Talk
How We Used User Journey Design to Boost a Creator Platform’s Retention by 30%
The Set Up
It’s the question that keeps every founder and product manager up at night: how do you get people to stay? You can build a beautiful product, attract thousands of users, and have a brilliant mission, but if your platform is a leaky bucket, none of it matters. This was the precise challenge facing Moonbeam, an innovative, early-stage platform designed to help creators find and collaborate with one another.
When I joined as Curation Director, Moonbeam had a passionate user base and a fantastic core product. But our user retention numbers were flat. Users would sign up, get excited, and then… drift away. They were struggling to find the right collaborators, missing key platform updates, and weren't experiencing the "magic moment" of a successful connection quickly enough.
The problem wasn't the product's value; it was the product's narrative. The user journey was a series of disconnected events, not a cohesive, compelling story.
Over six months, I led a cross-functional initiative to redesign the user journey from the ground up, not as a series of features, but as a deliberate narrative. We partnered with the product and UX teams to create new feedback systems, content loops, and communication touchpoints. The result was a 30% increase in user retention and a significant lift in user engagement—all without a single major change to the core product. This is the story of how we stopped fixing features and started fixing the story.
The Journey
From Disconnected Clicks to a Cohesive Narrative
Phase 1
Our first step was to move beyond simple analytics and build a qualitative, empathetic understanding of the user experience. We weren't just losing users; we were losing people with hopes and creative dreams. Why?
Diagnosis & The User Journey Map
Users felt:
- Overwhelmed: They were presented with too many potential collaborators at once, leading to choice paralysis.
- Invisible: They didn't know if their own profile was being seen or if their outreach was landing.
- Disconnected: They were missing key platform updates and opportunities because our communication was sporadic.
Using this insight, we created a detailed User Journey Map. This became our foundational document. We mapped every single touchpoint a user had with Moonbeam in their first 14 days, from the initial sign-up email to their first collaboration request. For each touchpoint, we identified the user's action, their emotional state (e.g., excited, confused, frustrated), and the "narrative gap"—the place where the story we wanted to tell them diverged from the story they were actually experiencing.
This map revealed our core problem: our user journey was a monologue, not a dialogue. We were talking at our users, not building a relationship with them.
Phase 2
Designing the Narrative Loops
With our journey map as our blueprint, I proposed a new strategy centered around creating three interconnected narrative loops: a Feedback Loop, a Content Loop, and a Community Loop.
1. The Feedback Loop (Making the User Feel Seen)
The biggest source of user frustration was a lack of feedback. They felt like they were shouting into a void. To solve this, we designed and implemented a new, automated system of notifications and prompts.
- Old Way: A user sends a collaboration request and hears nothing.
- New Way:
- Instantly, they receive a confirmation: "Your request has been sent! We'll let you know when [User's Name] has seen it."
- When their profile is viewed, they get a notification: "Good news! A creator just viewed your profile."
- We designed a "nudge" system. If a request went unanswered for 72 hours, the recipient would get a gentle, automated reminder.
This simple system transformed the user experience from one of anxiety to one of informed anticipation. It was the first chapter in our new story: "We see you, and we're here with you."
2. The Content Loop (Making the Platform Feel Alive)
Our next challenge was to make the platform feel dynamic and constantly valuable, even if a user wasn't actively collaborating. I led the development of a new, curation-driven content strategy.
- "Creator of the Week": We began featuring an outstanding creator on the homepage and in a new weekly newsletter. This created a powerful incentive for users to polish their profiles and celebrated the talent within our community.
- Targeted "Opportunity" Emails: Instead of generic platform updates, we used platform data to send highly targeted emails. A screenwriter would get an alert about a director looking for a sci-fi script; a composer would get an alert about a filmmaker needing a score. This transformed our emails from "spam" into an essential, valuable service.
3. The Community Loop (Making Users Feel Connected)
Finally, we needed to connect our users to each other outside of formal projects. We supported strategic pivots and growth marketing experiments to foster a sense of belonging. We defined product positioning and user journeys that encouraged users to join our new community forums and participate in weekly "collaboration prompt" challenges. This created a space for users to build relationships and feel like part of a movement, even before they landed their first big project.
A 30% Lift in Retention and a More Engaged Community
By redesigning the user journey as a cohesive narrative, we fundamentally changed the user's relationship with the platform. They went from feeling like isolated users of a tool to feeling like valued members of a community. The quantitative results were a direct reflection of this qualitative shift.
The Metrics that Mattered
Over the two quarters following the implementation of our new journey design, we tracked a clear and sustained impact on our core business metrics:
- 14-Day User Retention Increased by 30%: This was our North Star metric. By creating a more engaging, informative, and rewarding first two weeks, we dramatically reduced the number of users who signed up and churned. The "leaky bucket" was patched because users were now experiencing the platform's "magic moment" faster and more reliably.
- Key Action Engagement Grew by 25%: We saw a significant increase in the number of "key actions" taken per user session. This included sending collaboration requests, updating profiles, and engaging with our new content features. Users weren't just staying longer; they were doing more.
- Newsletter Open Rates Climbed to Over 60%: Our shift from generic platform updates to curated, high-value content turned our newsletter into a must-read. It became a primary driver of weekly re-engagement, bringing users back to the platform consistently.
The Human-Centric Result
Beyond the numbers, the biggest change was in the vibe of the community. The feedback we received shifted from "I'm confused" or "Is this thing on?" to "I was so excited to get a notification that a director viewed my profile!" and "Thank you for featuring my work in the newsletter!" We had successfully transformed the experience from one of passive waiting to one of active participation and hope. We proved that a well-designed narrative isn't just a "nice-to-have"; it's a core driver of the metrics that every product and business leader cares about most.
The Results:
Lessons Learned
Three Truths About User Journey Design
This project reinforced three core principles that I now carry into every brand, product, and strategic challenge
1. Retention is a Function of Narrative, Not Just Features
We often think that adding one more feature will be the key to making users stay. This project proved that the story you tell a user—the way you guide them, give them feedback, and make them feel seen—is often more powerful than any single tool. A cohesive journey can make a simple feature set feel indispensable.
2. The "Empty Room" is Your Biggest Enemy
A new user arriving on a platform that feels quiet or static is a death sentence. Our content and feedback loops were designed to solve this "empty room" problem. By constantly showing the user that the platform was alive with activity, opportunities, and success stories, we gave them a reason to believe and a reason to stick around.
3. Your Most Powerful Insights Live at the Seams
This project's success was entirely dependent on the tight collaboration between Creative, Product, and UX. The best ideas weren't born in a single department; they were discovered at the seams between them. My role as the "translator"—the person who could speak the language of user empathy, narrative design, and business goals—was the key to unlocking the solution. The most valuable leaders are the ones who can live in that intersection.
This experience at Moonbeam was foundational. It cemented my belief that a full-stack creative approach—one that blends storytelling, user-centric design, and operational rigor—isn't just a better way to make content; it's a better way to build businesses.
Good To Know
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