What makes you decide not to try a product?
There are plenty of tools that seem useful on paper, yet something makes us close the tab instantly.
Sometimes it’s pricing, sometimes messaging, sometimes the onboarding feels unclear.
Often it’s a gut feeling that’s hard to explain.
What’s the most common reason you personally decide not to give a product a chance?
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I usually walk away when the messaging feels vague or buzzword-heavy. If I have to decode what the product actually does, I assume using it will be just as confusing.
Product Hunt Wrapped 2025
@clara_roux Totally relate to this. If I can’t understand what a product does in the first few seconds, my brain assumes the complexity continues after signup. Clear beats clever every time.
It depends. Pricing can be it, but I'll usually give something a go if there's a 14-day or 30-day trial period. More often, if's a mental calculation of: Is the juice going to be worth the squeeze?
For any product that's asking me to replace something else (e.g., email client), I have to go: Okay, is the projected benefit compared to staying with what I've got enough to justify all the onboarding?
For products that aren't replacements but supplements to my workflow, I don't want to have to do too much onboarding either. You've got to convince me that I'll be able to get some quick wins without too much effort — and that even bigger wins will come when I start customizing.
Product Hunt Wrapped 2025
@jeff_benson1 This hits the nail on the head. Most of the time it’s not about price or features, it’s the switching cost in your head. If the product can’t show a quick win early, it’s hard to justify the effort, especially when it replaces something that already “works.”
minimalist phone: creating folders
For me, it usually starts with bad UX/UI. I like e.g. UX/UI of Coinbase. I hate Binance because of the bad user experience.
Product Hunt Wrapped 2025
@busmark_w_nika UX/UI is huge. If the product feels overwhelming or chaotic, trust drops instantly. A clean, intuitive experience signals that the team actually understands the user, not just the features.
These days the number one thing that makes me instantly delete an app from my phone or close the browser tab is privacy concerns.
It's fine if apps want to allow integrations with things like location, microphone, camera, photos, and contacts access as a nice-to-have way to make their UI flow better. But, if it's the only way to use those "useful on paper" features, then I'm almost always going to bail before I even test any of the features.
Sometimes a product is in a space where everything they do is a potential privacy concern (healthcare, banking, taxes, etc). I know how hard it is for big corporate teams to keep their data secure, so small new companies have a bit of an uphill battle in convincing users their data will be kept secure and private in those app categories.
If the app requires a login to try it, I'm less likely to test it. If it requires login and only has social logins (via Google, Facebook, etc) then I'm almost certainly going to leave before trying it.
Product Hunt Wrapped 2025
@kilpatrick This is such a good point. Forced permissions and mandatory logins create friction before trust exists. Especially in sensitive categories, products really need to earn access step by step and let users try things without handing over their data upfront.
First impressions matter a lot. If an app looks outdated, unmaintained, or has a cluttered UI, I usually avoid it. I also check user reviews, and if there are too many bad ones, I would rather not use those apps.