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I am trying to phrase the value proposition for my productivity app, which aims to help people get going with activities they easily give up on. At the moment it reads like this:

Thank you for installing %appname%.
We hope it helps you to get more productive with the things you want to do.

It felt wrong (I wasn't sure whether to use productive with something or productive at something), so I checked Google and a few dictionaries only to find no evidence of using productive with an object (except phrases like “be productive at home/work”). So I wonder if it's an appropriate use at all.

I would rephrase it with “get [more] successful at the things you want to do”, but this feels like a promise too strong: the fact that the user gets more engaged with the activity doesn't guarantee they find success at it. And I'd avoid the word 'engaged' as being too formal.

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    ...helps you be [or become] more productive in the things...
    – Jim
    Dec 19, 2015 at 20:15
  • Smiths are always productive. Please do not use internet-speak abbrevations.
    – tchrist
    Dec 19, 2015 at 20:47

2 Answers 2

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You say your app is designed to "help people get going with activities they easily give up on." I take this to mean your app is designed to increase the likelihood they will (with your app's help, of course) bring more projects to completion, and decrease the likelihood of starting a project but not completing it.

I would therefore word your value proposition as follows:

Thank you for installing %appname%. We designed it specifically to help you bring more and more projects to completion, thus saving you time and boosting your productivity.

You then need to spell out specifically the ways in which your app will make this happen. First, however, I recommend you come up with a list of factors which tend to sidetrack a person who starts a project but does not finish it. Then answer the question "How will our app address these factors, making them less formidable and easier to deal with?"

Best wishes to you!

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  • Thank you for encouragement! :) Regarding the purpose of the app—not exactly. Under 'activities' I also mean things like "read more books", "work out every day", "practice drawing" etc.—not necessarily projects that can be completed. It's more of a habit builder actually, but the emphasis is "start and keep on doing something you wanted to but struggled with" (either because of procrastination, not making time for it, being exhausted after work etc). Also this is not a general purpose productivity app but an implementation of a concrete original technique. It's my first app and it's free.
    – Actine
    Dec 19, 2015 at 22:40
  • @Actine: OK, so we're not talking about completing projects, but about persevering in the process of acquiring and/or refining a skill or ability. Seems to me, then, you're talking about motivation in general and not goal-setting (and goal accomplishing) in particular. A value proposition would then need to address how your app will address the common reasons/excuses for not "sticking with it," whatever "it" may be, excuses such as procrastination, poor budgeting of time, and physical exhaustion. Perhaps you need to pinpoint these excuses and tell how your app will address & minimize them. Dec 19, 2015 at 23:06
  • The "value prop" in question will be a two-sentence statement on the very first page of onboarding. The second slide goes into the detail of how the technique works. See: goo.gl/photos/ywP769gSUZSrhtySA
    – Actine
    Dec 19, 2015 at 23:16
  • (P.S. I'm finishing for an alpha release. All the copy will be proofread and iterated over a few more times before the app is generally available.)
    – Actine
    Dec 19, 2015 at 23:23
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    @Actine: Best wishes to you in your endeavor. Don't quit midstream; that would just be too ironic! Persevere! Don Dec 20, 2015 at 15:15
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I suggest you use "productive with the things". It sounds better than "productive at the things". Based on what you found on google: "be productive at home/work" the 'at' refers to a place and not 'with something'. So you should use 'at' when referring to a place and 'with' when referring to things.

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