User experience

beyond design:
A guide for product managers

A/
B
Content
User experience at a glimpse 02

User experience:
the world beyond designs and layouts 05

Why should product managers care

about user experience? 08

Steps to enhance user experience 11

Building picture-perfect user experiences: 27

the Netcore way

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers

 1

User experience
at a glimpse
Each time the word user experience comes up, we think
design! User experience is all about how users feel or the
kind of experience they have when they interact with your
product.

UX encompasses all aspects of an end user’s interaction

with a product, including the ease of performing actions,
benefitting from it and even offering guidance to users as
they navigate through the product.

So, here’s how an everyday UX approach works - conduct

thorough user research, identify a problem and finally
translate the findings into visual solutions. But guess what?
It turned out to be an ‘it works’ rather than a ‘wow’. So,
what does it take to make an app a massive success with
users? It all boils down to - user experience that includes a
lot more than what a user sees on the app interface. Going
beyond designs, layouts, CTAs, and colours, user
experiences meet user needs based on the user’s specific
JTBD (Jobs-to-be-done) framework.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 2

 No app is an island in isolation. A great user experience is a
product of the tied efforts of UX designers, engineers,
developers, and product managers. Those managing the
different disciplines associated with a product must work
together. Product managers need to work with UX
managers to leverage UX to deliver maximum value to
every app user. This ebook is all about product managers’
role in improving app user experience. Throughout this
ebook, we talk about why product managers need to take
up an essential role in shaping user experience and the key
ways to drive business goals through user experience.

Many app brands have switched towards tailoring a better

experience and adding a personalized touch for every app
user, and yours could be next.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 3

 2

User Experience:
the world beyond
designs and layouts
We live in an `experience economy’ today. There was a
time when brands could merely roll out a well-oiled, func-
tional product–and enjoy uninterrupted purchase, user
adoption, and retention. With users becoming more selec-
tive and demanding, for product owners and growth man-
agers, the key to long-term retention is user experience.

In the world of mobile apps, loyalty is driven by the user

experience that top apps like Facebook, Google, Instagram,
Slack, and many more bring to the table. And what makes a
great user experience? There’s a lot that sits between the
fuzzy boundaries of user experience - building individual
user personas, creating user segments, conducting user
research, visual cues like nudges and walkthroughs, inter-
active user flows, rapid A/B tests, and much more.

A product’s design, navigational prowess, speed, and prob-

lem resolution powers are the key foundations for building
good user experiences.

When a user engages with your product (or mobile app),

the five factors - valuable, useful, credible, desirable, acces-

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 5

 sible together influence the user experience. If your UX
design clicks with your target customer, then you’ve
crossed the first pit-stop towards your product’s prosperity.

Businesses have no excuse to push UX and user interface

(UI) under the hood in today’s competitive space. After all,
8 out of 10 modern customers are willing to pay more for
better customer experiences that go beyond design and
design experiences.

To slightly unpack the whole idea of ‘user experience

beyond design’, look at it as a way to deliver deeper user
delight. This includes providing quick value to users, ease
of use, high functionality and reaching impressive levels of
user satisfaction.

All of this ensures faster funnel conversions, enhanced

engagement, and increased user retention, leading to
higher product stickiness, which eventually turns users into
loyal paying app users.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 6

 3

Why product
managers should
care about UX
The worlds of product management and user experience
(design) have become inextricably aligned. A positive user
experience keeps users retained on the app and eventually
ties back to a product’s success. This is the single most
reason why every product manager/owner needs to take a
front seat in steering user experience.

Product managers own the product experience, which is a

significant part of the user experience. Harnessing the
power of UX, product managers can drive users to their
app, keep them engaged, and retain them in the long haul.
It goes back to impacting results that matter to you most -

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 8

 Set your
product on a
growth trajectory

Increase user retention

and engagement

Build
customer
loyalty

Boost
conversion
rates

Drive higher CLTV Lower CAC

Improve
product adoption

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 9

 4

Steps to enhance
user experience
Now that we agree on how critical UX is for product manag-
ers – let’s understand how you can gain mastery over UX.

How do businesses deliver the best user experience? The

short answer: By keeping your customer at the centre of
your user experience. And where does this journey begin
and end? It starts at the time you start building your prod-
uct to the point –well, it never really ends. It goes beyond
acquisition and first purchase/conversion. This helps keep
users engaged and retained on the app.

