Hey from NYC -
I’m Julia, and every week in this newsletter, I break down marketing insights I’ve learned building software and consumer products (bootstrapped + VC-backed) and lean into the organic, creator, and paid strategies that fuel viral growth.
Welcome to June! Month 6 out of 12. It’s cool to think that we are already halfway through 2025. This year has brought its own set of craziness: challenges, beautiful moments, and growth opportunities. For today’s newsletter, I’m excited to bring some light into your Sunday with a few awesome hacks….
Ever wonder what’s really happening behind the scenes of your favorite apps?
As someone who builds consumer products for a living (currently at Citizen), I analyze basically every product I use. Whether I’m trying to snag a reservation, buying concert tickets, or shopping for limited items during clothing drops, I’m always asking: Why is it designed this way? What is the product optimizing for? And how can I hack the experience for the best results?
If you know me, you know I love to mess with software products. I don’t love to take no for an answer. I always believe there’s a workable situation.
Software products are just systems with their own incentives. Today, I’ll teach you how to get the most out of these products by finding the hidden doors and loopholes engineered into them.
Here are 5 of my favorite ways to poke holes in products, experiment to make algos better, and think like a builder. Try these and you’ll get more out of your daily consumer usage, and definitely have more fun, too.
1. Is your onboarding stupidly simple?
Does it pass the “one brain cell” test? I fly through product onboardings. When I’m using the same software to check in at NYC medical clinics as 70+ year olds, it highlights a key product requirement today: simplicity is absolutely required. Here’s a website that shows you tear downs of 20+ web and mobile app onboardings.
Notice these product choices:
How few words are written on each screen? Screens = meant to be scannable. The product and you actually have the same goal, which is to get to the next screen and complete onboarding.
Products fail when you drop off. Fewer words = less room for someone to think and easier for them to tap a button.
CTA buttons: Clearly state what they want you to do.
How easily can you sign in? Most consumer products offer the ability for you to sign in with Apple, Gmail, or even Facebook. This is because it’s 10x easier for you to become a customer this way. It’s also easy for you to resurrect as a churned user and come back to a product if you can sign back in with these fields, vs. trying to remember a custom username and password tied to the software.
Companies that have stupidly simple onboarding:
Southwest Airlines: Go through their app and their marketing. It’s killer. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THIS SUPER SICK THREAD WRITTEN BY A SOUTHWEST SOFTWARE ENG POSTED ON R/SOUTHWEST AIRLINES. This is such a good example of companies engaging with their super users in a dope way, talking about an A/B test they are running with 35% of their app users.
TurboTax: Using your data YoY basically means you only have to onboard once to a yearly product. That’s sweet since taxes are painful no matter what.
Notion: I onboarded to Notion this week in about 30 seconds and was instantly handed a library of templates that made me feel like I was a productivity master.
Product Hunt shared a list of “The best Notion templates in 2025.” Which do you love and why? Super sick variety – from templates that help you raise a financing round, to tracking New Year’s resolutions and even creating custom websites. People have full-on careers building and selling these.
2. Instant Dopamine Hit
Great products will give you a reward right away. It might not be the “aha” moment, but it’s a reward higher up the funnel that will make you feel good and start to build the foundation of a product addiction
I notice my gut reaction in the first 60 seconds and try to figure out what triggers me. If you’re designing a product, make sure there’s a tiny reward right up front.
Notice these product choices:
Rewards like discounts, free products, and unlimited matches that pop up with a timer. This timer forces you to recognize the reward and choose whether you want to accept it.
Is your dopamine hit tied to having your notifications on? This is a way an app will try and nudge you into their optimal experience. On my LTK feed, a message sits right at the top that lets me know exclusive deals and launches will be available to me if I opt into having my notifs on.
Companies that give you instant dopamine hits:
Apple: Believe it or not, your iPhone background is an instant dopamine hit that’s tied to your identity. People get attached to their wallpaper and layout, and Apple knows it. There’s even an Etsy marketplace called “iPhone Aesthetic” with 5K+ listings that generates millions of dollars/year.
Shien: Literally lets you spin a discount wheel, which is complete casino psychology. You win a timed discount only applicable to this experience before you even shop. The wheels change by season, holiday, etc. Examples below.
Shein Discount Wheel
3. Algorithm Games
Ever notice how you and your friends have similar but slightly different product experiences on dating apps? Like one of you is being exposed to all the attractive matches, and one of you keeps getting repeats, even though all of your settings are the same.
Dating apps are a masterclass in algorithmic psychology. They make people obsess over how they work: If I swipe left more, do I get better options? Is there a “hot streak” bonus? There are even subreddits dedicated to how you can play algorithm games on dating apps to increase your odds of matching with what you perceive are quality users.
