Research and Strategy
Making rewards easier to see and understand came before adding deeper gamification. I connected customer evidence to that roadmap decision.
Case at a glance
Strategy partners
15
Supported 13 designers and 2 researchers during research-led product strategy work.
Product confidence
Before + after
Used usability, understanding, engagement, and perceived generosity as distinct decision signals.
Decision output
Roadmap
Translated evidence into product implications, sequence, and an explicit recommendation.
The choice
The product question was one of sequence: were customers ready for deeper reward mechanics, or did the underlying value need to be clearer first?
Evaluative research, strategic research, and behavioral data each revealed part of the picture. A usable experience was not necessarily an understood one. Engagement alone could not explain whether customers recognized the value of their rewards.
My role was to connect those signals to product choices with design, research, product, analytics, and executive partners. I organized the discussion around the uncertainty, the implication, and the next decision.
Reading the evidence
Separating the signals helped the team identify which problem a proposed solution would actually address.
Can customers use the experience?
Can they understand the value, their progress, and the next step?
How do customers interact with the experience?
Does the experience feel valuable to them?
These were distinct decision signals, used before and after launch. They helped keep observed behavior, product implications, and business measures separate.
The roadmap decision
I recommended putting value visibility, comprehension, and progression ahead of deeper gamification.
First
Prioritize whether customers can see the value, understand their progress, and recognize what to do next.
Then
Sequence more complex engagement opportunities after the underlying reward experience is easier to understand.
The tradeoff: deeper mechanics offered a larger engagement bet, but also added complexity. The recommendation put the foundational customer questions first.
What changed in the discussion: research reviews moved from a findings recap to an explicit recommendation—what should change, what should wait, and what remained uncertain.
A representative strategy framework and redacted hypothesis model show how I connected product tensions, possible bets, and the next decision.
Representative framework connecting customer signals, product tensions, possible bets, and the decision each option required.
Redacted working model connecting a product hypothesis to evidence, a decision, and the next test.
What changed
The outcome of this work was the product decision and the way teams reached it. Commercial performance was evaluated separately.
Outcome
The roadmap put value visibility and comprehension before deeper gamification.
Outcome
Design and research partners gained a shared way to distinguish usability, understanding, engagement, and perceived generosity.
Outcome
Product and executive reviews made the recommendation, tradeoff, and next decision explicit.
What We Learned
These principles shaped how I approached the next product and team decisions.
01
Research has more influence when the team agrees on the uncertainty and decision before selecting methods.
02
Usability, understanding, engagement, and perception answer different questions about product confidence.
03
I would establish the decision questions and signal definitions earlier so synthesis could move faster from evidence to product sequence.
Leadership Conversations
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