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Wishroute

Co-founder, Head of Wellness Programming & User Engagement

Wishroute: Co-founder; Head of Wellness Programming & User Engagement

Wishroute was founded in 2018 as a wellness accountability "buddy" via text to help users follow through with their health & fitness goals. I joined up with Babson MBA student Jess Lynch, who understood the important of daily follow-through in creating healthy habits and felt strongly that there was a hole in the market for helping users get through the sticking points of habit adoption to see results.
Wishroute grew from the classroom at Babson College to a small band of dedicated users, then made a pivot durIng the pandemic to support frontline healthcare workers with self-care habits - marking a transition to a B2B focus to help wellness apps & subscription product companies engage users via text to increase free trial conversion, subscription retention and brand loyalty. 

Wishroute was acquired in May 2023 by Suggestic as a coaching & engagement product that combined Wishroute’s unique methodology with the latest in Generative AI.

As a founding team member I contributed to a variety of projects to support product and business development, but my main work as Programming & Engagement Manager was designing and managing the user experience programs (the text messages and content a user would receive)

A quick overview:

I took on the role of Head of Wellness Programming & User Engagement at Wishroute, managing the end-to-end user experience for both the direct-to-consumer cohort and the co-branded/white-labeled partnerships with wellness apps & subscription product companies. 

My work included: 

  • Creating 2-8 week programs of daily user texts and content (about 30-40 programs total) 
  • Training the Wishroute coaches (called "guides") on how to effectively communicate customer brand voice and support users with partnerships product features 
  • Creating additional resources and content for guides to send to users for additional wellness support or questions
  • Creating internal admin resources for brand voice 
  • Making regular live updates and improvements to message copy based on engagement data 

    Below are snapshots of my SMS programming in action, with real examples of the interactive user support from the team interface  (names and phone numbers are blacked out to protect privacy). 

    Wishroute SMS programs involved a mix of automated/programmed daily tips and inspiration (usually in the morning) ....

    ... and check-in texts (usually at night) to ask the user if they were able to complete their habit for the day 

    The challenge was to ensure the mix of automation and live human coaching was seamless as one customer persona, even as a team of guides supported the same user each day. Each message had to align with principle to answer 2 important questions: "Does this sound human, or bot-like?" and "Does this support the user's goal?"

    Habits ranged from healthy eating, exercise, self-care, meditation, weight-loss, routine-building and more

    When a user responded to any automated message, a guide would text back to support (in this case, I'm the guide)

    The stats: I designed 30-40 user programs (plus countless additional modified versions) ranging from 2-8 weeks to support Wishroute's combined 8,077 users over 4.5 years, some requiring added content creation (like landing pages and images). That's a lot of copy!  

    Example in action ➡️

    In this demo (created for marketing purposes) you can see the full flow of the daily user experience:

    • The top text is an example of a pre-programmed/automated text with content. In this case, it's a deep-link to a meditation that would bring a user into their app
    • The bottom text is a guide responding to the user 

    Both top and bottom texts are a result of my work - the programmed automated text and the customer content/brand voice training and resources that ensured the guide was able to support the user and represent the company in the best way

      Example in action ➡️

      This exercise tip was created in January 2021 for a Wishroute co-branded "Frozen Fitness" challenge to motivate users to get moving during the winter

      Accompanying text message: "Morning! We know it can be tough to get outside for a workout when it's cold outside 🌬 Use these tips to warm up, get motivated, and prep your body for movement before you step outside"

        Example in action ➡️

        My role leading User Experience & Programming was not limited to active users: I also contributed to winback campaigns, lead generation, new business development, and media reach-out (see "Quoted" below). 

        This image was sent as part of a winback campaign for Wishroute users who did not convert to subscription after a free trial.

          Behind-the-scenes: Wishroute's UX program design

          A full SMS program design started in this type of template

          This snapshot is a program very early in the process as my team and I laid out a cadence of tips, inspiring messages and check-in texts to support the user over the week or month 

          Team materials empowered  Wishroute "guides" to support users as one brand persona:

          Here's an example of a "content library" I created for guides to support a B2B customer's users - database of articles and blog posts for guides to send give users extra support in pursuit of their goals

          Providing a content library required: 

          1. Anticipating user challenges before program launch
          2. Curating content for those topics 
          3. Drafting accompanying copy to help the guide introduce the content in the best way (guides were taught to modify the suggested message for optimal tone & conversational flow to accommodate unique user interactions)

          Guide resources also included a customer one-pager, customer service, FAQS, SOPs for support, and enrichment materials like quizzes and workshops

          Check out more Wishroute content here!

          Quoted as co-founder

          Focus on that thing that challenges you and nail it down. Focus on healthy habits, one at a time, and make good things happen for yourself."

          Kait Taylor, Co-founder of Wishroute

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