Mobile App Design Essentials

When I was head of growth, our team reached 40% activation rates, and onboarded hundreds of thousands of new users. Without knowing it, we discovered a framework. Here are the 6 steps we followed. 1. Define value: Successful onboarding is typically judged by new user activation rates. But what is activation? The moment users receive value. Reaching it should lead to higher retention & conversion to paid plans. First define it. Then get new users there. 2. Deliver value, quickly Revisit your flow and make sure it gets users to the activation moment fast. Remove unnecessary steps, complexity, and distractions along the way. Not sure how to start? Try reducing time (or steps) to activate by 50%. 3. Motivate users to action: Don't settle for simple. Look for sticking points in the user experience you can solve with microcopy, empty states, tours, email flows, etc. Then remind users what to do next with on-demand checklists, progress bars, & milestone celebrations. 4. Customize the experience: Ditch the one-size fits all approach. Learn about your different use cases. Then, create different product "recipes" to help users achieve their specific goals. 5. Start in the middle: Solve for the biggest user pain points stopping users from starting. Lean on customizable templates and pre-made playbooks to help people go 0-1 faster. 6. Build momentum pre-signup: Create ways for website visitors to start interacting with the product - and building momentum, before they fill out any forms. This means that you'll deliver value sooner, and to more people. Keep it simple. Learn what's valuable to users. Then deliver value on their terms.

I built your ad monetization strategy so you don't have to (for free) ↓ This is one of the top-quality posts I will ever do. Here is one of the top skills I learned this year that can help any app 10X ad revenue stream (no-clickbait). Most app developers lack knowledge of how mobile ad monetization works. They tend to use simple setups and find it hard to scale. Because of this, it is hard to find great content or data related to this out there to learn about it. Nowadays, you can use the AdMob + Firebase (remote config) framework. Instead of running individual ad unit changes on your AdMob dashboards, you can create JSON parameters under Remote Config and run remote experiments to grow your ad revenue while positively impacting retention. The challenge is to build an advanced JSON schema that can support all your needs and allows you to test, manage, and identify all the pieces quickly without requiring developers. The solution is a single parameter that controls your entire ad monetization flow. Let's break it down: 1. User Segments + Segments conditions: Reason: Target different user groups based on behavior, spending, or any other segment-defining metric. Function: Specifies which group of users this part of the configuration applies to. 2. Ad units: Reason: List all the ad units eligible for display for the given user segment. Function: Contains settings for each specific ad unit. Under ad units: ad_unit_id Reason: To identify the ad unit. Function: Specifies the AdMob unit ID. ad_unit_description Reason: To provide context for what kind of ad this is. Function: Describes the ad unit, including type (rewarded, interstitial, etc.) and name. trigger_conditions Reason: To specify when this ad unit should be displayed. Function: Defines events that trigger the ad immediately ("immediate") or pre-conditions that must be met ("pre_conditions"). toggle_ad_unit Reason: To turn the ad unit on or off quickly. Function: A boolean flag to toggle the unit on (true) or off (false). always_on Reason: To specify if this ad should be persistently visible. Function: A boolean flag; true means the ad will be always on, false means it won't. frequency Reason: To control how often the ad is shown. Function: A numerical value indicating the frequency at which the ad should be displayed. is_skippable Reason: To control user experience. Function: A boolean indicating whether the ad can be skipped. 3. Cross-promotion Reason: To promote other apps in your portfolio. Function: Works as a fallback if the main ad units fail to load due to high eCPM or network issues. Each parameter is relevant for granular control over ad serving. Important note: Any mediation effort will be executed under the AdMob mediation interface. I would love to hear expert's opinions on this :) Felix Braberg Božo Janković 🦩 Matej Lancaric Nikola Cavic Levent Barış Renda Sherif Aoun Comment "JSON" for the complete template 😂