But again, this is easier said than achieved. A few years

back, apps worked on the premise that if they simply did
what they were built to do, it would sell like hotcakes.
That’s old school. Today, building better customer experi-
ences result in higher traction for any app. Delivering value
is, of course, important, but it’s not all. Creating holistic and
meaningful experiences is the need of the hour!.

So, here’s a quick scan of the role played by product man-

agers in improving user experience:

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 11

 User adoption
Driving effective onboarding journeys that get users
started on the app

Usability

Keeping the app experience simple, making the

following steps (or navigation) clear, increasing conversions
(by making it easy for users to take actions, discover
critical features, offering contextual guidance)

User retention
Analyzing user behaviour on the app, gathering
feedback and acting upon it.

Now, let’s dive deeper into the above points and discuss the
definitive ways to improve user experience.

1. Understand user psychology

We know user experience comes down to how effectively

users can achieve their goals on your app. Every tome on
product management speaks about understanding user psy-
chology and how it can be leveraged in building products.
While psychology happens to be an inherent part of the UX
design domain, it’s equally relevant for product managers
who have an active part in creating a worthwhile experience
for users.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 12

 While the list of principles is long, we will stick to talking
about two important ones!

Cognitive load

The amount of mental effort a user needs to com-

plete a specific task significantly impacts user experi-
ence. A good example here would be using empty
states to guide users towards a particular action.
Instead of having a blank screen, a short note on
what users could do next helps reduce the cognitive
effort that goes into deciding on the next steps and
enhances the user experience.

Hicks Law

This particular psychological hack talks about the

time a person takes to make a decision based on the
number of choices available. Contextual nudges help
reduce choice overload by suggesting the next best
option to users. Humans are wired to take actions
that are most obvious and convenient. This is where
nudges help users take actions quickly!

2. Build habit loops

The path to a perfect UX goes through creating habit loops

that hook users onto the app by tapping onto emotions
users associate with closely using the right triggers. These

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 13

 triggers ensure that you’re meeting your users’ needs, helping
them reach their goals, rewarding them when they do, and
engaging with them in the channels most relevant to them.
Habit loops go a long way in improving the user’s overall app
experience.

Watch this short video on the essential components of

building habit loops

3. Implement contextual nudges & walkthroughs

If you want new users to stay engaged on your app, you need
to focus on their experience right from the get-go. Statistics
reveal that three-quarters of users leave an app within 24
hours of installation and never return. It’s safe to say that
most of these users end up uninstalling the app because they
are unable to find their way through the app.

Walkthroughs are a great way to give your users easy and

contextual visual cues on how to use the app and help them
perform critical actions. Being contextual, walkthroughs
ensure that every user gets a tailored experience, providing
the correct information at the right time to bring about that
‘aha’ moment. This, in turn, adds to a great user experience.
Walkthroughs also help businesses highlight their app’s USPs,
thus enabling users to get maximum value.

Contextual nudges work as the perfect, non-intrusive prompts

for users. It could be tooltips, beacons, coach marks or
spotlights that hand-hold users and guide them to take the
next best step.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 14

 Tool-tip
Beacon
Can be triggered to
Subtly grab
convey specific
users attention
information (like
towards a new
introducing a new
feature or
feature) or prompt
updates on exist-
users to take the
ing feature
next action

Spotlight
Highlight
discounts /
offers relevant
to user

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 15

 Contextual nudges & walkthroughs also help users easily
discover and adopt newly added features. Which again is a
crucial piece in the user experience puzzle. You need to
remove all barriers for users to actually locate relevant fea-
tures. Nudges & walkthroughs are the way to do that. Inform
the user of these new features as and when they need them
through informational nudges. You can also deploy a walk-
through that will include a series of spotlights or instruction-
al tooltips that tell the users exactly how the feature can be
used to suit their needs. Apart from that, you also want to
drive adoption for existing features that will be of utility to
the user. Use nudges to help users discover the feature at
the right time and drive user adoption.

There are some primary prerequisites to ensure that nudges

work wonders know when to nudge, whom to nudge, and
how to nudge. First, identify the right user segments to
nudge. Second, use nudges when user intent is at its peak
and users are highly likely to take action—for instance, using
a spotlight nudge to highlight discounts on cart items prod-
ucts for the user segment that has abandoned the cart for a
few days.

