You’ve joined MiniClip as the PM of a casual game 8 Ball Pool.

Download and install the app

from Play Store. Use the app keeping in mind the target audience. On the first day, you get a
mail from the CEO -

Hi Team,

Our acquisition seems to be working. Almost all users are playing their first game as
soon as they sign-up.

However, we observe a huge dip from d0 to d7 in the number of users who return and
play a game on the app (where d0 is the day when a user played his/her first game, i.e.,
his day of conversion). We need to solve for early retention of users.

Looking forward to a few interesting ideas.

Thanks

Problem Statement :

You’ve been entrusted with the task of increasing the early retention on 8 Ball Pool, i.e.,
increasing the repeat behaviour of playing a game. Suggest 2-3 new Product solutions which
will drive it.

Avoid suggesting UI improvements or marketing solutions like push notification, mailers, etc.
Observe what the competition is up to in this category and what is happening across the world.
Think big!

Please ensure that you:

• Provide UI mocks/flow charts and explain each feature in detail (Feel free to use any
wireframing tool)
• Describe how these solutions facilitate the goal of increasing the retention
• Identify metrics that would help you measure whether a feature is achieving its goal or not

Please submit your attempt in not more than 10 slides(excluding cover slides) in PDF format
only. Please use the naming convention - “TeamName.pdf”

Follow PM School on LinkedIn.

 PROD-O-MANIA

Team Expelliarmus

Yash Khanapure Raghav Agarwal Harsh Agarwal

Problem Overview
How to Increase Early Retention of Users of 8 Ball Pool?

Targeted User Behaviour in a Game

Hyper-Casual Game Overview
Peak of excitement
✓ Hyper-casual have simple game mechanics making it possible for anyone to pick Win Monotonicity
and play regardless of their gaming skill.
✓ There are 1000+ such games on Google Play & Appstore, making early user
retention critical
✓ Players aren’t interested in spending a lot of time learning how to use your game. Loss
Once they turn it on, they want to start playing it immediately Disappointment Anxiety Retribution
✓ Players lose interest if the game lacks elements of surprise to keep them engaged

✓ We can see the power of variable rewards when we look at the

master of using variable rewards: the gambling industry.
Miniclip’s 8 Ball Pool Gameplay
✓ Casinos have perfected the types of variable rewards they use and
how they use them.
✓ Leverages social gaming (integration with Facebook) ✓ Those who play the game are highly likely to continue the same way
✓ Users can play in 1v1 battles with global players and their friends that addiction does
✓ To increase gameplays and engagement, the app has leaderboards, variable rewards ✓ We need to create a cycle of surprise in terms of rewards and
through coins, performance streaks, and global tournaments win-loss patters for the users
✓ However, the app fails in creating gameplay grind through a variable reward
cycle for new users, who drop out by D7 and explore other hyper-casual games
Objective and Key Results
✓ Our goal to is to ensure users play at least 3 gameplays every day until
Problem Statement Day 7 by creating a cycle of anxiety, surprise & excitement
✓ The success can be measured using
“A number of users drop out playing their initial games as they lack ✓ % Increase in Daily Classical Retention of New Users until D7
excitement to play the next game, and hence the early retention rate
✓ Number of gameplays per user per day
drastically dips from day 0 to day 7.”
User Persona & Journey
Raghu, 28 yrs | Developer, MNC Ashwin, 19 yrs | College student Tridevi, 35 yrs | Pro Pool Player

He spends almost all portion of his day at office till he
returns at 10:00 PM. To take a breather from work, he
takes short breaks for refreshment.
“I love playing games in my mobile during short breaks in
the office, but I easily get bored in a week with a game
and switches to another”
Needs
- Need 8-Ball pool to help me rejuvenate
- Keeps me Engaged and gives thrill every time I open
He is an Arts student. He loves playing football and is a
member of the local football club. He is very competitive.
To stick to one game, he needs variability in gameplay
“I am a keen learner, and challenging myself with new
difficulties helps me learn and be happy”
Needs
- Looking for a game gives me thrill with incremental
challenges
- To use 8-Ball pool as a self challenging task
She is a very experienced player of Pool and goes
clubbing often. She is manager by profession,
and is not getting much time for clubbing, so has shifted
to 8-ball-pool to follow his passion.
“I am looking for a club like experience while playing pool
on mobile”
Needs
- To get a real feeling of a club keeps me motivated to
comeback

