Habit.am

Why I Built a Product in a Difficult Market

1. Deliberately Choosing the Hard Path

I knew from the start that the market for mental wellness and journaling products was heavily limited. Even superficial research shows that the most successful products in this category survive by relying heavily on ads or subsidizing their consumer apps with enterprise offerings.

Despite knowing this, I built Habit anyway. I wanted to challenge myself.

One, to challenge myself to engage with an unclear market. One where there is clear value - but no demand. I wanted to understand more about this dynamic altoghether.

I also postulated that it would be easier to stay motivated on a challenging product if I felt that it was solving a real, tangible human problem and genuinely made people's lives better.

2. The Philosophy: Defending Introspection

Habit is built on the foundation of self-reflection.

Reflection is the foundation of improvement from the individual level to the business level.

The most common mistake I see in busienss is the lack of robust retrospectives or "after action reports." There's always a resistance to discussing what went wrong - what was wrongly decided - and possibly even who made those wrong decisions or what contexts enabled them. These are difficult conversations to have, but valuble ones.

It makes sense that the market is not pulling this product. It's a bitter pill. Another interesting problem.

3. Iterating Toward Meaningful Value

Every time I work on Habit, I learn something new. The product has gone through many iterations. Initially, it was almost like a Rorschach test to help people come to terms with what was top of mind. But it's not just the product itself, but the process itself of going from 0-1 over and over that is a kind of

Not every single check-in I do on Habit is life-changing. But I've had enough profound moments to know confidently that this product is meaningful. I've also noticed how changes to the product have made it less impactful. It's been interesting to work directly with an applied AI product because it's a new way to think about the different levers that make up a product. Thinks like the system prompts, data flows, multi-agent systems and also balancing latency has been exciting to learn about.

4. The Real ROI: Flexing a Different "Product Muscle"

I've built other products that reached millions of users—products where the market almost demands the solution from you. It's an exciting feeling, but Habit is the exact opposite.

Trying to figure out PMF in a resistant market trains an entirely different part of your "product muscle." It forces you to get incredibly sharp on marketing and positioning. And also being willing to pivot and adapt.

With this product category, there is a risk to be a bit paternalistic towards your users by telling them what’s good for them. This creates an opportunity to step back from that and acknowledge that you don't know what's best for the user. If you're willing to listen to users, you actually can create an even better product that creates more value. Ultimately, total value is multiplied by the amount of people who engage.

That adaptability in a challenging market without a clear demand for a product - that’s the muscle I’m building. The right product thinking, work, research and process can actually evolve a product into something that the market actually wants.

My absolute favorite part of building Habit has been designing the emotional experience. It made me realize that every product is emotional. (Even if the emotions you are managing are frustration or relief or others) It's not just mental wellness apps; the entirety of any product experience is ultimately about the emotions people feel while using it.