[SCP-21] Proposal to integrate product-analytics tool Pendo [Official Ideation Thread]

Hello Foxes! Here is the Pendo proposal. The community call to do a deeper dive is on Weds the 15th at 3 pm MST.

PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION

Summary:

This is a proposal to implement Pendo on the ShapeShift web app and mobile app. Pendo is an all-in-one tool that combines analytics and user guidance into one platform.

Motivation:

In centralized ShapeShift, we used a combination of analytical tools to track user data, create user segments, monitor funnels and more. In the DAO, it would save us costs and effort to implement one all-powerful tool like Pendo. Furthermore, in centralized ShapeShift we had a lot of areas where we lacked tracking between web and mobile and we relied on other teams to help us access and extract data. With Pendo, this would be solved. We will be able to see what happens across mobile and web as the information is segmented, easy to access, and comprehend. This also makes it more useful for our DAO structure (any team will be able to grab/review data without dependencies on another team). Furthermore, Pendo will give us the ability to create user onboardings, guided feature walk-thrus, a comprehensive user resource section, A/B testing, heatmaps and more—all without any engineering lift.

Abstract:

This proposal has been weeks in the making as a comprehensive comparison between Pendo and it’s competitors was done. Pendo came out on top because of the analytics they provide (allowing us to save $ by not needing amplitude or other analytic tools) and because it works seamlessly across web and mobile (we were unable to find another tool as robust as Pendo, that worked on web and mobile — many products are currently just web focused).

Here’s a chart about how Pendo compares to other leaders in the space:

https://global.discourse-cdn.com/standard10/uploads/foxcookieco/optimized/1X/831d5b04d12a362fcdcfb085b896f882a94b1169_2_624x500.png

What we’ll get with Pendo:

Product Analytics: We will be able to track usage across our products on both web and mobile. We have already implemented this on the web platform, as part of our discovery process and the data is already flowing (but we’re limited on time with our current trial period).

Sentiment Analytics: We will be able to gather data on how users feel about our products and features in real-time by serving NPS and polls directly in our apps.

In-App Guides: We will be able to deliver data-driven, personalized in-app communication. This will allow us to encourage desired behavior — from new feature adoption to personalized onboardings — with step-by-step guides across screens and devices. We’ll also be able to implement tooltips and a resource hub to deliver relevant info to our users when they need it most. This feature of Pendo will be incredibly important in helping our user retention efforts.

Furthermore, we have a lot of guided journeys already designed out, but they were de-prioritized in centralized ShapeShift because they required engineering efforts.

Feedback: We’ll be able to collect, centralize and prioritize product feedback. This will help us determine where to optimize our product and user experience for each segment. This will also help our support team understand how to help users through specific moments and may even cut down on support tickets.

We will have a presentation to the community (with the team from Pendo!) to do a deep dive into their product and be able to answer questions.

Specification

Installation

To install Pendo, it’s a snippet of code added to the website and an SDK added to our mobile app. We’ve added this to the current ShapeShift platform, and are already able to see analytics. We’ve seen no performance related issues from the web install.

Maintenance

The user guides, resource center and tooltip walk-thrus will be created and maintained by the Product Workstream. This will be a semi-large lift early on as we need to design and build out the onboardings, resource center and feature walk-thrus. However once they are set up, they will just need to be maintained as we make changes or updates to the products. Also, new walk-thrus, resources and tooltips will be added as new features roll out.

Reviewing Data

Analytics will be easy to access by all workstreams in the DAO, and as a Product Workstream, we’ll have regular meetings where we’ll share progress and go over analytics with the community.

Budget

Pendo is an all-in-one tool that will save us money as we won’t have to implement multiple tools to give us the same benefits. The annual cost is $58,000.

If we were to implement Amplitude, we’d be paying upwards of 40K annually just for the product analytics component. We also will save considerable development/engineering time, as we won’t be dependent on them to build out any of these pieces going forward, or require them to make changes. The Product Workstream will be able to handle everything.

Benefits

By using Pendo, we’ll have an all-in-one platform for tracking, analytics and creating guided user journeys (instead of paying for multiple platforms). We expect the initial setup to take several weeks to get all the guides and the resource center up and running. As mentioned above, all of that will be handled as part of the Product Workstream responsibilities. It will not require engineering efforts.

Retention is an important metric, and one that can be improved by using Pendo. By using Pendo, we’ll be able to take our user experience to the next level, guiding and engaging our users at the right moments, leading to better feature engagement and higher user retention.

New feature adoption rates will also be evaluated as a metric to measure success.

This is also the tool the product team we’ll use to track, analyze and report metrics back to the community.

Drawbacks

Pendo is not the cheapest solution out there. But, it’s an all-inclusive solution where the benefits outweigh the cost (especially if compared to pricing out several different tools that collectively would provide the same benefits). We’d also be committing to an annual plan, to get the best pricing.

Vote

If you vote “for” this proposal you are voting to implement Pendo at a cost of $58,000 in FOX for the entire year.

If you vote “against” you are saying you do not believe this is important for the DAO or that you think there might be better one-off solutions, instead of an all-in-one solution.

Did we ever get an answer to if paying annually is the only option or there are other possible payment terms (like monthly/quarterly etc)?

They are going to get back to us, but they said its likely they can do quarterly billing

If we can do quarterly instead of annual billing then I am all for moving this forward!

I support this. I really appreciate all the forethought and discussion that went on with Pendo behind the scenes before this was put up for ideation/voting.

Critical however is for the data/insights that it provides to be shared effectively with the DAO members. This is more a habit that we need to build, since to date such data has always been closed and only communicated within a small team at ShapeShift.

Thank you !

I am always for finding the most effective toolsets (resources) to get the job done. If this has been determined as such I will support and have voted to reflect that. As this is an temporary solution to the boardroom ideation process please provide the valued feedback that can help the community move forward. thank you for your hard work and efforts.

What is the plan post integration?

As you mentioned

We expect the initial setup to take several weeks to get all the guides and the resource center up and running.

But what happens after? As the data accumulates and Pendo has reports generated, who/which workstream will do the data monitoring, analysis and reporting/recommendations on next steps? Would each action item that is derived from the data be it’s own proposal for work to be done?

Great Questions. The Product Workstream will be responsible for reporting to the community and also would make recommendations where analytics fall short. Depending on what we discover, whether we’d propose to modify a feature or propose a new project—these suggestions would be determined on a case-by-case basis. All Workstreams will have access to the data as well, so they would not be dependent on the Product Workstream if there are specific analytics they’re looking for.