Feature discovery & App engagement
Duration:
3 months (2025 Q2)
Teams:
CXD Noida, CX & CRI Bangalore
Role:
Benchmarking, user flows, ui/ux, vibe coding, prototyping, testing
What is it?
Context
With over 1.5 million installs by mid-2025 and MAUs sitting at around 183,000, the Havells One app had a large installed base that simply wasn't coming back. Users opened the app to onboard a device or raise a service request, completed their task, and left — sometimes for weeks. And even among users who did return, most were navigating the same two or three familiar paths, completely unaware that features and sections they would genuinely find useful were sitting unused elsewhere in the app.
Why it exists?
Problem Statement
9 in 10 people who had the app installed weren't opening it in any given month. This isn't unusual for smart home apps. The core use cases - device control, warranty check, service request are low-frequency by nature. But the problem ran deeper than frequency. Even users who did open the app regularly were underusing it. New features sat largely undiscovered because users had locked into familiar navigation patterns and never deviated.
The brief split into two parallel problems: how do we get users to come back more often, and how do we get users who are already here to go further?
Who is it for?
Competitor Study
Before designing anything, we studied how other consumer apps with similar utility profiles - infrequent but necessary had successfully built engagement loops. The patterns that emerged pointed consistently toward three mechanisms: rewards, competition, and novelty.
Contextual Nudges
When a user performs an action (e.g., turning on a light), show a subtle tip: "Did you know you can schedule this light to turn on at the sunset?"
Contextual Nudges
When a user performs an action (e.g., turning on a light), show a subtle tip: "Did you know you can schedule this light to turn on at the sunset?"
Contextual Nudges
When a user performs an action (e.g., turning on a light), show a subtle tip: "Did you know you can schedule this light to turn on at the sunset?"
Contextual Nudges
When a user performs an action (e.g., turning on a light), show a subtle tip: "Did you know you can schedule this light to turn on at the sunset?"
What we built?
Solution
New Feature Discovery
To improve awareness and adoption of new features, I introduced contextual nudges embedded within existing user flows. These nudges surface relevant features at the right moment, reducing the need for active exploration and aligning with user intent during routine tasks. This approach was applied to drive discovery of features like the ‘AI Mode’ in Lloyd ACs and the Buy AMC section, improving feature visibility while supporting business goals of increased adoption and utilization.
Ai mode feature discovery
Scenario 1
How would the user discovers New Ai mode from the IoT section?
Scenario 2
How would the user discovers New Ai mode from push notification?
App engagement mechanisms
To increase repeat usage, I designed gamified engagement mechanisms that encourage users to return to the app through lightweight, rewarding interactions. Using vibe coding and Figma make Ai, I explored game-based concepts where users earn loyalty points on each visit - creating a clear incentive loop tied to real value through purchases on the Havells app and ecosystem. This approach balanced user motivation with business goals of improving retention, frequency, and long-term engagement.
Discovery
How would the user discovers weekly game?
I made various game prototypes using Figma Make for the Havells context
What changed?
Key metrics
Feature Discovery success is measured against the specific benchmark set in the brief: 40% of users visiting the app should engage with any new feature or section surfaced through the discovery mechanism. Supporting metrics include feature section entry rate from discovery prompts versus organic navigation, and dismissal rate — a high dismissal rate signals that either the timing or the value proposition of the prompt needs refinement.
