Mission
Explain one app to someone who has never seen it
Write four honest sentences about one app, then find out whether a stranger understands them.
Why this matters
If you can explain an app simply, the product is clear.
If you cannot, that is a finding about the product, not about you.
What you need to know first
A good explanation has a fixed shape: four sentences, always in this order.
- Who it's for
The one kind of person this app is built around.
- The moment
When in their day they reach for it.
- What they do
The one action the app asks of them.
- What they get
The result they walk away with.
Write it without the app's own marketing words. A sentence that could describe five other apps is not specific enough yet.
The steps
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Pick an app
Open its page on The apps for the facts, not the phrasing.
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Write the four sentences
Who it's for, the moment, what they do, what they get. Nothing more.
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Find a reader outside the team
Someone who has never seen this app or heard us describe it.
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Ask what they think it does
Their answer is the real test, not your own confidence.
A worked example
Voff explained in four sentences, using only what is on Voff's own page.
- Who it's for
Someone who has been charged for a free trial they meant to cancel.
- The moment
The days just before a subscription or trial is about to renew.
- What they do
They add each subscription once, and Voff tracks when it next renews.
- What they get
A warning before the charge, without ever connecting a bank account.
None of these four sentences say "subscription tracker." They describe a person and a moment instead.
Hand it in
If you get stuck
Stuck on "the moment"? Look at the app's own "who it's for" line, then ask when that person would open their phone.
If your reader guesses something different from what you meant, do not rewrite your sentences to make them right. Submit both.
No one outside the team available right now? A teammate who has not read that app's page yet is a fair substitute.