Engagement & Retention project | Playo

What is Playo?

Playo is a mobile-first platform that helps people discover, book, and manage sports and fitness activities, especially those that are group or facility-based. It operates primarily in urban Indian cities and acts as a marketplace for sports venues, events, and communities.

Playo aims to make it easier for people to stay active, play socially, and maintain fitness by solving three main problems:

1. Discoverability – People often don’t know where or with whom to play.
2. Accessibility – Sports venues can be hard to book or coordinate.
3. Engagement – People lack a consistent, social nudge to stay active.

Playo Features, Problems Solved, Core Value Proposition, and User Experience

To communicate Playo’s product offering, value, and user experience clearly and cohesively, I’ve structured all key information into a unified table. This helps consolidate interlinked details in one place for easy reference and discussion.

Natural Frequency & Engagement

The natural frequency of Playo’s core product- playing a sport- refers to how often users visit the platform to browse available games or book a venue. This frequency can vary based on a user's ability to host games and invite others, or their preference to simply join existing matches. It may also be influenced by individual goals such as training or consulting a physio or nutritionist. Since this frequency is tied to playing habits and the core action on Playo is to play, we will segment users based on how often they engage in gameplay.

1. Casual – Plays 1–2 times a week. Typically joins games hosted by Playo (Game-time) or by other users. Occasionally explores different sports.
2. Core – Plays 2–3 times a week. Regularly joins games hosted by friends, sometimes hosts or co-hosts games. Tries new sports through Game-time, invites friends and colleagues to join, and is active in play-pal groups with chats before and after games.
3. Power – Plays 4+ times a week. Regularly joins games hosted by play-pals and frequently books venues in advance, sometimes for multiple sessions. Actively organizes games by inviting groups of friends and coordinating schedules. Tracks both personal and competitive game stats, sets fitness or performance goals, and monitors progress over time. Participates in local tournaments. Has tried structured training sessions or workshops, and shows interest in improving gameplay. Often shares feedback on the app or games.

Sub-Product/Feature Frequency-

Through user research, it’s clear that Playo’s offerings are intentionally designed to help transition users from casual to power users. As a result, the frequency of engagement varies depending on the user type and the specific sub-product being used. Here's a detailed breakdown of that frequency across key features.

Best engagement framework for Playo

For Playo, the Frequency engagement framework is the strongest driver of user value. Since the platform revolves around physically showing up to play, consistent participation in core actions like joining or hosting games directly enhances the user experience. At the same time, Breadth - through features like Group - adds depth by fostering community, interaction, and sustained engagement. Additional offerings like Training, Fitness Cover, and Skill-Based Matching further enrich the experience by supporting skill development, safety, and balanced gameplay.

Playo's Active User

An active user on Playo is one-

• Who regularly joins or hosts games on the platform (1-2 times a week or more)

Other characteristics of an active user can be-

• Who engages with their play network through invites, Playpal connections, or group chats
• Who explores core features like venue booking or Game-time to discover new matches

Natural frequency of Casual, Core, and Power users based on user research-

• Casual users: 1-2 times a week
• Core users: 2-3 times a week
• Power users: 4+ times a week

Engagement Signals from User Behavior

The above framework of Engagement and defining an active user fits well with the below insights collated from user research-

• About 45–50% of active users join at least one game/Game-Time each week, making it a reliable gateway for ongoing engagement.
• Roughly 1 in 4 venue bookings come from repeat users within 7 days, showing early signs of habit formation.
• Regular users host or co-host around 2–3 games per week, often driving activity in multiple groups.
• Users who join two or more Play-pal groups are more likely to stay active after their first month.

These patterns reinforce the natural frequency bands of Casual, Core, and Power users and show how key features like Join a Game, Book a Venue, Game-Time, Play-pals, and Groups play a strong role in building and sustaining consistent play habits.

Please delete any unused boilerplate material before making your final submission.

Let’s begin!

Know what your product is, its features, what problem its solving. Draft the CVP of your product, its natural frequency and engagement framework.

Know your users, what they value the most and define who is your active user.

