Strategic product pivot that drove 143% subscriber growth and defined the roadmap for 2025/26. A retrospective of my whole year at Mob split in 3 pillars: Innovation, Habit Formation, and Personalisation.
Pillar A: Innovation
Automated Meal Planner: Validating the "AI Assisted Meal Planning" direction with lean product design
We utilized "Wizard of Oz" spreadsheet testing to simulate full automation. While this MVP drove a 17.9% lift in trial conversion, follow up interviews revealed an underlying problem: users hesitated to commit because they lacked agency over the AI's decisions.
Smart Suggestions: Pivoting to an "AI Assisted Meal Planning" Model
Acting on the insight that Agency > Automation, we pivoted from "doing it for them" to "helping them do it." By giving users control over AI suggestions, we achieved a 19.4% conversion lift (beating the fully automated model) and validated that retention relies on Human-AI collaboration, not full automation.
Pillar B: Habit Formation
Batch Cooking: Cook a recipe once, enjoy it through the week
Users adopting Batch Cooking showed a massive 135.6% increase in retention (Day 8/9) compared to the baseline. We learned that users perceive recipes which can be easily stored and adjusted for variety as easier to meal plan with.
Pillar C: Personalisation
Personalised Discovery: Cemented the foundation of 3-stage personalisation engine
Cold start phase: Gather and use user preferences
Behavioral phase: Tailor the discovery feed based on behavioural insights as we shape the taste profile.
Taste profile phase: Predictive suggestions based on cooking history and interests.
Contextual collections and improved search filters drove a 12.7% uplift in trial conversion, validating this direction.
Takeaways
