Superhuman is an email client designed to provide a faster, more efficient, and streamlined email experience, primarily targeting professionals. It offers features to help users manage their inboxes more effectively, with a focus on speed, productivity, and user experience.

Key Features:

1. Speed and Efficiency:
   • Superhuman is known for being incredibly fast, with most actions, like sending emails, achieved via keyboard shortcuts.
   • It optimizes for quick navigation and processing, helping users “inbox zero” quickly.
2. Advanced Email Management:
   • Priority Inbox: Superhuman helps prioritize important emails using AI and allows users to focus on messages that matter.
   • Snooze & Follow-ups: Users can snooze emails to reappear at a later time or set follow-up reminders to ensure no message is forgotten.
3. Command Bar:
   • A command bar feature allows users to take actions quickly without needing to leave their keyboard, reminiscent of tools like Spotlight on macOS.
4. Offline Access:
   • Superhuman works offline, meaning users can compose, manage, and read emails even without an internet connection, syncing once they’re back online.
5. Superhuman’s Design:
   • The interface is minimal and sleek, designed to reduce distractions and help users focus on their core tasks.
6. Read Receipts:
   • It includes read receipts to let users know when their emails are opened.
7. Split Inbox & Categorization:
   • Users can split their inbox into different sections based on labels, contacts, or types of emails, making it easier to manage various streams of communication.
8. Email Tracking:
   • Superhuman also offers email tracking features, allowing users to see when and how often their emails are opened.
9. Calendar Integration:
   • It integrates with calendars for easy scheduling and management of appointments directly from the inbox.

Target Audience:

Superhuman is primarily used by professionals who need to manage high volumes of email efficiently, such as executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. The app’s speed, productivity features, and premium design aim to help users process emails faster and spend less time on email management.

Pricing:

Superhuman charges a premium monthly subscription fee (around $30/month), reflecting its positioning as a luxury, productivity-boosting email tool.

To use Superhuman, you need to install their dedicated email client, which is a separate app designed to replace or complement your current email service, not wrap around Outlook or other email clients directly. It’s competing in a space dominated by incumbent products (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) hence requires a unique approach to both product development and user acquisition.

First, user acquisition. Convincing users to switch from entrenched products like Gmail or Outlook requires addressing habitual inertia head-on. Here’s how Superhuman has done it, and how a similar service might follow suit:

Target a Specific Audience First

• Start with Power Users and Professionals: Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, focus on a niche audience with specific needs (founders, executives, busy professionals, and early adopters). These users are willing to pay for a faster, more efficient service that saves them time.
• Build for Power, Sell on Efficiency: Frame your service as a premium, high-productivity tool. Make clear that this is for people who value time and efficiency over anything else, like Superhuman’s core message.

Create an Invitation-Only Approach

• Create Exclusivity: Superhuman leveraged an invite-only model to build buzz and exclusivity. People are more intrigued by products that are perceived as difficult to access.
• Make it a Status Symbol: Position your service as something used by top professionals, thereby creating social proof. Users feel they’re getting a competitive edge in their work by using a premium tool.

Offer a Superior Onboarding Experience

• One-on-One Onboarding: Superhuman offers 1:1 onboarding to teach users how to maximize their productivity using the tool. This hands-on approach makes the product feel personalized and increases adoption because users immediately understand how it’s better than what they’re used to.
• Show Immediate Value: In your onboarding process, showcase features that highlight efficiency improvements right away. For instance, demonstrate how quickly they can achieve inbox zero using keyboard shortcuts and smart prioritization.

Solve Pain Points of Existing Services

• Show What’s Lacking in Current Solutions: Highlight the frustrations users may have with existing email clients (e.g., Gmail’s sluggishness, Outlook’s complexity). Demonstrate how your service solves these pain points directly.

Pricing Strategy: Position as Premium

• Charge a Premium for Productivity: By charging a premium price (like Superhuman’s $30/month), you signal that this is a superior, professional-grade product. This pricing model works particularly well for time-sensitive users who value productivity.

Build Word-of-Mouth Through Delight

• Provide Moments of Delight: Build small but delightful features (like Superhuman’s beautifully crafted design, pleasant sound effects, and snappy transitions) to create an emotional connection with users. These moments often drive word-of-mouth recommendations.
• Focus on Testimonials from Influencers and Early Adopters: Get influential users in your target market to share their success stories. Hearing how much time an executive saved by switching to your service can create powerful social proof.

3. Overcoming User Habits: Managing the Transition

Users are naturally resistant to change, especially when it comes to tools like email clients, which are deeply ingrained in daily workflows. To ease this transition:

3.1. Ensure Seamless Migration

• Data Migration: Make it easy for users to migrate their data (contacts, emails, labels, etc.) from Gmail, Outlook, or other services. Offer a hassle-free import tool that transfers settings and data seamlessly.
• Integration with Existing Tools: Offer integrations with popular productivity and project management tools (Slack, Asana, Google Calendar) so users don’t feel like they’re abandoning their ecosystem.

3.2. Highlight Small Wins Early

• Time-Saving Metrics: After a week or month of use, provide personalized reports that show how much time the user has saved compared to their previous email client. Quantifying the benefits helps users justify sticking with the switch.
• Showcase Key Time-Saving Features: Send users regular tips or feature highlights, showcasing small but impactful ways they can save even more time.

3.3. Create a “Sticky” Experience

• Behavioral Hooks: Build features that create dependency on your service, such as tracking important conversations or setting up customized workflows. Once users get accustomed to these features, it will be harder for them to switch back to the old way of working.
• Continuous Updates and Personalization: Keep users engaged by constantly improving the product. Send updates about new features that align with their usage patterns to keep them excited and engaged.

4. Marketing Messaging: Selling the Vision

To break habitual use of entrenched products, your messaging needs to focus on key pain points and present your product as the solution:

• Time is Money: Frame the service as a tool for maximizing time efficiency, showing how every second counts.
• Superpower, Not Just Software: Like Superhuman, position your product as a tool that gives users a competitive edge—a “superpower” for busy professionals.
• Personal Productivity, Delivered: Emphasize that your email service delivers personalized experiences that help users get more done with less effort.