BUSINESS OF APPS NYC · 2026
The Ideal Flow
Top strategies from high-converting onboarding and paywalls
How this works
📱
Join at: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
📋 Sheet on your table, cover sheet on top. No peeking ahead
🗳 Vote A or B. I show the data. Then grade your own app
0 you don’t do it1 you do it, not well2 you do it great
🎯 Walk out with two or three tests to queue this week
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 2
Question framing
AFewer words. They move faster.
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←
×
When’s your birthday?
Birthday
18 / 02 / 1995
Continue
VS
BOne line saying why you’re asking.
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←
×
Welcome, Sam! When’s your birthday?
We’ll use this to set energy and sleep targets that fit your age, and to keep younger members safe.
Birthday
18 / 02 / 1995
Your birthday will never be shown to anyone else.
Continue
Which one gets more people through?
Every question shows its value. People need to know why it matters to them.
Langer, Harvard: asking to cut the copier line got 60% yes. Adding a reason, 94%.
Strava gives three reasons for asking, and promises the answer stays off your profile.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 3
Notification permission opt-in
AAn extra screen, explaining why, before the system asks.
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←
×
9:41
OTTERLY
now
Evening wind-down in 10 minutes
5-min stretch · keeps your 6-day streak alive
You're 2x more likely to keep your streak with reminders
Members who turn on reminders stick to their evening routine twice as often.
Continue
VS
BAsks in the flow. No extra screen.
9:41
Which one gets more people to allow?
Prime the ask. A permission is the big favour, so the reason has to be real and it has to be theirs.
Langer, the bigger ask: a reason that said nothing got 24%, exactly what no reason got. A real reason, 42%.
Runna is one of the few doing it right: “2x more likely to finish your plan with workout reminders,” next to the real notification.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 4
Driving commitment
AOne less screen. Less chance to drop off.
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×
Your plan is ready!
Your evening routine is set. Time to get started.
Let's go
VS
BA screen asks them to commit to the goal first.
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←
×
Sam’s Pact
I, Sam, am committing to wind down by 9:40pm and protect my sleep, five nights a week.
I trust Otterly to guide me and keep my streak alive.
I trust Otterly to guide me and keep my streak alive.
Press and hold to seal your pact
Which one do people actually follow through on?
The commitment pact. An explicit commitment changes follow-through, and holding your thumb down makes it signed, not tapped.
stickK: people who sign a commitment with stakes hit 78% of their goals. Without it, 35%.
Fabulous puts their name and their goal in the contract, and they seal it with a thumb.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 5
Personalization
AShows their actual plan, built from their answers.
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←
×
9:40pm
Most people
8:30p9:15p10:00p10:45p
Based on your schedule and energy dips, your ideal wind-down starts at 9:40pm
How do we calculate this?
Adjust my wind-down time
THAT LOOKS RIGHT
VS
BShows it building their plan, then says it’s ready. Less to read.
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Everything you need to build habits
Track every habit in one place
Streaks and weekly stats
Reminders when you need them
Next
Which one converts better?
Make it actually personalised. Say personalised and show nothing personal, and the trust is gone.
Adapty A/B test: showing a real computed result instead of a feature tour, 17% more paying customers.
RISE shows the number it worked out from their schedule, then asks if that looks right.
ROUND 6
Account creation placement
ASigns them up while motivation is high.
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Welcome to Otterly
Small evening habits. Better mornings.
Get started
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←
×
Create your account
Sign up to continue
Continue with Apple
Continue with Google
Sign up with email
VS
BSigns them up once they have something to lose.
9:41
←
×
Your evening routine is ready
🌙 Screens off · 9:40pm
🧘 5-min stretch · 9:45pm
🛌 Lights out · 10:15pm
Continue
9:41
←
×
Save your routine
Create an account so your plan and streak are never lost.
Continue with Apple
Sign up with email
Maybe later
Which one gets more accounts?
Ask at the point of leverage. Once there is something to lose it is a value exchange: save your progress.
Best Buy replaced forced registration at checkout with a guest option. Conversion up 45%.
Duolingo teaches a whole lesson first, then asks - with a Later button still on the screen.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 7
Trial expectations
AStraight to the paywall. One less screen.
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×
Restore
Asleep by 10:15,
starting tonight
starting tonight
★★★★★ 4.8 · 21,400 ratings
“First thing that actually got me to bed on time. Three weeks in and I’m still going.”
✓Your personalised wind-down plan
✓1,000+ guided stretches and sounds
✓Sleep insights and weekly trends
✓Reminders that fit your schedule
Choose a plan
BEST VALUE
✓
Annual
12 mo · $99.99
$8.33/mo
7 days free
Monthly
1 mo · $19.99
$19.99/mo
Start my free trial
$99.99 per year after the trial
Terms · Privacy · Restore purchase
VS
BA screen first, explaining when it charges and how to cancel.
9:41
×
How your free trial works
🔓
Today
Everything unlocks. Sounds, stretches and insights.
📧
In 5 days
We email to remind you the trial is about to end.
