Launching Strava’s most requested feature
Strava’s community had been asking for Dark Mode for years. It was consistently the most requested feature across our community forum and social channels. Despite its popularity, we hadn’t delivered it, creating frustration and skepticism among our most passionate users.
We needed to finally launch Dark Mode in a way that acknowledged the delay, signaled a shift in company direction, and re-engaged our community without overhyping a feature we were clearly late on. If we managed that, bleary eyed athletes the world over would rejoice.
We grounded the launch in self-awareness and humor. With a new CEO at the helm, we embraced the moment to show humility and a new tone. We kicked things off with a "Mean Tweets"-style film featuring our CEO reading user complaints about the delay — some harsh, some hilarious. This set a refreshing and authentic tone.
The feature rollout was supported by a coordinated effort across email, push notifications, in-app banners, and the app store. The messaging poked fun at ourselves and signaled that we were finally listening and changing.
