Boosting user retention and streamlining eng operations with AI Reports, DevEx Surveys, and Investment Distribution

Business Problem

A prominent fintech company faced multiple challenges that stalled growth and negatively impacted customer satisfaction:

• High Technical Debt
• Declining User Retention
• Increasing User Churn

An outdated interface and slow transaction speeds were driving away millennials, a crucial demographic. Additionally, limited resource utilization was delaying the release of new features, further compounding user dissatisfaction and signaling an urgent need for service enhancements.

Solution: Leveraging DevDynamics' Investment Distribution Module

Step 1: Initial Insight Gathering

Using DevDynamics’ Weekly AI Reports, the company identified a significant imbalance in resource allocation, with excessive focus on bug fixes rather than new feature development.

These findings prompted a deeper analysis to address the root causes.

Step 2: In-Depth Analysis Using the Investment Distribution Module

The Investment Distribution Module provided a clearer picture, showing a troubling trend:

A large portion of bugs stemmed from recent feature updates, highlighting potential quality issues.

Step 3: Targeted Developer Surveys

To pinpoint underlying causes of quality issues, the company deployed DevEx surveys targeting:

• QA Automation: The company hypothesized that inefficiencies or inadequacies in automated testing processes could be leading to an increased bug rate in released features. The survey assessed the effectiveness of these processes to determine if enhancements or overhauls were necessary
• Code Review Processes: Understanding the thoroughness and frequency of code reviews was essential. The hypothesis here was that insufficient code reviews might be allowing too many errors to slip through into the final products, thereby affecting feature quality
• Requirement Quality: It was believed that unclear or incomplete project requirements could be a significant source of confusion and errors in development. The survey aimed to examine how developers perceived the clarity and completeness of the information provided to them

The survey responses highlighted a significant shortfall in QA resources, which had led to insufficient testing and quality reviews of newly developed features.

Step 4: Strategic Resource Reallocation

Armed with insights, the company reallocated resources to enhance quality assurance and team support:

• Hired additional QA personnel and strengthened QA automation.
• Implemented more thorough code reviews and test case development.
• Increased support training and staffing to better equip support staff with feature knowledge and reduce dependency on developers.

Overcoming Specific Challenges

1. High Technical Debt Reduction
   They reduced the burden of maintenance by reallocating those resources towards strategic project enhancements, significantly improving operational efficiency. Improvements in Support and Feature Quality
2. Enhanced Support Training and Staffing
   Following insights from the developer surveys, the company significantly enhanced its support team's training and increased staffing. These improvements equipped the support team with a better understanding of the features, enabling them to handle user queries more effectively and reduce the need for developer intervention.
3. Improvement in Feature Quality
   Concurrently, the firm focused on refining the quality of new features through more rigorous QA processes and testing protocols. This commitment to quality ensured that new features were both user-friendly and functionally robust.

These changes reduced maintenance burdens, enabling the reallocation of resources toward strategic enhancements and operational efficiency.

Results and Impact

These strategic improvements led to:

• Higher User Satisfaction: Fewer complaints and improved service experiences increased retention and reduced churn.
• Enhanced User Engagement Metrics
• Reduced Bug Incidence: Enhanced QA processes reduced bug rates, accelerated feature deployment, and improved engineering productivity.

By leveraging DevDynamics' dashboards and insights from AI reports and developer surveys, the fintech company effectively addressed key operational challenges, elevating product quality and boosting user satisfaction.