Hey hey,
We are back with the third edition of the Think Like a PM series.
Last time, we broke down WhatsApp’s dot “typing” feature. Don’t forget to check the comments.
Today, we are looking at something even bigger - the rise of instant domestic help.
Game-changer or ethical dilemma?
Let’s dive in.
15-Minute Domestic Help At Your Doorstep
First, it was instant groceries. Then insta food. Now, insta maids.
Urban Company is testing Insta Maids which lets you book a maid for cleaning, mopping, or cooking prep. And they arrive within 15 minutes of the booking.
(For those who haven’t heard of Urban Company—they are a tech platform offering a variety of services at home. These services include beauty treatments, haircuts, massage therapy, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, appliance repair, painting etc.)
Please share with friends and family who might benefit from this new service!
What we know:
Urban Company is testing a new service category—Insta Maids in Mumbai (a tier 1 city.)
On the app, you can book a maid for ₹49 ($0.57) per hour for cleaning, mopping, or cooking prep.
They arrive in 15 minutes after the booking is done.
Workers get
₹150-180 ($1.74-$2.09) per hour they work
₹20,000-₹25,000 ($250-$300) fixed salary
Health insurance.
Think Like a PM:
How tough is it to organise such a fragmented sector like domestic help?
What types of consumers would benefit the most from this service?
What challenges does it post for domestic help workers?
What could go wrong with this new category of getting services instantly?
Shoutouts!
I loved the points that made about the WhatsaApp’s dot typing feature.
The user is almost always looking at the bottom of the screen, hence it is intuitive to have the typing indicator at the bottom also.
The word “Typing” has to be translated to multiple languages that WhatsApp supports. And this feature prevents that overhead.
Thoughts From JAPM Team:
Intuitive UX. When you’re in a chat, you’re either reading the most recent message, or typing, or both. And while doing all of these, you’re already looking at the bottom. And, if you have a decently sized screen size, you would have to literally look up to discover if any one is typing. The new feature reduces that extra work.
Yes, they changed something users are used to. But the new “typing” feature is so simple that it doesn’t need the users to re-train on how to use the app. It’s just there. Once you see it, you automatically know how it works. This doesn’t break any mental models and hence creates no or very low disruption.
Metrics to track success: it’s tough to have specific metrics to track this feature, because it doesn’t change any core functionality (like reading messages, notifications, opening chats, etc.) In such cases, it becomes important to monitor existing, critical metrics, and ensure that none of them are negatively impacted. For ex: if total no. of messages per week were to fall (assuming nothing else changed), then that could signal something is wrong.
With that said, see you in the comments.
—Sid