What caused the sudden 30% increase in support tickets related to Procore Technologies's Bid Management feature last week?

Introduction

The sudden 30% increase in support tickets related to Procore Technologies's Bid Management feature last week is a critical issue that demands immediate attention. This analysis will systematically identify, validate, and address the root cause while considering both short-term and long-term implications for our product and users.

I'll approach this problem by first clarifying the context, then ruling out external factors before diving deep into the product ecosystem, metric breakdown, and data analysis. From there, I'll form hypotheses, conduct root cause analysis, and propose validation methods and solutions.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• Looking at the timing, I'm thinking there might have been a recent update. Has there been any change to the Bid Management feature in the past two weeks?

Why it matters: Recent changes often correlate with support ticket spikes. Expected answer: Yes, a minor UI update was released. Impact on approach: If yes, I'd focus on the update's impact; if no, I'd look at other factors.

• Considering user segments, I'm curious about the distribution. Are these tickets coming from a specific user group or spread across all users?

Why it matters: Helps identify if it's a targeted issue or a system-wide problem. Expected answer: Mostly from new users in the construction industry. Impact on approach: If specific, I'd focus on that segment; if general, I'd look at broader system issues.

• Thinking about the nature of the tickets, I'm wondering about the content. What are the top 3 issues being reported in these tickets?

Why it matters: Identifies the specific problems users are facing. Expected answer: Difficulty in bid submission, error messages, slow loading times. Impact on approach: Would guide my technical investigation and hypothesis formation.

• Considering potential data anomalies, I'm curious about our tracking. Has there been any change in how we categorize or count support tickets recently?

Why it matters: Ensures we're comparing apples to apples in our data. Expected answer: No changes in ticket categorization or counting methods. Impact on approach: If changed, I'd reassess the 30% increase; if not, I'd proceed with current data.