Sidekick Home
Increasing lifetime value by 47% through fostering an in-app community.
Users are disengaging from Sorted Sidekick, leading to a decline in lifetime value and retention rates. In an effort to achieve a 25% increase in lifetime value, we strategically aimed to nurture an in-app community, fostering deeper user engagement and loyalty.
Designed at Sorted Food Ventures
Problem
How can we leverage user interactions within the app to create a thriving community that significantly boosts lifetime value?
My Role
Responsible for discovery, ideation, workshop facilitating, user research, design, and testing.
Team
Aidan Nickerson (Me) - Product Designer
Charlie Cooke - Head of Product
Nidhi Sheshadri - Content Manager
Ben Slater - Recipe Developer
Dan Woodcock - Head of Engineering
Dan Glass - Software Engineer
Antoine Bugni - Software Engineer
Hypothesis
Cultivating an In-App Community will lead to a 25% Boost in Lifetime Value and Enhanced User Satisfaction
We hypothesise that by proactively cultivating an in-app community, we can significantly enhance user engagement and subsequently increase lifetime value by 25%. Through the implementation of targeted community-building initiatives, such as user discussion boards, and shared accounts, we aim to create a space where users feel connected, valued, and motivated to actively participate with others in their home and cook.
We anticipate that fostering meaningful interactions and facilitating peer-to-peer support within the app will not only extend user retention but also drive higher levels of satisfaction and engagement, through recipes cooked.
Our hypothesis is grounded in the understanding that building a strong sense of community fosters a deeper emotional connection with the app, leading to increased user loyalty and a higher propensity for repeat interactions. By leveraging insights from user behaviour analytics and user interviews, we intend to iterate and optimise our community cultivation strategies continuously.
Discovery
Research Hub
Leveraging Sorted Food's passionate fanbase, Sidekick launched the Sidekick Research Hub, comprising 2,000 current, former, and potential users, to conduct thorough research guiding all sprint phases, with insights crucial in shaping design decisions and product strategy.
Shared planning and shopping
Our research revealed that planning and shopping are commonly shared experiences among users, indicating a preference for collaborative decision-making in these stages of the culinary journey.
Majority cook solo
When it comes to cooking, a significant portion (68%) of users reported that it's often a solitary activity, where one individual cooks while the other focuses on cleaning.
What are others doing?
Our findings highlighted a desire among users to gain insights into how others are customising and adapting recipes.
Execution
Agile Iterations
We adopted an agile approach, working in a two-week sprint to swiftly iterate on our community-building initiatives.
Our process began with a workshop involving key stakeholders to align on objectives and brainstorm ideas. Rapid prototyping allowed us to bring concepts to life quickly, which we then tested rigorously with users using Maze and through structured interviews.
Insights gleaned from user feedback informed our continuous refinement process. Additionally, we established a dedicated community management team to ensure the day-to-day operations of the in-app community ran smoothly, fostering engagement and addressing user needs promptly.
Challenge
Throughout our extensive research, it became increasingly apparent that users were engaging in account sharing within their Sidekick subscription. This not only presented a notable risk of revenue loss but also underscored the necessity for us to deliver enhanced features tailored specifically for multi-person households.
Solutions
Our new plan focused on the shared experiences that users cared about and was anchored in our research and feedback mechanisms. Additionally, we conducted user research to understand the willingness to buy of users to a new pricing tier.
Shared shopping list for an asynchronous experience
User research revealed that 88% of Sorted Sidekick users were utilising both the app's shopping list and another tool simultaneously for a number of factors including sharing capabilities and customisation. And so, we incorporated new features such as the ability to add custom items to the shopping list, real-time updating of checked-off items via cloud synchronisation, and seamless sharing options via WhatsApp, messaging, and email.
Shared menu for collaborative planning
Collaborating on weekly planning with your partner or family is now even easier. We introduced sharing capabilities, allowing you to effortlessly communicate menu proposals for the week. Plus, with the addition of profile images, users instantly know who has contributed what to the week's plans.
Community Twists & Ratings
Understanding that food preferences are deeply personal, we recognized the desire among users to discover how others customized their recipes. To address this, we introduced "Community Twists" – a comment section where users can share their recipe alterations. Users can now "Clap" for twists they appreciate, with the most popular twists rising to the top.
Furthermore, we implemented ratings, empowering users to gauge the community's sentiment toward a dish and see how many fellow members have cooked it. These enhancements reinforce the sense of community involvement, ensuring that users feel their voices are heard.
Design
Introducing Sidekick Home
Our new pricing tier means users can easily invite members of their household to join, unlocking a host of powerful features including asynchronous meal planning, seamless sharing capabilities, and a centralised shopping list
Impact
Beyond Expectations
The implementation of our in-app community cultivation strategy yielded significant positive outcomes, driving tangible improvements in user engagement and lifetime value. By fostering a vibrant community within the app, we observed a remarkable shift in user behaviour and sentiment. Notably, our initiatives led to a 68% increase in active user participation during the cooking phase, indicating a marked transition from solitary cooking practices to more interactive and shared culinary experiences.
Furthermore, the introduction of features allowing users to view and share recipe modifications sparked a newfound sense of creativity and exploration among our user base. This resulted in a 32% increase in recipe customization and experimentation, demonstrating the tangible impact of community-driven inspiration and innovation on user behaviour.
Ultimately, these shifts contributed to a notable 47% increase in lifetime value, highlighting the direct correlation between community engagement and the overall success and sustainability of Sidekick.
864 community twists added in first month
Increased Average LTV by 47%
(from £35 > £56)
32% increase in recipe customization and experimentation
Learnings
Deeper understanding of habits
Our journey towards enhancing lifetime value through in-app community cultivation provided invaluable insights into the dynamics of user engagement and satisfaction. Our agile approach to execution, characterised by a two-week sprint and rapid prototyping followed by user testing, proved instrumental in driving iterative improvements and aligning our initiatives with user needs and expectations.
Users are curious about others
Our exploration into user preferences unveiled a strong desire among users to share and discover recipe modifications from fellow community members. This underscored the importance of facilitating user-generated content and peer-to-peer interaction within the app to stimulate creativity and engagement. Additionally, our agile approach to execution, characterised by a two-week sprint and rapid prototyping followed by user testing, proved instrumental in driving iterative improvements and aligning our initiatives with user needs and expectations.
Community is at the core
Our learnings emphasise the pivotal role of community-building efforts in enhancing user satisfaction, driving engagement, and ultimately increasing lifetime value. By continuously iterating on our strategies based on user feedback and behaviour, we aim to further strengthen our in-app community and sustain the positive impact on user experiences and business outcomes.