Should I Build It Should I Build It
11 Jun 2025
Android

An app that people bet on amount of weight they will lose and win the ...

...money back with extra if they win and forfeit the money if they lose

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Pivot

Current solutions aren’t working well, but there might be a way to adjust your approach. This isn’t about starting over, but rather making thoughtful changes based on what you’re learning.

Should You Build It?

No. Think & pivot.

Your are here

Your idea of an app that lets people bet on their weight loss is entering a space where adjustments are needed, as the idea category is "Pivot". We only found one similar product to yours, which gives us low confidence in our analysis, but also means there is not a lot of direct competition. These kinds of apps try to leverage external motivation (money) to help people achieve their goals. However, there are a lot of caveats to keep in mind when it comes to using money as motivation, as many users are skeptical about their effectiveness. The average comment count on the similar product we found is 32, indicating high engagement, and that means people are interested in the idea, but also that they can be critical about it! The existing product faced criticism around potentially not increasing motivation, leading to wasted money, lacking proper controls and even the potential for exploitation and unethical practices.

Recommendations

  1. Start by deeply understanding the criticisms leveled against the existing weight-loss betting app. Users are concerned about the lack of motivation, potential for wasted money, and the possibility of system exploitation. Address these concerns directly in your app's design and marketing.
  2. Focus on intrinsic motivation and behavior change techniques. Instead of solely relying on monetary rewards and punishments, incorporate gamification, community support, and personalized feedback to foster a more sustainable approach to weight loss. For example, you could add achievement badges.
  3. Design your app with robust controls and verification mechanisms. Prevent fake victories by implementing transparent and reliable tracking methods. Also, you need to be very clear on how you plan to handle unexpected events like injuries.
  4. Carefully consider the ethical implications of handling money. Provide clear information on how forfeited money will be used, ensuring it doesn't go to organizations with questionable values. Offer users control over where their money goes if they don't achieve their goals.
  5. Before building, test your revised approach with potential users. Get feedback on your proposed solutions to the existing criticisms and your incorporation of intrinsic motivation techniques. Observe their reactions and gather data to validate your assumptions.
  6. Consider focusing on a specific niche within the weight loss market. For example, target individuals with specific health conditions or fitness goals. This allows for more tailored features and marketing, increasing the likelihood of success. For example, you can focus on diabetic patients or bodybuilders.
  7. Set a clear deadline (e.g., 4 weeks) for testing and validating your pivot. If the initial results are promising, proceed with development. If not, iterate further or reconsider the viability of the idea.

Questions

  1. How can you effectively address the ethical concerns related to handling users' money and ensuring transparency in the allocation of forfeited funds?
  2. What specific behavior change techniques will you integrate into your app to foster intrinsic motivation and long-term engagement beyond monetary incentives?
  3. How will you ensure the fairness and accuracy of weight loss tracking to prevent exploitation and maintain user trust in your betting system?

Your are here

Your idea of an app that lets people bet on their weight loss is entering a space where adjustments are needed, as the idea category is "Pivot". We only found one similar product to yours, which gives us low confidence in our analysis, but also means there is not a lot of direct competition. These kinds of apps try to leverage external motivation (money) to help people achieve their goals. However, there are a lot of caveats to keep in mind when it comes to using money as motivation, as many users are skeptical about their effectiveness. The average comment count on the similar product we found is 32, indicating high engagement, and that means people are interested in the idea, but also that they can be critical about it! The existing product faced criticism around potentially not increasing motivation, leading to wasted money, lacking proper controls and even the potential for exploitation and unethical practices.

Recommendations

  1. Start by deeply understanding the criticisms leveled against the existing weight-loss betting app. Users are concerned about the lack of motivation, potential for wasted money, and the possibility of system exploitation. Address these concerns directly in your app's design and marketing.
  2. Focus on intrinsic motivation and behavior change techniques. Instead of solely relying on monetary rewards and punishments, incorporate gamification, community support, and personalized feedback to foster a more sustainable approach to weight loss. For example, you could add achievement badges.
  3. Design your app with robust controls and verification mechanisms. Prevent fake victories by implementing transparent and reliable tracking methods. Also, you need to be very clear on how you plan to handle unexpected events like injuries.
  4. Carefully consider the ethical implications of handling money. Provide clear information on how forfeited money will be used, ensuring it doesn't go to organizations with questionable values. Offer users control over where their money goes if they don't achieve their goals.
  5. Before building, test your revised approach with potential users. Get feedback on your proposed solutions to the existing criticisms and your incorporation of intrinsic motivation techniques. Observe their reactions and gather data to validate your assumptions.
  6. Consider focusing on a specific niche within the weight loss market. For example, target individuals with specific health conditions or fitness goals. This allows for more tailored features and marketing, increasing the likelihood of success. For example, you can focus on diabetic patients or bodybuilders.
  7. Set a clear deadline (e.g., 4 weeks) for testing and validating your pivot. If the initial results are promising, proceed with development. If not, iterate further or reconsider the viability of the idea.

Questions

  1. How can you effectively address the ethical concerns related to handling users' money and ensuring transparency in the allocation of forfeited funds?
  2. What specific behavior change techniques will you integrate into your app to foster intrinsic motivation and long-term engagement beyond monetary incentives?
  3. How will you ensure the fairness and accuracy of weight loss tracking to prevent exploitation and maintain user trust in your betting system?

  • Confidence: Low
    • Number of similar products: 1
  • Engagement: High
    • Average number of comments: 32
  • Net use signal: -5.6%
    • Positive use signal: 5.6%
    • Negative use signal: 11.2%
  • Net buy signal: -8.4%
    • Positive buy signal: 2.8%
    • Negative buy signal: 11.2%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

An app that takes your money if you don't reach your goals

19 Apr 2024 Android

My wife and I just launched this app because we had so much fun with a fitness challenge we did we some friends recently where everyone put in $100 and defined their goals, then only the people who met their goals split the pot. It made us realize there's really no better motivator than money.It's better on mobile screens right now as we just designed for mobile screens for now. And we did manage to put it up on both app stores - it's low in the ranks but you should be able to search it by "Goalie challenges".We built it using the leanest tech stack - Ruby on Rails, server-side HTML (no JS), tailwindcss, then packaging it for iOS and Android using pwabuilder!

Users discussed the motivation effects of external rewards and losses, with many expressing skepticism about their effectiveness, especially for those with ADD/ADHD. The idea of using money as a motivator received mixed reactions, with some questioning the ethical implications and others interested in the concept. Concerns were raised about the potential for negative consequences, such as funding undesirable organizations or the system being exploited. The group dynamic and size, as well as the handling of unachieved goals, were also points of discussion. A few users sought advice on goal achievement and expressed interest in the open-source aspect of the project.

Users criticized the product for potentially not increasing motivation, wasting money, and lacking controls, leading to fake victories. Concerns were raised about the effectiveness of extrinsic motivators, small group sizes, system exploitation, and funding harmful groups. The use of punishment, unethical fees, and unclear money allocation were also mentioned. There were doubts about the handling of injuries and the verification process. Some saw it as a solution in search of a problem, with previous similar attempts failing. The product was also criticized for its approach to life goals and challenge accessibility.

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-9.4%
32
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