I Rebuilt an App that Made $12 Million In New Revenue (How to Build an App)

Do you want to build an app that is highly profitable and widely adopted?

Here are 5 Major Lessons Learned from Rebuilding an Underperforming App and Adding $12M in Revenue to the business.

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In late 2020, the OptumRx mobile app was significantly underperforming, with only 70% order completion rates and leaving millions of dollars on the table.

I was brought in to lead a full product rebuild. The app had over 1.5 million active users, so this was a big project. Here are five major lessons I learned in the process of rebuilding the product and adding $12,000,000 in annual revenue for the business.

Lesson 1: Understand your user.

The first step was to understand why the app was not performing well. Digging into the analytics, I learned that there were too many functionalities in the app, and users were overwhelmed and confused by the product. It became clear that whoever had previously designed the product was not designing for the user’s true needs. Across the app's 20+ features, only 3 of these made up 85% of actions users were taking in the app. These were ordering, tracking & researching pricing for medications. An analysis of over 10,000 qualitative feedback submissions validated that users wanted fewer features and were frustrated with the app's complexity.

Lesson 2: Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Once the gap in the user’s needs was understood, it was time to develop a product roadmap. 

I relied on the expertise of my technical team to choose the tech stack, they chose React Native for efficient management & deployment to both Android and iOS. 

As for product features, Rather than throwing all but the kitchen sink into the new build, we focused on building flows for ordering and managing medication, along with necessities (profile, settings, etc). We spent six months optimizing those experiences for simplicity and order completion. It wasn't until we had a consistent 90% order completion rate that we expanded our scope and added net new, exciting functionality.

Lesson 3: Take time to understand your technical dependencies.

It’s important to take the time to think through all potential dependencies with the team. Most organizations deal with technical debt, and multiple issues can arise that affect delivery timelines. In this case, a solution that should have worked without any issues ran into complications as a result of tech managed outside of the core team. It’s key to continually monitor potential blockers and exhaust all dependencies at the beginning of a project.

Lesson 4: Apply servant leadership.

The product is only as good as the team behind it. If you want to build an app, it’s important to apply servant leadership and ensure that the team is fully bought into the mission and vision. This leads to better collaboration and a better end product.

I am most successful when I see myself as a peer sitting on the same side of the table as my developers, solving a problem together rather than ‘telling them what to do’. Yes, as a product manager I'm proposing the roadmap. However, we are assessing it together to see if there are opportunities to make it better, identify the holes, ensure timelines are realistic,etc. 

I am asking for their buy in and feedback every step of the way. As a result, they feel valued and show up ready to give a ton of value to the initiative. During every refinement session I make sure to ask “how can I best support you in achieving these goals? What can I do for you?”

5. Communicate with excellence

If you want to effectively build an app while meeting your timelines, you know that communication is truly key.

There are always several forces at play that can become complex and lead to many issues if not careful. Key players in this process include: product, marketing, sales, customer support, senior leadership, and potentially other external stakeholders.

It is not enough to have a cohesive product development team. You need to ensure that all of these teams are working in lock step driving towards the same mission. If the teams become ‘marketing vs product’ or ‘product vs customer support’ when trying to achieve their individual team goals - everyone loses.

Creating a culture of alignment, fueled by constant communication is critical to ensure that the product not only ships on time, but customers receive the necessary communication and support to ensure an optimal experience.

Enjoy this post? Check out how we built a coaching business to $1.47 Million in 12 months.

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