Evaluating User Flow Impact on Retention

🔹 Day 21 – Product Manager Interview Prep Series 🔹 🎯 RCA-Based Question: “Your team just launched a new onboarding flow. Instead of increasing activation, it's led to a spike in churn. How would you analyze and resolve this issue?” 📌 Step-by-Step Breakdown – Root Cause Analysis (RCA) As a PM, your goal is to understand user behavior, pinpoint the friction, and fix the flow without compromising long-term retention. 1️⃣ Clarify the Problem 🔍 Define “churn”: Is it users dropping mid-onboarding? Or completing onboarding but not returning? Ask: -What’s the exact drop-off point in the new flow? -Is the churn immediate (same day) or delayed (after 1–2 days)? -What does churn look like compared to the previous flow? 2️⃣ Quantify & Segment the Impact 📊 Dive deep into analytics: 📈 Timeframe: When was the new flow launched? Sudden spike or gradual rise in churn? 👥 User Segments: Are new users from a particular platform (iOS/Android/Web) churning more? 🌐 Geo/Cohort Analysis: Are certain regions, age groups, or acquisition channels seeing higher churn? 🧪 AB Testing: Compare churn between users on old vs. new flows (if test is live). 3️⃣ Identify Potential Root Causes 🧠 UX/UI Issues: -Too many steps or confusing layout? -New permission asks too early (e.g., location, notifications)? -Value not shown quickly enough? 🔧 Technical Issues: -App crashes, lags, or slow load times? -Broken API, failed calls, or validation errors? 🧭 Psychological Friction: Users feeling overwhelmed or not understanding the benefits? High cognitive load in first interaction? 4️⃣ Talk to Stakeholders & Users 👂 User Feedback: - Session recordings (Hotjar/FullStory) - User interviews or feedback surveys - App store reviews post-launch 🤝 Internal Teams: - Engineering: Check for bugs, crashes, error logs. - Design: Walk through usability testing insights. - Data Science: Get funnel drop-off visualization. 5️⃣ Suggest Short-Term & Long-Term Improvements 🛠 Short-Term Fixes: - Roll back the most friction-heavy step. - Add in-line help or tooltips at high drop-off points. - Highlight core product value earlier. 🚀 Long-Term Initiatives: - Redesign onboarding based on user mental models. - Introduce progressive disclosure – don’t show everything at once. - Run usability tests before full rollout. 6️⃣ Measure Success Track: ✅ Increase in activation rate 📉 Drop in onboarding churn 🧠 User comprehension (measured via surveys or task success rate) 🎯 Retention metrics over Day 1, Day 7, Day 30 🔁 PM Mindset Tip: Onboarding is your first impression. Make it intuitive, not intimidating. Test thoroughly, talk to real users, and iterate until value is delivered with clarity and ease. 💬 How would YOU debug a broken onboarding flow? Let’s brainstorm in the comments 👇 #ProductManagement #PMInterview #RootCauseAnalysis #Onboarding #UserChurn #UserExperience #LinkedInDaily #ActivationStrategy #ProductDesign #LinkedInNewsIndia

I'm 99% sure you've deleted an app because it made you feel terrible. Think about it: → Habit trackers remind you of 0% progress → Femtech remind you of hormonal fluctuations → Fitness apps dictate how to feel about your weight → Activity trackers tell you you're not moving enough What happens next? You uninstall it [churn] You stop engaging with it [low retention] You shout about it online [negative reputation] It's a lose, lose for everyone The people using it suffer, and so does the business The truth is: We experience these situations ourselves. But, we deliver the same impacts to our users. People's contexts and emotions matter It's the difference between loving, or deleting the app For example: → Person A: I've made 0% progress, time to work! → Person B: 0% progress... I'm not good enough. We need to put people back at the heart of our services/ products Here's some things you can do: →  Research. Understand people's goals and contexts →  Think about how people's situation could change →  Understand the reasons why people might leave →  Tailor messaging for usage, activity and goals →  Give user's control - don't decide for them →  Map the unhappy paths and "edge-cases" →  Think about how people could be feeling →  Identify where your assumptions are →  Obsess over the words you use There's no shortcut; it's about understanding people At every step ask. How could people be impacted? Intentionally or unintentionally Positively or negatively If you can think it, chances are, people will experience it So, if we want to increase retention, reduce churn, create brand loyalty and generally deliver good products/services, we need to consider; experiences Design for people, always 💛 --- PS Sometimes people's circumstances mean they have to leave, not because they want to. Stay tuned for a post on offboarding!

Was trying to move and organise the applications on my mobile. Came across a really interesting and, dare I say, effective uninstall flow of Rapido. Instead of just a standard "Are you sure you want to uninstall?" prompt, I was greeted with a set of options before the final "Remove App" button. The ones that stood out were: 🥺 "Don't remove our app! Give us a second chance!" ⚠️ "Bugs or any issues? Let us know here!" Followed by other options like Support, Book Ride, etc. As a Product Manager aspirant, I was genuinely impressed! This isn't just a perfunctory step; it's a deliberate attempt to: 🔆 Intercept the churn: A last-ditch effort to understand why a user is leaving and potentially win them back by addressing their immediate concern (a bug, a specific need, etc.). 🔆 Gather invaluable feedback: The "Bugs or issues" link is a direct channel to capture feedback from users who are frustrated enough to leave. This is gold for identifying pain points and improving the product. 🔆 Humanize the experience: The "Don't remove our app!" adds a touch of personality and makes the user feel heard, even in the process of leaving. Most uninstall flows are cold and transactional. This felt like a thoughtful product design choice focused on retention and continuous improvement. It made me pause and appreciate the thinking behind it. Kudos to the Rapido product team for implementing this! 👏🏻 I was sold! What are your thoughts on this kind of uninstall strategy? Have you seen other apps do this effectively? Happy PMing! 🤓 #ProductManagement #UserRetention #UIUX #MobileApp #ProductStrategy #Growth #Rapido

