Original author: rm

Original translation: TechFlow

Consumer product apps are really hard to make! We, the notorious early adopters, are probably the only ones who get excited about faster transactions than the real world. But let’s be honest, speed doesn’t matter that much if there’s a great waiting interface so users aren’t bored.

What really matters is that — to paraphrase Nikita Bier — most consumer apps fall into three categories: enrichment, social, and entertainment, and their intersections.

People want to use these apps to make or save money, to entertain themselves, or to meet people (whether colleagues, friends, or future family). These are the basic needs that consumer apps target, not the technology itself.

For years, we’ve been asking, “ What can this technology do? ” But for most consumer applications, the more important question is what do people want? And how can technology enable those needs in new and novel ways? Thinking in terms of technology often leads to unrealistic ideas.

So, first step: what need are we satisfying? Is it to get rich, to be social, or to be entertained? Then, how do we use technology or infrastructure to achieve that?

Onboarding and retention are two key moments for a good app. Onboarding should not require users to connect to a service, click through a settings screen, or fill out a form before showing the app’s functionality. Every extra click is a chance for users to churn before they understand the experience. You can even skip asking for login—just show me content based on my address. Be brief and fast. Show value first, then get me engaged.

Hook users as quickly as possible and provide an immediate positive experience. The more screens and clicks, the more users will churn. Onboard quickly and make users feel "this is fun" right away.

Now, retaining users is a new challenge. When users don’t get what they expected when they signed up, they tend to leave. While there are many reasons why people return, for consumer apps, it’s all about the content and relationships that keep users coming back. Remember, everything on the chain is like a giant online service game.

Acquiring quality content is difficult because the cost of migrating from existing platforms is high. You don’t want a ton of “I just signed up, glad to be here” posts, you want quality content. While new content formats help, they are easily copied, and novelty is hard to maintain these days.

If content is hard to access, relationships are even more important. People often join a platform because their friends are there. We face two main challenges: First, to expand the user base, you need to build the right community and strategy. By starting with a niche market, products tend to be more sticky. Second, with the new incentive structure brought by cryptocurrency, if a consumer application is full of "speculators", then only designing around getting rich will work.

If users come for socializing or entertainment, they may feel alienated, so design for the right community from the beginning.

How to build an application?

In simple terms: What problem does your app solve? Can users use it to get rich, make friends, or have fun? Can they get a good experience immediately without tedious operations? Can the content and other users attract them to come back? How can you leverage user-generated content and users themselves to drive new users to join?

This is completely different from traditional on-chain thinking: less emphasis on "contract first" and more focus on "demand first".

Building consumer applications in Web2 usually requires building account systems, social networks, payment systems, and data storage from scratch. On the blockchain, these functions are ready-made. Therefore, instead of using your imagination in technology, it is better to rethink how to use existing modules to create new things. You can use Farcaster or Lens to build social networks, use wallets as accounts, use on-chain operations such as Enso to complete transactions, and do a lot of prototyping.

In the past, on-chain technology was very complex, and you needed to have full confidence in your ideas because complex engineering design was required. Consumer applications are different: first, you need to clarify the needs, then use existing technology modules and quickly adjust them until you find a solution that suits consumers. Consumer products rarely start with a single idea - they evolve through continuous real-time iteration.

Innovation should be reflected in user experience rather than technology itself. Make good use of existing modules.

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