Carnivore Basic
Developed and brought a product to market to solve our customer's need for slower-moving portfolios.
Tools Used
Figma, HTML, CSS, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express, Canva, Beaver Builder, AWS, Microsoft Excel, Klaviyo
Skills + Fields
Product Management, Product Design, Marketing Strategy, UX/UI, Front End Development
Role + Timeline
Product Manager, Managed 4 individuals, Duration: 2 months
Overview
With the Carnivore Basic Product, I worked with the CEOs of Carnivore Trading to help them turn user feedback into a viable secondary product. I spearheaded the development of Carnivore Basic, a product tailored to meet the needs of Carnivore Subscribers. By delving into customer support data and engaging in direct customer engagement, I was able to help Carnivore identify a critical gap in our offerings effecting our churn rate. This insight led us to recognize the presence of two distinct customer segments with divergent needs, laying the foundation for Carnivore Basic's development. Choosen by the CEOs to lead our team through this process was an invaluable experience that allowed me to evolve as a young product manager, honing my collaborative skills and strategic acumen.
To take you through this journey, I structured the Carnivore Basic product within a product management framework shown below. Feel free to click a stage and jump to where you are most interested!
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Validating User Need
To identify our innovation path, we went straight to the source: our customers. We listened. The feedback on Carnivore Pro was clear: the volume of updates needed for swing trading didn’t suit everyone; the daily communication was overwhelming for some, and the price—a notch above some competitors—wasn't justifiable for all. However, others adored the swing trading approach and developed emotional connection with the involved daily articles.
"My challenge, along with many of your subscribers I’m sure, is I cannot be glued to the screen everyday, all day. I have ended up reading your charts, your commentary and getting the overall gist of where the market is - and is headed over the next few days. I try to keep alert for your occasional comments and hints that a particular company is a good bet long term." -Mark F
"I just wanted to let you know that I canceled my subscription temporarily. I absolutely love you guys, your methods, and the way you interact with people, but I don’t have the time to devote to the process right now." -Bob W
"Loving trading with you guys! Wife recently left her job and I'm looking for a handful of longer term stocks that are the next up and comers for her IRA" -Matt L
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Defining Brand Strategy
Recognizing these concerns, I led the team to a pivotal insight: we were serving two distinct customer segments with divergent needs. This realization steered us away from a one-size-fits-all approach and towards the development of a second product. To create this new product we created a user persona for the second customer segment. Our strategy was twofold: to retain our current customer base that valued our product's complexity and pace (1) while simultaneously addressing the needs of those seeking a more streamlined experience (2).
Before beginning development, we prioritized understanding the customer and mapping out the user journey. Our product development was centered around the wants and needs of our target user: individuals who lack the time for swing trading but desire access to high-performing stock picks. With our team of advanced traders, we were confident in our capability to deliver this new product.
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Defining Brand Strategy
As the head of product for this project, my role was to discern how to minimize our users' cognitive load and determine which features to offer them. In the real world, this also meant managing perceptions, delegating tasks, and establishing a timeline for external deliverables. Following extensive competitive research, review analysis, and iteration on preliminary concepts, I devised the structure outlined below.
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Product Landing Page
I began by developing a user portal tailored for the basic user. Although I was aware this would introduce an extra step, the book “Don’t Make Me Think” advocates for the 'scent of information,' a concept which reinforced my decision to add this feature. This concept suggests that "users don’t mind numerous clicks as long as each one is straightforward and they remain confident that they’re on the right path" (DMMT, p.43). Thus, as a theme in this development, I often focused on simplicity. To the right, you will see the portal with the intermediate portfolio(left) and the daily wrap(right), with an onboarding CTA below.
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Intermediate Portfolio
After spending time learning about different financial metrics for accurate tracking for this portfolio, I met with two of the founders to workshop early iterations of this portfolio and conduct competitor reviews (images shown below). The goal was to simplify the trading experience by putting high-quality, long-term stocks in their hands and giving them enough information to vet a potential investment decision. We settled on the format to the left.
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Competitive Analysis
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Differentiating Value
However, the information in the chart is quite two-dimensional, so I wanted to supplement it with a narrative that could help people connect with the stocks. By providing them with information, we empower them to make their own informed decisions. Additionally, this approach was a strategic move to differentiate our product from competitors'. Many companies suggest what to buy, but backing recommendations with evidence truly elevates our offering.
In terms of execution, my aim was to develop a user interface (UI) that was clean and a structure that was logical to facilitate easy information gathering.
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Integrate into Daily Routine
One of the things we learned from long-time Carnivore subscribers is that they like to receive daily media and entertainment as much as they do the actual financial information. Though we specialize in distribution of financial content, our entertainment and community-building is another one of our differentiating factor. So, we wanted to carry these core values over to Carnivore Basic with the Daily Wrap. Here, because the stock portfolio is slower moving, we want to keep engagement up by giving them daily updates on the market and any news related to the stocks in their portfolio. This not only keeps them informed but helps them build a relationship with our brand and their stocks.
But, I did not build this product in isolation. Creating our new product was a team effort, and as the product manager, my job was like being a coach. I coordinated weekly check-ins with our team to ensure that we were all moving together toward the finish line.
I oversaw our developers as they worked their magic, integrating the new product into our system so users could easily switch between pro and basic plans. Here, I worked with them to create functionality to provision access based on user status for my front-end work
With knowledge on the automation for the Carnivore Pro daily communication, Tyler worked with me to set up an automation system that guaranteed our daily content was sent out with minimum time delay.
I worked with Monica to develop a copy and a pitch for over 6,000 past users to encourage a product that solved their user errors. Here, we spoke about what success would look like in terms of open rates, unsubscribes, and how we would engage them upon return to the service.
Trader Z, one of our founding members, committed to creating the daily content with the focus on being both valuable, actionable, and most importantly easy to replicate. We met frequently in this process to form a pattern of honing the content and ensuring adequate attention was given to this performance.
| Role | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| GH DEVELOPER | Creating the backend infrastructure and subscription functionality |
| TYLER | Create the automation for daily publication |
| MONICA | Develop promotional emails for win-back campaigns and manage conversion statistics |
| LEADERSHIP | Approve designs, finalize pricing, engage with investors on progress |
| TRADER Z | Create daily content and list of stocks for subscribers |
| MACY (ME) | Manage team members, develop product front-end, coordinate launch and execute value delivery |
My Role
As for my role, it was all about bringing together the pieces of the puzzle. I wore many hats as our front end developer, product manager, and strategist. In essence, I coordinated ideation session, product calls to facilitate pricing strategy, and developed the front end of the product. One key takeaway I learned in this process was that having a product for stakeholders to look at in meetings was a great catalyst to sharing opinions, insights, and thinking proactively about future challenges.
Thank You For Reading!
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