Have you heard about the How We Feel app? Launched by the CEO of Pinterest, it prompts you to log in every day in order to create a vast database that tracks the spread of COVID-19. The app appears to be spreading, well, virally. (Please forgive me!)
How We Feel App
I mentored a wonderful startup with a similar premise a few years ago, and it was impossible for them to get traction. I’m struck by how this is different in several critical ways:
1. Relevance – with a pandemic underway, people suddenly see what’s in it for them to help public health officials track what’s going on in the world. DUH!!
2. Engagement – it’s lovely to see how people are caring more for each other these days, and I think the spread of this app benefits not only from personal relevance but also from that increase in a sense of fellowship
3. Awareness – I saw a banner ad on Pinterest and, of course, I needed to know about it before I could care
4. Incentives – The CEO of Pinterest is donating one meal to Feeding America for each download, which definitely was the final trigger motivating me to act.
