The document discusses strategies for building mobile apps that effectively retain users, emphasizing the importance of onboarding, avoiding common pitfalls, and utilizing messaging and A/B testing. Retention is highlighted as crucial for long-term app growth, focusing on delivering immediate rewards and clear purpose in user interactions. The document also provides resources and guidelines for implementing these strategies successfully.

1. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT
RETAIN MORE USERS
JUSTIN BERGEN
FIVE3 APPS

2. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
JUSTIN BERGEN
▸ I run Five3 Apps — but it’s just me
▸ I help health and fitness wearables companies build
mobile experiences that retain more users
▸ I’ve built iOS apps for myself, and everything from small
startups to Walmart and Star Wars

3. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
OUTLINE
▸ Onboarding
▸ Common pitfalls
▸ Messaging
▸ A/B testing

4. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
RETENTION
▸ Building for retention can feel a lot like building for an
MVP
▸ Relentless simplification towards a single goal (JTBD)
▸ Don't get distracted by shiny objects

5. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
WHY DOES RETENTION MATTER?
▸ Crucial to app growth
▸ Acquisition is short lived
▸ Retention is long-term and compounding
▸ Why spend resources acquiring users that will just leave?

6. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
ONBOARDING
▸ What job did the user hire you to do?
▸ Even free apps are hired via time, effort, data, etc
▸ This job matters above all else
▸ This is not the job you think you should do for your user!
▸ How can you help the user complete a job as fast as possible?
▸ Do not ask for extra signup info!
▸ Consider social signup (don’t violate trust!!)

7. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
ONBOARDING
▸ Give the user a reward as soon as
possible
▸ Consider UI animations as small
delights
▸ Drip out requesting more
information
▸ Wait to follow up a contextual
reward to ask for further
investment

8. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
COMMON PITFALLS
▸ Do less better
▸ Bugs — death by a thousand cuts
▸ Half-assed features
▸ Poor design / UX
▸ Loading indicators
▸ Error messages

9. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
COMMON PITFALLS
▸ Each screen should have one purpose
▸ Everything on a screen should be helping to move a
user towards a value/action
▸ Value wins over action!
▸ Empty states should not leave a user hanging
▸ Be informative
▸ Give the user an action for a way out

10. UX IS LIKE A JOKE…
IF YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT,
IT’S NOT THAT GOOD.
Someone on the internet
BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS

11. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
MESSAGING
▸ Email
▸ No push enabled
▸ Group accounts (family or business)
▸ Not time-sensitive
▸ Push
▸ Time based
▸ Event based
▸ Don’t spam!!

12. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
MESSAGING
▸ In-app
▸ Onboarding tips
▸ Errors
▸ Variable rewards
▸ Highlight new features

13. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
A/B TESTING
▸ A/B testing helps you fine tune everything I just talked
about
▸ Building for retention doesn’t stop when you launch!
▸ Even experts are wrong
▸ Every app and its users are unique

14. EVERYONE SHOULD BE A/B
TESTING!
Fred Strauser, Swell
BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS

15. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
A/B TESTING
▸ Need minimum of 3,000 MAU and 250 conversions/mo
▸ Collect data / analytics before starting
▸ Funnels
▸ Heat maps
▸ Hypothesis -> Test -> Result
▸ More than changing button colors!

16. Q & A
justin@five3apps.com @thenighttrader

17. BUILDING MOBILE APPS THAT RETAIN MORE USERS
RESOURCES
▸ Jobs to be done
▸ Intro video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=f84LymEs67Y
▸ http://jobstobedone.org/
▸ Hooked (Nir Eval) http://www.nirandfar.com/hooked
▸ Color palettes https://colordrop.io/