🎁
In 7 days
Your card is charged. Cancel any time before Sept 24.
Start my free week
Which one starts more trials?
Show the timeline. The fear was never the price. It is forgetting to cancel.
Blinkist added a screen showing exactly when the trial ends. Trial starts up 23%, support complaints down 55%.
Brilliant gives the timeline a screen of its own. No price on it, no plan to pick, one thing to understand.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 8
Plan presentation
ABoth plans side by side. Nothing hidden.
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×
Restore
Asleep by 10:15,
starting tonight
starting tonight
★★★★★ 4.8 · 21,400 ratings
“First thing that actually got me to bed on time. Three weeks in and I’m still going.”
✓Your personalised wind-down plan
✓1,000+ guided stretches and sounds
✓Sleep insights and weekly trends
✓Reminders that fit your schedule
Choose a plan
MOST POPULAR · SAVE 58%
Annual
12 mo · $99.99
$8.33/mo
7 days free
✓
Monthly
1 mo · $19.99
$19.99/mo
Start my free trial
Cancel any time in the App Store
Terms · Privacy · Restore purchase
VS
BOne plan. The cheaper one is a tap away.
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×
Restore
Asleep by 10:15,
starting tonight
starting tonight
★★★★★ 4.8 · 21,400 ratings
“First thing that actually got me to bed on time. Three weeks in and I’m still going.”
✓Your personalised wind-down plan
✓1,000+ guided stretches and sounds
✓Sleep insights and weekly trends
✓Reminders that fit your schedule
7 days free, then
$99.99 per year ($8.33/month)
$99.99 per year ($8.33/month)
Start my 7 days free
View all plans
Cancel any time in the App Store
Terms · Privacy · Restore purchase
Which one makes more revenue?
Burying the cheap plan one tap deeper costs you nothing. The tap filters for the people who actually want monthly.
Mojo moved the monthly plan one screen deeper. Annual went from 60% to 80% of plans sold, and conversion did not drop.
Imprint leads with one price and one button. “View all plans” sits underneath, quiet and still there.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 9
Price framing
AShows $99.99 a year. You do the math to compare.
9:41
×
Restore
Asleep by 10:15,
starting tonight
starting tonight
★★★★★ 4.8 · 21,400 ratings
“First thing that actually got me to bed on time. Three weeks in and I’m still going.”
✓Your personalised wind-down plan
✓1,000+ guided stretches and sounds
✓Sleep insights and weekly trends
✓Reminders that fit your schedule
Choose a plan
SAVE 58%
✓
Annual
Billed once a year
$99.99/yr
Monthly
Billed every month
$19.99/mo
Continue
Cancel any time in the App Store
Terms · Privacy · Restore purchase
VS
BShows $8.33 a month, same unit as the other plan.
9:41
×
Restore
Asleep by 10:15,
starting tonight
starting tonight
★★★★★ 4.8 · 21,400 ratings
“First thing that actually got me to bed on time. Three weeks in and I’m still going.”
✓Your personalised wind-down plan
✓1,000+ guided stretches and sounds
✓Sleep insights and weekly trends
✓Reminders that fit your schedule
Choose a plan
SAVE 58%
✓
Annual
Billed once a year · $99.99
$8.33/mo
Monthly
Billed every month
$19.99/mo
Continue
Cancel any time in the App Store
Terms · Privacy · Restore purchase
Same $100 either way. Which one converts?
Price in small units. Nobody does the division in their head, so do it for them, side by side.
RevenueCat case study: a paywall showing $12.33 a week next to $29.99 a week lifted revenue 64%.
Ladder puts both plans in the same unit, stacked. No arithmetic.
Vote: ahaslides.com/L4I1V
ROUND 10
The decline path
ADrops them straight into the app.
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Tonight
Sun 14 Sept
🔥
6-night streak. Keep it going.
🌙
Screens off by 9:40pm
Tonight
🧘
10-minute wind-down stretch
Plus
🛌
Lights out by 10:15pm
Tonight
🎵
Rain on a tin roof
Plus
☀
Tonight
📚
Library
📊
Insights
👤
You
VS
BHands them a free week on the way out.
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Otterly
LIMITED-TIME WELCOME OFFER
Your first week is on us. Everything unlocked, no card
Everything unlocked
+ $0 billed today
⌄
No card required.
Cancel or change plans any time.
Cancel or change plans any time.
Your free week starts now and ends Sept 24. We will not ask for a card and nothing renews automatically. Cancel or change plans any time in Settings.
Accept free week
No thanks
They tapped X. What happens next?
Design the decline. A closed paywall is a step, not an exit, and loss aversion does the selling.
A practitioner case in RevenueCat’s 2026 report: one app gave premium away on paywall close. Paid conversion went 0.4% to 4.5%.
MasterClass grants premium free for a year, then renews at the higher price.
Take it with you
ottergrowth.com/boa
Open discussion
What do you agree with?
What do you disagree with?
What have you seen work?
Michael Berliner
ottergrowth.com