Written by Archana Kumari
on 

How to prioritise and measure success when different user segments have different core behaviour?

Different user segments might exhibit different user behaviour. Oftentimes it becomes difficult for a product to identify their dominant use case. Each use case might be backed up by different user behaviour. Based on my research here is what I have learned over the years -

  1. Dominant use case is the one that brings the core value proposition of the product. It is the one single most journey that you want to perfect and grow.

  2. Things to consider while choosing the dominant use case -

    • Market size
    • Target audience size
    • Frequency of usage
    • Nature of problem being solved
    • Competition
    • Revenue
    • Costs
    • User traffic

  3. Think about if these different use cases are trying to solve the same problem for the same user segment. This will help defining user segments as well as merging common segments together. Now, what to do when you have multiple use cases for the same product?

  4. Choose the metric that matches the use case. Sometimes, every use case will have a different view of the same metric.

    Example → Airbnb

    1. Guest Use case → YAU (yearly active user), we want to ensure every user books at least once every year or whenever they are off to a vacation.

    2. Host Use case → WAU (Weekly active user), we want to ensure the host is able to get bookings at least once every week.

  5. Focus on the dominant use case metrics first and then move on to the adjacent use cases.

  6. Mix and match low frequency use cases with high frequency use cases.

    Example → Sometimes, a product is inherently designed in a way that it can only be used one or twice in a few years. Products such as Airbnb, Zillow, Carvana are only used when the user is either planning a trip or buying a car. These products are not frequently used hence they might be long forgotten before the next use. In such cases, the product should focus on use cases that are used more frequently. For example, Airbnb offers weekend getaways so that the user comes back weekly or at least during extended weekends to the platform.