Increasing MAU
Retention Rates
I participated with a small design team of domain experts to analyze data and increase the MAU retention rate. By gathering information from our users we were able to create a task list of improvements to be made in both the product and the learning content to help users be successful. The project was successful and increased our MAU retention rate from 3 out of 11 to 5 out of 11.
Too Lazy; Didn't Read
About
Autodesk's Fusion 360 is innovative 3D modeling software looking to disrupt the engineering space.The goal of the software is to allow users from all different background to complete a project from draft to prototype.
Low Monthly Active Users
The Team
A third of the users that were not becoming MAUs were spending less than 15 minutes in the product. We sought to find more information on those users to determine why they were taking the time to download the application and create an account but then leaving the product within before 15 minutes.
Design Lead/ Product Owner
Data Analytics Researcher
4 Developers
1 Project Manager
2 Domain Experts as
sounding boards
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*Charts have been blurred to protect sensitive data
Set up
In an effort to increase our Monthly Active Users (MAUs) we dug into the analytics of the users. We found that of 11 users that were downloading the product and creating an account, only 3 were converted to MAUs.
3 out of 11
*Charts have been blurred to protect sensitive data
Establishing Hypothesis
As domain experts, we on the User Experience team, had some ideas but no concrete data. We set out to gather information on the first impressions of the application and what could be done to make users more successful during their first interactions in the application.
Phase 1
The Opportunity
Based on the command usage we felt that 6 out of 11 users were getting to a point in their workflows that showed they were capable CAD users.
Of those who downloaded the product, the goal was to increase the MAUs from 3 out of 11 to 6 out of 11.
3
11
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6
11
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*Charts have been blurred to protect sensitive data
Phase 2
Gathering 1st Impressions
Gathering Analytics without burdening the user
After interviews with my colleagues that interact with customers every day, we learned the first thing they recommended to users when on-boarding them was to switch their navigation. They suggested that it helped ease the transition and make them more comfortable in the application.
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I decided this would be a good opportunity to also gather some information from our users. We provided new users with the option to set up their navigation to their previous CAD experience. We hooked in Google Analytics to gather whether they had previous CAD experience or were new to CAD.
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Hypothesis 1: If users are new to CAD, then we can simplify the interactions and create an on-boarding experience to help users understand Engineering concepts. If users are transitioning from other products, then we can develop power user workflows and create content to explain the differences.
Usability Testing
During Autodesk University a colleague and I participated in the Idea Exchange, an area where designers and researchers could interact with attendees to do user testing. We ran a series of experienced and non-experienced CAD users who had never used Fusion 360 through a series of workflows.
During these sessions, we gathered their first impressions of the product and its capabilities.
Hypothesis 2: At first glance Fusion 360 does not look like a capable CAD modeling program.
Give me a second... I'm still working
Gathering Feedback
We decided to add a feedback mechanism to gather first impressions from new users. We integrated the product UserVoice to help us gather and store this data. After 15 minutes of use the user was invited to provide feedback of their experience so far.
We reached 500 responses and then I gathered and analyzed the data.
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*I responded to everyone individually!
Hypothesis 3: Users were not able to complete some of the core workflows from other CAD programs. They were not grasping some of the core concepts that made Fusion 360 different from other applications. Some usability improvements needed to be made in order to increase user delight.
Phase 3
Analyzing the Information
Hypothesis 1: First Impressions
The simplicity of the toolbar makes the product appear like it is not a capable CAD tool. The perception of a lack of features gave the impression that the product would not be able to complete their modeling workflows. This coupled with the low price of subscription, at first glance, suggested to users that it was a tool for hobbyists.
Hypothesis 2: Analytics
A majority of new users selected the Solidworks navigation option, suggesting that they were transitioning from that application. We had a surprisingly low number of users that were new to CAD.
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This caused a change in focus and strategy from new users to power users. This category of users required some user experience work to streamline workflows as well as some content to help them transition.
Hypothesis 3: Feedback
The feedback mechanism had a text input box with brought a wide variety of responses. After digging into the responses I was able to find general categories. Learning and general usability issues seemed to be the greatest topics for negative feedback.
*Data has been sanitized for public viewing
Phase 4
Clean up
Cleaned up the Onboarding Experience removing several steps that were burdening the user.
Toolbox
A keyboard short cut to increase productivity and aid transitioning users to find the tools they need.
Solidworks Transition
Guide
A set of tutorials and videos to explain concepts and help users transition to Fusion 360.
A large number of the stumbling blocks were usability issues that were causing users frustrations in the application.
UX Debt
New On-boarding content
Since a lot of users mentioned learning content, we created all new tutorials, videos and content that would help users navigate the application and complete their designs.
Results
93 bugs and improvements closed
Increase from 3 out of 11 to 5 out of 11
users converted to MAUs
in 6 months
