Don’t just solve a problem — solve it emotionally

For years now, I’ve been a dedicated subscriber to a bit of an unusual app: the F1 app. Yep, this is my truth.

I originally started watching F1 for my partner, so we’d have a shared interest (he wasn’t about to give Netflix dating shows or ice baths a chance). But somewhere along the way, I became the bigger fan. I watch the practices, listen to the podcasts, catch the press conferences — the whole lot.

Here’s the thing: if you think purely in terms of functionality, the F1 app lets me get the latest news and watch the races. But that’s not why I keep it.

I find myself opening the app at the most random moments, craving a hit of F1 drama — which, let’s be honest, is an adrenaline junkie’s version of Desperate Housewives. It’s a world that’s completely different from my day-to-day life as a growth consultant, or the races I usually train for (marathons and triathlons). It’s my escape. I love staying on top of the latest updates, feeling part of the F1 community, and nerding out over results and changes. One of my friends and I literally just send each other F1 Instagram Reels every week.

As much as we want to believe our apps are purely functional, most aren’t. They exist to satisfy an emotional need. And when you speak to your users’ feelings and emotions, that’s when you really retain them.

So, how do you do that? Let’s start with the concept of a habit loop.

Habit loop

In his 2012 book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg popularized the concept of the habit loop, namely the idea that every habit follows a three-step cycle:

This is the core of retention: a trigger prompts us to take action, and we’re rewarded. I get a push notification about the latest F1 news (trigger), I open the app to read it (action), and I enjoy discovering what’s happening (reward). The more someone moves through this loop with a positive emotional response, the more likely your app becomes part of their identity, rather than just a tool they use.

A key part of this loop isn’t just a consistent reward — variation is key. If we don’t know when and if we will be rewarded, or if the reward changes, it keeps it exciting. As a result, it taps better into our emotional reaction. 

Just a year after Charles started the craze for creating a habit loop, Nir Eyal released his book Hooked. Here he expanded on the habit loop by adding a fourth step: investment.

Investment is about putting time, effort, or data into an app — essentially giving it something that makes you more likely to stick around. It reduces the chances of switching and deepens your attachment to the platform.

Now, the F1 app isn’t particularly personalized for me, I never took the time to set it up. But many F1 fans do invest heavily, especially through F1 Fantasy. Within the app, you can build your driver lineup based on a budget and compete for points. They even promote it on podcasts to encourage more fans to join in. That level of engagement makes you more invested and makes switching to another viewing platform (like a TV subscription with Sky) feel less appealing.

Emotions play a role at every stage of this habit loop:

• Emotional triggers drive us to take action
• Actions are often driven by feeling, not just logic
• Rewards help us feel something (like joy, pride, or belonging)
• Investments create an emotional connection and a sense of ownership

But before we can effectively tap into these emotions, we need to understand the emotional triggers that drive someone to use the app in the first place.

Creating emotional triggers

I’ve actually already mentioned two types of triggers: the desire to escape and a push notification. One is an emotional, internal trigger; the other is an artificial, external one. External triggers — like notifications, emails, or social posts — are limited by opt-ins and channels. Internal triggers, on the other hand, are expansive, and incredibly powerful.

The most famous examples are Instagram and TikTok. That addictive scroll we fall into when we’re bored? It’s driven by internal emotional cues. The other night I ended up in a rabbit hole of scrolling through Instagram reels. I just wanted one that would make me laugh.

With most apps, you often start with external triggers (push, email, social media, etc.), but the goal is to eventually build a relationship strong enough that emotional, internal triggers take over.

This might sound a little dark, but negative emotions make particularly strong internal triggers. In an article I co-authored with Thorsten Straus on solving retention with habit loops, we listed a few:

• Fear
• Anger
• Disgust
• Sadness
• Rage
• Loneliness
• Melancholy
• Annoyance

However, we have to be conscious when we use them. For apps focused on change and progress, they can be incredibly effective. Take a fitness app like Ladder; they often showcase transformations, highlighting dissatisfaction or frustration (e.g., “I’m not seeing results”) as motivation.

But for something like a meditation app, it’s important not to amplify the very emotions (anxiety, fear, stress etc.) that likely brought someone there in the first place.

By creating emotional associations with our app, we can eventually ensure people associate the app with those emotions on their own. These emotional responses, however, are often driven by deeper desires — what Harvard Business School calls emotional motivators in their study, The New Science of Customer Emotions.

They identified ten core emotional motivators that influence behavior. I like to think of them as drivers (naturally, as an F1 fan). Certain drivers are more likely to resonate with specific types of apps.

Here are the emotional motivators (or drivers, wink wink), how they impact people, some words or phrases someone with that driver might use, and example app categories that often align with each one. These aren’t strict pairings, but a place to start when thinking about the emotional motivators behind your own product.

