At.Café
Role
User Research
Methodology
Moderated Interviews
Date
Feb. 2023
Website
at.cafe
at.café is a B2B2C mobile and desktop application that allows company employees to share their availability and office presence.
This visibility helps teams coordinate, anticipate workspace occupancy, and organize events. Despite the potential utility of the service, metrics reveal an alarming drop-off rate after the first login, suggesting users don't immediately perceive the product's value.
Problem Statement
Usage data shows that more than 70% of new users don't return after their first login.
Our main hypothesis is that employees don't see the benefit of sharing their availability and that the onboarding experience fails to demonstrate the collective value of the application.
Research goals 🎯
Identify specific barriers to weekly schedule entry
Assess the perception of individual vs. collective value of the application
Determine key moments where at.café's value could be better communicated
Explore motivations that would encourage regular engagement
Research questions ⁉️
What are the main reasons users abandon after their first login?
How do users perceive the value of sharing their availability with colleagues?
What are the pain points in the current onboarding process and first schedule entry?
What benefits do users expect from an office presence coordination application?
Which elements of the current interface communicate (or fail to communicate) the product's value?
How could the onboarding experience better illustrate concrete use cases and benefits?
Methodology 🎥
Participant Recruitment
I recruited 12 participants across three key segments:
6 Active Users who successfully adopted at.café and use it regularly
6 Churned Users who abandoned the app after first login
Through moderated interviews with 15 participants, I explored the high churn rate of at.café after first login, focusing on value perception and onboarding friction with these targeted questions that revealed key insights for redesigning the experience
"Pouvez-vous me raconter votre première expérience avec at.café ?"
"Lors de votre première utilisation, aviez-vous compris à quoi servait précisément at.café ?"
"Pouvez-vous vous rappeler pourquoi vous n'avez pas continué à utiliser at.café après votre première connexion ?"
"Qu'est-ce qui vous a convaincu de continuer à utiliser at.café après votre première expérience ?"
"Essayez d'entrer votre planning de présence au bureau pour la semaine prochaine. Comment trouvez-vous cette expérience ?"
"Selon vous, quel est l'intérêt principal d'une application comme at.café ?"
"Qu'est-ce qui vous inciterait personnellement à entrer régulièrement votre planning ?"
Analysis Process
Through qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys, the analysis focused on uncovering why users value the Café platform and the key pain points they experience in hybrid work environments. The research revealed that while Café is appreciated for its flexibility and ease of scheduling interactions, users need better support in fostering deeper connections and aligning work-life integration.
Key Insights:
Users appreciate the novelty of features such as Expresso Meetups but are unclear about maximizing their potential.
Hybrid work introduced challenges in maintaining strong workplace relationships, with many users valuing Café for its potential to bridge these gaps.
High turnover rates in the initial stages, with retention around 15%, indicated that onboarding or continuous engagement strategies might be insufficient.
Understanding User Profiles & Needs:
Workshops and analysis of existing data unveiled a lack of clear user profiles, hindering nuanced product development. Through creating and validating proto-personas, we identified distinct user typologies and their specific needs.
Key Insights:
The lack of clarity in user profiles resulted in a one-size-fits-all approach to product features, which didn't cater to varying user needs.
There was a strong need for product personalization to increase user attachment and ongoing engagement.
Process Enhancement & Repository Use:
The Dovetail repository, based on research questions, streamlined data management and accessibility, enabling the team to align research outputs promptly with stakeholder queries. This system significantly reduced the disconnect between research activities and strategic planning.
Key Insights:
A question-centric repository system simplified data retrieval, allowing faster response times to stakeholder inquiries.
Centralized data increased insight accessibility, facilitating more informed strategic decision-making.
Refine Product Features:
Personalization:
Use personas to guide feature development, ensuring that the product caters to diverse user needs and preferences.
Allow customization options for scheduling and interaction features to better fit individual and team workflows.
Community Building
Recommendations
Enhanced Onboarding Experience:Develop a dynamic onboarding process with tailored tutorials showcasing features like Expresso Meetups, ensuring users understand and can maximize these tools.Personalize onboarding based on user profiles to provide relevant information and support from the start.
Boost Ongoing Engagement:Implement periodic user engagement initiatives, such as personalized notifications and usage tips, to maintain user interest and activity.Introduce gamified elements to incentivize frequent app usage and foster team interactions.
Feature Refinement and Personalization:Customization Options:
Strengthen Community Features: null.
Continuous Feedback and Adaptation:Active User Involvement: null.Data-Driven Updates:
Strategic Alignment and Stakeholder Collaboration:Roadmap Integration:
Foster Stakeholder Engagement: null.By focusing on these recommendations, Café can significantly improve user retention and satisfaction, aligning the product’s capabilities with users’ needs and supporting the company's growth trajectory.
