The Challenge

When I joined NAVIT, a mobility benefits startup, the product team was flying blind. There was:

  • No structured user research process

  • No analytics or usage tracking in the app

  • No feedback loops beyond customer support tickets

This meant product decisions were made with limited user insight, risking wasted effort and misaligned features. My first assignment was to implement NPS tracking—but I saw an opportunity to go further

The Goal

Introduce a lean, repeatable feedback loop that fits within:

  • A small startup team

  • No dedicated researcher or analytics tools

  • A product team eager for guidance but limited on time

What I Built: A Monthly Research Cycle

Week 1: Start With Signals

  • Pull NPS data from the past month, filtered to detractors (0–6).

  • Clean and segment users from high-priority companies (Based on account size).

  • Present a quick readout of last month’s findings to the team.

Week 2: Outreach

  • Email selected users on Monday using SendGrid via Zapier.

  • Follow up Thursday with reminders.

  • Users can opt for: A 15-minute call, or Email-based feedback

Week 3: Listen

  • Conduct 15-minute interviews via Google Meet (Recorded and Transcribed automatically)

  • Summarize calls with Ai, review and add personal notes.

  • Follow up with email responders to probe deeper.

  • Ask if users are open to future usability tests.

Week 4: Analyze & Share

  • Summarize calls outcomes with ChatGPT and review that it aligned with reality.

  • Tag key insights (e.g. “confusing payment,” “unclear benefit value”).

  • Group patterns → generate 2–4 key takeaways.

  • Add to the “Monthly Insights” hub, shared with the whole team.

  • “I’m happy you are reaching out... A lot of companies say they listen to their users but don’t really do it.”

    User Feedback

Why It Worked

  • Zero additional budget required—used existing tools.

  • Repeatable and fast: One person could run it in ~3–4 hours/week.

  • Insights aligned with roadmap decisions (e.g. improved onboarding flow, clarified ticket pricing).

  • Helped the team refocus on the core user journey vs. chasing edge cases.

  • Gave stakeholders confidence in user alignment.

Why This Process Matters

In early-stage startups, it’s easy to defer research. But a lightweight process like this:

  • Keeps users part of every sprint

  • Avoids waste

  • Builds team alignment around what actually matters to users

  • Let me know if you want a version with visuals (e.g. flowcharts, sample insights, or Notion screenshots), or a 1-page PDF layout for your portfolio.

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