Why gyms don't work but Superhuman does

On the power of teaching

It’s January, so gyms are crowded.¹ By February, though, attendance numbers will be back to normal. So, why is it that gyms aren’t great at retention? Sure, their business model is predicated on it², but I’m not asking about that. I wanted to dig into why gyms are hard places for people who want to be there.

You don’t know what to do

Walking into a gym for the first time is intimidating. You have all this equipment staring at you. There are a bunch of people around. No one is talking to you. It’s unclear what the group’s social norms are: Is this a gym where people are friends or we don’t even acknowledge each other’s existence? Am I allowed to pet the service dog that keeps coming up to me? Where are the rags to wipe down equipment?

This is what it looks like when you walk into my gym. Definitely not the most welcoming experience.

Day one is always scary. Day two isn’t necessarily better. Years in to being a regular gym goer, I still often wonder what I should be doing and whether my training plan is a good one.

For most people joining a typical gym, it’s most intimidating because you don’t know where to start. When you walk in, the machines are staring at you. What do you do? Where do you go? Over to the treadmill, I guess?

You know exactly what to do

When you onboard to Superhuman³, the prosumer email client, you have to do white-glove onboarding. Someone teaches you how to do 80% of the things you do in your email client. When I onboarded, you met 1:1 with someone over zoom who taught you step-by-step how to use the product. There is no need to figure out what the keyboard shortcuts are; there is no need to guess the right combo of keys that triggers the command palette.

You don’t have to learn on the fly. You know exactly what to do in the app because you learned from a teacher. They teach you how to use the app. Because you were onboarded to Superhuman, you can use it the next day and reap the benefits.

It’s not scary. You’re not confused about the benefits. You are crushing your email every day. And, if you find yourself stumped, you know exactly how to ask for help because you were taught that too.

Teaching vs. onboarding

When I worked at GitLab, we had a culture of using GitLab for everything- from editing and making changes to our handbook to building the product to task management using issues across all functions. GitLab is a product with a steep learning curve. One of the significant differences between those who learned and thrived and those who didn’t, as I’ve written about before, was simple: whether or not they were taught.

When someone’s PR- or MR- broke, and they asked for help, did someone solve the problem for them? Or did they hop on a screen share and learn how to debug the handbook?

Superhuman teaches people how to use the product at onboarding, but with each feature release you don’t get a new intro to whatever new functionality. Of course, learning one minor additional feature is more accessible than a whole new product.

But continuous learning is more than just onboarding someone to the product once; it’s about constantly teaching them the new functionality you’re releasing.

Don’t pre-optimize for scale

Too often, especially in an async-first style of communication, people pre-optimize for scale. Instead of answering the question by holding someone’s hand, we worry about writing documentation that can solve all the times someone has a question. There is a time and place, and I like my systems, but pre-optimizing creates its own problems.

I like taking a different approach that is centered on teaching and creating artifacts. In other words, teach someone 1:1 but record it so that you can point other people to it in the future, if it’s relevant. If you’re scaling, optimize for scale, but especially as systems thinkers, don’t get trapped in trying to do things the right, the scalable way at the cost of getting the task in front of us done in the best way.

Onboarding, Community, and Looms 

You had to sign up in person when I first joined CrossFit Raeford in 2016. I had decided to join (for many reasons that I won’t get into here) but needed to finalize the paperwork and put a credit card on file in person. When I made it in, it was immediately after a class and transitioning to the next one. As Erika took my information, I mentioned with some hesitation that I was nervous because it was a lot of money. She stopped what she was doing, turned around to me, and said, “Good. That means you’ll show up.”

The first month was so expensive because it also came with four one-on-one training sessions. You’d spend time directly with a coach who taught you the basics of each of the movements. When you walked into your first class (CrossFit is primarily done in group classes), you had an idea of what you were doing.

When you walked into the gym for your first class, you faced many less-than-ideal challenges. Do you say hi to the person next to you? As you try your first snatch, will you look like a chicken without a head? One thing is certain: you didn’t have to worry about the funky-looking equipment or how to use it and didn’t have to figure out what to do. The class is programmed for you, and you had been taught the basics of the movements.

I’ve thought about this often in the years since as I’ve floated in and out of memberships at six different gyms (we’ve moved a lot). The more you can solve for your user or member, the more you can de-risk the member experience for them, the more you can focus on the core thing that will make a difference. 

There is no one right way to do this. CrossFit Raeford did it through onboarding and community. Superhuman does it through 1:1 personalized onboarding. Hex’s product updates often include walk-through videos (Looms) on how to use some new functionality. However you approach it is unique to you, but, there is undoubtedly value in focused teaching as part of your user, team member, or other group experience. 

Onboarding is crucial to helping new users feel comfortable and confident in using a product or service. Onboarding alone as a one-time process is not sufficient. An ongoing process of continuous learning that helps users stay engaged and up-to-date with new features unlocks a new level of user engagement. Companies can help users get up to speed quickly and effectively by offering personalized attention and guidance. While it may be tempting to pre-optimize for scale by writing extensive documentation, it is often more effective to focus on teaching users and being available to help them as they learn. By adopting this approach, companies can create a positive experience for their users and increase the likelihood of their success.

1

Emilie Schario @emilieschario

Gym was annoyingly full today.

2. https://www.npr.org/2019/06/12/731987365/episode-590-the-planet-money-workout

3. Obligatory: let me know if you want a referral because then we can both get a month free.