The only stickiness metric that matters

Josh Elman, a seasoned product leader, reflects on his experiences with influential technology products like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, highlighting the profound impact of deeply understanding use cases and building user loyalty through effective onboarding. In the context of COVID-19, he underscores the importance of designing products that are easy to adopt and provide lasting value, using Discord’s growth as an example of successful user engagement during unprecedented times. He emphasizes the significance of focusing on meaningful metrics to gauge product stickiness, advising product leaders to prioritize understanding individual user interactions over generic data points. Elman concludes by stressing that a product's success hinges on its ability to tell the right story through user engagement, encouraging ongoing dialogue with customers to ensure the product fits seamlessly into their lives.