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World Congress 2025 • Aug 20, 2025 • Session details

The retention flywheel: designing products people don’t want to leave

Madalena Costa

What if user belonging was your product's true north star? Ditch the leaky acquisition funnel and build a retention flywheel that people refuse to leave.

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#1 about 1 min

Why users abandon software products prematurely

Poor user experiences and lack of initial context often drive individuals to abandon products immediately after adoption.

#2 about 2 min

Limitations of traditional user acquisition funnels

Push-based funnels focus heavily on short-term conversions while ignoring the mechanics of long-term user retention.

#3 about 1 min

Building organic growth with the retention flywheel

The flywheel model prioritizes long-term relationships and user advocacy over one-time transactions for sustainable growth.

#4 about 4 min

The four key stages of a successful retention flywheel

Continuously attracting, engaging, delighting, and advocating creates an ongoing loop of active user involvement and loyalty.

#5 about 3 min

Core design drivers behind long-term product stickiness

Products that remember user preferences, establish personal identity, and simplify daily tasks naturally retain an active audience.

#6 about 4 min

Designing onboarding flows for immediate user value

Dynamic onboarding flows and intelligent proactive agents minimize initial friction to accelerate the time to value.

#7 about 1 min

Identifying UX gaps that silently destroy user retention

Opaque agents, lack of explainability, and unacknowledged user feedback generate frustration that causes sudden app abandonment.

#8 about 1 min

Tracking retention through essential user lifecycle metrics

Monitoring key performance indicators like activation rates, churn, and lifetime value reveals true product engagement loops.

#9 about 2 min

Gamification and collaboration techniques that drive product retention

Successful products utilize habit-building rewards and live multi-user collaboration to deeply embed themselves into daily workflows.

#10 about 3 min

Implementing a structured design toolkit for retention workflows

Leveraging product analytics, digital workspaces, and screen recording tools helps teams measure onboarding speed and customize interfaces.

#11 about 4 min

Fostering emotional connections and a strong sense of belonging

Digital environments that mirror individual values and integrate smoothly into workflows create deep emotional product attachments.

#12 about 1 min

Shifting product strategy from acquisition to a belonging mindset

Prioritizing genuine user value over high-volume vanity metrics ensures a sustainable and deeply committed product user base.

Matching moments

1:40 min

Measuring onboarding success with funnels and retention logic

Natalie Sieradzki · WWC 2021

1:47 min

Designing onboarding experiences to boost retention and revenue

Natalie Sieradzki · WWC 2021

3:51 min

Leveraging dopamine and confirmation bias for user retention

Dora Makszy Dora Makszy · WWC 2025

4:08 min

Why a fully functional app failed to retain users

Dávid Lévai · LIVE

2:57 min

Identifying core driving forces for software engineering teams

Pauline Pagliaro Pauline Pagliaro · WWC 2025

2:11 min

The shift from predictable UX to adaptive AI experiences

Madalena Costa Madalena Costa · Europe 2026 Virtual

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