Finding Product / Market Fit in SME Sustainability
Zellar is an all-in-one sustainability platform for SMEs. With looming Net Zero targets sharpening the public and legislative focus on sustainable business, there is a lot of demand for the suite of services that Zellar have to offer. Working with Move78, they were able to 10X their user base in 2022, bringing over 1,000 new users onto the platform.
The problem was keeping them there. The Zellar platform offered users a lot of value up front, but it was harder to extend that value over a longer lifecycle. We saw many users taking meaningful action on day one, but then dropping off and only checking in very occasionally over the rest of the year.
Move78 were tasked with tackling Zellar’s stickiness problem, fundamentally rethinking the user experience to create longtail value for users, and not simply a sustainability sugar rush.
B2B
Industry
2022
Year
10x
Userbase
>40%
Active users
Services provided
- UX Research
- Market research
- Usability Testing
- Experience Design
- Product Design
- Analytics & Reporting
Challenges
- Time-poor users
Small business owners tend to be busy people. Even those who care deeply about sustainability often struggle to carve out the time to address the impact of their business. We had to create something that was worth their precious time and attention. - Diverse user base
Zellar caters for businesses across a range of sectors. Some will be in offices; some will be in warehouses. Some will pay for their energy; some will not. Some will drive 100k miles a year; some will rarely leave their primary residence. We had to build something flexible enough to meet a diverse set of needs - Complex subject matter
Without getting too far into the weeds, sustainability can get complicated. It’s hard enough to find any agreement on what Net Zero actually means, let alone how it applies to small businesses. We had to make our approach simple enough to inspire action, while not being reductive.
Approach
User Research & Rapid Prototyping
In the autumn of 2022, we decided we need to go back to basics and talk to Zellar users about their experience using the platform: what was it doing well, and what could be improved? We started out with a general user survey, supplemented with data collected from product demos (prospective customers). We also conducted 10 in-depth user interviews and used these customers to test prototypes later in the process.
Approach
We worked through the feedback using tools like the “fishbone” root cause analysis model, helping us to map the specific ways we were succeeding and failing to meet user needs, and why.
Our research led to several important insights:
- Most users did not have a well-defined goal when joining Zellar. They wanted us to give them relevant and personalised advice around how to be a more sustainable business.
- After initial setup, users weren't sure what action to take next. The ability to create a plan was emerging as the biggest gap in functionality.
- Users wanted to see a tangible impact related to their actions. More granular views, such as monthly emissions calculations, were very popular with some users
Approach
A clear pattern was emerging: Zellar users wanted a more guided experience, one that would provide personalised recommendations, then lay these out as part of a wider plan. That plan could then be broken down into smaller steps that business owners could work through on a weekly or monthly basis, with each taking no longer than 15 minutes to action.
We took several prototypes back to the more active users we had spoken to, using feedback from those sessions to refine the new interface.
Results
The release of the Guided Plan dashboard led to a spike in user activity and improved retention. New users are now more likely to take action on day one, and MAUs (defined by the number of users taking positive action) have increased by 40%. Essentially, users are logging in more often, and taking more positive action when they do.
10x
Userbase
>40%
Active users
Move78 delivered a step-change in Zellar’s ability to attract and engage customers. They challenged our core assumptions, spotted gaps in how we were working, and were able to deliver meaningful solutions. It was great to work with the Move team, and their work continues to deliver value to our business.
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