I started by aligning on scope: Zerodha = trading and investing platform (focus on the Kite app, ignore Coin and Varsity for now). We’re investigating a decline in Daily Active Users (DAU), specifically among retail investors.
Metric sanity: DAU = unique users logging in and spending ≥15 mins/day, regardless of trading activity. Definition unchanged. Data pipelines and reporting intact. Pattern: sudden drop over ~2 weeks, not seasonal, isolated to iOS, consistent across geographies and user cohorts.
Quick hygiene checks passed—no data outages, auth issues, or reporting anomalies. So, I moved to internal + behavioral root causes.
Funnel walkthrough (iOS):
App open / login (biometric): stable
Dashboard (watchlist + stock tiles): recent UI change
Stock detail placard → chart view: suspect area
Order flow (buy/sell, payment, confirmation): stable
What shipped recently: a UI revamp on iOS where the technical chart (candlestick view) was removed from the main stock placard and moved behind a smaller chart icon on the top bar.
Hypothesis fit: For Zerodha’s active traders, technical charts are the engagement hook. They’re the “muscle memory” feature — traders open the app daily to analyze charts before deciding to trade. Removing the chart from the default view broke the daily loop. Fewer chart opens → less analysis → fewer trades → fewer daily logins. Matches all signals: suddenness, iOS-only, and consistent behavior drop.
I ran external scans too:
No political or social events, no competitor discounts, no outages. But one macroeconomic trigger stood out — the government raised LTCG tax from 10% → 12.5%, dampening retail trading sentiment. It’s an amplifier, not the core cause.
RCA (succinct):
DAU ↓ because engagement ↓; engagement ↓ because chart visibility was reduced on iOS; reduced chart visibility broke habitual usage. The LTCG hike amplified the slowdown by lowering trading appetite.
Immediate actions (0–2 weeks):
Rollback / hotfix iOS UI to restore technical chart visibility on main stock tile.
A/B guardrails: Block rollout if chart open rate or avg. session time drops >X% vs. control.
Comms: In-app banner or email update — “Charts are back, trade smarter and faster.”
Follow-ups (2–8 weeks):
Customizable dashboard: Let users pin charts / widgets most relevant to their style (trader vs investor).
Telemetry: Add chart interaction tracking (impression → open → dwell) to continuously monitor engagement health.
Sentiment layer: Contextual news banners (“Market reacts to LTCG changes — here’s what it means for you”) to sustain trust and activity.
Macro hedge (in parallel):
Engagement campaign: Webinars or nudges on “navigating volatile markets” to re-energize cautious retail users.
Segmented incentives: Trial brokerage waivers or reward badges for consistent activity.
How I’d measure success:
North Star: DAU and Avg. Session Time per iOS user back to pre-drop baseline (then +X%).
Leading indicators: Chart open rate ↑, session length ↑, returning-user ratio ↑.
Quality checks: No rise in crash rate, latency, or support tickets around “chart visibility.”
One-liner summary I’d give in the room:
This wasn’t a market-share or acquisition issue — it was a UX regression on iOS that removed the core engagement feature (technical charts), breaking user habits and DAU. Fix chart visibility immediately, guard against repeat regressions, and use lightweight education + engagement levers to buffer the macro tax shock.