Think LEGO is lazy? They repackage & resell the same blocks in different configs. What if your App could do the same? Confused? 🤔 If you're thinking long-term revenue and scalable growth, there’s one strategy often overlooked: White labeling Here’s why it’s brilliant: 1. Instant Revenue, No New Code Instead of endlessly iterating on user growth, you license your app to companies who need your tech but don’t want to build it. They slap their branding on it, and you get paid—often upfront. 2. Business Clients > Casual Users B2B clients value stability and scalability. They’re less price-sensitive and often sign longer contracts. With white labeling, you stop chasing downloads and start landing deals. 3. One Codebase, Many Revenue Streams Imagine your app powering ten different brands in ten different industries. You maintain one product, but earn like you’ve built ten. That’s compound leverage. 4. Market Expansion Without the Cost Want to enter new markets but lack local expertise? Partner with companies who already understand their region. Let them take your tech and localize it under their brand. TL;DR: Stop thinking like an app. Start thinking like infrastructure. White labeling lets your product work harder—for more people, in more places, under more names. 💡 If you’re building something amazing, maybe it’s time to let others sell it for you. Have you considered white labeling your app? Would love to hear your thoughts. 👇

User research is great, but what if you do not have the time or budget for it........ In an ideal world, you would test and validate every design decision. But, that is not always the reality. Sometimes you do not have the time, access, or budget to run full research studies. So how do you bridge the gap between guessing and making informed decisions? These are some of my favorites: 1️⃣ Analyze drop-off points: Where users abandon a flow tells you a lot. Are they getting stuck on an input field? Hesitating at the payment step? Running into bugs? These patterns reveal key problem areas. 2️⃣ Identify high-friction areas: Where users spend the most time can be good or bad. If a simple action is taking too long, that might signal confusion or inefficiency in the flow. 3️⃣ Watch real user behavior: Tools like Hotjar | by Contentsquare or PostHog let you record user sessions and see how people actually interact with your product. This exposes where users struggle in real time. 4️⃣ Talk to customer support: They hear customer frustrations daily. What are the most common complaints? What issues keep coming up? This feedback is gold for improving UX. 5️⃣ Leverage account managers: They are constantly talking to customers and solving their pain points, often without looping in the product team. Ask them what they are hearing. They will gladly share everything. 6️⃣ Use survey data: A simple Google Forms, Typeform, or Tally survey can collect direct feedback on user experience and pain points. 6️⃣ Reference industry leaders: Look at existing apps or products with similar features to what you are designing. Use them as inspiration to simplify your design decisions. Many foundational patterns have already been solved, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. I have used all of these methods throughout my career, but the trick is knowing when to use each one and when to push for proper user research. This comes with time. That said, not every feature or flow needs research. Some areas of a product are so well understood that testing does not add much value. What unconventional methods have you used to gather user feedback outside of traditional testing? _______ 👋🏻 I’m Wyatt—designer turned founder, building in public & sharing what I learn. Follow for more content like this!

I spent 5 years scaling Superhuman's white glove, concierge onboarding. …and another 2 years rebuilding it in product. My biggest lessons on effective product onboarding: It must be *opinionated*, *interruptive*, and *interactive*. ••• 🧐 Opinionated There's a million ways to use Superhuman, but only one correct way. We had unopinionated steps in the onboarding, like teaching "j" and "k" to navigate. But what really matters is Inbox Zero. Marking Done. Our most extreme form is Get Me To Zero — a pop-up that practically coerces you to Mark Done *everything*. This experience gets an astonishing 60% new user opt-in. New users want to experience something different; they want to learn. We pruned away the bland, and left behind pure, unfiltered opinion. Exactly what made our concierge onboarding effective. 💥 Interruptive We've all seen them before: checklists, tooltips, nudges. Inoffensive growth clutter that piles up in the corners of your app. We shipped all this and more. But it had precisely zero impact. Our most impactful changes were interruptive: on-rails demos, full-screen takeovers, product overlays. Arresting user attention is critical: if an experience is tucked away in the corner, it will be ignored. If it's ignored, it may as well not exist. 🕹️ Interactive You can't be Opinionated and Interruptive without being Interactive. It's a crime to force users to engage with non-actionable information. Instead, provide functionality: an action to take, setting to toggle, CTA to click. It's more fun AND users build muscle memory. There is something to do in every step of our onboarding. Perhaps that's how we get away with an onboarding nearly 50 screens long 🤭 ••• Final thought: if you're struggling with this flow, simply watch new users. Note all the places you want to jump in — there's your onboarding 👌 s/o to the very thoughtful Superhumans building this: Ben ✨Kalyn Lilliana Kevin Peik Erin Gaurav 💜 #plg #onboarding #activation