Emotional Driver	What it allows individuals to achieve	Words/phrases they might use	Example app categories
Stand out from the crowd	A unique social identifier	DifferentUniqueExpress myselfFeels like me	Social media apps, creative apps
Have confidence in the future	Positive view of the future	PositiveOptimisticSense of directionGet better	Gratitude / Manifestation apps
Enjoy a sense of wellbeing	A life without stress	Calm BalancedRelaxed	Wellness / Sleep / Meditation apps
Feel a sense of freedom	Empowerment to act independently	IndependentIn controlOptions	Travel apps, Productivity apps
Feel a sense of thrill	Excitement and pleasure	ExcitedFeel a rushEnjoy it	Gaming apps, Dating apps, Investment apps
Feel a sense of belonging	Being a part of a community	Connected UnderstoodSupportedPart of something	Community / Social-Focused apps
Protect the environment	Take care of their surroundings	Do my partReduce wasteFeel guiltyFuture	Food reduction apps, Carbon tracking apps
Be the person I want to be	Self-improve and live up to their ideal	ProudConsistentProgressGetting better	Fitness apps, Education apps, Productivity apps
Feel secure	To feel secure enough to follow their dreams	Secure SafePeace of mindProtected	Finance apps, Wellness apps
Succeed in life	Live a meaningful life	Moving forwardReach my goalsMotivated	Education apps,  Wellness apps

Based originally on The New Science of Customer Emotions

You’ve probably noticed that some categories can align with multiple emotional drivers, and that’s totally normal. But how do you move beyond the functional job your app does and get into your customer’s mindset to uncover their emotional triggers?

We’ll start there, before diving into some of the most common emotional drivers behind subscription apps.

Understanding your emotional motivators

I’ve included a few words and phrases under each category, and you might recognize some from customer reviews or conversations. I’ve definitely seen reviews filled with phrases like “peace of mind,” “excited,” and similar expressions. These are helpful for identifying the language your customers use, but reviews only scratch the surface. They rarely reveal the deeper emotional motivators at play.

You guessed it… I’m going to talk about my favorite thing, aka Jobs to be Done (JTBD). It’ll come as no surprise that I advocate conducting JTBD interviews to understand these motivators. 

Focus on your highest-spending, most loyal customers — those for whom your app is a true painkiller, not just a nice-to-have. The goal is to understand why. 

The most powerful thing you can do in these interviews is bring customers back to the moment they chose to switch to your app. What was going on in their life? What triggered the decision? For this purpose, I’d also suggest speaking with more recent customers who share similarities with those top-tier users.

This helps you understand the emotions in that moment of acquisition, but I suggest taking it a step further and also talking to them about how they feel now when they use the app. When do they open your app? Why yours, and not another? This helps you see if what initially motivated them to try your app is still the same. 

For some apps, the motivators and emotions behind them transition over time. If we go back to the Ladder example, I might initially be driven to be the person I want to be, but over time, as I’m happier with my strength, I might transition into using the app to enjoy a sense of wellbeing. With these shifts in emotion, your language and visuals may change to adjust to where your app subscriber is in their journey.

Today, we’ll spend less time on the acquisition phase and instead focus on how to use emotion to drive retention and loyalty. To do that, we’ll explore five powerful levers: Emotional storytelling, community, personalization, gamification, and rituals.

1. Emotional storytelling

We use apps to solve a problem, but to feel that trust and connection, we want to feel a part of their story. 

Like I mentioned earlier, F1 isn’t just about races. It’s a saga filled with rivalries, redemption arcs, and rising stars. I’m fully invested in the story of Hadjar, a young, emotional driver who crashed on the formation lap of his first F1 race. The crowd felt for him, especially when Lewis Hamilton’s father gave him a hug and told him it was okay. From there, the app and podcast followed his growth, charting his journey from that crash to finishing 6th in Monaco, one of the hardest races on the calendar.

We connect with people, and many apps play into that. Take Headspace, for example. The meditation app uses Andy Puddicombe’s voice as one of its main narrators. His story of losing friends and loved ones is something many of us resonate with. If meditation helped him, it feels like it could help us too.

For some subscription apps, having someone be the face of it doesn’t make sense, and that’s fine. Brand mythology, a phrase coined by Jonah Sachs, is about using visuals and copy to make your audience feel a part of your brand. Whether it’s that it reflects who they are, their identity, or gives them meaning, feeling part of a bigger story. 

Emotional storytelling is the underlying lever that supports the next three levers:

• Community: Gives us a sense of belonging and shared purpose
• Personalization: Helps them see themselves in the story
• Gamification: Makes them feel like they’re on a journey, with progress and momentum

But here’s the catch: these techniques won’t land unless they’re backed by the right language and visuals. Without that emotional context, they fall flat.

2. Create a sense of community 

One of the most effective ways apps create emotional connection is by building a sense of community. They make users feel like they’re part of the app’s world and culture. F1 does this brilliantly by answering community questions both in-app and through the F1 Explains podcast.

Why does this work so well? It ties back to social identity theory, which tells us that when something aligns with our sense of belonging, we begin to feel like it’s part of who we are. Realistically, I’ll probably never meet an F1 driver but I still feel part of the global F1 community reacting, debating, and celebrating every moment. And hey, a girl can dream. 

