Strava · B2C · running and cycling app
Put words like 'GO' on your icon-only record buttons
One of the biggest wins ever for first uploads; new-user retention rose a lot
Workedproduct-activationonboarding
What they did
The product analyst found that the first upload is the most important new-user action, yet a funnel analysis showed a big drop-off. The small growth team ran onboarding tests on usertesting.com and watched them together; users reached the record screen and asked 'What is this? What am I supposed to tap?' because the buttons mimicked a TV/DVD remote (round red record, square stop). They added text to every button, using short words like 'GO' that localize well into small buttons.
What happened
One of Strava's biggest wins in reducing friction to first upload; higher upload rate for new users led to a huge increase in new-user retention.
- Stage
- Scale (scaling)
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Lessons From Building a 70 Person Growth Team — Jason van der Merwe, Strava“we saw people would get to the record screen and say, "What is this? What am I supposed to tap?" And the problem there was skeuomorphism was really big.”
“So, we were like, "What are we going to do? We're going to put text on every button. We're going to make it so obvious how to use this."”
“So, we did that, and that was one of the biggest wins we've ever had in reducing the friction to upload, and increasing upload rate for new users. And that results in a huge increase in retention for new users.”
Related topics
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More from Strava
All 23 Strava tacticsMore from this episode
- Strava: Ask new users to add a profile photo during signupLater removed; it added too much friction
- Strava: Count a new user as active once they upload one workout and follow one person in 7 days
- Strava: Get more people to share workout links, then turn link visitors into signupsDrove new registrations, guest says; base of several hundred thousand shares a month
- Strava: Show 'Follow back' on anyone who follows you, wherever their profile appearsBiggest jump in follow rate Strava has ever seen, despite data predicting little gain
- Strava: Once a quarter, let every team member run any test they want on 10% of usersSurfaced ideas data had ruled out, including the biggest follow-rate win
- Strava: Split the big weekly test review into small team meetings once it passes ~70 peopleSmall meetings work great; cross-team learning still unsolved
- Strava: Build one tool for in-app tips, then test removing all tips once teams overuse itOnly growth used it for ~2 years; now so widespread a removal test is running
- Strava: Test which sport and gender appear in welcome-screen photos before signupRunners were put off by cyclist photos; women preferred seeing women
- Strava: Test the words on signup buttons, like 'Continue with' vs 'Sign up with'Copy changes had huge measurable impact; brand photos in product lowered conversion
- Strava: Keep crash-free sessions at 99.99% and ask happy users to rate the appGuest says more five-star ratings help ranking; no numbers
- Strava: Add videos to your store page that show clearly what the app doesVideos really helped, guest says; screenshot tests were hard to trust
- Strava: Test store page designs on a fake App Store web page firstTried; a lot of work, not kept
- Strava: Supply special artwork when Apple offers to feature you in a countryStrava benefits from these features; no numbers
- Strava: Start a growth team on new-user activation, then add teams where tests keep winningGrew from one team to five teams of 70+ people
- Strava: Report every test through one shared query and dashboardBecame the source of truth for nearly every experiment
- Strava: Give staff a switch to use the app as a free user
- Strava: Drive a van to local bike races and upload riders' GPS data for themHow Strava got its first cyclists; no numbers
- Strava: Launch a separate running app to win runners, then merge it with the main appHelped a lot in reaching runners, guest says
- Strava: Get pro athletes onto the app and support local running and cycling groupsMost growth is word of mouth, guest says; no numbers