The document discusses the email service HEY and provides feedback on its features and areas for improvement. Some key points: - HEY is a "freemium" email service that aims to help users better manage their inbox with features like an "Important Box" and built-in workflows. - The user likes HEY's privacy focus and built-in workflows but dislikes its lack of integration with Google services and limited customization options. - Areas for improvement include richer Google integrations, more granular email categorization, and leveraging machine learning to automate tasks while protecting privacy.

1. By Bruno Wong
Product Manager
Exercise

2. Describe a (software) product you use frequently
HEY is a “freemium” email service with built-in workflows and novel
features that help me better manage my emails on a daily basis
“Imbox” is not a spelling error. It stands for “Important Box”. HEY iOS app

3. Some features that make HEY unique
1. A built-in ‘Reply Later’ workflow
A dedicated ‘Reply Later’ pile at the bottom of
the screen so you don’t lose it or forget it.
“Imbox” for emails you want to engage with. “The Feed” for
newsletters and marketing emails. “The Paper Trail” for receipts,
confirmations, and transactional emails.
2. Three Groups: “Imbox”, “The Feed”,and “The Paper Trail”
A way to merge different emails and threads into one
thread and give it a custom “Subject” headline.
3. Merging emails and custom “Subject” headlines

4. Why do you use HEY?
1. Too many emails I do not care about
2. Too many email notifications
3. Existing email (Gmail) rarely improves
4. Invasion of privacy (email tracking)
5. Limited workflows (email folders)
Gmail problems:
My spammy Gmail experience over the past 10+ years

5. What do you like about HEY?
1. Lets me screen my “first time” emails
2. Notifications are off by default
3. Frequent software updates (new features)
4. Privacy centric
5. Built in workflow
Solutions:
“First time” emails go through a screening
Great experience knowing Hey is looking out for my privacy
Workflows that allow for more ways to deal with email replies

6. What do you dislike about HEY?
Problems:
You must download ICS files to update your calendar
Screening emails can be overwhelming
1. Hard to integrate into existing Google
ecosystem (e.g.Calendar invites)
2. Overly simplistic email address categorization
(e.g. Companies use 1 email address for different
use cases: promotion/account error/receipts/
reminders etc.)
3. Missing intuitive elements of classic email
(e.g. “Read” notification and “Archive”)
4. Very little automation: You have to set email
address preferences individually

7. How would you improve HEY?
Incremental improvements:
Problem Solution
1. Hard to integrate into existing Google
ecosystem (e.g.Calendar invites)
Richer integrations with Google apps: No more
downloading ICS files for calendar invites
2. Overly simplistic email address categorization (e.g.
Companies use 1 email address for different use cases:
promotion/account error/receipts/reminders etc.)
Allow for more granular categorization for email
addresses
3. Missing intuitive elements of classic email (e.g.
“Read” notification and “Archive”)
Make these features optional
4. Very little automation: You have to set email
address preferences individually
Define email categorization archetypes and allow
for “Apply All” functionality to scale categorization

8. How would you improve HEY?
10X improvements:
Feature Idea Description
Build Calendar, Note/Task apps that are fully
integrated with HEY email
I believe a true centralized workspace needs to marry email
with calendar and notes/tasks applications. This will make
it easier for users to break away from ecosystems like G
Suite
Leverage ML in a privacy centric way to auto-
categorize emails
Most email archetypes can be defined through keywords,
so most categorization can be accurately automated
through ML
Give privacy centric email insights to help Users
become more effective (e.g Purchase habits from
“The Paper Trail”)
If done in a privacy friendly way, it would be great to give
people insights to extract more value from the richness of
their emails

9. How would you measure success?
• % of Users that converted to Paid within 14 Days
Primary Metrics
• % of Paid Users that renewed their Annual Subscription
Assuming it takes around 2 weeks for someone to get set up and try out
HEY’s core product, this metric helps me understand a crucial customer
acquisition strategy of the business: Converting the Freemium users.
This metric helps me understand Customer Lifetime Value as well as
whether or not the product is providing enough value to the user overtime.

10. How would you measure success?
Secondary Metrics
• % of Engaged “Imbox” emails per week
(Read, Write, Email Actions, Thread Options)
• % of Conversion from unique visitor to Account Activation
This metric helps me understand how much value a user is getting out of HEY.
Ideally it would be good to segment engagement metrics by feature. The
focus is on the “Imbox” because it houses emails the User deems important.
“Account Activation” defined as a User who has successfully created an account and
can send and receive emails from their new address. This metric helps me understand
the customer acquisition strategies: the quality of users based on channel and Hey’s
ability to target and communicate its value proposition to them.