Current User Journey Research Methodology

Participates in User is overwhelmed by the connects he
tournaments and feels by being part of communities ✓ Phone call interviews were conducted with
joins clubs through joining clubs, playing with friends, 12 users of age range 18 – 40 years of age.
challenging to strangers. Earning points to ✓ Respondents were a mix of new and older
buy cues. users.
User excited with After a point of time, it gets boring
the multiple options as there is no self challenging ✓ New users were observed on how they
to play tasks to be completed. User disappointed by explore the app for the first time, their pain
User learns to seeing similar boards points and reasons to quit if they had. Older
play game via daily and nothing users were interviewed on their pain-points
tutorial challenging & feedbacks.
The mapping is not based
✓ Feedbacks & ratings on expectations,
User signs up on skills, hence I end up loosing
content & experience were collected.
when playing with high ranker
Feature 1: Global Conquests & Unorthodox Tables
User Problems
✓ User experiences early boredom through
undifferentiated gameplay
✓ User wants to scale the summit of achievement
✓ User wants new obstacles to overcome as
an internal trigger to return to the app
Objectives Hypotheses
✓ User signs ups for an experimental gameplay
✓ To increase variability in gameplay
✓ User is agnostic to game currency rewards as a
equivalent to a gambling addiction
differentiator
✓ To motivate the users to conquer new
✓ Rectangular 8 Ball Pool tables can be mastered in
challenges
first few gameplays leading to a monotonous
✓ Increase the switching costs for users
experience

Game Play Retention Model

City Conquests Internal: I have I challenged the boss, but I
conquered my first city; I can’t beat her on her table. I
✓ User will start in a default city on a global map with standard 8 ball pool table will easily conquer the will keep trying until I succeed
next
✓ Each city will have multiple sub-levels to be conquered & a uniquely shaped pool
table establishing a cycle of re-learn & re-master Trigger Action
✓ User will have to overcome each sub-level in a city in increasing order of difficulty to
beat the ‘Boss’ and be called (for eg.) Tokyo Samurai
Investment Reward
✓ User will progress to the next city only after conquering the previous city
I want to add badges, I beat the boss and won the
Social Gaming compete with other City Conquest Badge in my
global players & show-off first week!
✓ Users can challenge human players while wagering their ‘city conquest badges’ on social media

KPIs
✓ Win/Loss ratio of new player ✓ Number of City Badges conquered per player in first seven days
✓ Number of gameplays for each pool table shape ✓ Number of gameplays post a win or a loss
Feature 2: Trick Shots
User Problems Objectives Hypotheses
✓ User gets bored playing same format
✓ To help user learn new shots and practice
repeatedly ✓ User looks for isolation game mode to practice and
game in isolation.
✓ User wants to learn/practice/master a learn
✓ To increase variability in gameplay
particular shot, by playing ✓ User look for excitement in any form in games
equivalent to a gambling addiction
alone/freely/isolated condition. ✓ Engagement is directly proportional to excitement
✓ Make the game exciting for user and make
✓ User wants new boards, challenges and level
him keep coming back with new challenges.
exciting tasks to engage

Board Game Gameplay

✓ Single Player Game

✓ Practicing - Allowed to keep a ball in a position and hit. AI assisted coach (in Single Player Games
form of video).
1. Combo Shots
✓ Calculating and showing Player’s Accuracy.
✓ Challenges in form of Pocketing a ball from a given position, particular pocket, 2. 3 in a Row
number of balls, time limit, board selection. 3. Multiple Shot
✓ Helps in practicing, mastering a shot and game.
4. Rapid Fire
✓ Tempting, challenging and exciting.

