Making a product that sticks: 4 tips from Circles.Life’s product manager

Photo credit: NordWood Themes

Mobile data has become a necessity. People browse so much on their phones that having data is not just a luxury but a basic need.

But the real challenge for companies today is freedom of choice. Apps are fighting not just for space on phones, but space in the mind.

So, how can you create customer loyalty in this swipe-left world?

1. Simplicity

There is nothing more important (and difficult) than creating a simple product and customer journey. My rule of thumb for a simple product is the five-word rule. This means you should be able to explain your product proposition in five words or less.

For Circles.Life, for example, we have a product called the “Unlimited Day Pass” or “$3 Unlimited Data on Demand.” The name itself explains what the product is in only five words.

2. Flexibility

Let’s take unlimited data as an example. While people need it, they don’t need it all the time.

This hit me when I noticed a sudden spike in data usage during commute hours. So, I de-averaged the data consumption trend to understand this rather than look at the cumulative monthly usage.

Whether you are a high data user or you only use it for a limited time, your usage pattern is not a consistent line. Instead it has spurts of high usage—when you’re binging on a movie or when you’re using data when the wifi is down.

This insight led us to create the on-demand version of our unlimited data plan.

Flexibility is important if you want to create a product with high adoption.

3. Strong engagement

Although engagement can be measured through metrics like DAUs/MAUs or retention graphs, it’s actually the stage where your users transition from using your product on a need basis to it becoming entrenched in their everyday lives.

When we wanted to find a way to make customers stay on our app (vs use the app just for bills updates), we had an internal brainstorming session to find the “why.” Why should our customers check the app regularly? What makes them want to keep coming back?

We knew that the additional feature should be engaging and beneficial. So, we decided to pilot a “bonus button” that allows customers to claim free data.

4. Consistency