Optimizing Onboarding to Drive User Engagement

Even established platforms can stumble in user activation. At Lyft – a leading rideshare marketplace – the growth team noticed a troubling pattern in new driver behavior. New drivers were receiving a "Day 6" earnings summary email early in their lifecycle, and there were hints that this communication might be causing confusion rather than motivation. The hypothesis was that removing or refining this email could improve drivers' understanding and engagement. To investigate, Lyft defined a clear experiment: would eliminating that early earnings email reduce driver confusion and improve overall activation metrics? The challenge was significant – any misstep in onboarding communications could affect thousands of new drivers and key business health metrics. Lyft needed to ensure that every new driver quickly reached an active, productive state without information overload or confusion.

Levered's data-driven ethos led to an experimentation fulcrum. Rather than assume what new drivers needed, the team ran a controlled holdout experiment to test the effect of the earnings email. Thousands of incoming drivers were split into two groups over four weeks: a treatment group continued to receive the Day-6 earnings email, while a control group did not. This A/B test was carefully designed to measure signs of confusion (such as help page views and support tickets) as well as core engagement metrics like driver hours, ride counts, and earnings in the weeks following onboarding. By analyzing these metrics, Lyft would determine if the email was a necessary nudge or a source of distraction. Levered brought deep analytical expertise to this process, ensuring statistical rigor in the experiment design and analysis. The founder's technical background in SQL and experimentation was instrumental in parsing the results and uncovering the truth behind driver behaviors. As the data rolled in, Levered also helped Lyft formulate a proactive plan depending on the outcome. If the holdout group (no email) showed no increase in confusion or drop in engagement, it would be a green light to remove the email entirely, streamlining communications for new drivers. In that scenario, the team had a replacement strategy ready: integrate the most crucial earnings info directly into the driver app's onboarding flow. Ideas included in-app interactive tutorials or a "First Weeks Dashboard" to answer common payout questions, thereby training drivers to find earnings information within the app itself. On the other hand, if drivers who didn't get the email showed signs of confusion or lower activity, the plan was to refine the email content or targeting – for example, sending it only to drivers in specific regions or updating it to better address common questions. In short, the fulcrum was an insight: a simple communication tweak, guided by experimentation, could dramatically improve user activation by either removing a friction point or making it more effective.

The experiment provided Lyft's growth team with clear direction. In the end, the data revealed exactly how critical (or not) that Day-6 email was to driver activation. Armed with this evidence, Lyft implemented the optimal onboarding communication strategy with confidence. The unnecessary emails were pared back, and essential information was baked into the app experience, reducing clutter in drivers' inboxes. As a result, new drivers became more self-sufficient and less confused, as indicated by stable support ticket volumes and help page views during the test. This optimization in the activation funnel ensured that more drivers hit their early milestones without hiccups. While the specific performance numbers remain proprietary, the qualitative outcome was valuable: Lyft significantly improved the early driver experience by eliminating a potential point of confusion and delivering information at the right time and place (in-app). This case underscores Levered's strategic approach to activation – use data and experimentation to find the small hinge that swings a big door. By testing an assumption about user communications, Levered helped Lyft pull a lever that set up thousands of new users (drivers) for long-term engagement and success on the platform. At Levered, growth isn't about doing more—it's about doing what matters. By pinpointing the pivotal lever (Fulcrum) within your business challenges and applying focused, strategic action (Force), we deliver outsized results without the overhead. Inspired by our founder's proven track record—from scrappy startup campaigns to sophisticated growth initiatives at multi-billion-dollar tech companies—our approach cuts through noise to deliver clear, measurable impact. Whether you're a DTC brand, startup, or growth-stage company, Levered turns your toughest challenges into your greatest opportunities.