Storefront is a leading platform for renting short-term retail space. From single location pop-ups to multi-city star studded product launches, Storefront empowers retail businesses and property managers to create magic experiences in their communities. Please note that this exercise is purely theoretical, not based on actual user interviews, employee interactions, or proprietary data.
Background
As a seasoned product manager with over 8 years of experience, I've had the privilege of working with a diverse range of companies, from startups to industry giants, across sectors such as fintech, SaaS, and news media. I have also specifically worked with Storefront in the past. Since I cannot share work under NDA, I showcase my skills through case studies and thought experiments.
In a recent thought experiment, I focused on Storefront, a leading platform for renting short-term retail spaces, exploring the question: "What new feature would you build and why?" Utilizing my intuition and theoretical understanding, I undertook a comprehensive exercise addressing Feature Analysis, Understanding User Needs, Designing the Feature, and evaluating Trade-offs, Risks, and Metrics for Success. The process summarized in this article and detailed in this article, ensures a well-informed and thoughtfully designed feature to tackle real challenges faced by Storefront users.
Case Study / Thought Experiment
In this article, I will discuss the dedicated communication feature I propose to build and why I believe it would enhance user engagement and drive growth.
Proposal and hypothesis
The proposed dedicated communication feature aims to improve user engagement and foster growth for Storefront. The core hypothesis is: "Effective communication between Brand and Property Managers through Storefront leads to more frequent rebooking on the platform."
Feature Analysis
During the discovery phase, I analyzed Storefront's features, competition, market research, and other data, identifying key opportunity categories: showing peer pressure, revealing business insights, providing profit levers, improving communication, incentivizing transactions, enabling peer ratings and reviews, offering more feature and service control, and reconsidering business alignment between Storefront and its customers. After thorough evaluation, I determined that a dedicated communication feature would have the most significant impact on user engagement and growth.
Understanding User Needs
Understanding the needs of both Brand and Property Managers was vital. By analyzing personas and mapping user journeys, I discovered that a single, dedicated communication channel consolidating all relevant conversations and information related to rental campaigns would be invaluable to users.
Designing the Feature
Based on user stories and product requirements, I designed the dedicated communication feature with four main views: All Business Activity, Campaign Activity, Property Activity, and Conversational Actions. These views provide users with context-specific information. The feature also includes messaging, calls, payment processing, file sharing, activity review, and issue reporting capabilities.
Trade-offs, Risks, and Metrics for Success
The primary trade-off in developing this feature is the opportunity cost of not pursuing other solutions. However, I believe that the benefits of improved communication outweigh the risks. To measure success, I established user metrics and signals, such as session length, user flow patterns, booking count, and satisfaction through feedback, to evaluate the feature's impact on user engagement and alignment with Storefront's business objectives.
Testing and Deployment
For testing, I suggested selecting a diverse user cross-section based on various metrics and signals, deploying the feature using a Feature Management solution like LaunchDarkly. Users would provide feedback, informing necessary iterations and improvements before broader rollout.
Conclusion
The dedicated communication feature aims to enhance communication between Brand and Property Managers, leading to increased user engagement and growth for Storefront. By understanding user needs, designing a feature that addresses them, and measuring its impact, I believe this feature has significant potential to benefit Storefront users.
Through this case study and thought experiment, I hope to demonstrate my product management expertise and ability to address complex problems with a user-centric approach. Passionate about creating exceptional products that improve lives, I eagerly anticipate new challenges and opportunities in the product management realm.