In a market flooded with health apps, wearable devices and digital wellness platforms, standing out is no longer the only challenge, sticking around is harder. User retention has become the true measure of product success in digital health. That’s especially true in chronic care, where consistency matters more than novelty. Joe Kiani, Masimo and Willow Laboratories founder, is helping lead the charge to build tools that people don’t just try but rely on. With his latest innovation, Nutu™, a platform that delivers personalized health insights using real-time metabolic and behavioral data, the team at Willow Laboratories is rethinking what makes a product “sticky.” Their approach goes beyond engagement tricks or gamified dashboards. It focuses on what keeps people connected to their health, not for a few days, but for the long haul.
What keeps users coming back isn’t just sleek design or motivational messages, but it’s the feeling that the tool genuinely understands their needs. It is built around this principle, offering feedback that feels timely, relevant, and achievable. Instead of overwhelming users with data or rigid rules, it meets them where they are, recognizing patterns, offering small course corrections, and reinforcing wins that matter. This type of support builds trusts over time, transforming the platform from a short-term tracker into a lasting partner in personal health.
Retention Starts with Relevance
Retention doesn’t begin after onboarding, but it begins with utility. Users are more likely to stay with a product that meets a real, ongoing need. In health tech, that often means helping users interpret how their habits, routines, and biology affect their well-being.
Nutu was built on this principle. Rather than prescribing a rigid plan or setting arbitrary goals, the platform adapts to users’ actual patterns, such as how they sleep, eat, and respond to stress, and offers timely suggestions based on real-time data. When feedback feels relevant, people are more likely to act on it. That action, in turn, reinforces the product’s value, creating a positive loop of use and trust.
Make Feedback Feel Personal
One of the main reasons health platforms fail to retain users is the generic nature of their recommendations. Telling someone to “eat less sugar” or “get more sleep” isn’t enough. Effective retention requires delivering insights that reflect the individual, not the population. Nutu integrates wearable inputs, behavioral tracking, and user-reported data to deliver personalized guidance that reflects a user’s day-to-day context. If someone has poor sleep and elevated stress, it might adjust its prompts to reflect that, recommending gentle movement instead of high-intensity activity.
Joe Kiani, Masimo founder, notes, “Some of the early users that have been giving us feedback are saying really positive things about what it’s done for them.” This emphasis on personal, real-time feedback helps users feel understood and empowered, which are key drivers of engagement and sustained usage in chronic care platforms.
Build Micro-Moments of Value
Retention doesn’t rely on grand gestures. In fact, many users lose interest in platforms that ask for too much upfront. The more effective strategy is to deliver small wins, moments that reinforce benefits and build confidence over time.
It could be as simple as a notification that someone’s glucose stayed in a healthy range after a particular breakfast or that stress levels dropped following a walk. These small affirmations remind users that their actions and the platform are making a difference.
Design With Friction in Mind
The best retention strategy may be removing barriers. If logging meals takes too long, if wearables fail to sync, or if prompts are too frequent or too vague, users can disengage. Nutu has been designed with friction in mind. Willow Laboratories has invested in streamlining every part of the user experience.
Data is collected passively when possible. Prompts are timed based on the user’s schedule. The interface is simple, clear, and actionable. Good design is respectful. It values a user’s time, attention, and emotional bandwidth. When products feel easy to use, they’re more likely to become part of someone’s daily routine.
Recognize Patterns, Not Perfection
One reason people abandon health products is that they believe they’re not using them “right.” Maybe they missed a day, skipped a log, or didn’t meet their goal. Retention-minded platforms shift the focus from perfection to pattern. They celebrate consistency over streaks and look for trends, not individual lapses. This approach helps users stay engaged even when life doesn’t go exactly as planned. By recognizing that health is dynamic, platforms can build in forgiveness, and grace can become part of what keeps users coming back.
Encourage Self-Reflection
Retention also increases when users are invited to reflect, not just track. That means going beyond “how many steps” to ask, “How did that feel?” or “What might you try tomorrow?” Self-reflection fosters internal motivation, which lasts longer than external prompts. Platforms that include journaling features, mood tracking, or recovery check-ins tend to build deeper relationships with users.
Nutu includes reflective touchpoints throughout the week to help users assess their progress and reconnect with their goals. These moments offer perspective, not pressure. They encourage users to notice not just what they did, but how it made them feel, deepening self-awareness and reinforcing intrinsic motivation.
Develop With the User
Users change. Their routines shift. Their priorities move. Platforms that can develop with those changes are more likely to retain their audience. That means offering flexible features, customizable goals and the ability to scale support up or down depending on need.
Nutu is designed to adjust as a user’s context changes, whether they’re going on vacation, recovering from illness, or facing new stress. This adaptability reinforces the idea that the platform is built for real life, not just ideal circumstances.
Retention Is a Relationship
At its core, retention is about trust. Users stay with platforms that make them feel capable, supported, and valued. They leave ones that feel demanding, impersonal, or inconsistent. It proves that retention isn’t about gimmicks, but about relevance, empathy, and consistency. The goal isn’t to keep people glued to a screen. It’s to keep them connected to their health in meaningful, and manageable ways.
Sticky health products don’t just deliver data. They deliver value, and they do it every day. In the context of chronic conditions like diabetes, platforms are redefining patient support, not just by improving engagement metrics, but by sustaining healthier behaviors that may reduce complications over time.
