Contextual

Category: Jobs to be done

  • Product Features and the RICE Score

    Product Features and the RICE Score

    “Impactful” product features are the backbone of every product-led company. “Impact” is one of the axes of the RICE prioritisation method – we revisit this valuable approach to getting the right tasks into your sprints.

    Like most product companies, we struggle to triage and prioritize the mountain of tickets into sprints. Luckily at Contextual we can use our own product to add contextual help instead of making even more tickets for engineering.

    Your Mobile and Web Apps are competing with other apps to get your users attention. You need each of your product features help the user get their Job Done (JTBD) – this means the right features at the right time and with minimum user confusion.

    In the routine of a product-led company, user journey mapping is a crucial task in order to ensure the greatest possible user experience. As there are a lot of things to consider in user journey mapping, prioritisation helps you be more organised with your product features, and it enables your App to become more impactful.

    But, (you may ask ????,) based on what criteria should you prioritize product features? A great place to start is the RICE scoring model, a prioritization framework that shines light on the value of your ideas. It helps your user journey mapping through four factors: Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort. Together, they form the acronym: RICE.

    RICE – Grain by Grain

    A good prioritization framework can help you see your product features in a new light, so that you can make sure you’re making a good decision for your company. So, when you make time for user journey mapping, having a system that allows you to see your product clearly and objectively comes to your advantage. RICE helps you evaluate the four main areas of any project idea. 

    Reach 

    How many people can you reach with a new product feature in a given timeframe? Will they benefit from it? The score in this case is the number of people you estimate to be reached by the new feature. 

    Impact 

    The Impact score represents, as its name suggests, the estimated impact the new product feature can have on the people you reach. For instance, you could ask: ‘How much will this feature affect product adoption/conversion rates?’ Or, ‘How will the user experience benefit from this?’

     

    As Impact is hard to measure, a multiple-choice scale is usually used for estimation purposes: 

    • 3 – massive impact
    • 2 – high impact
    • 1 – medium impact
    • .5 – low impact
    • .25 – minimal impact 

    Confidence

    A product-led company is always enthusiastic about great ideas and implementing them when it comes to product features. However, to be more realistic, the RICE scoring model advises that you factor in the level of confidence you might have with product features and their releases. In the long run, this estimation will help with product adoption among your users.

     

    Percentages score Confidence, as follows:
    100% – high confidence

    80%   – medium confidence

    50 %  – low confidence

    So, how confident are you about the reach and impact of a new product feature? 

    In order to achieve your product feature’s RICE score, you have to follow the following formula: 

     

    Reach × Impact × Confidence
    ___________________________
    Effort

    Why is Effort Crucial in Prioritization?

    Effort is the denominator in the RICE equation. This factor represents the cost a product-led company pays when implementing a new product feature.

     

    To quantify Effort in this score model, you estimate it in the same manner you do with Reach, Impact, and Confidence. In this case, Effort is estimated by analyzing the work one team member can do in a month. 

     

    The highest possible Impact with the least possible Effort is desirable when it comes to product features and their releases. By minimizing the time and human resources you put into a feature release, you gain them back for other areas of your product. 

     

    Effort is the most important out of the four RICE factors, as it can make or break a good idea. If you have great Reach and Impact, but the feature you envisioned requires most of your team and a significant amount of time, it might be better to rethink the idea or to use a different approach for it.

    How to Minimize Effort?

    That’s an easy question to answer: use Contextu.al!

     

    Of course we jest – there is so many features you have to implement and those require solid development work. But Feature Announcements and Guidance – in fact all elements such as videos that deepen user engagement can be helped by using Contextual.

     

    We strive to deliver product-led growth through announcements, guides, tips regarding product features, the onboarding process, and even feedback!

     

    With Contextu.al, you wouldn’t have to worry about hard-coding, because the Effort on your part would be minimal. Your top priorities are even higher priorities for us!  Putting more effort into implementing new releases is the thing of the past with us. 

