Why 80% of your users never open your app twice

October 16, 2025

Hey there,

Are you getting downloads, but nobody's coming back?

80% of your users open your app once, get confused, and delete it the same day.

That's an onboarding problem.

Most founders treat onboarding like a feature tour. They show screenshots, explain buttons, and walk users through settings.

That's backwards.

Your onboarding's only job is to get users emotionally invested before they hit the paywall.

Here's how to fix it:

Step 1: Make them feel great for downloading

Start with a "Congratulations" or "Welcome" screen.

Make users feel like they just made the smartest decision of their lives.

First impressions matter. Don't waste it on a login screen.

Step 2: Get them to confess their pain

Ask deep questions that make them think about their problem:

"What brings you here today?"

"What's your biggest struggle with [problem]?"

"What happens if you don't solve this?"

This isn't just data collection. You're making the user reflect on their pain, which makes them more desperate to solve it.

Step 3: Prove they're not alone

Hit them with social proof right after they confess.

"50,000 people quit vaping with this method."

Then show testimonials from people who look exactly like them.

By this point, they're emotionally invested. They've admitted their problem and seen proof it's solvable.

Step 4: Lock the gates with a hard paywall

Most apps let users explore for free first. Big mistake.

Why? After users confess their problems and see social proof, they're already committed.

The paywall becomes a commitment device, not a barrier.

I used this exact flow with Puff Count. Users hit the paywall after being primed with self-reflection and social proof.

The result: users who made it through onboarding had 3x higher retention than users who skipped it.

Your app isn't losing users because of bad features. You're losing them because you're not getting them invested fast enough.

Fix your onboarding. Keep your users.

Peace,
Steven