Speaker A
Most app founders choose the wrong thing: features, notifications, streaks. That's what the classic retention advice pushes. But the apps that keep people for years wire in a feeling. They make users really feel like they're in a race, and they're either climbing or falling behind. It's a phenomenon I call the invisible scoreboard. And in this video, I'm going to break down how it actually works and the three ways to use it to boost your own app's retention. By the way, I'm Tim. I've designed digital products for the last decade, both in big tech and for lots of multi-million dollar startups. And trust me when I say this: a leaderboard that keeps people for years is so much more than just a leaderboard. A leaderboard is the surface. Social comparison is the psychological engine underneath. Most founders ship the leaderboard like a nice-to-have without really thinking it through. That kills the entire thing before it even starts. You see, without the psychology baked in, you don't have a retention tool. You have a glorified list, and lists don't tend to move retention. So what you need is an invisible scoreboard. It's when your product makes another user's progress feel like you're in a race with it. The first move is pretty simple. Try surfacing the comparison at the moment of completion, whatever completion means in your app: the end of a workout, a transaction, a listen. Just a signal in their face that they're falling behind. But also keep in mind that the signal will land differently depending on who's on the other side of the comparison. There's a big psychological difference between chasing a world record holder and chasing your neighbor. Let's look at two apps that use this insight to their advantage, starting with the first one, Strava. Over 100 million athletes. The core loop is segments. Public leaderboards on specific stretches of road or trail. Finish a ride, and your segment rankings are right there. But here's the thing: Strava doesn't just give you the ability to keep on a hyper-competitive global leaderboard. If you want, you can be ranked against your neighborhood, against your friends, against that dozen riders who happened to ride the same exact hill in your city. And that's the move. A global leaderboard can feel unwinnable, so most people stop trying. A neighborhood leaderboard, on the other hand, feels very winnable, so people keep showing up. If your app has any kind of competition layer, remember that the cohort size is a great lever. The rule of thumb is to shrink it until winning feels possible. That's how we make competition more interesting to more people. Localizing the cohort gets users into the race. But staying in the race for years takes something else. Feeling seen while you're competing. Before we dig into that, design choices like this are just one of many things we help founders think about during our monthly free design strategy calls at Zips App. Links down below if you want to grab a spot. Now, let's look at Peloton. They kept people paying $44 a month for years. The reason isn't the bike. You see, their instructors became celebrities. In class, riders watched the live leaderboard. Their instructors called out names live in front of thousands of people grinding through the same ride. This is key, and the takeaway isn't you need instructors. It's what instructors create: an emotional hit of recognition. The leaderboard creates the race. The callout is the boost that makes people push. Most apps can't do live shout-outs, but you can still design your own recognition moment. Something that acknowledges the user's effort in a way that feels social and emotional instead of mechanical. For Peloton, that's a part of what helps them keep users year after year. So, three ways to build an invisible scoreboard. One, put the comparison at completion. Two, localize the cohort so winning feels possible. And three, acknowledge people's progress and effort, ideally in a very human way. Now, if you found this breakdown useful, again, retention strategies like this one are just one of many things we do when we have our strategy calls each month at Zips App. So, if you're interested, check the link down below. And also, check out this video here somewhere where I break down the design rule the top 1% of apps used to hook users from session one. Now, until the next one, have a great life.