Would you trust a $600K transaction... on a site that looks like a weekend MVP? That was the question I couldn’t shake while exploring a fintech idea. No stakeholders. No client brief. Just one belief I wanted to test: 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 — 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. So we designed a concept for a next-gen expense platform. Not to show off visuals. To show 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝. Because real trust isn’t built with badges and buzzwords. It’s built through: - A landing page that signals confidence - A UI that says “we’re solid” before a line of copy is read - A product that feels like it belongs in boardrooms, not hackathons Every element here was built to answer one question: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦?” This wasn’t about pretty interfaces. It was about perception architecture, how your design feels before anyone scrolls or clicks. If your product handles millions, but still looks like it handles a hundred… You're not just leaving money on the table — you're repelling the clients you're actually built for.

How long are you going to ignore that 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟵𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀? 🤦♂️ The crux of the subscription app model? A "high floor" that leads to only a small percentage of users generating revenue. This is where ad monetization comes in. Here's why it's time to borrow a page from the successful gaming playbook (#growthgems 💎 & charts 📈 in the carousel): 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 90%+ of downloads never translate into any dollars, even with a solid and elaborate discount strategy. Want hard numbers on this? Check out the latest State of Subscription Apps 2025 report from RevenueCat. 𝟮. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Your iOS conversion to paid might look great in the US/Europe (although is it ever enough?), but what about in geos like Brazil, Turkey, or India? What about Android ?!? 𝟯. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 (𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆) 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 Once you’re monetizing non-subscribers, investing effort into a more “complete” experience that forms a habit and keeps them coming back makes sense. 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗯𝘆𝗲, 𝘀𝘂𝗯-𝗽𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲! 𝟰. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗔𝗣𝘀!) Ads don’t only bring ad dollars. With a few clever tactics (related to the annoyance of ads), 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻! 𝟱. 𝗧𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗨𝗔 Your current acquisition efforts already bring users that you would monetize through ads, improving unit economics. But we also now have 𝗔𝗱𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗦 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮 (𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲. 𝟲. 𝗗𝗲-𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 The mobile app ecosystem changes fast: ATT (App Tracking Transparency), FTC rules, privacy rules, etc. By not being dependent on a single revenue model, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀. As soon as you’re also monetizing with ads, spikes in CPM on the acquisition side are compensated (to some extent) by increases in eCPM on the monetization side. 𝟳. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 As apps grow and manage to retain/engage users, they want to monetize ALL eyeballs. Some examples: Disney+, Netflix, LinkedIn, etc. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘀/𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 (streaming, games, news), which normalized the idea of “if I don’t pay, I’ll see ads”. This user acceptance (and even expectation?) is in your favor.

I almost killed the feature that drove the biggest MRR jump of my career. We were scaling fast — but churn was creeping in, onboarding was dragging, and our best features were buried. So I built something bold. And honestly, I hesitated to ship it. A gamified onboarding flow. Modeled after tradesmen. Not software users. It mirrored how contractors actually grow: Apprentice → Journeyman → Master Here’s how it worked — and why it worked: Step 1: Apprentice We taught users how to price a job using our price book. Because estimating is the first real win for a contractor. Behind the scenes, our data science team delivered hyperlocal pricing — based on real invoices that converted in similar markets. Step 2: Journeyman Once they created an estimate, we introduced our built-in payments feature. They could accept credit cards right inside the app — with lower fees than Square. It solved a core friction: getting paid faster. And it increased ARPU almost instantly. Step 3: Master After the first invoice, we unlocked a 30-day trial of Engage — our premium customer comms tool. Built on Twilio, it let contractors pull up estimates, invoices, and message customers in real time. It turned silent contractors into trusted pros. And silent trials into high-converting accounts. It felt risky. • Would tradesmen engage with gamification? • Would the “Apprentice” metaphor click? • Would this slow down onboarding? I almost pulled the plug. But we shipped it. And it helped drive: • 1,300% MRR growth • +30 point NPS jump • One of the biggest ARPU lifts we’d ever seen All because we stopped treating onboarding like a checklist — and started treating it like a journey users wanted to succeed in. Moral of the story? The feature you’re afraid to ship might be the one that breaks everything open. Comment “Journeyman” and I’ll send you the onboarding model.

