← All questions
Metricsstandard
A feature in your app is used by only 2% of users. What would you look at before deciding to remove it?
How to approach it
Ask who the 2% are before judging the number. A small group of high-value or highly loyal users can make a little-used feature worth keeping.
How a strong answer opens
“Before judging the 2%, I'd like to know who they are. If they're our most loyal or highest-paying users, a little-used feature can be worth keeping.”
Outline of a strong answer
Try answering out loud for a few minutes before you open this.
- Profile the 2%: are they paying, long-tenured or power users
- Compare their retention and revenue with similar users who do not use it
- Count the cost of keeping it: maintenance, bugs, design clutter, slower releases
- Check whether low use comes from poor discovery rather than low value
- Options: remove, hide in settings, move to a paid tier, or improve discovery
- Plan the removal with notice and a fallback, and watch churn among that group
Where this question usually goes wrong
Removing the feature because the percentage is low, without checking whether that 2% includes the most valuable or loyal customers.
Learn the method
Making trade-off decisions in Module 2, Metrics and execution.
The full kit has worked answers in full, start to finish, for every round type. $129 once.
More metrics questions
- A feature increases engagement but also increases reports of harassment. Do you keep it?
- Ads revenue would rise 5% if you added one more ad to the feed. Should you?
- Notifications drive 30% of daily opens, but the uninstall rate is rising. What do you do?
- Engineering can either cut app load time in half or build the top-requested feature this quarter. How do you choose?
- You're launching saved searches on a home-listing site. What goal would you set for the first quarter?