Product Mindset

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Chet, a professional development network. We are a mobile app that guides users to lean skills for jobs directly from industry leaders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Product Mindset?

We are a newer company with a freshly launched produce and were looking for details on the first time user experience.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to get insights that would allow us to increase user retention.

SOLUTION

How did you select Product Mindset?

We chose Product Mindset based on Elizabeth's sampling of previous work/engagements.

Describe the project in detail.

First, Elizabeth and I connected on a Zoom call where I presented the background of the company, our vision, and where we are currently. I then sent an invite to Elizabeth to download the application and she used our app as a first time user. She recorded her thoughts live on video and on paper and then we reviewed them together over a Zoom call.

What was the team composition?

Initially, it was just Elizabeth and me, and we looped in our in-house designer for the 2nd call.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have a clearer vision of the tests we should implement to get closer to a defined audience and product market fit. The results of the engagement match up with our initial expectations on gaining additional insight and clarity into the product and product roadmap.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Clear communication & expectations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The scientific approach to our problem that seems to be shaped by other successful engagements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can see.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company provides a platform for civic engagement for street design. It lets people create their own streets and be able to share with other people. I am the co-founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Product Mindset?

We weren't a company for about the first five years of its existence, it was a project within another organization. About three years ago, we had spun it out of that organization as a standalone project under a different business entity.

It was created as an open-source and free-to-use platform so we had a lot of users, but we didn’t have any paying customers, but it was also demonstrating a lot of value to the users who were using it professionally.

There was definitely a path that we could see forward where those users could become customers to support the sustainability of the platform and new developments.

We hired Product Mindset for consulting services. The project was about guiding the thought process around how we're going to take this existing product and find the right way of planning the product’s future roadmap and communicate it to our existing users as a path forward.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Product mindset conducted a lot of user interviews to get a sense of what they use it for, what they do with it, what was missing, any pain points, and their hopes for our product. We did collect a lot of that raw data with them, but they were not involved in the design work.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Elizabeth (Founder). She was my primary point of contact and worked closely with her for the duration of the project.

How did you come to work with Product Mindset?

We’re both entrepreneurs in residence at the Civic Hall program we were part of in 2018. Civic Hall is based out of New York and is a place for people who are working on or building tech-based products that have to do with interaction with government, and civic space and life. That’s where we met and we had a conversation there and that kicked it off.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Product Mindset from March 2018–July 2020. The timeline was a bit open-ended, since we didn’t know how long it would take to complete the process. We started off with one session and it turned into a once a week meeting, so we went from there.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our goal was to convert some of our 20,000 unique users into paying customers, but because of time constraints and other efforts, we didn’t end up doing that. However, what their efforts did help with was understanding what users need, connecting with those groups, and landing contracts. The project was helpful in understanding our partnerships, which is where a lot of our revenue ended up coming from. 

We took a break because of COVID-19, and then when I came back in September 2020, I got a grant to work on this user onboarding monetization process, which is great because I can now implement what I had been working with Product Mindset on.

How did Product Mindset perform from a project management standpoint?

We ended up having a very conversational relationship, so we didn’t have strict timelines but they always got the deliverables to us on time. We had regular communications and Elizabeth was reachable whenever you need to get a hold of her.

At some point, we used Slack, and then we switched to Discord. We used Trello to communicate with and then we switched to Asana. We used GitHub for a lot of the work we did.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was the personal touch that impressed me the most. She was very invested and interested in our success as a project and a company. That personal touch and connection were really valuable. We didn't get the sense that they would just do the bare minimum and get out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The timeframe got a little bit dragged on for me since we were working on so many different things. I think I would have liked the timeline to be more defined if I could have been more clear about what I needed and how to get to it. 

A little bit of a weak spot was that, though Elizabeth has a generalist mindset with technology, she didn't have experience in dealing with very large clients and enterprise organizations that I was targeting.

It would have helped to get the general product needs developed with her, but then working with someone who has a bit more experience in understanding those particular people in the target industry I had.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Determine who your customers are going to be and be clear about who you’re trying to target. As you start planning a product from a high-level perspective, Elizabeth will be a very good part of it. As you narrow down your target and your product plan, you might need someone with more targeted experience for your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a friendship and dating social app for the autistic community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Product Mindset?

We hired them as a consultant to improve our underlying product from a UX perspective. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did an extensive deep-dive review of our current product. From there, they outlined a number of suggestions and recommendations to make improvements and changes. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Elizabeth (Founder), who served as our consultant. 

How did you come to work with Product Mindset?

They came recommended by another startup partner. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–October 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

It’s early, but their work is going to have a big impact on early retention and initial user experience, helping reduce some of the churn we saw early on. I think the recommendations they made will help us improve retention, which is the biggest impact. 

How did Product Mindset perform from a project management standpoint?

They always delivered on time and within budget. They were extremely organized. The follow-up from their team was really great, so everything went smoothly on the project management front. They had great, clear, concise communication. Our teams used just email and phone calls to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They brought a thoughtful, in-depth review of our product and showed us a lens we hadn’t seen before. Having a perspective from an expert in UX was really helpful for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a phenomenal job. We were really happy with the work they did for us. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking to improve the first-time UX for your product, I’d highly recommend their team. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a financial services app. For busy professionals that struggle to review and organize their personal and work-related charges every month, Our voice-powered assistant enables a ten-second process to monitor and tag expenses on the fly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Product Mindset?

We used Product Mindset to deep dive into our website and mobile application to ensure our copy, animations, and overall user experience met a low grit score

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to minimize friction within the sign up and onboarding process to turn our app into a no-brainer solution

SOLUTION

How did you select Product Mindset?

We came across Product Mindset from another colleague that recommended Elizabeth! After diving deeper into her previous case studies, I knew she had the right insights to guide early-stage startups.

Describe the project in detail.

We walked through our website and mobile application over multiple feedback sessions and found areas of friction and confusion to remove.

What was the team composition?

Elizabeth worked directly with me on this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

After implementing the changes, we signed up users twice as much because of simpler copy!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Elizabeth is super responsive and open to multiple communication methods to ensure no information is lost!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Elizabeth brought an amazing balance of critical and positive energy to the project - ensuring that the time spent would be constructive towards a better version of our website and mobile application. I really appreciated her data-driven insights into the changes needed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Being able to whiteboard ideas in-person or virtually would be the only improvement that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ClearOPS builds trust and fosters transparency between organizations by utilizing NLP and automation to improve processes dealing with security and privacy. My current role at ClearOPS is Business Development Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Product Mindset?

We spoke to Product Mindset about our website and improving its overall layout, CTAs, and efficiency of its structure.

What were your goals for this project?

To essentially improve what users might see while navigating our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Product Mindset?

They reached out to us.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a single consultation call which allowed us to delve into the issues and problems on the website and received detailed information and advice about how we might improve it.

What was the team composition?

Myself, our CTO, and one of our Full-Stack Developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The improvement of our website was certainly noticeable.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There was extensive communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The professionalism was certainly impressive and provided us with the right foundation to ensure our progress moving forward was focused in the right direction.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were satisfied with the work and advice we received during our consultation with Product Mindset!