Mar 26, 2021
Product Perspective: Strava
Clubhouse has become my go-to past-time activity during quarantine as it's an outlet for social interaction with the outside world that I don't quite have being at home 24/7.
Recently I started co-hosting a weekly room called Product Breakdown, where we talk about our experiences with different products and what are some things we would possibly improve to the product.
One of the areas I wanted to improve in this year was putting myself out there more often with my content, so I will be sharing my perspectives/thoughts on a weekly basis in a segment called “Product Perspective.”
1). Company/Product Overview
Strava was originally founded in 2009 by Mark Gainey & Michael Horvath.
Their mission is to build the “world’s most engaged community of athletes.”
Similar to other apps, Strava follows the Freemium business model, where customers get to use an app for free with the option to upgrade by paying for premium features. Some apps/products have this structured as a recurring monthly subscription fee or a one-time fee from what I have seen.
This what the breakdown for Strava looks like when you compare what you get with the Subscription version vs the standard free version.
By 2021 so far, there are 76 million users who use Strava on some level of cadence.
2). My Experience with Strava/ Possible Product Improvements
One of my close friends actually introduced me to Strava at the beginning of the year as we were talking about achieving certain fitness goals.
I use it a couple of times a week to track my steps and calories burned when I go for my walks.
Due to the fact that I don’t have an active subscription to Strava, I can’t/won’t comment on some of the features that come with the subscription.
Some of the things that I like about the app are the following
- Frictionless User Experience: The app is designed really well and has the perfect balance of providing users a with a lot of functionality but not being to cluttered at the same time.
- Social/Community Aspect: In the groups tab of the app, there are various challenges/clubs a user can participate in and meet other like minded app users. This allows for users to build their own community within the app so that they keep using it consistently.
However, the one area personally for me that I feel Strava can improve in is creating that strong dependency effect for its users; creating an experience were users use it as their “default” app for all things fitness related.
Part of that is because it is really easy for me to just choose I am going for an Outdoor walk workout on my Apple watch which is my preference and haven't really felt the need to switch fully over to Strava.
There is some integration between the Health App , but I am specifically referring to the intent of me choosing Strava over the Workout app to track my workout.
This sentiment may not resonate with users who have the subscriptions/non subscription users but these are just my thoughts.
3). Conclusion
Overall, in a crowded space of fitness with all sorts of apps Strava has been able to develop a strong global presence with its user base.
I plan on continuing to use Strava in avidly and might eventually buy the subscription at some point.
It will be interesting what changes/additions are made to the app in the short term/long term.
Would love to get other people’s thoughts as well on their experience with Strava so far.
