Assumptions & Insights
We distilled our assumptions down to the six which posed the greatest risk to Snitch as a product and a business.
We approach the validation and testing of each assumption with several methods broken down below, providing justification, key results, derived insights and how these informed our next steps.
We assume our beachhead customers are young working professionals and they want to use Snitch
Why? Snitch relies on users being problem-aware and solution seeking. Young working professionals are an ideal beachhead target demographic due to their tech-savviness, problem-solving mindset, and openness to paying for new solutions. Testing this assumption will help assess Snitch’s go to market strategy and viability.
109 sign-ups
at our presale link, indicating strong product desirability. Speaking to over 30 signees, this was driven by the promise of a free Snitch device, suggesting that providing free hardware is highly attractive to customers.
23.3 years
was the average age of our signees, aligning with our expected demographic. Though 66% were students, likely due to selection bias in our initial go-to-market channels, their interest confirms the product's appeal to the right age group.
"The ‘why are you using this?’ made me stop and swipe off immediately." – Shane, Finance
"I want the key, it actually reduced my screen time because it was effort." – Emma, Researcher
"Your shared pot is really fresh and I’ve tried so many other apps but snitching was so fun!" – Kerem, Student
85% stickiness
of solution-seeking trial participants (81% of total) want Snitch as a solution.
"It felt like my mom was spying on me."– Gareth, 16 yrs old
“Snitch worked but Gareth was annoyed at me for using it with him. It sadly caused more fights than it fixed. – Racquel, Mother & CEO
Control kills commitment. Snitch works through self-motivation, not enforcement or parental oversight.
Students want Snitch. They love the cheekiness of Snitch but might be hesitant to pay. How can we serve them?
Working professionals want Friction. They appreciate disruptive features to break their scrolling habit.
What’s Next? We are developing another MVP trial for beta testing and will roll out to around 100 testers within our demographic to continue refining our friction based features based on feedback. Alongside this, we will build relationships with student communities, grow our social media and regularly updates followers.
We assume users are willing to share their screen-time data with friends to be held accountable.
Why? Although we believe that users interested in breaking habits would be willing to share their data with friends, this belief needs to be validated as a significant portion of users might also feel that sharing their screentime data is an invasion of privacy.
100% Recommended
Snitch to a friend, showing that our users are comfortable sharing their data. Additionally, the product concept was clearly communicated on the website, with 109 sign-ups validating users' willingness to share their screen time.
What did they feel?
"I'm ashamed of my habits, so I like the idea of being shamed—the core concept works well." – Kerem
"The possibility of someone else seeing my screen time was very Impactful. Kerem’s messages really helped me stop using Instagram.” – Mia
"I liked that it sent my peers a message—it made me more aware of how often I opened Snapchat. The social element really worked." – Arjun
Dr Weston Baxter
Expert in behavioural science & design to shape human decision-making.
"Banter based on shame is risky, because if I go too far, I break our friendship, but actually banter strengthens the relationship if I don't go too far. When users are playing with the boundary of their friendship like with Snitch, this can keep them really excited."
Prof. Rafael A. Calvo - Snitch Advisor
Expert on systems that support wellbeing.
Author of “Positive Computing”
“Look at AA—some people won’t recognise they have a problem. You can’t help them unless a partner does and guides them through extrinsic motivation. ‘Let’s do it together’ is the most valuable way to get people past the willingness of sharing and build connection.”
Banter builds bonds.
Playful teasing keeps users engaged - how do we help them balance?
Try offering a pair of subscriptions.
This doubles reach and cut costs, how can we make sharing even easier?
Snitch naturally fuels referrals.
But how could we motivate this further to maximise its customer acquisition potential?
What’s next? While keeping an eye out for user sentiment from beta testers, we can begin developing the privacy and ethics agreements with a legal consultant.
We assume users would pay for snitch.
Why? Snitch’s viability as a business is predicated on a users’ self-awareness to acknowledge their problem and their willingness to spend money on a solution, both of which can create a significant barrier to entry. We need to confirm that they’re willing to pay, and if so, how much they were willing to pay.
75% would pay
£4-7/month
All trial participants were London residents, and when asked if they would buy a coffee or beer for a friend each month in exchange for Snitch, 75% said yes—validating their willingness to pay for the service.
"Yes, I would pay. I believe that if I want to achieve a goal, I have to invest in it.” – Shane
"I prefer a subscription with a trial period." – Sarah
"One time payment makes more sense to me" – Kerem
58% of Students
In the trial believe their parents would pay on their behalf
Caroline Cadwell
Co-founder of Unpluq
"A solution that requires constant updates benefits from a subscription model."
Flexible pricing matters.
While a subscription model does allow recurring revenue, 1/3 of users wanted a one time purchase option. How do we balance revenue and access?
Don’t abandon users
Find someone else to pay. Students love Snitch (63% of sign-ups) but hesitate to pay. Parents, employers, or universities might.
