The graveyard of apps is filled with great ideas. The fundamental truth of product development is this: Great ideas don't fail; poor user experience does.

Founders and product teams often focus on novelty or features, but the real failure point is almost always friction. Users don't inherently leave apps; apps push users away through confusion, complication, and a lack of clear value.

The Four Horsemen of App Failure

The document points to core reasons why even promising apps crumble:

  1. Too Many Features: Feature bloat increases cognitive load, making the core value of the app impossible to find. Over-complication paralyzes the user.
  2. Blind Copying Competitors: Copying a market leader's features without understanding the user need those features address results in a product that is derivative and lacks its own identity.
  3. Confusing Navigation: If users can't figure out where to go or how to complete a core task, they won't stick around. A broken information architecture breaks the entire product.
  4. No Real User Problem Solved: The ultimate failure—building a solution for a problem that doesn't exist or isn't painful enough to warrant a download and learning curve.

The Formula for Product Success

If friction kills apps, then the path to success is simple: Apps that reduce friction and increase meaning are the ones that succeed.

The definition of product success should be tied directly to the user's journey:

Product Success= User's Ability to Achieve Their Goal Effortlessly

This means every design decision, every feature, and every interaction must be optimised to achieve a user's goal with minimal effort. This philosophy ensures your product remains valuable, usable, and indispensable to your target audience.