How to Reduce Churn by Doing Your "One Thing" (2025)

Trello is a kanban board with lists and tasks.

There's very little unique about it. The appeal wasits simplicity.

But as their product has grown in complexity, their onboarding has become unfocused.

As a product builder, you've got an innate desire to promote new features (that you've worked hard on)and to encourage things likereferrals.

Over time this clouds a team's collective judgement. It makes for a less satisfying experience and creates churn.

So, let me introduce you to a remedy I've used to great effect, many times.

It's not a silver bullet or a "hack". But an exercise to challenge what's really important.

Let's find your "one thing".

Case study

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Diving deeper

1. Identifying your "one thing"

It can be challenging to actually identify your "one thing".

But it can help to considerthis concept less as a single destination, and more as adirection.

It reminds me of a popular analogy: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time".

Imagine an alternative universe, where you'd never heard of Netflix.

(The fantasy element is important, as their brand awareness changes your perception.)

You could argue that their "one thing" is to get the user to watch a show.

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But, before they can watch something, they need to find something to watch, right?

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But people have never heard of your app, and so firstthey need to be confident that it's worth them investingtheir time to browse your library.

i.e., to know that there'sa good chance they'll be able to find something they like.

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And so, if I was building Netflix from scratch, the most important thing would be to quickly demonstrate that you've got a large library of shows, with broad appeal.

Or, very niche appeal, if you know what they're interested in.

They shouldn't funnel you straight into watching the first show you see—you might hate it.

You're not trying to get them to watch a show (well, not right now), you're trying to convince them that you have shows that they might be interested in.

It's a much lower commitment objective.

If you were trying to get someone to watch something, you'd limit the number of options because of 😳 Hicks Law. You'd show about 5.

But with this new framing, you'd want to increase the exposure of your titles. You'd show lots more. Maybe an entire feed of them.

Your "one thing" changes as you "zoom in". Keep zooming until you find it.

2. Teaching opportunities

Once you've identified your "one thing", what do you do with everything else?

Considerthe difference between encouraging focus and restricting actions.

Let's usean example.

Trello pre-populates a search query (that you didn't make), and then predictablyfails to find anything.

You've got no tasks to find.

Click 'Search'

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Made a search

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You could simply block the user from making any searches until they've created a board.

But a more balanced approach is to use thisdistraction as a teaching opportunity.

Think about it like this; if someone has taken an action that's not in yourideal journey, you don't kill their curiosity.

Instead, indulge it—they might be looking for a specific feature. But you have to make sure that you guide them back.

On the first screen, I'd show an empty state explaining why there are no cards to search, and encouraging the action that'll remedy that (i.e., create your first board).

And if they choose to make a search regardless, I'd educate the user on how to use these search queries in the future. I'd be explaining a future benefit.

Nudge an action

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Educate about a feature

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Focusing the user isn't always about limiting their actions.

In this instance, I've used both stages to recognise an intent, and educate (in context), why it's not working now, but will be beneficial when you've done your "one thing".

You've rewarded them for straying off the footpath with education, and given them even more motivation to get started.

3. The role of templates

I've spent a huge amount of time testing how to efficiently onboard users, on a variety of products, using templates.

First, let's cover the two main benefits of a template.

1. To save time

A shortcut to a desired outcome. Usually by creating reusable assets or configuring settings.

🌍

2. To inspire

Demonstrate use cases, techniques and a variety of ways to use the product.

I don't see many examples where something is actually efficient at both.

Normally when a service tries to do that, users end up having to delete so much unwanted junk that it would have been easier to just start again.

They're different intents, and are designed accordingly.

Trello attempts to do both at the same time.

Interactive demo

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Onboarding tip

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Placeholder

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Not to mention the dummy cards that are pureupsells, or links to other templates.

Inside the cards themselves are a mixture of instructions, fake conversations and irrelevant activity data.

Instructions

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Narrative

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Metadata

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Trello are in this awkward middle ground, where to functionally use the tutorials you need to inherit the cards into a real board.

But in doing so, they make the board full of junk and undesirable to clean up.

So my biggest piece of advice for templates is this: does it serve your "one thing".

UX Exercise

Question 1 of 3

BFM+

After subscribing to Apple Arcade, you're given a "starter pack" based on your preferences.

What's their "one thing"?

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Playing your first game

You need to be a BFM+ member to use exercises

Setting your preferences

You need to be a BFM+ member to use exercises

Seeing a broad range of games

You need to be a BFM+ member to use exercises

Saving games to "play later"

You need to be a BFM+ member to use exercises

Select an answer

How to Reduce Churn by Doing Your "One Thing" (2025)
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