     

    As an added bonus, with Contextu.al, the Impact and Confidence are also increasing. How, you ask? With us, you can get rapid feedback and measure results in no time. This will give you and your team the confidence to implement the desired changes later by hard-coding. 

     

    If you want to make your app fly, don’t hesitate to book a demo with us today! You won’t regret it. 

    Image Credit.
  • Best and Worst Timing to Ask for In-App Feedback

    Best and Worst Timing to Ask for In-App Feedback

    When you think of essential aspects of apps, feedback inevitably comes to mind. User feedback can serve many purposes in product-led growth, both on web and mobile versions. You could view it as a tool to improve your product, or as a channel through which you can build meaningful relationships with your clients. At the end of the day, it always comes back as the foundation of a successful business.

    And, as a product-led company striving for success, one of the most important things you have to learn is timing. Whether you plan on coming out with a new feature, tweaking the UI design, or asking for feedback, timing is everything. 

    Timing Defines Feedback

    While it might not seem like it at first, timing is not just a tool, but a fine skill as well. It can make or break a new feature launch, or the feedback given by users. 

    There are a variety of ways in which you can ask for user feedback. Be that through NPS, user surveys, or widgets, there’s no shortage of creativity when it comes to feedback-collecting mechanisms. 

    Yet, implementing the best ways to collect user feedback won’t get you far without correct timing. So, during the next session of your user journey mapping, make sure to focus on context-sensitive timing. ‘Why?’ you might ask. Let’s take a look at the impact timing has on user feedback.

    When NOT to Ask for In-App Feedback

    Timing is a fine line you have to balance on. When it comes to asking for user feedback, it can be easy to overlook this aspect. Especially for a startup, product-led company where feedback keeps everything running.

     

    However, you should strive to get the best measure of the real sentiments your users are experiencing while using your app. So, jumping at those who have previously left a negative review, or didn’t yet complete the onboarding process can hijack your reviews. 

     

    Likewise, asking for feedback right when the app is opened can have a negative impact. In this case, the user is not yet engaged in a task and is less likely to offer feedback. 

     

    Asking the user for a rating (especially for a 5-star one) in the middle of a task has a similar effect. It could lead the user to frustration and negative reviews. 

     

    Another issue can be asking too many questions, especially on mobile. Mobile users are known to be less patient than web users. They can get bored when presented with a lengthy survey, so try to minimize the number of questions you ask them. You need quantity in terms of reviewers, but with great timing, you can get quality responses. 

     

    Learning about timing is a unique experience for each product-led company. Take advantage of user journey mapping sessions, as they can teach you a lot about the worst and the best times to ask for feedback.

    The Best Time to Ask for Feedback

    It can be intimidating seeing the list of what you shouldn’t do when asking for feedback. By now, you know the importance of good timing for optimal results. So, when is the right time to pop the question? 

    Asking for user feedback when product adoption is certain is a good starting point. You want to make sure your users have things they want to express their opinions on. By that time, they have enough experience with the onboarding process and other features of your app, and they can give an honest opinion about their user experience. This is a great tip for both web and mobile users. 

    You should always turn to active and loyal users for genuine feedback. They are the ones who use your app on a regular basis, so their user experience regarding ease of use and utility can be an asset in reviews. 

    Not compromising the user journey or JTBD is key in defining the best time to ask for reviews. After completing a happy task, a user is more likely to express an honest opinion about the process they went through. 

    You can also create a smooth feedback experience by taking advantage of milestones your app might have. Asking those achieving a goal to review their user journey or a specific feature you might be curious about, leads to a positive experience. 

    Timing defines the attitude of the user when giving feedback. By associating feedback with an achieved goal or a completed task, people are more likely to say their genuine opinions regarding their user journey, which will benefit your product and your company in the long run.

    Do’s and Don’ts of Feedback Timing

    Timing is a precious skill you need to master when asking for feedback. We saw above that being context-sensitive has a positive impact on both the quality and the quantity of the feedback your app gets. 

    So, when is the right time to ask for in-app feedback? 

