Product Sense: Find the Biggest Gap in the Starbucks App and Prioritize Fixes

You are a product manager asked to make the Starbucks mobile app better. Decide what the improvement is meant to achieve, choose which customers you are designing for, propose and prioritize changes, and explain how you would measure success. ```hint Walk one visit Trace a single visit for the customer you chose, from deciding to buy to walking out with the drink, and look for the step where the app lets them down most. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the goal more revenue per order, more frequent visits, faster service in stores, or deeper engagement with the rewards program? - Does "the app" here cover ordering, payments and rewards together, or only ordering? - Are in-store operations, such as barista capacity at the morning peak, in scope as a constraint, or only the app experience? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clearly stated objective for the improvement and why it matters to Starbucks - Customer segments compared, with one chosen and the reason for the choice - Pain points drawn from that segment's journey, ranked by how much they hurt - Solutions compared using explicit criteria, including their effect on store operations and on customers who do not use the app - A primary metric with guardrails, plus the main risks and how to mitigate them ### Follow-up Questions - How would you pilot your top idea, and what would you compare it against? - How would you keep the change from slowing service for customers who order at the counter or drive-thru? - If the feature raised order volume but baristas reported more strain at peak, what would you change?