Glorify Groups
Glorify Groups
What if you had a few weeks to find out if a 2.5M-user app should bet on a new product direction?
Role
Sr. Design Researcher
Skills
Diary Study
Interviews
Timeline
8 weeks, 2023
Team
Paul Pow (VP of Product)
Matt Regan (Lead Designer)
Challenge
Challenge
A board meeting, an untested bet on community, and six weeks to find out if it would work.
A board meeting, an untested bet on community, and six weeks to find out if it would work.
Glorify is a Christian wellness app backed by a16z and SoftBank, with 2.5 million users. Think "Headspace for Christians". Faith practice on the app had always been solitary, users opened the app alone, prayed alone, explored their faith alone.
A board meeting was scheduled a few weeks after the company's Series B raise, and leadership wanted a credible path toward growth & revenue. Community was the direction under consideration, but untested.
I led the strategic research to determine whether a community feature could work for Glorify's users, and what a credible recommendation to the C-suite would look like.
Glorify is a Christian wellness app backed by a16z and SoftBank, with 2.5 million users. Think "Headspace for Christians". Faith practice on the app had always been solitary, users opened the app alone, prayed alone, explored their faith alone.
A board meeting was scheduled a few weeks after the company's Series B raise, and leadership wanted a credible path toward growth & revenue. Community was the direction under consideration, but untested.
I led the strategic research to determine whether a community feature could work for Glorify's users, and what a credible recommendation to the C-suite would look like.
Impact at a Glance
Impact at a Glance
20% daily active users using Groups
1.8+ million users in Groups
20% daily active users using Groups
1.8+ million users in Groups
The team's starting hypothesis: individual value rolls up to group value, and ultimately to more meaningful in-person gatherings
The team's starting hypothesis: individual value rolls up to group value, and ultimately to more meaningful in-person gatherings
Method
Method
Stated interest is unreliable, so we tracked real use over two weeks across nine small groups.
Stated interest is unreliable, so we tracked real use over two weeks across nine small groups.
I put a TestFlight beta prototype into real small groups and ran a two-week diary study, six survey check-ins per participant, plus follow-up interviews. These interviews with group leaders and members let us probe the why behind what the data surfaced.
Engagement was slow in week one and picked up in week two. By the end of the two weeks, participants asked to keep the prototype open. That request, not a survey score, was a signal that people were finding real value in it.
I put a TestFlight beta prototype into real small groups and ran a two-week diary study, six survey check-ins per participant, plus follow-up interviews. These interviews with group leaders and members let us probe the why behind what the data surfaced.
Engagement was slow in week one and picked up in week two. By the end of the two weeks, participants asked to keep the prototype open. That request, not a survey score, was a signal that people were finding real value in it.
Initial features developed for users and this test
Initial features developed for users and this test
Timeline of participant's tasks during the diary study
Timeline of participant's tasks during the diary study
Findings
Findings
Digital sharing made in-person gatherings richer, and it worked best for people who don't usually speak up.
Digital sharing made in-person gatherings richer, and it worked best for people who don't usually speak up.
The week between meetings used to be quiet, or filled with conversation unrelated to faith. Digital sharing gave it a purpose. Members arrived with shared context, something to reference, something to build on, and the in-person gathering had more texture because of it. \
It led to one of our primary questions for v2: how might we provide a space to help users express these revelatory. Word of God, this speaks to my types of moments?
The more unexpected finding was who it worked for. People who held back in person became active contributors in the async format. Community gave the hesitant a way in, more than it added engagement for people who were already showing up.
For some participants, Groups was their first entry point into Glorify at all, a new question: how might community be a retention feature for existing users and an acquisition path for new ones?
The week between meetings used to be quiet, or filled with conversation unrelated to faith. Digital sharing gave it a purpose. Members arrived with shared context, something to reference, something to build on, and the in-person gathering had more texture because of it. \
It led to one of our primary questions for v2: how might we provide a space to help users express these revelatory. Word of God, this speaks to my types of moments?
The more unexpected finding was who it worked for. People who held back in person became active contributors in the async format. Community gave the hesitant a way in, more than it added engagement for people who were already showing up.
For some participants, Groups was their first entry point into Glorify at all, a new question: how might community be a retention feature for existing users and an acquisition path for new ones?
Artifacts
Artifacts
The findings outlasted the research cycle.
The findings outlasted the research cycle.
Alongside the designer, I translated the findings into design principle cards, durable guardrails that gave PMs, designers, and engineers a shared language for making decisions about Groups long after the research ended. They were still in use well beyond this project.
Findings were shared through company-wide presentations and cross-functional sessions, giving teams beyond the immediate product pod direct exposure to what users said.
Alongside the designer, I translated the findings into design principle cards, durable guardrails that gave PMs, designers, and engineers a shared language for making decisions about Groups long after the research ended. They were still in use well beyond this project.
Findings were shared through company-wide presentations and cross-functional sessions, giving teams beyond the immediate product pod direct exposure to what users said.
Outcome
Outcome
Leadership committed to Groups. It delivered.
Leadership committed to Groups. It delivered.
The team presented the findings to the CEO and C-suite at the product offsite. Leadership committed three product pods and a company-wide bet on community.
Churches and communities began sending their small groups onto the platform.
Within a year of launch, Glorify Groups reached 1.8M users, with 1 in 5 Glorify users active daily.
The team presented the findings to the CEO and C-suite at the product offsite. Leadership committed three product pods and a company-wide bet on community.
Churches and communities began sending their small groups onto the platform.
Within a year of launch, Glorify Groups reached 1.8M users, with 1 in 5 Glorify users active daily.
Presenting findings at design, engineering, and product offsite
Presenting findings at design, engineering, and product offsite
Designs of Glorify Groups
Designs of Glorify Groups
Reflection
Reflection
If I ran it today
Participant recruitment and panel health were manual. I'd automate both with an AI agent, freeing the research cycle for work that requires human judgment.
What I learned about stakeholder trust
Stakeholder trust isn't built at the readout. I built through the intermediate check-ins, the early signals, the questions you field along the way across C-suite members and different cross-functional teams.
If I ran it today
Participant recruitment and panel health were manual. I'd automate both with an AI agent, freeing the research cycle for work that requires human judgment.
What I learned about stakeholder trust
Stakeholder trust isn't built at the readout. I built through the intermediate check-ins, the early signals, the questions you field along the way across C-suite members and different cross-functional teams.