KPIs
✓ Average number of Single Player Games ✓ Number of Different Boards selected to Play
✓ Number of Repeat Gameplays Played by each user
Feature 3: Daily Streaks
User Problems Objectives Hypotheses
✓ User always looks for an incentive to do
✓ User has no nudge to return the next day ✓ To motivate users to play one game daily something.
✓ User has short memory span, and easily without fail ✓ Nudges in form of rewards have positive
switches to another app ✓ To keep user engaged every day using simple outcomes.
✓ User always looks for incentives tricks of streaks ✓ By having rewards and goals to achieve within your
app, users have a reason to come back repeatedly.

Game Play Streak Cycle

Day 1
✓ Awards on returning everyday for play (Streaks) in form of Boosters Streak 1 – Booster 1X
✓ Must play any game (1on1, Friends, Offline, Tournament) every day to earn the Returns
streak in form a daily Streak. Consecutive day 2 Lost
✓ The streak gets added everyday. 2nd consecutive day - 2X Booster, 3rd – 3X. Streak 2 – Booster 2X

✓ User will be using this booster for any game, and his winning will be multiplied Returns
Plays Booster Game
Consecutive day 3
into Booster Count. E.g., If Game’s bid is 10K coins, award is 20K coin, Booster Bid – 10K, Win – 20K
Streak 3 – Booster 3X
Booster Win – 60K, Loss – 0K
is 3X, on winning the user earns 20K X 3 = 60K coins.
Win & Returns
✓ User streaks ends if he either looses his Booster Game or does not return next Does Not Returns
Consecutive day 4
day for play. And cycle starts from 1X Booster again. Streak 4 – Booster 4X

KPIs
✓ Number of times Booster Game was played ✓ Longest Streak achieved by users on an average
✓ Number of users successfully cross 7 Days Streak ✓ Number of times user misses a streak and restarts it
 Prioritization MoSCoW Prioritization Framework Product Roadmap
Value vs Complexity Model
High

Must Have: Non-negotiable product needs

that are mandatory

Should Have: Important features that add

Impact

significant value

➢ Global Conquests
➢ Unorthodox tables
➢ Trickshots
Low

Low Effort High Could Have: Nice to have features that

have small impact
High Impact, High Effort
✓ Global Conquests, Unorthodox Tables have high priority and would be
➢ Unorthodox tables ➢ Daily Streaks
➢ Trickshots Low Impact, Low Effort released in the first or second sprint releases
➢ Daily Streaks
Will Not Have: Features that are not on
High Impact, Low Effort ✓ Trickshots is next on the release list
priority
➢ Global Conquests
✓ Daily Streaks can be planned in future release due to low priority

Success Metrics – HEART Framework

Factors Goals Signals Metrics

Happiness Users find 8 Ball Pool fun, & easy to use User reviews & ratings Net Promoter Score, 5-star ratings

Avg session length, # of transactions

Engagement Users enjoy app content and keep engaging with it Total Time spent by the user
(contests, jump in rankings)
Downloading the app or launching, new Feature adoption rate, Increase in
Adoption New users perceive the value of the new features
signups, using new features signup rate & # of downloads,
Increase in Daily Classical Retention of
Retention User stickiness to the app or coming back to use it Staying active & playing contests in the app
New Users until D7
Searching the contests quickly, competing Search exit rate, crash rate, game
Task Success Users completing games quickly and easily
contests efficiently completion rate
WIREFRAMES: GLOBAL CONQUESTS & UNORTHODOX TABLES
Each city will have its own uniquely shaped
1
After initial trial games, player will be redirected to 2 table, with increasing level of difficulty
Global Conquest Map, with default city selected

Levels: 3

SYDNEY

Player will have to beat the City Boss in final level

3 to win the City Badge 4
Based on the City Badges won, player can challenge any
other human player wagering their City Badges

Final Level
Boss You
Wind King

LONDON
Samurai Knight Wind King Wave Rider

THANK YOU
YOUR CONQUESTS