Driving User Engagement with a Daily Streaks Mechanics
Driving user retention and fostering meaningful connections through habit-forming design.
Affinity and it's Challeges .
CONTEXT .
Affinity, a division within Match Group, focuses on serving niche communities through brands like BLK, Chispa, Upward, and Yuzu. While these brands cater to diverse demographics, a common challenge emerged: users were finding fewer reasons to return daily, leading to a diminished experience.A declining pool of daily active users (DAU) resulted in:
MISSED CONNECTIONS .
Fewer active profiles made it harder for users to find and connect with potential matches.
LOWER VISIBILITY .
Users struggled to stand out in a shrinking pool of participants.
LACK OF MOTIVATION .
Without compelling reasons to log in daily, disengagement grew, frustrating users and reducing the platform’s overall value.
The challenge was to create a feature that re-engaged users, ensuring a livelier, more rewarding experience for everyone
The Opportunity .
How might we create a rewarding, habit-forming experience that motivates users to return daily, fostering engagement and improving connection rates?
So, what did we come up with?
FEATURE INTRODUCTION .
A clear, engaging onboarding process explained the benefits of Daily Streaks.
DAILY STREAKS .
Users earned streaks by logging in consistently, with visual indicators to track progress.
COMPLETETION REWARDS .
Milestone achievements unlocked rewards, reinforcing participation and creating a sense of accomplishment.
Why Daily Streaks ?
SPACE FOR EXPERIMENTATION .
Affinity provided the perfect environment to test this habit-forming concept before scaling it across Match Group.
SCALABLE & LIGHTWEIGHT .
The feature delivered significant engagement benefits while requiring minimal development investment.
A MOTIVATIONAL FRAMEWORK .
Daily streaks laid the groundwork for future reward-driven engagement mechanics, providing flexibility for new features like gamified loops.
The challenge was to create a feature that re-engaged users, ensuring a livelier, more rewarding experience for everyone
Unique Situations .
DESIGNING FOR HABIT FORMATION .
Crafting a feature to create daily habits required balancing motivation with usability. I collaborated with Product and Research teams to ensure the streak mechanics were intuitive, encouraging consistent user engagement without feeling punitive.
ITERATING ON ENGAGEMENT LOOPS .
Through iterative testing, we refined the visual cues and reward structures to maximize user retention. Each design decision was backed by data, ensuring the feature resonated with our diverse user base.
SCALING BEOND BRANDS .
The streak system was designed as a lightweight, scalable feature adaptable to the unique needs of Affinity’s brands. I worked closely with brand teams to ensure the implementation maintained their individual identities while leveraging shared components.
Results .
The introduction of Daily Streaks resulted in measurable improvements:
3% increase in DAU
2% increase in Next Day Reconnection
100% increase in average user attention
These metrics validated the feature’s ability to re-engage users and foster a more active, vibrant community. Daily Streaks not only met its immediate goals but also laid the foundation for future motivational tools within Affinity and beyond.