HipVan: Social Platform & App Growth

🎯 Challenge

Pivoting a legacy furniture retailer into a community-first social platform to capture users at the "Inspiration" stage (top-funnel) before they enter the "Shopping" stage.

🚀 Mission

Map the entire 12-month homeowner journey - from house hunting to renovation - to identify where HipVan could solve "pre-purchase" friction.

🏆 Win

Reduced Cost Per Install (CPI) from $21 to $8 in 60 days and significantly increased long-term customer LTV.

Strategic Artifacts

Artifact A: Homeowner Journey Map

I conducted deep-dive user interviews to map the emotional and functional needs of homeowners. I identified that the biggest gap wasn't 'finding furniture,' but 'visualising a lifestyle.'

The Result: This map became our product roadmap, shifting our focus from "selling a sofa" to "easing homeowner stress through community inspiration".

Artifact B: High-Cadence Ad Creative Testing Framework

I designed a multivariate testing engine to decode the 'DNA' of a high-converting ad. Over 60 days, we treated every ad as a hypothesis. We didn't just test copy; we tested Visual Psychology Variables, such as:

Style: Mid-century vs. Minimalist
Perspective: Wide-angle (Space) vs. Close-up (Detail)
Transparency: Price-tag featured vs. Price-tag hidden.

The Result: Minimalist style + Wide-angle + Transparent pricing for high-aesthetic/low-cost items

Artifact C: Winnng Ad Anatomy

By synthesising the data from our 60-day testing sprint, I developed a 'Creative Blueprint' for all future acquisition assets. We moved away from generic furniture shots and toward a high-transparency, community-focused layout.

The Result: This 'Winning Anatomy' became the engine that sustained our $8 CPI and successfully transitioned users from passive scrollers to active community members.

Business Impact

We successfully pivoted HipVan from a retailer to a community-first ecosystem, achieving a 62% reduction in CPI (from $21 to $8) and a 350% revenue increase. By capturing users during the "Inspiration" phase rather than just the "Purchase" phase, we built a defensible top-of-funnel that reduced app uninstalls by 75% and significantly increased long-term customer LTV.

Reflection

This project proved that transparency is a growth lever. My multivariate testing revealed that real-world specificity, like actual renovation budgets and homeowner occupations, drove higher trust and conversion than polished studio ads. I learned that the PMM’s highest value is in translating deep user psychology into a repeatable, data-backed creative engine.

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