A Short Primer on The User Engagement Blueprint

How to use the Blueprint

I broadly employ a Lean Six Sigma approach to using data to improve engagement, following the DMAIC framework (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control).

In the context of the Blueprint it looks like the cycle below. The intention is continuous improvement: newly implemented ideas become deeper studies of the factors that drive engagement on your platform.

The cycle has 3 key parts:

• Part 1 covers user activity in the app, described by the Digital Value Loop
• Part 2 is the KPI and metric measuring framework
• Part 3 builds a positive feedback loop of engagement using the A/B testing framework

Treat this like a guidebook or manual: browse to the pages you need right now, or read it start to finish.

A note on my definition of engagement

Throughout the Blueprint we mean digital engagement specifically:

“The ongoing relationship throughout the entire user journey at all digital touchpoints”

The Blueprint is principally written for mobile apps (the ideas and learnings come primarily from four years of behavioural data in the mobile app space), but its principles and tools apply equally to websites, ads, social media platforms and other digital touchpoints.

Caveat: engagement is not necessary for all apps

This is important enough to repeat: not all digital platforms need engagement.

If you’re building a mobile app for purely transactional purposes, your goal should be a seamless, user-friendly experience that customers use at their own convenience, not an ongoing relationship through the app. Coaxing those users into enabling push notifications, then sending them marketing or “we miss you” reminders, will erode customer satisfaction rather than build it. There’s more on this in Users != Customers.