Nudging at the right time, using relevant content, and reach-

ing the right audience, is the best way to retain customers
and reduce churn. When done right, nudges can grab the
users attention, giving your user experience strategy a win-
ning edge.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 16

 4. Deliver seamless onboarding to make the right first
impression

There are enough stats to prove that a seamless onboarding

experience decides whether a shopper will convert to a
long-term customer or turn into another drop-off statistic:

8
86% out of
10
of users say they are consumers say
more inclined to stay to a they’ve removed an
committed business that app because they
invests in an educational didn’t know how to
onboarding process. use it.

of users claim they give strong

63% weightage to onboarding while making
a purchase decision.

What if you were sitting behind the yoke – or the steering

wheel of an aeroplane-and did not know what all the buttons
and blinking lights stood for. This is how new product users
would feel if they didn’t get a smooth onboarding experience.
They’d be lost. Imagine a very lengthy sign-up process on an
app where the sequence in which features are introduced is
very confusing and quite random. You would certainly not
want to use that app. While apps do prioritise app onboarding,

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 17

 the real question is – is it solving real user problems?

How can you make an app walkthrough better, leaving a good

enough smattering of bread crumbs along the way so that it

almost becomes a clear path the user can take? Start by

highlighting just the features that are key for users to begin.
As the user goes through the app, you can trigger different
nudges to call attention to features that might benefit users
at that point and help them take the right actions.

A quick example of a contextual onboarding walkthrough is

that of Fittr (a fitness app) that helps users discover key
features on the app using a series of spotlight nudges.

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Introduce features as and when the user might need them

and not right at the beginning. For instance, an app
needn’t offer a sign-up upfront if you feel it is becoming
too lengthy to accomplish for the user. Instead, the user
can have access to all the features that do not require him
to sign up and then prompt him to sign up later if the user
wishes to access those features. Suppose the user has
already signed up, then we can nudge the user to
complete the profile. Users must be free to set their own
goals based on their preferences and interests. Giving the
users the power to set their own goals will ensure a
smoother app experience.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 19

 It’s imperative for businesses to make new users feel
welcomed on their mobile app to help them know how
things work and where to find what they are looking for.
This is a sure way of ensuring that users don’t press the
uninstall button.

Check out this ebook covering 11 best practices for

onboarding app users

5. Map customer touchpoints

User experience is about the interactions a user has with

your app and how they perceive those interactions. So,
analysing the various touchpoints throughout the app
journey, understanding how the user interacts with the app
at each of those touchpoints, and the pain points plays a
crucial role in improving the mobile app user experience.
Apps can see their conversions head north if they use the
right tech stacks to provide customers with delightful
interactions at these touchpoints.

Let us consider the case of any e-commerce app. Let’s say

the user came across one of those really eye-catchy carousel
ads with some great designs. The user is tempted to click on
the ad, and when done, the user is taken to the app. After
sign-up, the user views the product wishlisted a few
moments back, but for some reason, decides not to
purchase. Then begins the process of nudging the customer
back. You then send personalized emails to get the user back
on the app to buy the specific products. You also add in
personalized recommendations based on users past

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 20

 behaviour. A user may come to the app, even add products
to the cart, but they end up dropping off at that point (a
common sight in the e-commerce space, isn’t it? Here’s
where customer touchpoint mapping helps –based on
multiple touch-points and the ideal path a user takes on the
app, you can place the right emails, push notifications and
nudges to make sure that the user experience remains
superior at all times.

6. Optimize funnel conversions

A leaky funnel is the most dreadful thing for any mobile app.
Lack of app engagement, hassle-full user experience, less
value derived from using the app – all of this leads to users
dropping off from the funnel.

Optimizing every stage of the user journey – starting right

from acquisition to retention, you need to make the
experience contextual, personalized and relevant at all times.
The experience should be designed in a way that helps users

move down the funnel quickly. Contextual nudges and

walkthroughs help make the user experience much more
meaningful and relevant to users.

Nudges are non-intrusive. In other words, the user can

choose to ignore them. A veritable library of nudges is
available that can be used, each of them solving a specific
use case. For instance, a spotlight that attracts the attention
of an onboarding user to a critical feature of the app.
Needless to say, nudges allow the app designer much scope
to experiment and optimize for conversions.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 21

 Bottom line: Take care of the UX experience, and
conversions will follow.

7. Choose nudges over in-app messages

In-app messaging is quite commonly used when it comes to

announcing new feature launches, app updates or even
sales/discounts, But there’s a flip side to using in-app
messaging. They are intrusive and force users to take actions
(which they might not want to take), taking the overall user
experience a notch down. Nudges save the day by being
contextual, optimized and mapped across the user journey
effectively.

