Achievements

Context

Achievements was a gamified rewards system aimed at increasing user engagement and the conversion rates of new and light users of Mercari App on iOS

Planning and Prioritization

Requirements Gathering

To kickstart the Mercari Badge project, I worked with an experienced Japanese PM to conduct and evaluate in-depth user interviews to understand the needs and preferences of our target audience. I also analyzed engagement data to pinpoint the actions that users found most rewarding. This comprehensive approach helped me identify key features and functionalities that would resonate with our users and drive engagement.

Stakeholder Management

Managing stakeholders was a critical aspect of the project. I held regular meetings with teams across product, engineering, design, etc to ensure alignment and gather diverse perspectives and new ideas. By fostering open communication and collaboration, I was able to integrate several valuable insights from different departments into the feature development process. As an engineer myself I had always felt that being involved with the ideation process with PM's was a great way to minimize the tedious back and forth in deciding the feasibility of a feature.

Balancing Product Features

In addition to developing the Mercari Badge feature, I had to ensure that other product features owned and maintained by the team were also given due attention. I employed a strategic approach to product roadmapping, carefully breaking down major technical tasks into technical epics that could be handed over to individual engineers to scope out the implementation details and timeline for development. I carefully considered tradeoffs between various implementations and prioritized features based on their potential impact on user experience and business objectives. This involved conducting trade-off analysis and making informed decisions to strike the right balance.

Execution

System Design and Development

I led the system design process, collaborating with the engineering team to create a robust architecture that could support the gamified experience of Mercari Badge. We developed a batch job to aggregate user actions across the app and identify achievements. For the MVP, we implemented cron jobs and locally triggered client actions to record user achievements. We also planned to enhance the system with real-time capabilities using GCP Pub/Sub and event messages from iOS and Android clients and the later phases.

User Interface and Experience

Working closely with the design team, I ensured that the user interface for the Mercari Badge feature was intuitive and engaging. We researched several other ios apps in Japan's marketplace that had such feature and identified key features that aligned with mercari design philosophy. We conducted user testing to refine the UI and UX, making sure that the badges were visually appealing and the achievement journey was clear and motivating for the users.

Project Management and Coordination

As the product manager I also oversaw the entire development process, ensuring that all milestones were met on time and within error budget. I coordinated between different teams, managed the project timeline, conducted scrum ceremonies and addressed any challenges that arose during the development phase. Regular updates and agile methodologies kept the project on track and allowed for flexibility in responding to user feedback and technical hurdles. I also had to co-ordinate with various teams from whose databases we had to pull data from and ensure that the data was clean and accurate and upto date. We also had to ensure that the joy moment when a user unlocks a badge was not lost in a sea of other notifications so had to interact with notification team to ensure that the delivery of the notification was apt and unobtrusive.

Results and Learnings

Impact on User Engagement and Conversion

The Mercari Badge feature significantly improved user engagement and conversion rates for light to no users. A/B testing revealed that the placement and design of the badges positively influenced user behavior. The gamification of the user experience encouraged new users to explore the app more thoroughly and engage with its features, leading to higher retention rates and increased activity on the platform.

Integration with Marketing and Campaigns

We explored the potential of combining the Mercari Badge feature with marketing and campaign initiatives. By offering monetary benefits alongside personal achievements, we aimed to enhance the user experience further. This approach not only provided users with tangible rewards but also created opportunities for social sharing, amplifying the impact of the feature.

Future Plans and Enhancements

Based on the success of the MVP, we plan to introduce real-time achievement tracking and expand the gamification elements of the feature. By continuously evolving the Mercari Badge system, we aim to keep users engaged and motivated to return to the app, further increasing their lifetime value and loyalty to the platform.

Key Learnings

Although the development of the Mercari Badge feature was stopped due to an immediate need to focus on other features, the project provided valuable insights into user engagement and gamification strategies. One of the key learnings from this project was the importance of gamification in driving user engagement. We also learned the value of integrating rewards with social sharing to maximize the feature's impact. The project underscored the need for thorough A/B testing to refine user-facing features and ensure their effectiveness in achieving business goals. One of the key learnings from this project was the importance of gamification in driving user engagement. We also learned the value of integrating rewards with social sharing to maximize the feature's impact. The project underscored the need for thorough A/B testing to refine user-facing features and ensure their effectiveness in achieving business goals.