Summary

As the Head of Product and Growth for Sugar Quest, a Telegram mini-app game, I designed and implemented an experimentation platform that connects Telegram messaging, in-game offers, and analytics into a single growth system. Using Figma for UX/creative, LLMs and Gen AI tools for copy and asset generation, an in-house marketing automation layer, and custom dashboards on top of Google Analytics and Umami/Telemetry, we rapidly tested onboarding nudges, reactivation flows, and In-Game Shop monetization. A configurable SKU system let us combine in-game items & currency to teach the Telegram payments flow, build a daily purchase habit, and then graduate players into higher-value SKUs. The result was faster experiment velocity and clear visibility from campaign → clickthrough → retention → revenue.

1. Context

Product: Sugar Quest, a Telegram mini-app idle game built around collectible “Bon” characters and cosmetic items.

Role: Led growth & experimentation system design across messaging, in-game offers, in-app store, and analytics.

Sugar Quest had strong early traction inside Telegram, but we lacked a systematic way to:

• Test custom Telegram messaging & notifications
• Launch in-game item offers and giveaways without new engineering each time
• Tie every experiment back to retention and monetization data

The goal was to turn Sugar Quest into a repeatable experimentation lab for lifecycle, monetization, and product tests.

2. Goals

1. Build an experimentation layer that sits between Telegram MiniApp → Game backend → Analytics
2. Enable non-engineering teammates to launch:
   • Custom Telegram campaigns
   • Configurable in-game offers, drops, and giveaways
3. Track clickthrough, retention, and monetization for each experiment/variant:
   • Telegram CTR → session starts
   • D1 / D7 / D30 retention by cohort
   • ARPU, ARPPU, and cosmetic purchase behavior

3. Tooling Used

Design tools – Figma

• Scene mockups for Bon characters and environments