Reaper University (Case Study)
Introduction
Reaper is a powerful Digital Audio Workstation with a bad reputation and a UI that is notoriously difficult to use. This equates to a product that has less than 5% of the market share.
The WHO. The WHAT. The WOW!
How might we make Reaper so easy to use that musicians can start making songs faster than any other DAW on the market?
01
Introduction (TL;DR)
The biggest complaints against Reaper are its usability and difficulty to set up. Benchmarking other DAWs that are successful in these areas, Reaper could increase it's market share from 4.9% to 17%
Therefore, I created Reaper University to improve Reaper's Time to Value (TTV) and as a result, increase its market share.
02
User Problem
"Kevin the bedroom producer needs a fast and easy way to learn Reaper so that he can record his band."
03
User Research
A combination of quantitative, qualitative, and user research methods unveiled important facts such as the popularity of certain DAWs, why they were popular (or not), and how users chose which DAWs to use.
Key Takeaways
On the upside, users found Reaper to be a very powerful DAW and there is a large market for hobbyists (a segment Reaper caters to).
However, its difficulty to learn and outdated interface has users leaving for other DAWs and gives it a bad name.
04
Our Solution
"Kevin the bedroom producer has a tailored learning experience on Reaper that teaches him what he needs to know in less than 10 minutes."
05
Market and Competition
Here I found Reaper's unique value proposition, company resources, market sentiment, and how it compares to other similar DAWs.
Key Takeaways
Ease of use, educational material, and market share are strongly correlated in the product has positive sentiment about its quality (which Reaper does).
The DAW industry is expected to grow to $4.08 billion by 2025. Leveraging Reaper's loyal open-source ecosystem and key partnerships with online teachers (like Kenny Gioia), is key to tapping into this growth.
06
Feature Details and
Product Lifecycle
What does the technical architecture look like to build Reaper University out? What are our North Star KPIs? Finally, what are key objectives in each stage of the product lifecycle along with common challenges and solutions to keep the process running smoothly?
07
Building and Reporting
Here I outline how to find the user's pain via Human Centered Design/Design Thinking, define the MVP, and break down key objectives in Sprints via Agile methodology, and maintain the backlog and timeline via Gantt charts.
In addition, I show how to work with cross-functional teams and report to internal and external stakeholders.
IBM Master the Mainframe
User registration experience
🚩 Sprint-based revamp to mesh multiple registration sites into one seamless GDPR compliant journey.
🎯 Resulted in ~20% boost in completed registrations !