Backstory
Company
Sober Grid is a mobile app designed to provide support and connection for individuals recovering from addiction. The app aims to create a sober community and help people in recovery connect with others who are going through similar experiences.
Role
During my tenure at Sober Grid, I assumed the role of Head of Product and Design. In this capacity, I played a central role in guiding product development and design strategies. My responsibilities encompassed overseeing the entire product lifecycle, from conceptualization to implementation, ensuring seamless user experiences and design solutions.
Metrics
At Sober Grid, I had the privilege of spearheading the introduction of our product metrics. We concentrated on four key metrics, each playing a vital role in the success of our platform:
Acquisition:
Gauging the initial outreach and interest in our product. e.g. app downloads.
Gauging the initial outreach and interest in our product. e.g. app downloads.
Activation:
Focused on guiding users through the registration process e.g. verifying phone numbers, completing profile pages, etc.
Focused on guiding users through the registration process e.g. verifying phone numbers, completing profile pages, etc.
Retention:
Monitored Monthly Active Users (MAU)
Monitored Monthly Active Users (MAU)
Monthly active users in coaching.
Monetization:
Percentage of active users in coaching.
Percentage of active users in coaching.
Quarterly app earnings.
Situation(Problem)
Utilizing Google Analytics, we observed a concerning trend — a 40% attrition rate among our users within the first 60 days of sign-up.
This data represents an average over the past year. Recognizing that user retention is a key success metric for us, this revelation underscored a significant challenge in retaining new users.
Task
Following discussions with key stakeholders, including the CEO and COO, my responsibility was to proactively identify a solution or introduce a new feature aimed at improving our user retention rates.
Actions
Step 1 - User Interviews
My initial strategy involved conducting user interviews with recent inactive users.
Survey Monkey - Outreach.
Gmail - Outreach.
Google Hangout - Interviews.
Amazon gift cards - encourage their engagement.
I successfully reached out to approximately 75 users, ultimately conducting in-depth interviews with 22 individuals representing diverse backgrounds.
Step 2 - Translating user feedback
The most prevalent concern expressed by users was the absence of direct user-to-user interaction and a deficiency in community groups on the platform.
Step 3 - Triage(Engineering, Product, Design, CEO & COO)
I facilitated a meeting among the stakeholders, during which three key features emerged.
Here are the three features that stuck out:
1. Community groups - Where users can create and join communities.
2. Messaging - Users mostly used the comment section to communicate with each other but were limited because discussions were private.
4. Virtual AAA meetings. Enabling users to attend AAA meetings the in application.
Step 4 - Prioritization
At Sober Grid, I employed a prioritization chart that streamlined decision-making processes efficiently. The chart was structured around three primary factors, each assigned an alphabetic score:
1. Revenue/Cost - Assessing the potential revenue or cost implications of a feature.
2. User Satisfaction - Gauging the likelihood of a feature satisfying users.
Alphabetic scorecards were used, with "A" denoting a very favorable evaluation. This approach allowed for quick and informed decision-making.
Messaging received a commendable score of A-, and this evaluation was further supported by insights from Google Analytics, indicating significant engagement within the comment section. We interpreted this heightened activity as an indirect form of messaging between users.
I used the same process to prioritize how we would implement messaging.
I and the engineering manager also used the chart again to choose between Send Bird & Twillio. Both products were Hippa complaint and were popular at the time.
Prioritization result:
Implement messaging using the Send Bird framework.
Pro's
1. SendBird is HIPPA complaint
2. SendBird provides UI customization.
3. SendBird provides 24/7 customer support.
4. Messaging can be implemented and tested in under a week.
5. Messaging can be easily removed if needed.
6. SendBird is easily integrated.
Cons
1. SendBird costs us $249 per month.
2. At the time, messages will be stored on SendBird. In order to not lose user messages we might have to upgrade to the $400 membership.
Step 5 - Execution
Fortunately, SendBird came with its own built-in UI, so we did not need to design screens. I created the messaging epic and added it to the roadmap.
Subsequently, I included the epic in the backlog. When the selected sprint arrived, we assigned it the appropriate story points using the Fibonacci sequence, and the engineering manager created the necessary subtasks.
The engineering process took three days, and within the same week, it was on test flight.
Result
1. Following two weeks on TestFlight, we rolled out the update to all users.
2. An impressive 71% of new users initiated messaging in their first 30 days.
3. New user attrition decreased to 23% after the initial 60 days.
