Case StudyProduct Team: Defining The Product Strategy - Mature Product
PayPal's Resolution Center, a vital component of their service, had remained largely unchanged and under-invested for over a decade. This neglect led to it being rated as one of the top five most painful experiences at PayPal for several years. The challenge PayPal faced was evolving a mature, existing product that had grown resistant to change and laden with complexities.
The Solution
PayPal decided to implement a comprehensive overhaul of the Resolution Center. This required a lot of key product management skill sets including:
- Stakeholder management: Addressing resistance to change by engaging with stakeholders and aligning on the need for evolution.
- Product Vision: The product might exist but it might not be achieving its core goals. The team reevaluated the core problem and explored innovative solutions beyond the mere optimization of existing processes.
- Product Strategy: The product exists so it can be easy to build on top of it. However the team tackled the 'baggage' of the mature product, which involved making tough decisions about which aspects to retain, rewrite, or discard.
Outcomes achieved
The initiative led to a significant improvement in the PayPal Resolution Center. This included enhanced Net Promoter Scores (NPS), reduced losses, and a more streamlined, user-friendly dispute resolution process. The case highlights the challenges and strategies involved in evolving a mature product, emphasizing the importance of change management, stakeholder engagement, and a willingness to rethink established norms.