Algorithms of consumer apps play games with you in terms of giving you rewards all at once. It’s a fun puzzle.
Notice these product choices:
Personalized but opaque feeds: When the user is meant to feel like something is personalized, but the logic is totally hidden from them. This makes people feel like they could be in control based on their product engagement.
Artificial scarcity and throttling: Platforms may limit how many matches or high-quality profiles you see in a session, nudging you toward premium features or more frequent use. This throttling is usually not disclosed, but users notice patterns, like seeing the same profiles repeatedly or getting a burst of attention after inactivity.
Manipulating perceived value: When the pricing looks weird, discounts feel random, and individual listers control the price of items
Feedback loops based on your algo: The more you interact, the more the algorithm “learns”
Companies that play product games:
The Real Real: The popular designer second-hand store always makes shopping feel like hunting. They mix up the order in which they show you items, let you know when something is on hold, and make it really hard to find truly good deals.
E.g. If you set your max budget to $200, The RealReal will show you items clustered at the upper end, sometimes even listing the same item twice at different prices, so it feels like they’re just trying to get you to spend more instead of showing the true range, especially since items get discounted the longer they sit on the site.
How to win this game: You have to be super strict with your search settings; narrow prices, ranking the order in a certain way, searching by designer.
Spotify: The more you skip, the more it tries to figure out your vibe and what you like. Discover Weekly is a total algorithm game.
4. Line Jumping: Can I Beat the System?
Every time I’m trying to buy concert tickets on release day, I’m reminded how intentional the experience is. You’re thrown into a queue, staring at your number in line, heart racing, wondering if you’ll make it before they sell out. It’s built to feel like a race.
I try to beat this system in so many different ways:
Does refreshing ever help or hurt (usually hurt)?
Does using my phone connected to LTE vs. wifi help?
Does purchasing location matter, like if a friend in a different state tries to buy, or if I connect to a VPN?
If you’re building, consider how your queue system feels to users: frustrating, fair, or hackable? When users feel like they’ve unlocked something, they come back.
You can build a community in a great way by disclosing different hacks and adjusting them over time.
It makes your super users feel like they need to learn new tricks and like the product is growing, both in popularity and complexity. Lines and limited drops create a culture where “beating the system” is part of the experience, and entire online communities form around sharing strategies.
Notice these product choices:
Visible line position
Progress feedback: Aka, when Starbucks shows you when your order was received -> being made -> ready for pickup
Scarcity signals: Ticketmaster’s “tickets are running low!” and Nike’s “limited stock” banners signal urgency
Companies that do this well:
Ticketmaster: Obviously. No explanation needed here.
Shake Shack (in-person): Even their in-store kiosks gamify the line, showing your order’s progress in real time. I’m always thinking: If my order is smaller, will it come out faster, and can I skip people ahead of me….
Nike SNKRS: Getting sneakers on drop day is a science. There are Discords dedicated to queue hacks where people spill using different bots, VPNs, and browser tricks.
5. Customer Service: Can I Get a Freebie?
Amazon has set the gold standard for easy refunds/returns, and consumers have high expectations across the board because of this. Customers are king, and I never hesitate to remind companies of that.
When I joined Rent the Runway, I pushed back on paying for items that didn’t fit. Their rep immediately sent me an extra shipment….problem solved, it took <5 min.
My move with customer service: always figure out if you’re talking to a bot, an outsourced agent, or an in-house specialist. If you’re getting canned responses, escalate.
Btw, use RocketReach to find anyone’s email, even the CEO. You’d be surprised what a direct message can do, including possibly getting bumped right to the top of the customer support team.
Notice these product choices:
Are you talking to a chatbot, agency rep, or in-house customer support rep?
Do their responses feel automated?
Is there a path of escalation?
Are they around 24/7 for communication?
Companies that do this well:
Amazon is the holy grail for customer support
Beehiiv has been super great at customer support for my newsletter, especially for a startup
Delta on X is known for solving problems quickly. When customer complaints can go viral, it forces brands to respond.
Well, How’d I Do?
It’s fun to be an active participant in your future using software products. Every product is just a system built by humans, which means it’s full of opportunities for other clever humans (that’s you) to bend it to your will.
I hope this newsletter gave you another POV into different hidden doors and secret levers in the products you use every day. Go ahead and game the system, ask for what you want, and see what happens…. It’s fun.
If you’re building, this list is a great perspective on what triggers and surfaces are being used in winning product journeys to nudge users along.
I can’t believe the second half of the year is finally here, and I’m wishing you an incredible, productive, and fulfilling next six months.
Go break and build something (in a good way)!!
Have the best week.
Julia