Nudges deliver a better app user experience by being subtle

as compared to in-app messages that hamper the user
experience by interfering with the users’ flow on the app.

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User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 22

 Moreover, user context can change within seconds or
in-between screens, and a zero-latency solution is precisely
what you need for nudges. Netcore comes to the rescue,
ensuring that a contextual nudge is delivered to the right
user at the right time, even in the absence of the internet.
How great is that?

8. Test, iterate and implement

The most efficient way to meet your user’s expectations is by

testing and optimizing the user experience on the app
constantly. Testing every app element and optimizing it for
every user personas and journey can help apps build
superior user experiences.

Testing the app user experience helps eliminate friction

points and ensures a seamless flow on the app. Analyze
multiple user journey/user flows on the app – leaving no
stone unturned

There are many tools out there that can help improve user
experiences. Even then, nothing beats the good old testing.
We are talking about rolling out different experiences to
different users, for instance, displaying different page
layouts to different users. For example, the content/products
shown on the home page could be based on the previous
purchases by the customer.

Apps can trigger unique nudge journey flows to users. You

can decide when the nudges appear(either instantly or after
a few seconds), the type of nudges that appear(a simple

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 23

 tooltip or a tooltip with text or an informational nudge), and
goals can be set in terms of conversions, engagement or
retention – all of which are clear indicators of a superior user
experience.

A/B Test: Control Group

100%

Question Want a
Quick Tour? Tool-tip nudge 1 Tool-tip nudge 2

Beacon + tool-tip
Tool-tip nudge 1 Tool-tip nudge 2 nudge 3

Apps can also use split testing to test the entire user journey.
For instance, if a person abandons the cart, then an email or
a push notification that offers a discount coupon valid for
only a very short period can be sent to him. As the user
comes to the app, nudge them to checkout to avail the
discounts (highlighted on the email. You can test multiple
versions based on – when you send the email, text on the
email or when the nudge appears.

Such experiments help deliver user-preferred user

experiences at every stage of the user journey.

A/B testing can seem daunting to entrepreneurs and product

growth managers. Our no-code product experience platform
offers low-code A/B testing that helps you map out every
user case in your user’s journey using the flow-chart feature.

Read up more about A/B testing

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 24

 9. Gather user feedback

Data is pivotal to understanding the customer’s use for and

of a given app. It can unearth valuable insights into the
preferences of users and how they interact with the app. For
instance, one can use survey nudges, triggered when the
user has just completed their first transaction, to gather
feedback from the user on the app. At this time, the user
may be more than willing to provide honest feedback and
rate the buying process as well.

User data is a goldmine. It reveals which sections of the app

are most appealing, which features are used the most, which
ones are left underutilised, what more is it that users expect,
how satisfied are they with the current experience, what
more could you do to improve the user experience. Ask your
customer questions like, `How was your experience on the
mobile app?’ `Did you face any navigation roadblocks?’
`What will inspire you to make a purchase?’ and ‘Are there
any features you would like to see added to the app?’
Translating these data points into actionable insights is the
way to improve user experience.

That is how powerful customer feedback and the data

around customer behaviour is. It can help refine the entire
app experience, giving people more of what they like so that
they keep coming back for more.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 25

A B
 5

Building picture-
perfect user
experiences:
The Netcore way
To avoid the typical user experience pitfalls and build rich
user experiences that will drive users back to your app time
and again, it is important to focus on

• The in-app user journey

• Communicate value to users quickly
• Make navigation easy
• Guide users to the next best action
• Listen to users and act on their feedback
All these may seem easy to read but tough to implement. But
let’s change the narrative. With our no-code suite, you can
build the perfect user experience just as easily. Netcore’s
no-code Product Experience Platform helps your app to deliv-
er contextual user experiences across different stages of the
user journey. It enables product teams to craft personalized
and contextual app user experiences on mobile apps by
deploying contextual nudges and walkthroughs guiding users
to the desired action/steps.

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 27

 The Product Experience Platform offers delightful onboard-
ing experiences that are powered with faster activation and
help boost feature discovery and adoption, improve reten-
tion, and increase conversions and engagement.

Using the Netcore platform, apps can optimize and deliver

user-preferred experiences. A/B testing can be conducted to
empower product teams to take actionable insights. With a
powerful no-code segmentation engine, apps can run rapid
experiments and deploy personalized nudges.

With these features, you can complement your apps UX

design and take the experience a level higher.

Connect with us to know more

User experience beyond design: a guide for product managers 28

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Netcore Cloud Inc.

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