Another favorite example of mine is Peloton. I resisted it for years. It just felt too cultish; all those people swearing it was life-changing. “It’s an expensive stationary bike,” I told myself. Fast-forward a few years: I got a sweet deal from a friend… and now I’m in the cult. I love my Peloton. The workouts, the playlists — they’re incredible. I even virtually high-fived a few fellow riders the other day. I swear I could hear the whisper “One of us… One of us…” through the screen.

So, how do they do it, and how can you build something similar?

• Community events: Peloton holds regular live workouts and invites members to ride in their studios, helping users feel part of something bigger
• Showcasing members: They shout out individual achievements in live classes, and the leaderboard adds a competitive (and motivational) edge
• Creates sub-groups: From #pelotonlondon to #pelotonmoms, users can find their niche and connect more deeply through micro-communities 
• Sharing user feedback: This is where update logs can shine. Don’t waste them on bug fixes. Use them to show users what’s changed based on their feedback. Take it further with in-app messages and emails to reinforce that their voices matter.
• Connecting with other members: Even if you aren’t comfortable virtually high-fiving a stranger, they also offer the option to connect with people you know, so you can follow your friends and families’ progress and workouts

Peloton encourages you to connect with others and join communities

3. This is for me and only me

As much as we love being part of a community, we also want to feel like individuals: unique, not just another cliché.

With physical products, personalization is often just segmentation in disguise: a few preset variations users can choose from. But with apps, personalization can be much more meaningful. It’s about creating a truly individual experience—one that adapts to the user. From onboarding flows to content recommendations, personalization helps users feel like the app is made for them. They feel ownership.

This ties directly into Self-Determination Theory, which suggests people are more motivated—and feel more secure—when they believe they’re in control.

And the good news? You don’t need millions of users or a complex system to start personalizing. Start small:

• Ask for and use their name
• Reflect their choices back to them in later screens
• Let them set preferences or highlight what matters most to them

These small touches transform a generic app into their app. That sense of ownership becomes a powerful emotional hook, especially if your audience is driven by a desire to feel confident about the future or secure in their choices.

4. Gamifying the experience

Now, I’m not just talking about an F1 fantasy league or your standard streaks and badges. I’m talking about the deeper, more thoughtful ways apps can gamify an experience to spark joy and build emotional connection. While gamification naturally aligns with the emotional driver feel a sense of thrill, I’ve even seen financial apps use it effectively.

The goal isn’t to gamify for the sake of it, but to create variable rewards that make the habit loop more enjoyable and engaging. In my gamification in apps guide, I broke down seven ways you can do this well:

1. Streaks
2. Badges
3. Internal currency and point-based rewards
4. Leaderboards
5. Challenges
6. Guided progression
7. Social interaction

Look closely, and you’ll spot another powerful emotional motivator behind many of these: be the person I want to be. The drive to grow, to improve, to become your ideal self, fuels countless fitness, education, and productivity apps. Gamification helps make that journey not only more fun, but also more manageable by breaking it into clear, bite-sized wins.

In my recent SubClub podcast episode, I explored how the best apps bring the aha! moment right into onboarding; giving users an immediate sense of progress in that very first session.

I love the way Welltory, a health tracking app, focuses onboarding on getting you to share your data, rather than overwhelming users with a list of features. When I tried this myself, I was amazed to see the insights it shared about my sleep and wellbeing. Potentially, I let out an audible ‘aha’.

Gamification can amplify that feeling, turning a simple action into a mini-celebration. It allows you to bring fun and enjoyment into that aha! moment, or push your users to take action.

5. Your app as a ritual

While this may not work for every app, the ideal scenario is that using your app becomes a ritual — a natural, almost-automatic part of someone’s day. There’s a specific moment when they turn to your app, and they love it. 

Time for another slightly embarrassing confession: I’m not just an F1 nerd but also a massive Harry Potter fan. I literally can’t fall asleep without playing Harry Potter on Audible.

I’ve been subscribed to Audible for years because it serves two essential functions in my life: helping me fall asleep, and getting me through long runs. Just like someone might have a ritual around their morning coffee, your app can become part of that daily rhythm.

If we go back to emotional drivers, this starts with identifying the natural moments when users already turn to your app. Then, for new subscribers, you can guide them with push and email notifications to use your app during those moments. For instance, a journaling app might ask when you usually go to bed, and suggest setting a reminder just before that time to reflect and write. You begin with external triggers until internal triggers take over.

How do you know your app has become a ritual, embedded in their life? When your users start saying things like “I’m the kind of person who…”. That’s when your app becomes part of their identity. Rituals are especially powerful for emotional motivators like feeling secure, making progress, and belonging.

From functional to emotional problem solving

Functional value might be what gets users through the door, but emotional connection is what keeps them coming back. When you tap into internal triggers, emotional motivators, and levers like community, personalization, gamification, and rituals — you move beyond being just a tool: you become a habit.

The most loved apps aren’t just useful; they make people feel something. Whether it’s a sense of belonging, progress, or security, emotion is what makes habits stick and strengthens the habit loop. 

Solving a problem is essential, but when you make someone feel, that’s when you build something they can’t imagine living without.

In summary: emotion has a place in business, especially when it comes to apps.