What factors affect the UX in mobile apps? A systematic mapping study on the analysis of app store reviews

Researchers and practitioners are becoming aware of the importance of User eXperience (UX) in mobile app development. Developing merely usable apps became insufficient to meet users’ needs, requiring developers to focus on promoting pleasurable experiences to get a competitive advantage. To that end, it is crucial to understand what factors can lead to positive or negative UX. In this scenario, app store reviews emerged as a valuable source to address UX issues from analyzing several self-reports of end-users experiences in the wild. Many researchers have proposed approaches to analyze such reviews and investigate the effect of factors related to the user (e.g., gender, culture) and the app (e.g., bugs, features) on UX. However, the fragmentation of the results into various studies makes it difficult to draw conclusions that can support the development process and advance the research in the field. This paper presents a systematic mapping study to address publications that analyze app store reviews and identify the factors affecting UX reflected on users’ ratings and sentiment. From 25 accepted publications, we extracted 31 factors and their associated polarities. We also identified research gaps and future work opportunities with implications for practitioners and researchers.