Stop building email flows around "Day 3" and "Day 7." Here's the 6 energy moments that actually matter 👇 Here's what we found: Most retention flows are calendar-based. But customer emotions don't follow schedules. Someone might hit "doubt" 2 hours after ordering, not 2 days. Another person might feel "frustration" a week later, not on your predetermined Day 5. The 6 energy moments that actually matter: 1. Excitement spike → Just ordered (capitalize on the high) 2. Doubt drop → "Should I have bought this?" (story + reassurance) 3. Arrival high → Product delivered (maximize the moment) 4. Frustration dip → Can't figure it out (immediate support) 5. Satisfaction glow → First success (celebrate + expand) 6. Loss of interest → Stops thinking about you (re-engage) The breakthrough: Instead of "Day 3 email" we built "Doubt email." Instead of "Week 2 check-in" we built "Frustration support." Result: 34% higher engagement because we met customers where they emotionally were, not where our calendar said they should be. Your customers don't live on your timeline. They live on their emotional timeline. Map the feelings, not the days. Start building them around how your customers actually feel. What emotional moment do you think most brands miss in their flows?

Most companies ask the wrong question about churn When subscription companies (B2C or B2B) come to us, one of the first things they ask is: 👉 “What are the features or journeys that lead to churn?” It feels like the obvious place to start. But after analyzing this across hundreds of companies, here’s what we found: Churn is rarely caused by one dramatic moment. Not by rage clicks. Not by a dead-end screen. Not even by one bad experience. When we run causal analyses on user behavior vs. churn, the results are almost always weak. Don't get me wrong - qualitative feedback can highlight frustrating moments and other reasons. But the quantitative data tells a different story. The truth is simple (and uncomfortable): Most users churn - especially new ones - because they never saw the value in the first place. They didn’t build a habit. They never had a reason to come back. So instead of asking “why do people churn?” — flip the question: 👉 “Why do people retain?” That’s where the real answers lie. At Loops, we’ve learned to focus on: 1. Identifying the features & journeys that drive short- and long-term retention  Use different analyses for new user retention vs exisiting users (2nd week retention vs week-over-week retention) 2.For new users: doubling down on activation - finding the causal aha and habit moments (how many times they complete a certain user journey to retain). 3. As retention/churn are lagging metrics, focus on engagement. Identify the biggest drivers to improve engagement. Connect feature usage to engagement metrics like days used, sessions completed, time spent, and the number of actions performed. So yes, churn is technically the opposite of retention. But if you want to actually move the needle, sometimes you should ask “why did they stay?” and not just "what did they leave?".

You’re measuring retention wrong. And it’s costing you millions. Most SaaS teams track retention at the account level: did the account renew or churn? The problem: by the time you see churn, it’s already too late. A better way is to track individual user behavior inside accounts. That’s where the early signals show up. Why this matters: The best B2B SaaS companies are hitting 120%+ NRR The median sits at 106% Leaders are also keeping GRR above 95% vs. ~90% for most Don’t just check if a customer renewed watch how their team is actually using the product day to day. Example: Smoothwall, an edtech SaaS platform, cut churn by 4×, reached 125% NRR, and doubled CSM impact by revamping onboarding and using health scores to spot struggling users early. What user-level tracking shows you: 1/ How often your users and each team member use the product and which features they actually use 3/ A clear health score combining usage, support, and satisfaction signals 4/ When to step in with a nudge, check-in, or extra help before churn happens Watching only account renewals is like checking the scoreboard without watching how your players are performing. Expansion revenue starts at the user level.

Most founders obsess over signups. But in our experience at Athina, signups doesn't matter if users don’t stick. Over time, we figured out that improving onboarding wasn’t about more tooltips or more/better welcome emails — it came down to measuring the right things. We eventually narrowed it down to five metrics that consistently moved the needle for us: 1️⃣ Time to First Value – How quickly can a user go from “Sign up” to seeing their first core outcome in the product? Every extra day in this gap risks losing them. 2️⃣ Guide Engagement Rate – How effectively do in-app guides help users take the right actions? We looked at clicks, page views, and other micro-interactions that showed guides were actually delivering value. 3️⃣ Feature Adoption – Which features drive the bulk of engagement? For us, 80% of clicks come from a surprisingly small set of core features. 4️⃣ Product Engagement – A single number combining adoption, stickiness, and growth to track overall product health. 5️⃣ User Retention – At the end of the day, this is the ultimate truth. How many users are still here weeks or months later? Recently, I came across a report from Pendo.io that listed these exact same five metrics as critical for onboarding and adoption. It was a nice validation that we were focusing on the right levers. Report in the first comment below 👇 I’m curious — which of these metrics has made the biggest impact for your product? And if you’ve cracked onboarding in a unique way, I’d love to hear your story.