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Product OwnershipGamingUser EngagementRetention
Cyclegent/GameSports — Virtual Cycling Game Product (0 to 1)
- •Served as Product Owner for Cyclegent / GameSports — a virtual cycling game startup — owning the full product roadmap from initial concept through to live feature delivery.
- •The product combined real-world cycling input (cadence, power, speed) with a gamified virtual racing environment.
- •Led the design of core engagement systems: achievement loops, progression mechanics, competitive features, and social layers.
- •Built the analytics framework to track player behaviour.
The Challenge
- Early retention was critically low (3%) — users engaged with the product on day one but did not return.
- The target user (amateur cyclist) had well-developed alternatives (Zwift, Rouvy, TrainerRoad) — differentiation required identifying underserved user needs.
- As a startup, engineering capacity was limited — every roadmap decision required explicit prioritisation trade-offs.
The Approach
- Conducted player interviews and session replay analysis to diagnose the retention drop-off.
- Designed a structured achievement system: short-term (session-level badges), medium-term (weekly challenge completions), and long-term (seasonal leaderboards and ranking tiers).
- Implemented a ghost rider competitive mechanic — letting users race against their personal best or friends past sessions.
- Redesigned the onboarding flow to surface the progression system within the first session.
- Built a lightweight analytics dashboard tracking D1/D7/D30 retention, session frequency, achievement unlock rates.
Results
D7 retention improved from 3% to 18% — a 6x improvement following progression loop redesign and onboarding revamp.
Average session frequency increased post-achievement system launch.
Achievement unlock rate validated the engagement loop design.
Tech Stack
Amplitude/MixpanelSQLFigmaJiraSession replay toolsUnityExcel