Funnel's are for other people (part 3)
Really funnel's really are for all devleopers (or for all developers that have humans or other systems actually use their application.)
Consider something like a simple task you yourapplication. Say, changing your password. This seems pretty simple. You have a simple goal of the customers –change the password. However, you realize you need to take some steps to protect your customers from unscrupulous people (and their bots). So you add in CAPTCHA and then you add in some personal questions (what is your favorite beer maybe) and then… soon you have a lot of steps. You need to make sure you understand what all of these steps are doing. This is not a clear as a “sign-up funnel” but it is still a task with flow that you can measure and you want to understand key things – time to complete, abandon rate, number of sessions, where folks went as they left….
So, the call to action is to learn about The Funnels in your product and service. Work immediately on key tasks – making them better (faster for administrative tasks, richer and more engaging for entertainment). Work with business to understand who and why customers sign up and who stays. More on this next time – what is customer value and how can you measure it?