Hey hey,
We are back with the third edition of the Think Like a PM series.
Last time, we broke down WhatsApp’s dot “typing” feature. Don’t forget to check the comments.
Today, we are looking at something even bigger - the rise of instant domestic help.
Game-changer or ethical dilemma?
Let’s dive in.
15-Minute Domestic Help At Your Doorstep
First, it was instant groceries. Then insta food. Now, insta maids.
Urban Company is testing Insta Maids which lets you book a maid for cleaning, mopping, or cooking prep. And they arrive within 15 minutes of the booking.
(For those who haven’t heard of Urban Company—they are a tech platform offering a variety of services at home. These services include beauty treatments, haircuts, massage therapy, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, appliance repair, painting etc.)
What we know:
Urban Company is testing a new service category—Insta Maids in Mumbai (a tier 1 city.)
On the app, you can book a maid for ₹49 ($0.57) per hour for cleaning, mopping, or cooking prep.
They arrive in 15 minutes after the booking is done.
Workers get
₹150-180 ($1.74-$2.09) per hour they work
₹20,000-₹25,000 ($250-$300) fixed salary
Health insurance.
Think Like a PM:
How tough is it to organise such a fragmented sector like domestic help?
What types of consumers would benefit the most from this service?
What challenges does it post for domestic help workers?
What could go wrong with this new category of getting services instantly?
Shoutouts!
I loved the points that Stuart Neale made about the WhatsaApp’s dot typing feature.
The user is almost always looking at the bottom of the screen, hence it is intuitive to have the typing indicator at the bottom also.
The word “Typing” has to be translated to multiple languages that WhatsApp supports. And this feature prevents that overhead.
Thoughts From JAPM Team:
Intuitive UX. When you’re in a chat, you’re either reading the most recent message, or typing, or both. And while doing all of these, you’re already looking at the bottom. And, if you have a decently sized screen size, you would have to literally look up to discover if any one is typing. The new feature reduces that extra work.
Yes, they changed something users are used to. But the new “typing” feature is so simple that it doesn’t need the users to re-train on how to use the app. It’s just there. Once you see it, you automatically know how it works. This doesn’t break any mental models and hence creates no or very low disruption.
Metrics to track success: it’s tough to have specific metrics to track this feature, because it doesn’t change any core functionality (like reading messages, notifications, opening chats, etc.) In such cases, it becomes important to monitor existing, critical metrics, and ensure that none of them are negatively impacted. For ex: if total no. of messages per week were to fall (assuming nothing else changed), then that could signal something is wrong.
With that said, see you in the comments.
—Sid
How tough is it to organize such a fragmented sector like domestic help?
1. To get the domestic helpers to trust in this new business model
2. Requires a thorough vetted process around the domestic helpers background so as to get the consumers to trust in this model
What types of consumers would benefit the most from this service?
1. Elderly/sick/Employed people who cannot manage if their household help takes off without prior notice.
What challenges does it post for domestic help workers?
1. In Ind there is always a sense of compassion and trust when a household has a long term domestic help which is very beneficial for both the parties involved. This will be quite challenging to establish in this new model.
2. Also, on the other side, the relationship between the existing household-helper could take set back. Given that both are not indispensable for each other and the stickiness/loyalty will be compromised.
3. Unpredictable employment routine for the domestic help workers- Some days can be easy and some days can be fully booked. Unpredictable travels can also be challenging on the workers.
4. Getting up to speed with every consumer's work environment/household work could be challenging too
5. Domestic help's access to the app and the internet
What could go wrong with this new category of getting services instantly?
1. In order to oblige the 15 min metrics, distance/traffic needs to be accounted between the helper's location and the consumer's location and logistics need to be planned according between this 2 sided market (the help seekers and the helpers who enroll into this platform)
2. Availability issues
3. Fraud and Scam
4. Pricing & Monetization Risks - Surge Pricing Backlash: Dynamic pricing models may frustrate users if they see sudden cost spikes. If prices are kept low for competitiveness, service providers might leave the platform.
5. Issues due to app's downtime
How tough is it to organise such a fragmented sector like domestic help?- Tough as they are not that digitally savvy that they will use an app , they are not used tot his formal structure, how will you do background check , skill standardisation etc
What types of consumers would benefit the most from this service?- people whose maid go on leave during weekends, people who dont stay in a society and dont know whom to contact to get maid like bachelors, people who want to keep maid after good background check , elderly people living alone, people who need flexibility on when they want to call maid, occasional help seekers
What challenges does it post for domestic help workers?- different work different day , they will just be directly assigned instead of them choosing, generally they get very comfortable as their routine is same but here routine will vary, how much distance they will have to cover will vary etc
What could go wrong with this new category of getting services instantly?- difference in demand -supply, maid not availble within 15 min , not a good quality work , different maids- different kind of work, 49 /hour is great and if increases in future people might not like it