    Do:

    ✔ give your users time to form an opinion

    ✔ value the opinions of the most engaged and loyal users

    ✔ ask after a happy task is completed

    ✔ take advantage of those reaching milestones

    Don’t:

    ✖ target those who didn’t complete the onboarding process yet

    ✖ ask when the user opens the app 

    ✖ interrupt a task 

    ✖ ask too many questions

    What’s Next?

    You don’t have to spend a tonne to get create targeted in-app surveys!  Click on the buttons below to get your 14 day free trial or contact us for a demo! 


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  • “Recipes” and “Jobs to be done” (JTBD)

    In another snippet from the interview with Matt from Bonjoro we discuss why “Jobs to be done” (JTBD) is so important to them.

    Bonjoro have a large inbound funnel of different triallers types – because their platform is horizontally applicable. However, they are optimizing for SaaS customers in Sales and Customer Service use-cases – they are high value and  high conversion probability. He discusses the conundrum here.

    It seems brutal but if Bonjoro try to craft onboarding for all users they will lose their valuable SaaS customers by diluting the flow.

    JTBD works, Personas don’t

    Conversely Bonjoro don’t find “personas” as terribly useful. A persona is great in marketing because you can speak to their needs – higher up the funnel.

    When it comes to Onboarding and Activation however, the user’s goals or “Jobs to be done” need to be displayed and aligned with the product goals.

    The perfect example of this is Bonjoro have a playbook of “recipes” for customers – this is effectively a cookbook of “Jobs to be done” for different customers. Just like Monday, these recipes are then baked into the product – they allow a user to get a Job Done quickly because they already learned about it in the marketing. “Show me, don’t tell me”.

    bonjoro-cares-for-customers
    Bonjoro is about customer care – at scale

    Product-led or Brand-led?

    I quizzed Matt on Product-led and his response was surprisingly insightful – for him its more about “Brand”.

    “Brand-led” is more his focus rather than Product-led because Bonjoro’s strong Design and UX DNA means they do “Product-led” things by default.

    I was shocked to hear him assert that the Bonjoro brand is of equivalent value to the actual functionality of the product.  Matt says that “Brand” is more important than startups realize.

    His view seems to be working, they hold a leadership positon in the “Personalization at scale” space? Their NPS is a fabulous 71.

    They are well respected, this is a very Product-led outcome but also their Brand is very, very fun, caring and recognizable.

    Stop “growth-hacking”

    Another cracker quote from the conversation was Matt’s plea to Stop “growth hacking”.

    He thinks most people arn’t skilled enough to do it, so ultimately get distracted by it.

    Bonjoro instead have a clear mission of personalizing and caring for customer. Matt says: “This has been lost, and it always used to be a way to compete and it’s got harder to compete “

    Take a listen to this and other posts with Matt, its informative and enjoyable.

    Conversation Transcript

    Matthew from Bonjoro 0:02
    longer form content. And so like, kind of white papers, but ones that you can take and “implant”.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 0:09
    So we’ve done this whole piece on our “Video files playbook” where we say: “use video, if you’re e-commerce or fashion, do this”, you know, “if you’re if you’re this, do this”. Yeah.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 0:20
    That has worked extremely well for us. And this goes back to a bit of the part around educating the market as well as trying to sell to it. Education has really worked well for us, and it has to be how we play out…..It’s still early days.

    David Jones 0:36
    Does that does that really worked because it’s a recipe based approach for those different sectors? Did you give them recipes?

    Matthew from Bonjoro 0:43
    Yeah, recipes are awesome.

    David Jones 0:45
    And the recipes are reflected in the product as well, too.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 0:48
    Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

    David Jones 0:54
    Has “Jobs to be done” been a recurring thing for you. It’s something that we refer to all the time internally. So, you know, is that a mainstay of how you view things?

    Matthew from Bonjoro 1:07
    Yeah, I think one of the hardest things is trying to get the whole team across (JTBD), the deep understanding of what “jobs to be done” is. It’s obviously way, way easier. It’s a way easier to categorize customers, by channel by industry by job title.