People are different. Context matters. Things change. Eric Hekler’s mantra is one of those deceptively simple ideas that should be obvious, but isn’t. It’s why so many so-called behavior change interventions flop, and why we keep getting notifications at the worst possible moments. Most health and wellness apps still take a static, one-size-fits-all approach. They assume if a certain nudge or goal worked once, it’ll work forever. Or that people are predictable, logical creatures who will of course go for that lunchtime walk just because their phone suggested it. Instead, what if we designed personalized, perpetually adapting interventions that actually respond to a unique person’s evolving needs? 👭 1. People are different → Personalization A 10,000-step goal might inspire one person but overwhelm another. A sleep tracker that rewards “consistent bedtimes” might help some, but stress out shift workers or parents of young kids (ask me how I know). Instead of assuming what works for some will work for everyone, interventions should learn from the individual and adjust accordingly. 🏖️ 2. Context matters → Just-in-Time Adaptation The best nudge in the world is useless if it arrives at the wrong time. A reminder to “take a walk” while you’re in back-to-back meetings? Ignored. A bedtime notification while you’re still out with friends? Deeply unhelpful. Instead of blasting out advice, interventions should consider real-world constraints. When is the person actually in a suitable position to act? 👛 3. Things change → Perpetual Adaptation Motivation isn’t a constant. Life gets in the way. What worked last month might not work this month. A smart intervention doesn’t just set a goal and hope for the best! It adjusts over time, just like a good coach. Take a sleep coaching app. Instead of rigidly telling you to sleep at 10 PM every night (good luck with that), it could: ✔ Personalize recommendations based on your actual sleep patterns. ✔ Adapt to context, recognizing that late work nights or weekend plans shift your bedtime. ✔ Adjust over time. If you consistently ignore bedtime reminders, try something new. Maybe it suggests a wind-down routine instead. Or nudges you 15 minutes earlier at a time rather than expecting a sudden 10 PM shutdown. And stops bugging you altogether if you’re already hitting your sleep goals. This is the future of behavior change — interventions that are smart enough to meet people where they are, when they’re ready, in ways that actually make sense. Now, your turn: What’s an example of an intervention (digital or otherwise) that actually adapted to you?

The Designer's Toolbox: Must-Have Tools for Every Stage of the Process Designing is a journey from concept to creation, and having the right tools can make all the difference. Here's a peek into my toolbox, packed with essentials for every stage of the process. When I'm in the brainstorming phase, Miro is my go-to. Its infinite canvas and collaborative features make idea generation a breeze. Whether sketching out concepts or collaborating with team members, it's the perfect digital whiteboard. Moving on to wireframing, Figma stands out. It's intuitive and powerful, allowing for real-time collaboration. The ability to prototype within the same environment speeds up the workflow, and its vast library of plugins is a designer's dream. For the actual design work, I can't recommend Adobe Creative Cloud enough. Adobe XD for UI/UX, Photoshop for detailed graphics, and Illustrator for vector designs – it's a suite that covers all bases. The seamless integration between these tools ensures that transitioning from one to another is smooth and efficient. Finally, when it's time for the final execution, tools like InVision for prototyping and user testing are indispensable. They help in gathering feedback and ensuring that the design not only looks good but functions perfectly. These tools have been game-changers for me, enhancing creativity and productivity. What are your favorite design tools? #webdesign #graphicdesign #designthinking #uiux #creativity #designprocess #digitaldesign #designinspiration #creativeworkflow #designers