In a previous post I’ve argued for design of mobile to better align with the unique value proposition that a paid limited data plan presents. In this post I’m exploring how the design of data as it currently exists on web can provide a compelling value proposition for a typical non-technical user adopting because of the privacy/ad blocking/time saving value prop.
Stat 1 - Trackers Blocked (compelling from day one 
) - This is compelling from day 1. While I’d argue 99% of your users have little idea what this actually means (e.g. who is trying to track them, what could be done with the data etc… perhaps an opportunity here either by creating a hover interaction that displays content that describes this, or perhaps by…) I still believe the count you show from day 1 is compelling. The user perspective from day one is - “my privacy has been protected!” - the fact that it’s been protected hundreds and then thousands of times is impressive from the outset.
Ads Blocked (compelling from day one ) - Little needs to be commented upon here beyond blocking an ad is awesome from day 1 and even just a single ad blocked is compelling (I stand behind a similar post that these areas are a great opportunity to build brand awareness by dropping a Brave logo on top though maybe legal or technical constraints prevent this and I’m just unaware…?)
HTTPS Updates 
- For trackers blocked I introduced the belief (without solid data admittedly since I don’t do research for Brave but instead for another tech) that the actual meaning/impact of what a “tracker blocked” means isn’t totally understood misunderstood, I’d argue https is completely misunderstood by most users. Whether the number reads 1, or 1000 most users probably have little to no idea what this means. I understand why a brilliant eng team included it - but the typical browser user sees little value because it has no meaning to them.
Time 
- I’d love to do research to understand when showing time become compelling for your segmented target user base. My guess is this happens once you achieve double digit minutes saved (10+). Before that point, is there a way to show this data in a way that is more compelling for new users? Ideas would be to show aggregate time saved by users this year, or aggregate time saved across Brave community today (if you have a goal of building a Brave community), or specific site that Brave has saved the most time on for users today, or… I don’t know the right solution here without more research but I feel confident suggesting more exploration on this dashboard for users in their initial days is worthwhile to retain users (I’d be super curious to see if this is actually problem… e.g. x% of users abandon Brave to not become monthly actives after y uses…)
Due to the goals of explosive user growth I believe the team has an opportunity to think about those first interactions can better communicate progress on the value prop. I’ll keep exploring how to retain users in those first times they are on the platform. I hope that this post helps inform the team’s thinking despite my inability to pair it with actual quant stats due to a lack of access to data.