Customer Segmentation Approach

• Playo, being a mature-stage company, can explore segmentation through multiple lenses—User Characteristics, Natural Frequency, Usage Patterns, or RFM models. At its core, Playo’s value proposition is simple: to make playing sports easier and more enjoyable. Most of its features are built around enabling access to play and enhancing the overall experience.
• Segmenting by Natural Frequency may not be effective. Users play at different frequencies depending on their available time, skill level, and personal interest. Since these are external constraints, designing features to influence natural frequency won’t necessarily lead to better engagement.
• The RFM segmentation model—focused on improving recency, frequency, and monetary value—typically works best when supported by strong data and the ability to trigger scaled automated campaigns. In Playo's case, external limitations (time, interest, skills) and current data gaps make this difficult to implement meaningfully.
• User Characteristic-based segmentation has limited application here. Since the core product experience is offline, there’s minimal in-app scope to personalize effectively based on demographics. However, tailoring offline experiences—such as collaborating with colleges and residential societies for training programs, or with companies for sports events and perks for loyal users—can offer more relevant and high-impact engagement.
• The most viable path is Usage-based segmentation. As usage directly correlates with engagement, it provides a strong foundation for crafting tailored experiences and retention strategies across different user segments.

Key Insights from Playo’s Usage-Based Segmentation-

1. Casual users are early-stage sports explorers who value ease of access and spontaneity but often drop off due to time constraints or the hassle of finding consistent partners. Features like “Join a Game” and friction-less split-pay options for group bookings can lower the barrier to participation.
2. Core users engage with multiple features such as Game-Time, Play pals, and Venue Booking. They value reliability, flexibility, and social play- split pay, group coordination tools, and incentives for recurring games can drive deeper engagement.
3. Power users are highly engaged and willing to spend but face pain points like unavailable slots, lack of partner variety, and missing bulk discounts. Enabling features like advanced booking, split payments across large groups, and exclusive perks can improve their experience and retention.
4. Group dynamics and social motivation remain a consistent lever—features that streamline group coordination and payment (like split pay) are key to unlocking retention and monetization across all segments.

build your ICP's- by now you know how to do that in a tabular format as done in earlier projects and segment the users, think about why you are segmenting and what is the goal of your product and segmentation

In the context of Playo’s user behavior and core value proposition, frequency of engagement holds more strategic weight than breadth of features. While a wide range of features can attract initial interest, sustained engagement is more effectively driven by repeated interactions that build habits. For a platform centered around real-world play and social collaboration, increasing the frequency of game participation fosters familiarity, competition, and camaraderie among users—elements that are critical to long-term retention. For example, nudging users to join recurring sessions or re-book familiar venues not only reinforces habit loops but also strengthens their connection with the community. Simply adding more features without reinforcing these high-frequency behaviors would dilute focus and fail to deepen the user’s emotional investment in the product.

Based on the Primary and Secondary Engagement Frameworks of Natural Frequency and Breadth, the following campaigns have been crafted to effectively engage Casual, Core, and Power users.

Engagement Campaigns for Casual Users

Campaign 1 – “Play Together, Win Together”

Segmentation – Casual Users

Goal – Drive first-time group play and build social habit

Pitch – “Get your friends on court! Bring 4 friends and your game is free.”

Offer – Free Game-time slot for host when 4+ new users join via referral

Frequency and timing – Push on weekends, in-app nudges after 4+ games in a month

Success metrics – Number of new users from referrals, retention of referred users after 30 days, group size growth over time

Campaign 2 – “Slot Drop Alert”

Segmentation – Casual & Core Users

Goal – Recover intent lost due to unavailable slots

Pitch – “The slot you searched is now available — book before it's gone!”

Offer – Time-bound action-Optional 10% discount for first 3 users booking after drop-off alert

Frequency and timing – Real-time trigger when a dropped slot matches a user’s past search

Success metrics – Alert-to-booking conversion rate, repeat booking from same venue, churn drop for previously disappointed users

Engagement Campaigns for Core Users

Campaign 3 – “Train Free for a Week”

Segmentation – Core Users

Goal – Deepen engagement with broader product loop (Game-Time + Training)

Pitch – “Unlock free coaching sessions at your favorite venue for 7 days.”

