The Zwift Survey...and the Zwiftmoji Pain Scale...

There’s been a lot of chatter on the social groups about a recent survey that went out to a cross section of Zwift users. Some Zwifters who participated in the survey vocalized wariness to the pricing-related questions, and wondered if the survey may be a precursor to a price increase. But lets tap the brakes; a survey is a common mechanism for a company to learn how its product is valued, which often, has little to do with price.

I could blabber on about marketing, business models and graphs with lines shaped like hockey sticks, but I will interrupt the above paragraph to introduce you to ZwiftWatch.tv's Zwiftmoji Pain Scale. The seeds of this concept were planted yesterday, while leading a group workout for Zwift Academy. While typing "Is everyone good?" and seeing the words "yep" and "good"popping up on the screen, I realized I really had NO IDEA how the riders were actually fairing. We started chatting about how cool it would be if they could just type an emoji to express their condition, so I would know how they were really doing. Inspired by our conversation, it hit me. I must create this:

In the future, if you're on a ride with me, please feel free to use the above number key to communicate with me. Until Zwiftmojis are a reality in the game, typing a 2, 4 or 9 will clarify "fine". Note to the ladies on the ride: I could not find an emoji to represent "legs on fire" (one that was rated G anyway).

Pardon the interruption, and now back to the Zwift survey...

A survey as means to understand how a customer uses and values a company's product/service is an opportunity for Zwifters to be heard. I'm sure they received a ground swell of very candid voices. Zwift is a young company looking to grow and scale its business. The market opportunity is not limited to those of us who call ourselves cyclists; it includes the like of fitness spinners (think Peloton), and more broadly, anyone who exercises, or even anyone who knows how to ride a bike. Which may be why the survey floated a "combo concept", bundling a smart trainer + app for a monthly fee (different user, different product, different fee).

IMHO, opening the platform to various market segments, by offering alternative pricing/product plans to different users is a good thing; especially if it means the increased growth and revenue will subsidize more features (and hopefully new worlds) for the rest of us. There will always be those who threaten to leave the platform at any hint of a price increase, but there are others who probably wouldn’t leave over a (very) minimal increase. That latter group includes me, especially if, like, you know-- they implement my Zwiftmoji idea. And oh yeah add a workout mode, with voice. I want that too.