    David Jones 1:21
    Persona. The HubSpot kind of way: “this is, this is Mary, she’s 28. She’s a grad, she’s got a mortgage”. And, she wants to she wants to get somebody over the line because her KPIs are based around signups or “conversion to pay”. Do you still use that already? Or do you focus more on the job rather than the persona?

    Matthew from Bonjoro 1:47
    So the answer is we have to focus on “jobs to be done”, because the persona doesn’t work for us. So I think again, given the broad range where we operate, you know, and SaaS are one of our best customer bases but it’s still 20% of 100%. We have kind of like a lot of users who are not in that area. So but interestingly, you see more and more SMEs, poaching things from the SaaS mindset.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 2:17
    You see more e-commerce approach things from a SaaS mindset. So the mindset is more important than the company and the industry and potentially their business model. Everyone’s got leads coming in, are they approaching and going, what how many do we convert? What’s the lifetime value? What’s ARPU? What’s the CAC? This attitude is what works for us. So “what are the jobs that fulfill those points”?

    Matthew from Bonjoro 2:39
    Personas, we struggle with, and, you know, I just don’t do them anymore.

    David Jones 2:48
    Right, so you really are pinning it to the JTBD.

    David Jones 2:53
    What about product-led? In the last couple of posts I’ve talked about product-led type stuff. Have you glommed on to that particular bandwagon or do you see it as too high-level or common sense? What’s your thoughts?

    Matthew from Bonjoro 3:09
    Yeah, so I’d say it’s probably more common sense. Again: design first product first. It’s bit how we think anyway.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 3:22
    However, I think we’re building two things here. We’re building a product and we’re building a brand. And if you were to take the dollar value of those two things, I would say they’re probably about equal.

    David Jones 3:37
    right.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 3:39
    What I mean is given the stage of the company, our brand has a very good position in the marketplace and where we operate is very well known. We have like NPS rating is I think is 72. We’re really well respected and we’re building more of a name for ourselves as one of the leaders in this area of “personalization at scale”. And that gives you a lot of power to start to educate and to be a front runner.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 4:07
    It’s really important and I think brand…..we are quite “brand-led” and the fact that you’re doing a good thing here, we’re like, “Look, spend more time with customers”. It’s a good thing.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 4:20
    “Stop trying growth hack”, this kind of stuff works. It’s really nice positioning as well: people are kind of bouncing back to this (personalization), but more so it’s quite good timing. I think your product-led for sure. I think “brand” is a lot more important than maybe a lot of startups think what brand is.

    David Jones 4:36
    Thats funny, which was “stop trying to growth-hack”. And it goes back to that statement earlier that you had about: “automate processes, not people or not customers”, and that seemed to be tied into this kind of Northstar of making customer relationships personal but not getting bogged down in the weeds or crippling your scale. When you do that.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 4:59
    This is probably where a lot of people get crippled by the “growth hack” thing. Where everyone’s trying to hack their way and do these things. And a lot of people (to be honest) don’t have the experience to kind of do them or pull them off or what works for one company will not work for you.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 5:15
    So I think this idea of also having the recipes…the stuff you use in your business, the “plug and play” and they work.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 5:22
    You look back was always like “build a marketing list”, you know, and it wasn’t that hard to do. And so if you can find out what these pieces are, people can essentially step in, “plug and play”. And when you when you rely on the team, the culture of relationships, nothing greater than that way. Like everyone could do that. Well, every (company/team) culture around that base can do that. You know, you will still get stars, you know. “Everyone can do Twitter, not everyone’s good on Twitter” and “not everyone should be allowed to Twitter”.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 5:51
    I think we’ll see a same thing here – even if everyone started using this (personalisation at scale), you still have people who “stand above” and they “stand above” because the team, relationship show that “they do care”.

    Matthew from Bonjoro 6:00
    So how do you give them easy ways to show that online?

    Matthew from Bonjoro 6:04
    This has been lost, and it always used to be a way to compete and it’s got harder to compete – face to face. So how do you bring that back and how do you tell you when do and how you again, make it simple, I think I think that’s kind of the key.