Creating products that stick (and how to do it)

The one product framework you need today

Creating products that stick (and how to do it)

Today, I’m going to discuss a powerful framework for creating products that stick, become routine and have built-in growth engines.

But first, why adopt a framework for building products that stick?

It’s never been easier to build a product. It’s faster than ever and cheaper than ever to get something off the ground. No-code tools make it easy to stand on the shoulders of giants. The result is launching a product is 1000x easier than it was 10 years ago.

Yet, it’s never been harder to create a product that sticks with people. You’ve built a product that sticks when your product stands out and is overwhelmingly valuable.

This framework has reframed how I build products, and might be the same for you.

The single-player vs multiplayer framework:

Single-player

A single-player product is a product that you get value by yourself. You don’t need to use it with friends for it to be very valuable. The more sticky your single-player experience is, the more trust you build with your users.

Example:

Things, the award winning to-do list manager.

You don’t need friends for a high-end to-do list. You just need it to be super valuable and feel good.

Example:

Zero, the intermittent fast tracking app.

You don’t need friends for a purpose-built fast-app. You just need it to help you track your fasts, give you analytics, reminders and level you up.

The ah-ha moment of single-player is the eureka moment when you could see yourself making it a part of your daily or weekly rituals and habits.

Multiplayer:

Example:

Discord, group chatting app.

You need a group for a group chatting app to work. That’s why Discord (or Slack) have intricate onboarding flows for new admins to invite their friends/communities into the product.

They know that the “ah-ha” moment happens when the community is there.

Example:

BeReal, post a photo everyday with front-facing and rear facing camera.

You need a network of friends to get feedback on your photos. That’s 90% of the fun of the product.

The ah-ha moment means the eureka moment when you want to use this products with your friends, colleagues or community.

Single-player and multiplayer

These are products that combine single-player (retention) and multiplayer (word-of-mouth). This is where you eventually want to get to.

Example:

Figma

You could use Figma solo to be creative and draw interfaces on a Sunday AM. Or you could collaborate with other designers on a multiplayer canvas.

Example:

WeightWatchers (WW)

WW uses a tracker (single-player) couples with community (multiplayer) both in IRL (events and virtual (app).

The most common question I get about this framework:

Do I start single-player or multiplayer?

Well, first you start with the community. You find an underserved niche that you feel you understand them and speak to them in a way that resonates.

Then, realize that the holy grail is combining single-player and multi-player. For example, I first heard about Figma from a designer that had switched from Adobe XD. He had built significant trust with Figma as a single-player, recently moved to multi-player and the guy was literally screaming from the top of his lungs on rooftops about how amazing Figma was. That’s the power of single + multi in a nutshell.

However, it is usually easier to begin with single-player. Building multiplayer is more complex. You need to have liquidity (ie: friends needs to be online for the ah-ha moment to be most fertile).

I believe multiplayer mode is the most misunderstood part of the internet today. Way more upside. That’s why you’ll see a multiplayer-first business like Figma sell for $20b.

TLDR;

If you’re building a new product, ask yourself, what part of this is single-player, what part of this is multiplayer? Why does it make sense to start single versus multi?

It’s an important question because if you nail it, finding product/market fit becomes easier and customers find you instead of you finding customers.

Add this one to your product framework toolkit.

Thank you for reading.

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