Offer – One free coaching slot per day, valid for 7 days (select venues) Frequency and timing – Once per user, triggered after 10+ sessions played in each month for 2 months

Success metrics – Feature usage of training during and after offer, session frequency growth, transition to paid training.

Campaign 4 – “Find Your Play-pals”

Segmentation – Core Users

Goal – Reinforce social loops and reduce friction in finding partners

Pitch – “A Play-Pal near your skill level is hosting a match — join them now!”

Offer – Game-Time notification and access to Auto-match preference toggle

Frequency and timing – Weekly and event-driven when skill-matched users create a match nearby

Success metrics – New Play-Pal connections, game join rate via Play-Pal alerts, number of matches played with matched users

Campaign 5 – “Be a Host, Get a Squad”

Segmentation – Core Users (10+ games played, not hosted yet)

Goal – Convert active players into game organizers

Pitch – “Create your own game in seconds. We'll get players for you!”

Offer – 25% off for first hosted match and auto-invite Play-Pals

Frequency and timing – One-time prompt after 10th match, weekly if not hosted

Success metrics – Number of first-time hosts, fill rate of hosted games, repeat game creation rate

Engagement Campaigns for Power Users

Campaign 6 – “Unlock the Play Pass”

Segmentation – Power Users (20+ bookings, high monthly activity)

Goal – Retain high-value users with bundled benefits

Pitch – “One pass. All-access. Get training, gym and courts at your fingertips.”

Offer – Play 20 games at the cost of 18 games

Frequency and timing – Monthly push, targeted banner in dashboard

Success metrics – Play Pass opt-in rate, reduction in booking churn, increased average sessions per month

Campaign 7 – “Bulk Book & Save”

Segmentation – Power Users (frequent repeat bookings)

Goal – Lock in loyalty and preferred time slots

Pitch – “Block your favorite court for a month & save 20%.”

Offer – Discounted rate on bulk bookings (4+ slots at same time/venue)

Frequency and timing – Shown after 5th consistent bookings at same time/venue

Success metrics – Bulk booking conversions, revenue per user, repeat bulk booking frequency

Retention at Playo-

I dont have access to company's data, so I am going to use publicly available data, user research and guesstimate the retention rate for Playo. In an interview with Deccan Herald in 2016, Playo's Founder Gauravjeet Singh mentioned “We have 1,20,000 app downloads till date across Android, iOS and Windows with a retention/MAU (monthly active users) of 55%."

With secondary research and comparing cult.fit, cult's retention rate is 30% with factors such as pricing, category of offerings and membership commitments affecting retention. Cult experiences high churn rate within 90 days and stabilizes post that. Other D2C brands in the fitness space have an average retention rate of 30% because of factors such as accessibility, competition and pricing.

Since Playo goes beyond solving these challenges of pricing, accessibility, membership commitments by providing players and venues to play in a few clicks the stabilized retention rate should be atleast 40%.

ICPs That Drive the Best Retention

Core & Power Users
These cohorts retain the longest because they’ve experienced Playo’s core value proposition — access to venues, Game-time, Play-Pals, and coordination tools. They know the ecosystem well: which venues work best, who’s a good partner to play with, and how to get the most out of the app.

Their stickiness comes from:

• Comfort with existing playing groups (Play-Pals)
• Familiarity with venues and preferred time slots
• Seamless coordination using in-app tools (GameChat, Game-Time)
• Low incentive to switch — competitor CVPs are uncertain, and they lack existing networks elsewhere

They often become informal anchors in the community, influencing new or casual users to stick and explore more.

Acquisition Channels Driving the Best Retention

Referrals
Playo’s strongest retention-driving acquisition channel. Most retained users were referred by someone who already understood and enjoyed the Playo experience. These users come in with clear expectations and are often joining someone they already know — reducing friction and increasing fun.

