Ellie from Actively

MY ROLE

As Product Manager for the assistant, I worked with our multidisciplinary team to take the assistant from conception to launch. I conducted research, user interviews, managed customer onboarding, oversaw AI training, and worked closely with the CEO, product designer and lead engineer.

As the technical co-founder for Actively, I had additional responsibilities including product ownership, writing copy, and aiding in fundraising.

PRODUCT

The demo video shows actual text message conversations with the AI-powered assistant from our customers using everyday language.

The assistant knows who the customer is, what studios they frequent, and their account information; there's nothing to download and no additional logins. When a class is booked, it instantly shows up in the fitness studio’s management platform and the customer is charged by the studio. The customer can be as specific or general when asking for class times and bookings. The assistant handles the entire digital guest experience for the studio without extra input from the staff.

EVOLUTION (ORIGIN STORY)

The original concept behind the assistant revolved around an introduction to fitness program. The program was a test bed to allow the product team to gain insights into the customer experience in the boutique fitness market with minimal cost and resources. We were able to validate the need for a new user experience for booking and management as well as validate text messaging as a means of interaction. The program proved to be a big success giving us full detail into the pain points for fitness enthusiasts.

After the success of the program, the product team outlined a simple chatbot that was limited to decision-tree logic. The bot was unenjoyable and created a poor experience; the initial feedback mirrored this issue. We also designed a hybrid mobile app, that used a mix of conversational UI and traditional interfaces. Interviews about the app with studio owners and fitness enthusiasts proved to be positive. We designed an interactive mockup and started talking with a small handful of premium studios about using it. The conversational aspect won over well, while the app didn't and was seen as a threat to solutions already in place.

Utilizing the conversational concept and the features designed for the mobile app, we were able to minimized risk and start on the first version of an intelligent agent that used text input to find and book fitness classes – the assistant was born. We quickly evolved from Facebook Messenger to text messaging, built AI training & user onboarding tools, and added features like cancel penalty notices and class package purchasing. We also built a proof of concept feature that allowed me to find and book a class using my voice and Google Assistant. This smart assistant concept allowed for better prioritization of the roadmap for future goals.

It took us less than 6 months to take product from an idea for a fitness program to being an assistant in the hands of the first external customer. The following months were used to build out the machine learning database, understand user conversational intent, and build out initial core functionality. The product is considered successful with a limited invite-only launch that is being used regularly by fitness enthusiasts.

METRICS

• 84% of actions performed through the assistant over traditional methods.
   
• The highest action engagement (92%) came from a user who made 5x more bookings per month than average.
   
• Processes over 10K data point from fitness studios, conversations, and users.
   
• Implemented the assistant as an omni-channel solution across 6 platforms.
   

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• As one of the most recent products I've worked on, I've validated that I can work with new technologies (e.g. AI, ML, NLP) without being able to write any level of production-ready code.
   
• How to use techniques from other disciplines to strengthen my process. This comes from the realization that designing a Conversational UI is fundamentally the same as traditional interface design.
   
• How to increase communication through all team members by optimizing the tools that are already in use like scrum mythology, Jira, and Slack.
   
• How to approach a multi-sided platform and make sure you're solving for the correct side, aka "When the user feels X, the business feels Y".
   
• How important it is to "get out of the office" and interact with all possible user types regularly. For Actively, this meant taking almost too many fitness classes per week.
   
• What it means to be in a venture-backed startup, how it impacts decisions, and how to manage budgeting & burn rate while running lean.
   
• How to utilize my natural "connector" abilities to strengthen my network and connect with CEOs and veterans of industry for mentorship.