Sakari

Sakari is a bulk messaging platform that enables businesses to send marketing campaigns or provide support via text message. Use cases include one-time-passcode (2FA), schedule reminders, product marketing, admissions / recruitment, and customer support. Sakari hired me to launch a redesign of their product, with new features, a custom design system, and a product-led growth culture.

I met with Sakari's customers and partners to identify major pain points. The most common theme was that users did not enjoy managing conversations. The original platform displayed each conversation message as a row item in a table. Users wanted a modern inbox that was consistent with other apps they use, such as Facebook Messenger. We set out to build a shared inbox for SMS that updated automatically and allowed users to navigate all their conversations more efficiently.

I led the launch plan comprised of phases and milestones. It was important that users had access to both the new and old interface during the time at which features from the old platform were missing in the new one. The private beta phase yielded positive results. Customers preferred working in the new inbox over the old one. In the second phase, we resolved major performance issues, allowing us to give access to power users. The third phase switched the default login and signup experience to the new interface. The final phase was removing access to the old interface, deprecating it entirely.

I wrote product specifications for all of our features, including the inbox, contacts, campaigns, workflows setup and management, voice, and the analytics dashboard. Each product spec included frontend and backend requirements, results of user research and competitive analysis, open questions, and design files for hand-off to the engineering team. I led weekly sprint planning / backlog grooming meetings, worked with our designer to finalize visual and interaction requirements, and managed QA against success criteria outlined in specs.

Towards the official launch, I assembled a weekly meeting with department leads to track cross-functional deliverables. I helped build the product marketing strategy, designed email content, and contributed to our support hub documentation.

The product launch was a success. Customers loved the new interface. Users overwhelmingly agreed it was cleaner, easier to manage day-to-day operations, and provided more value than the original platform. One user even mentioned that logging in to Sakari was the best part of her day. My contributions helped Sakari become the number 1 app for SMS in HubSpot Marketplace, and we gained recognition by INC as the 135th fastest growing private company.

I acquired valuable skills at Sakari. This role helped me build skills in managing an end-to-end product launch. One of the most valuable learnings I take away from this position is the agility required to launch a high-quality product with a lean team. I learned how to identify corner cases, monitor changes in regulation, communicate priorities to the organization, and adopt a product-led growth culture.