We stopped calling Murror an "AI app." Downloads tripled.

For the first year, we marketed Murror as an "AI-powered emotional companion." It was technically accurate. It was also the worst positioning decision we made.

Here's what happened: people who downloaded expecting an AI chatbot were confused. Murror doesn't chat with you -- it helps you journal, reflect, and understand patterns in your relationships. They'd open the app, look for the chat bubble, and leave within 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, the people who would have genuinely benefited -- those wanting to understand their emotions better or connect deeper with their partner -- scrolled right past us. "AI companion" sounded like another chatbot. They didn't want to talk to a bot. They wanted to understand themselves.

So we ran an experiment. We stripped "AI" from our App Store listing, our landing page, everywhere. We repositioned to: "Understand your emotions. Connect deeper with the people who matter."

Same product. Same features. Zero mention of AI on the surface.

Downloads tripled in the first month. But more importantly, the right people started showing up. Session length doubled. 7-day retention jumped from 23% to 41%. People were actually using the product the way it was designed to be used.

The AI is still there, obviously -- it powers everything behind the scenes. But users don't need to know that. They just need to feel understood.

The lesson we keep relearning: people don't want AI. They want the outcome AI enables. The moment you lead with the technology instead of the transformation, you attract curiosity instead of commitment.

Anyone else found that de-emphasizing "AI" in positioning actually improved their product metrics?