What’s next? Develop financial models including potential student discounts and a life-time access option. Explore students as an adjacent customer segment.
We assume Snitch cuts down screentime.
Why? The premise of Snitch is that, through designing for behavioural change and community, it reduces time spent on problem apps. If this is not true, there’s no motivation for users to sign up or continue paying for Snitch. Thus, we needed to verify that it was an effective intervention.
1 hr 10 mins
Average Users in Trial No. 3 saved an average of
71% Reduction
In problem app usage
<15 mins/day
72% of participants cut their problem app use to this level.
“Improved well-being, used snap less for pointless conversations, preserved time. Looked at snap later. Wasn't instant use.” - Arjun
"I was more intentional with the screen-time I did decide to use” – Lucas
“My sleep quality improved, and I felt more focused and at peace." – Shane
In our trial, we A/B tested the shared time pot. The three users without it (shown in white) showed that while social pressure had an impact, scrolling remained unchecked without a time limit.
Apple Shortcuts failed for 5 of 18 trial users (Shown in Orange) in Week 2, and we observed an immediate relapse, confirming that Snitch was the driver of initial screen time reduction.
“I started reading articles on my phone" – Elen
“I learned how to crochet and spent more time reading." – Emma
Two ways to win
Can we make them one? Snitch’s physical key + social features cut screen time, but users often rely on just one. How do we link them for greater impact?
Snitch Users Scroll Less & Live More
Snitch users are naturally finding healthier things to fill their time like reading or crocheting.
What’s next? We will develop the set of features that caused the greatest screentime drop off, and then test this with more users in order to verify the effect is replicable.
We assume snitch retains users, making lasting behaviour change.
Why? As a company, we value lasting behaviour change and aim to help users overcome their scrolling problems. However, for Snitch to be sustainable, the behaviour change process must take long enough to ensure we meet the necessary lifetime value (LTV). Striking the right balance between effectiveness and retention is key to both fulfilling our mission and maintaining a viable business model.
85% stickiness
Snitch to a friend, showing that our users are comfortable sharing their data. Additionally, the product concept was clearly communicated on the website, with 109 sign-ups validating users' willingness to share their screen time.
When Apple Shortcuts failed for 5 of 18 users, they relapsed, showing no lasting behavioural change. Yet, 100% said they’d use Snitch again, proving its ongoing value.
"Snitch actually made me realise how much of a reflex opening bad apps is!" – Elen
“When I started, I was always aware of being locked in or out. Later, it felt natural, and I stopped noticing." – Shane
Caroline Cadwell
Co-Found of Unpluq
"We conducted a private study with Tilburg University, comparing digital-only and combined digital/physical solutions. Participants self-reported on productivity and sleep quality, with statistically significant improvements observed when using physical devices."
Alexandra Simmons - Snitch Advisor
Startup & Business Strategy Advisor.
"You'll be up against an industry driven by addiction, so users are likely to relapse. Finding a sticky element is crucial, and for you, that will likely be the social networks your users create.”
Dr Weston Baxter
Expert in behavioural science & design to shape human decision-making.
"Physical versus digital is easier to own -like money, people spend money differently if it's cash versus digital, because digital, it's like a imaginary number. A physical thing is quite tangible especially as a solution and if you’re going to leverage this you need allow users to build a sense of ownership. Place the key at the core of all the other features and can users personalise it?”
Snitch works, until it’s gone.
Users see instant change, but without it, old habits flood back. How do we make the impact stick or support customers to return?
The key to change is being ignored.
Some users ditch the Snitch Key, relying only on social features. How do we make it essential and leverage a sense of ownership?
What’s next? We will take forward a set of users through iterations of the MVP studies, and develop our understanding of capacity for long-term behaviour change.
We assume users are motivated by rewards and we will have the right parters to facilitate this.
Why? Our goal is to help users actively engage with reclaimed time through social and offline activities but do they want to? To validate this, we explored user motivation, the impact of rewards, and concrete business partnerships to support and incentivise users to meet goals.
50% didn't care about rewards
showing that the snitch offering showcased in the trial was valuable enough.
We beta tested rewards with 6 users. These 6 users interacted with the Snitch system (messaging & tapping in and out) 26% more than other testers.
“A climbing voucher actually got me out. It felt like I earned it!" - Shane
Through social media, LinkedIn, and email, we reached out to brands we admire, and proposed mutual partnerships to assess the viability of long-term collaborations.
Read more about our business partnerships
Snitch works without incentives, but when intrinsic drive dips, our tester show how rewards could boost retention and prevent drop-off.
Traction first.
Brands align with our audience and are open to collaboration provided traction, but should we prioritise them now or focus on growth first?
What’s next? We will take forward a set of users through iterations of the MVP studies, and develop our understanding of capacity for long-term behaviour change.