Letterboxd: Finding Product Market Fit with JTBD Design

Letterboxd: Finding Product Market Fit with JTBD Design

A teardown of Letterboxd’s onboarding through the lens of behavioural design - published as an educational case study at Growth.Design.

Letterboxd: Finding Product Market Fit with JTBD Design

A teardown of Letterboxd’s onboarding through the lens of behavioural design - published as an educational case study at Growth.Design.

Problem area(S)

Onboarding · JTBD · Nomenclature

Onboarding · JTBD · Nomenclature

Onboarding · JTBD · Nomenclature

Behavioural Insights used

Cognitive Load: Too many options and unclear terminology increase mental effort, reducing user engagement.

Hick’s Law: Simplifying the interaction model (e.g. swipe left/right) improves speed/clarity.

Progressive Disclosure: Complex features should be introduced after users understand the core utility of the product.

Feedback Loops: Every user action (liking, rating, saving) should have a visible and meaningful effect to reinforce motivation.

Cognitive Load: Too many options and unclear terminology increase mental effort, reducing user engagement.

Hick’s Law: Simplifying the interaction model (e.g. swipe left/right) improves speed/clarity.

Progressive Disclosure: Complex features should be introduced after users understand the core utility of the product.

Feedback Loops: Every user action (liking, rating, saving) should have a visible and meaningful effect to reinforce motivation.

Cognitive Load: Too many options and unclear terminology increase mental effort, reducing user engagement.

Hick’s Law: Simplifying the interaction model (e.g. swipe left/right) improves speed/clarity.

Progressive Disclosure: Complex features should be introduced after users understand the core utility of the product.

Feedback Loops: Every user action (liking, rating, saving) should have a visible and meaningful effect to reinforce motivation.

Problem

Despite its popularity, Letterboxd overwhelms new users with vague onboarding, unclear labels, and unfocused features — making it hard to understand what the app is for and limiting its fit for new audiences.

Solution

I broke down the user journey to reveal friction points and proposed redesigns that align the experience with two clear Jobs-to-Be-Done: tracking watched films and discussing them socially.

INSIGHT

Without clear Jobs-to-Be-Done, even popular products can feel confusing — product-market fit depends more on aligning with user intent and expectations than on feature breadth.

There are three key takeaways from this onboarding teardown:

1) A pop-up can be such a rough way of starting a new user relationship. If the request is really necessary, make sure it's exciting and interesting for the user.

2) Decision fatigue is real, keep options simple during an onboarding. On top of that, give people a clear goal and a stopping cue to prevent churn.

3) Ensure all actions have reactions. Clear feedback loops communicate the value of the effort made by the user, keeping momentum and user psych high.

And ultimately, without evaluating the intent and expectations that people come to your product with, then you risk designing an unfocused app. Find the 'Jobs' that people want to accomplish and align your product's features and messaging in supporting them in doing just that.

And ultimately, without evaluating the intent and expectations that people come to your product with, then you risk designing an unfocused app. Find the 'Jobs' that people want to accomplish and align your product's features and messaging in supporting them in doing just that.

And ultimately, without evaluating the intent and expectations that people come to your product with, then you risk designing an unfocused app. Find the 'Jobs' that people want to accomplish and align your product's features and messaging in supporting them in doing just that.

Watch the full case study here 👈

Watch the full case study here 👈

Watch the full case study here 👈

Justin is always the first to take a step back and think about what’s in the customer’s head. I need him to do a full audit on our shop experience.

Michelle De Mott
Head of Product & Design, Not On The High Street

Michelle De Mott
Head of Product & Design, Not On The High Street

Michelle De Mott
Head of Product & Design, Not On The High Street

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