📉 Example Decision: What to Do About a Declining Product Line
This is a guided example of using Confab to decide what to do with a legacy product that has seen steadily declining sales and user engagement. It demonstrates multi-stakeholder collaboration, option comparison, and metric-driven decision making.
🟦 Step 1: Define the Decision
Confab Name:
Future of Legacy Product Alpha
Description:
Sales and usage of Product Alpha have dropped significantly over the past year. We must decide whether to reinvest, reposition, bundle it, sunset it, or modernize it.
Stakeholders:
- Sarah – Product Manager
- Jamir – Sales Lead
- Anika – Customer Success Lead
- Devon – Finance Lead
🟩 Step 2: Add Options
Add options using the Quick Create interface or collaboratively via a NoteBlock.
| Option | Summary |
|---|---|
| Reinvest in Marketing | Run aggressive campaigns to regain traction |
| Reposition the Product | Retarget to a different audience or use case |
| Bundle with Other Products | Package with newer offerings for added value |
| Sunset the Product | Phase it out cleanly with a migration plan |
| Pivot Development Focus | Invest in modernizing the product |
🟨 Step 3: Add Option Attributes
Use attributes to compare options on cost, effort, and expected outcomes.
| Option | 💰 Cost ($) | ⏱️ Time to Implement | 📈 ROI (12mo) | ⚙️ Internal Effort | 😊 Customer Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reinvest in Marketing | 50,000 | 1 month | 1.3x | Medium | Mixed |
| Reposition the Product | 30,000 | 2 months | 1.5x | Medium | Mixed |
| Bundle with Other Products | 20,000 | 1 month | 1.4x | Low | Positive |
| Sunset the Product | 10,000 | 3 months | 2.0x* | Low | Negative/Mixed |
| Pivot Development Focus | 120,000 | 6 months | 2.5x* | High | Positive |
*Assumes successful implementation and market fit.
🟥 Step 4: Collaborate & Compare
Use Confab's tools to evaluate and debate the options:
- 💬 Comment threads under each option
- 📊 Scatterplot comparing Cost vs ROI
- 🕸️ Radar chart showing internal effort vs impact
- 📃 Pro/Con lists gathered from user notes
- 🎯 Tag highlights like "Quick Win" or "High Risk"
🟪 Final Decision & Votes
✅ Recommended Decision:
Bundle with Other Products, monitor for retention lift over the next 3 months. Reassess based on customer sentiment before pivoting dev focus.
🗳️ Votes Summary:
| Option | 👍 Yes | 👎 No |
|---|---|---|
| Bundle | 3 | 1 |
| Sunset | 2 | 2 |
| Pivot Dev | 1 | 3 |
| Reinvest in Marketing | 0 | 4 |
| Reposition the Product | 2 | 2 |
💡 Confab Tips for This Example
- Use weighted scoring if ROI matters most to your team.
- Compare stakeholder votes vs actual outcomes after 3–6 months.
- Use a Decision NoteBlock to track final actions, follow-ups, and what was learned.