The True Value of Notes Apps and Habit-Making Insights for Founders

The True Value of Notes Apps and Habit-Making Insights for Founders

Notes apps are often seen as a place where ideas go to die. We save notes, links, ideas, and thoughts as a form of insurance for the future. We write things down not to remember them, but to forget them. It's a way for us to feel safe, even if we never revisit those notes again. We are constantly seeking the next better thing, always trying to find value and meaning in our thoughts and findings. This behavior is driven by loss aversion, our biological response to treat threats as more urgent than opportunities.

But the true value of notes apps, notebooks, and bookmarking tools is that they allow us to forget. They give us a sense of security that our memories were not in vain, that they'll be there if we want them again. It's like having insurance for our ideas. Most of our thoughts and discoveries aren't actually valuable on their own. We write them down, but never give them a second thought. We ascribe value to them because they took time to think up and find. We're scared to lose them.

However, flipping through old notes can often feel like sifting through stale garbage. We realize that most of our ideas and discoveries aren't worth much. We blame the tools and techniques, thinking that a new app will be better. But in the end, we're back to safely forgetting things and seeking the next new thing.

The same concept applies to habit-making for product-minded founders. Understanding how users feel while using your product is crucial. It's not about what users want or need, but how they feel. If you have a strong vision of how you want users to describe your product, then you can engineer for it and plan for it.

Creating habits is about capturing the monopoly of the mind. When a habit is formed, users don't even consider whether the competition is making a better product. It's all about capturing their attention and keeping them coming back. The criteria for a habit-forming product are satisfying a user need and sufficient frequency of use. If a product is not used again within a week's time or less, it's difficult to change a consumer habit.

To create habits, there are several key factors to consider. First, understanding the emotional valence of your product is essential. People use products to make themselves feel good, and tracking their emotional experiences is crucial. Second, a great game is built with toys. Playful exploration, fun without a goal, and moments of pleasant surprise create engagement. Third, the ease of use is vital. The easier something is to do, the more likely people are to do it. Lastly, the investment phase is where users put something into the product to increase the likelihood of coming back.

Incorporating these insights into product design and development can help create habits and keep users coming back. It's important to understand the emotional value and status that comes from using a product. The more people invest their time, effort, and routine into a product, the more motivated they are to continue using it.

In conclusion, notes apps serve as insurance for our ideas, allowing us to forget while feeling safe. Habit-making insights for founders focus on capturing the monopoly of the mind and creating products that satisfy user needs and have sufficient frequency of use. Understanding how users feel and designing for emotional experiences is crucial in both cases. Three actionable advice for founders are:

1. Focus on the emotional value your product provides and how it makes users feel. Help them feel successful and admired by their friends.
2. Simplify your product and make it easy for users to solve a problem or do what they already want to do. The Law of Least Effort plays a significant role in adoption.
3. Invest in creating a sense of community and synchronicity. People crave social connection and the feeling of being part of a group.

By incorporating these insights and advice, founders can create products that form habits and keep users coming back.