StrideLoop · Metrics · Entry · 45 to 60 minutes

Fitness app DAU dropped 25 percent

StrideLoop is a hypothetical fitness tracking app that helps people log workouts, steps, goals, and progress. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

metric diagnosis
funnel analysis
prioritization
structured thinking
user segmentation

The situation

You are the PM for engagement at StrideLoop. Over the last month, Daily Active Users fell by 25 percent. Leadership is worried because there was no major redesign, no pricing change, app store reviews still look stable, and engineering has not flagged a broad outage. The CEO wants an update before next week's operating review and asks you to lead the response. Your job is not to guess a fix quickly. It is to figure out what is actually happening, where in the user journey the drop begins, and what the team should do first. The challenge is that several explanations are plausible: bad data, a recent release issue, a change in user behavior, weaker reminders, seasonal effects, competitor moves, or a problem isolated to one segment. You have limited time and cannot run a large redesign or many parallel experiments. You need a focused plan that helps the team diagnose the issue, choose the next best actions, and define how success will be measured if you intervene.

What to produce

Write a 1 to 2 page PM diagnostic memo.

Your answer must

Define the problem clearly, including the primary metric, time frame, and what is in scope versus out of scope.
List the first clarifying questions and checks you would run, including at least one data quality check and one release or operational check.
Show how you would segment the DAU drop by at least platform, user cohort or activity level, region, and timeline pattern.
Map the user funnel from app open through core usage and name the key metrics or events you would inspect at each step to find the largest drop.
Prioritize the top two next actions, with rationale, expected impact, effort, risks, and how you would know within 3 to 4 weeks if they are working.

Constraints

Do not assume a large redesign, new budget, or paid acquisition push.
Use only existing product analytics, CRM channels, customer feedback, and normal cross functional support from engineering, data, and design.
Your plan must start this week and produce an early read for leadership within 3 to 4 weeks.

Format

Use sections titled Problem, Checks and Questions, Segmentation, Funnel Diagnosis, Root Cause Hypotheses, and Recommended Next Actions.

How StrideLoop actually played it

A worked answer for a fitness tracking app that lost 25 percent of daily actives with no obvious cause. It narrows the cause step by step.

Rule out data and release issues first
Segment by platform, cohort and region
Match the fix to the cause you confirmed

Built from How to solve a drop in DAU: Case Solving by Sreerag Panat.