u built a great product. users use it for some time and then they ghost.
ever wondered why ?
why users actually leave ?
users leave ur product for 3 main reasons :
- product doesn't work (ur fault, fix it)
- product does work but cost/complexity changes (might be a business decision)
- users think u stopped caring (communication failure)
people rarely talk about #3. but it kills users retention silently.
let's talk about this.
the numbers don't lie
here's what the data shows :
the retention gap
- average products retain 39% of users in month 1, dropping to 30% by month 3.
- top 10% products retain 66% in month 1, and hold 56% by month 3.
- that's a 2x difference. one thing separates them: active communication.
why users vanish:
- 91% of signups disappear within 14 days
- users who adopt 3+ features stay. users who see nothing? they churn.
- every feature ur users don't know about = 0% adoption = lost retention
the silent cost:
- "silent developers" (no changelog): ~30% retention
- "active communicators" (changelog + updates): 56-66% retention
how it happens
- user discovers ur product & gets excited.
- weeks pass, no updates. this becomes a communication gap.
- user then assumes: is the product dead or even being maintained?
- thereafter user looks for an alternative & tries competitor
- feels safe just coz there's active communication about new features, fixes via communication modes like mail
- user finally leaves ur product
u must know ur product wasn't bad. it was the silence that led this to happen.
so it all concludes to communication gap.
how u can fix it
by actively communicating with ur users. the best way to do this is having user-facing
changelogs & even better have it inside ur product!
a good changelog creates :
- proof of life: "shows that they're still building. they care."
- proof of listening: "they fixed the bug i reported!"
- proof of momentum: "this product is going somewhere."
- proof of direction: "they aren't dead. they are scaling"
whereas a weak changelog creates weak signal and no changelog ~ no signal ultimately
resulting in users leaving.
(founder here — building CommitPosts to solve exactly this. feel free to check it out & give feedback.)
if u wanna connect — anuragsoni.com
conclusion
when u already spend so much time shipping ur product, u must realise how 30 min a week
spent on changelogs can build trust and shows users that u actually care saving user
retention.