Our Next Chapter: A Change in Features, New Pricing and a Simpler Approach

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A message from Caraleya’s Founder:

Introduction

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What’s an MVP to you? To me, the first thing that used to spring to mind was “most valuable player”, but that was before Caraleya. Now I understand it to be something more, or - more accurately – something less. 

In the tech world, “MVP” stands for “minimum viable product” and, as we embark on version 2.0, MVP is our focus.

I wanted to take this time to share some important parts of my Founder journey, and how they’ve led my team and I to these critical crossroads that are pivoting us to Caraleya 2.0.

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It started from the heart

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If you’ve been following me, you’ll know that Caraleya started off as a little seed planted by a friend in a typical moment that many of us have experienced. She shared a special detail about herself and I worried I wouldn’t be able to remember it when I needed it next. I told her I was looking for an app for that – and she suggested that I build one.

Caraleya emerged as a way to help remember these special details – from allergies and intolerances, to dietary preferences, gift ideas, hobbies, fun facts and more. These special details are what I call the “heart” of Caraleya – because wanting to remember them really does come right from the heart. (The heart, of course, being the “most valuable player” in this scenario.)

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Great intentions, Mistakes along the way

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So… I built an app for that, with a lot of help. I tried to do all the right things, but I did a lot of the wrong things along the way, despite my best intentions.

Steve Jobs once said: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of many of the things we haven't done as the things we have done.”

I lost focus and got more than a little bit carried away devising and implementing all the wonderful ways life could be made simpler with an app that could do it ALL.

My MVP quickly went from “minimum viable product” to “maximum vision product”, with the result that the heart of Caraleya got a little lost in the melee. I’m really proud of our supporting features – but the truth is, they don’t (yet) perform well enough – and given our early challenges with bugs, lack of intuitive UI/UX and other issues - they quickly overshadowed the overall user experience to the detriment of what Caraleya was truly meant to be.

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Why we’re pivoting
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We’ve brought almost 15,000 users to Caraleya, but our research has shown that they aren’t enjoying the app to the fullest – with obvious knock on effects to retention and revenue.

So, I had to make some difficult decisions over the Summer. Could I continue Caraleya? It became very clear that I couldn’t continue this beautiful app in its current state. I sought feedback, looked at our analytics, agonized and got guidance from my team – and here we are - pivoting. We decided Caraleya was worth saving, but it would take a radical rework. We had to get back to the MVP – the heart of Caraleya. So that’s what we’re doing.

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What’s changing in 2.0

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• Events, Circles, Tasks, Memories and Greetings will pause for now.‍
• Profiles, Wishes, Calendar, Reminders, Lists, Notes and Community will remain – with a fresh new look – and an amazing new Home Screen.
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I wanted to reduce the impact on our existing users as much as possible. We looked at the features that were least used and most problematic and focused on keeping and improving the features that our Caraleya community were actively engaged with, and which were working well. We looked at ways to get our users to the heart of Caraleya as quickly, easily and joyfully as possible. (Thank you Pattern for your inspiration and guidance for this process – and our wonderful designer Simona who is bringing this to life for 2.0.)

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New pricing and our promise:

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Then came the very difficult question of costs, which is extra difficult if your tendency is to give more than you receive. But we had to adjust pricing to keep Caraleya going.

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• Our existing subscribers will therefore be entitled, for life, to any VIP features we re-introduce following the launch of 2.0. This is our “thank you” for being with us from the start of our journey and staying with us as this next chapter unfolds.
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• New subscribers will still enjoy a 7-day free trial and then they’ll have the choice of continuing with the free version of Caraleya, or upgrading to VIP on our new pricing scale of $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Still great value, especially when you consider there’s really no price you can put on thoughtfulness.
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A sincere apology:

I want to personally apologise to each and every user who will have their data affected by this change. I am truly and sincerely sorry. We’re trying to give as much notice as possible over the coming weeks as we eye a 23rd September launch of 2.0 (tentatively).

This isn’t what I would have chosen in an ideal world, but as Founder I am trying to keep this beloved app going and I hope 2.0 will be the change that makes the difference. I too will be affected, but I believe the end result will be worth it. I hope you feel that way too when all is said and done. And your voice matters to us – so let us know if you want to see some of the retiring features returned in the future.

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Summary:

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So there you have it. It was important to me to be as open and honest as possible during this time. My team and I are here to help – just contact us at support@caraleya.com and we’ll be there for you as soon as we can.

I’ll end with a quote by Kakuzo Okakura who said: “The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”

So onwards and upwards we go. Thank you for being with us on this journey.

Thoughtfully yours,
Jo

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