Why? (Objective)

1. For users - The free users who have been our WAU for a long period of time (loyal-free users) suffer from expectation mismatch due to habit formation, where they expect more control over their listening from the platform and hence, we provide them back with their sense of ownership by selectively giving them some control over sequence/planning of their music sessions.
2. For business - This is advantageous from the business POV as we improve the engagement of our loyal-free user base - preventing their sudden drop-offs and gradually reducing the churn rate and hence, improving retention rate.

How do we measure success ?

1. Goal - To reduce disengagement of loyal free users by resurrecting ownership via a new feature/updates ****‘majorly’ referenced to sequence-planning controls .
2. Success Metrics -
   1. North Star Metric : Session Duration - % increase in an average music session length before and after the introduction of feature.
   2. Secondary Metric : Click through rate for Activate Now button - % of users who click the buttons embedded in the feature.
3. Guardrail metrics -
   1. Drop-offs (Early-Session Exits) - Number of times a user exits the app only after a few minutes of session time or abruptly after a few skips or ads.
   2. CTR for Maybe Later button - % of users who click the buttons embedded in the feature.

Who are the users ?

1. Persona - Sagar Rastogi, a 34-year-old corporate professional in Bengaluru, uses Spotify as a constant background companion throughout his day — during workouts, office work, and late-night reading. Over four years of regular use, the platform has become his go-to space for relaxation and focus, especially for desi pop and lo-fi music. He often replays songs and reads lyrics to fully absorb their meaning, relying on Spotify as his single place for listening and discovery. In recent times, however, his experience has become frustrating. Frequent ads, limited skips, and forced smart shuffle disrupt the mood he tries to maintain during focused activities. More than the restrictions themselves, Sagar feels a lack of control over what plays next despite years of loyalty. Over time, these interruptions break his flow and make him reconsider how often he turns to the app, even though music itself remains an essential part of his daily routine.
2. Job To Be Done - ******When I desire to listen to music either in background or intentionally on any random day in my life in order to achieve a mental node I desire a smooth emotional and cognitive flow and interaction without any friction.
3. How do we know these problems exist (research) - User Research Document Link - click here

Solution:

1. Brief of the solution - Introducing the “Loyalty Music Mode” for our selected user base - shown as a perk of being loyal to the platform (3 months provision) :

   • Toggle availed between smart shuffle and shuffle (removes smart shuffle default).
   • 6 skips upgraded to 9 skips per hour.
   • Previous song button is activated - but it will be counted as a skip as well if used.

2. Other alternatives are considered with prioritization metrics -

   S.No.	Solution	Reach	Impact	Confidence	Effort	RICE Score	Priority
   1.)	Loyalty Music Mode	5	5	4	3	33.33	P0 ✅
   2.)	Twice a day Switch to Video Perk	3	2	2	2	6.00	P6 ❌
   3.)	Three trials on Eat my Playlist	3	2	3	2	9.00	P4 ⚠️
   4.)	Introduce New Arcade Gamification Model	4	4	2	4	8.00	P5 ⚠️
   5.)	Playable Ads	4	3	3	3	12.00	P3 ⚠️
   6.)	Partnership with Insta/YouTube	3	4	2	5	1.20	P7 ❌
   7.)	Ad Break Warning	5	3	3	2	22.50	P2👍🏼
   8.)	Session Anchor	4	5	4	3	26.67	P1 ✅