A melanoma survivor messaged me about my sunscreen app 🤯
And the three takeaways that stood out in our conversation.
For the better part of three months, I have been messaging dermatologists, researchers, and journalists about my sunscreen app. From all of that outreach, I’ve gotten only one response back (Thank you, Ken Dutton-Regester, one of the researchers behind this NIH research paper).
One response in three months is a pretty demoralizing stat for something you thought would be making a bigger impact. But just before the holidays last year, I received a DM that flipped that script for me:
Holy cow, right?!
It was already exciting to hear from a complete stranger, but to hear from someone in the melanoma community? Incredible.
The odd thing is that it had never even crossed my mind to reach out to cancer survivors. I don’t know why that is, but thanks to Brianna and our ongoing conversations, I will definitely be making more of an effort there!
However, our conversations also made me realize that I needed to make some changes for this app to “grow up” and become a proper “big boi”1 app. So here were my three main takeaways.
Takeaway #1
Why the hell is Frank’s Instagram account the “contact” for the app?
Yes, the message you saw above was sent to @fomofrank—not to me or not to the @sunscreenr.app account, but to a dog. How unprofessional and embarrassing of me 🤦🏻♂️.
I guess my original thought process was that people are mean on the internet. And as a preemptive attempt to lessen the vitriol that would inevitably be hurled my way, I thought if I made everyone DM a dog, they would somehow be nicer (my therapist would be thrilled at how I have optimized for the worst-case scenario straight out of the gate).
Takeaway #2
I need to do a better job onboarding (and educating) users.
I have always believed in just dropping people into an app and letting them figure it out on their own (because that is what I want when I download a new app). But it appears I’m in the minority there, and people want their damn onboarding flows!
Or maybe they don’t, and it’s more just a necessary evil — I mean, people can’t use your app when they don’t know how to use the thing. So yea, this hacked-together flow isn’t going to cut it anymore:
Takeaway #3
I need to monetize this app.
Let me rephrase that because context matters:
I want to monetize this app because I would like to make my living from it.
To stay indie, I need to find a way to generate revenue. I have plenty of contract work that can cover living expenses, but it would be so cool if I could turn this into my primary business. So, I’m placing a higher priority on adding PRO-level features to test out a subscription model.
I know, I know. Subscriptions are not everyone’s favorite, but I promise that the app's core functionality will always be free, and the PRO-level features will also be worth your while.
What’s Next (for the app)?
A solution for takeaway #1 has already been implemented.
I still appreciate Instagram’s immediacy and directness, so I’m just going to have people message me. Customer support platforms like Intercom or Crisp always make me feel like you’re sending messages into the void (or to an AI Agent bot), so I’d like to avoid that for as long as possible.
A solution for takeaway #2 is in the works.
A non-finalized preview of a more educational (and colorful) onboarding flow:
A solution for takeaway #3 is also in the works.
A non-finalized preview of some of the PRO-level features coming in 2025:
Dark mode!
WatchOS app
More Widgets
Time Zone Support
Earn points towards free sunscreen
What’s Next (for Pixel Pushers)?
You may or may not have noticed, but I did away with paid subscriptions.
I’m not a professional writer, so one should be paying me to read what I write loll. Plus, I’d rather you get some sort of physical good (like sunscreen or a p/p shirt). Or a digital good from one of my apps (discounted subscriptions, lifetime offers, and more). So I’ll do some sort of a shop instead. TBD.
But for now, here is a quick win-win with some sunscreen affiliate links:
My current daily: La Roche-Posay Double Repair Face Moisturizer with SPF 30
What I’m trying next: Beauty of Joseon SPF 40 Korean Sunscreen
I first saw this phrase on the SwiftjectiveC blog and immediately fell in love with it.
Lemme get a shirt! Also, wondering if there is anything for people who are vitamin d deficient to go outside and get more Lux in their life?