Ask clarifying questions to dissect the problem statement:

‍

Me: To reiterate the problem statement, the service completion rate for the orders placed on Urban Company has decreased by 18% overall?

Interviewer: Yes.

Me: Is this decline generic or specifically on orders placed through their website or mobile application.? 

Interviewer: We are seeing the decrease specifically taking into consideration the orders that are placed on both platforms.

Me: Urban Company also has an option to order some brand products like Home Integration systems . Are we considering those as orders and including them in our calculations?

Interviewer: No, product-based services are considered.

Me: How is the service completion rate calculated? Is it simply the number of services completed divided by the total number of services booked?

Interviewer: Yes.

Me: I would like to clarify if canceled services are counted as services that were booked but not completed.

Interviewer: Yes. Such services would be counted in the denominator of the calculation but not in the numerator as that only includes orders which are completed successfully.

Me: Has there been a recent change in the method of calculating the service completion rate?

Interviewer: No, there have been no changes to the calculation method.

Me: The metric must be measured through some analytics tool, have we confirmed there is no malfunction of this analytic tool?

Interviewer: Yes, everything seems to be fine in that aspect.

Me: Has this decrease been observed in a specific region or across all regions where Urban Company operates?

Interviewer: The decrease has been observed across multiple regions.

Me: Is the drop sudden or over a period of time? Over what period has this 18% decrease been observed? (e.g., week over week, or month over month)

Interviewer: The decrease has been sudden, observed over the past month compared to the previous month.

Me: Is the drop consistent across all user segments/demographic categories, or are there specific segments that are experiencing larger drops?

Interviewer: The drop is consistent across all user segments/demographic categories.

Me: Is the drop experienced across all types of orders, or only specific ones (e.g., home appliances, beauty services, cleaning and pest control etc.)?

Interviewer: The drop seems to be associated with orders consisting of repair services.

Identify Possible Causes:

List out all possible internal and external factors that could have led to this situation. The actual cause could be one of them or a combination of both, in some situations. Use data obtained from the clarifying questions to narrow down further.

Me: Now that I have clarified the problem statement, and since we see that the decrease is associated with repair services, I am going to explore a few internal factors that might have led to the decrease, then move on to operational and external factors. Does that work?

Interviewer: Yes, this works. You may proceed with exploring internal factors.

Internal Factors:

(a) Product Changes:

Me: Were there any recent app updates or feature changes?

Interviewer: Yes, there were some updates but nothing major that should affect service completion.

Me: I would like to clarify the user journey to understand any possible changes in it.
User Journey for placing an order on Urban Company:
The user adds delivery address -> Search/select services from search bar/menu-> Add service to cart -> Go to cart and click continue -> Login/Create account -> Select time slot -> Confirm order details and make payment

Interviewer: Yes, that is the correct user journey.

Me: The user doesn’t have any option to place the order directly without creating an account first, for example, Continue as a Guest. And this flow is the same since inception.

Interviewer: Yes, that is right.

(b) Tech Issue/Bug:  
‍

Me: Have there been any bugs or issues that were reported, or support tickets raised?

Interviewer: No significant bugs or issues have been reported recently.

Me: Can the lower fulfillment rate be traced back to specific app versions, or devices (website users vs mobile app users), or mobile operating systems (Android users vs iOS users)?

Interviewer: No, the drop in fulfillment rate is consistent across all versions and devices.

‍

‍(c) Backend Infrastructure Change:
‍

Me: Have there been any backend infrastructure changes, such as server migrations or database updates, that could have caused service interruptions or data loss?
Interviewer: No significant backend changes have been made recently.

Operational Changes:

Me: Have there been any operational changes, such as an increase in the number of orders placed on the app or a decrease in the number of delivery executives operating over the past month?

Interviewer: No significant operational changes have been reported.

Me: Has there been a decline in the quality of customer service, whether in-person, via the app, or through customer support?

Interviewer: No decline in customer service quality has been reported.

Me: Have there been any failures to meet customer expectations regarding delivery times, availability of items, and service quality?

Interviewer: Yes, there have been many orders which were canceled a day after they were placed.

Me: Urban Company guarantees for a service on the time slot booked, which stage were these services canceled?

Interviewer: Yes, most of these services were canceled 2-3 hours before they were scheduled.

Me: In reference to the user journey I clarified earlier, were these canceled orders ones specifically booked for repairing kitchen appliances or any repair activity?

Interviewer: Yes, these were services specifically booked for repairing household items including kitchen appliances as well as other electrical appliances.

Me: Could a decrease in the number of electricians tied up for services have created scheduling delays, causing many services to get delayed and even canceled?

Interviewer: Yes, there has been a decrease in the number of service people/electricians available in the last month, leading to scheduling delays and affecting service completion.

Me : Are we making sure that our electricians have the required training required for repairing the latest gadgets available nowadays and they are doing that properly.

Interviewer: Yes, We can an extensible training plans placed that they need to complete before they are assigned a job. Since there are a lot of additional in gadgets happening every day, there are chances they might not be expert in some areas.

External Factors:

Me: Now that I have an idea what the root cause might be, I am just going to quickly run through some probable external factors that might have additionally contributed to the decrease.

Interviewer: Sure, please proceed.

Me: Is there increased competition with users possibly comparing Urban Company's services with other apps like No Broker etc.?

Interviewer: There has been no drastic increase in competition as such.

Me: Could there have been any major event that led to a decrease in service completion (e.g., a big festival, natural disasters, etc.)?

Interviewer: No major events that could affect delivery services have occurred.

Me: Has there been any negative media coverage or change in public sentiment about Urban Company?

Interviewer: No significant negative media coverage or change in sentiment.

Me: Have there been any government or regulatory changes affecting medicine procurement and delivery operations?

Interviewer: No recent regulatory changes.

Me: Could there be seasonal variations or economic downturns affecting customer behavior?

Interviewer: There has been no significant seasonal variation or economic downturn reported.

Analyze the Causes:

Decrease in Experts Tied Up for Services:

Data Analysis: Examine the number of available experts for services before and after the observed drop in service completion rate. Compare the scheduling delays and the number of services delayed or canceled due to these delays.

User Feedback: Review user feedback and complaints regarding delays in services. Identify any correlations between negative feedback and lower service completion rates.

Actual Service Time: Analyze if there is a noticeable increase in the time taken for Service vs the booked slot. Determine if there is a specific time of day or week when the delays are more pronounced.

‍

Plan and Implement Solution(s):

Address Provider Issues:

• Improve recruitment and training programs.
• Increase incentives to retain high-quality providers.

Fix Technology Problems:

• Work with the tech team to resolve app and system issues.
• Implement regular system maintenance and updates.

Optimize Operations:

• Streamline resource allocation and logistical support.
• Enhance tracking and monitoring systems to improve efficiency.
• Provide updates and notifications to keep users informed about their order status.

‍

Monitor/Analyze:

Set up real-time monitoring of service completion rates. Track the effectiveness of increased doctor availability through the following metrics: