user lands on an app page, they will quickly and easily be able to understand what the app does, and shouldn’t view the aesthetics of the app as a question of its authenticity.

#marketplace-app #app-development #marketplaces #oauth #api