• Word-of-mouth + network coordination → early CVP exposure
• Tiered referral rewards can boost both network density and quality
• Core users bringing in casual users drives smoother on-boarding and early success

Partnerships (Educational Institutions + Sports Academies)
Users entering through structured ecosystems like schools or academies retain better. They come in with peer familiarity, recurring schedules, and competitive or growth mindsets.

• Early familiarity with the product loop
• Easier formation of repeat squads
• Drives habit through group momentum

Content Loops
User-generated content — photos, clips, match wins — boosts visibility and pride. This reinforces identity, motivates consistency, and brings social accountability.

• Play → Share → Social reinforcement → Repeat
• Inspires casual users to try posting and playing again

Product Integrations (e.g., Decathlon, Strava)
Brings in users who are already active in sports/fitness. They don’t need CVP education and are more likely to plug directly into game-play and community.

• Higher alignment with user intent
• Drives smoother transition from individual activity to social sport
• Enhances habit and frequency of play

Features That Drive the Best Retention

Game-time
Simplifies coordination and discovery. Users can quickly find and join games that match their interest and skill level. Especially effective for reactivating dormant users or on-boarding new ones.

Play (Join a Game)
Provides the fastest route to CVP for new users. Doesn’t require a per-formed group — just interest. Great for discovering the community and testing the waters with minimal commitment.

Book a Venue
Most users who book venues are experienced hosts who’ve previously played independently. Booking their preferred venue keeps them engaged and ensures they enjoy the game on their terms. These users also create a quality experience for others — new or returning — by offering well-managed games in familiar, reliable setups.

Play-Pals
Builds micro-communities within the app. Once users find consistent playing partners, their return rate spikes. They’re more likely to schedule recurring games and bring others in.

Game Chat
Solves for last-mile logistics. Helps prevent cancellations, improves show-up rates, and builds pre- and post-game interaction. Keeps the group dynamic alive even off-court.

Feature-retention linkage matrix

Understanding Churn for Playo

A user is considered churned if they’ve performed at least one core action (booked a venue, joined a match, or interacted in-game) and have stopped doing so for a significant period of time.

Involuntary Churn- Occurs when external circumstances prevent users from engaging with Playo, even if they intend to

Voluntary Churn- Users actively choose to leave due to dissatisfaction, unmet expectations, or superior alternatives

Negative Actions to be looked for-

Early behavioral signals that suggest users are drifting away. This can be used to categorize movement across user types: Casual → Core → Power and vice versa.

don'tFigure out the retention data for your product. If you don't have access to the same, begin by adjusting the industry standards. Plot down the data and bring to life your retention curve. Draw out observations and insights from the same.

What is causing your users to churn?

Go back to your user insights and figure out the number one reason of churn by listing down all the factors.

Churned users on Playo are primarily dropping off due to a few key negative experiences—namely app glitches, unresolved customer support issues, and unavailability of preferred time slots. In other cases, users may not be fully churning but gradually disengaging due to smaller inconveniences or a fading sense of value and community. The following resurrection campaigns are designed to address both these hard and soft churn triggers, with targeted interventions for each behavioral drop-off pattern.

Campaign 1: We’ve Fixed It. You’re the Priority Now.

(Solving for: App glitches + customer support issues)

Campaign 2: Get Back in the Game

(Solving for: Churn due to unavailability of time slots)

Campaign 3: Your Crew is Waiting

(Solving for: Core → Casual drop-off)

Campaign 4: Play Pass Power-Up – Your Exclusive Edge

(Solving for: Power → Core drop-off due to value fade)

Campaign 5: Don’t Miss the Buzz Nearby

(Solving for: Core → Casual drop-off, low FOMO)

Campaigns for App Fixes, Improved customer support and new app features-

Campaign 6: We’ve Fixed It – You’re in Control Now

Campaign 7: Find Your Crew, Fast

You have already created the engagement campaigns, resurrection campaigns are quite similar just keep in mind the churned users that are being targeted here.

(customized your campaigns as per the ICP you're targeting to bring back, add parameters accordingly)

We hope this helped you break the cold start problem!

Reminder: This is not the only format to follow, feel free to edit it as you wish!