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- šÆ Notion is a lifestyle
šÆ Notion is a lifestyle
Software is an identity
Read time: 4 minutes 55 seconds
This is an article Iāve been daydreaming about for months, but only summoned the willpower to put pen to paper a few days ago.
Iāve been a daily active user since I signed up to Notion ~3.5 years ago, which makes this an intimidating but satisfying piece to publish.
The build-in-public nerd in me keeps asking to ship some kind of āHow I use Notionā project. One day.
Enjoy
ā Tom
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Chess Move
The what: A TLDR explanation of the strategy
Something is happening to software.
What software you used was once defined by utility. By features. By use case.
Today, the worldās best startups arenāt just creating tools.
They are creating identity.
Design-led products like Arc, Attio, June, beehiiv, Linear, and Raycast have amassed fiercely loyal user bases because using them says something about who you are.
Weāre entering a new era:
Software as an expression of style.
No company better represents this shift than Notion.
30+ million users. +175% revenue growth YoY.
The most powerful community flywheel in b2b SaaS.
A quirky, minimalist, identity-forming system adopted by creatives and professionals alike.
Letās unpack how it works.
š” | Strategy Playbook: Attach your software to a userās identity by making their journey an expression of personal style. |
Breakdown
The how: The strategic playbook boiled down to 3x key takeaways
1. Design as ideology
Notionās āproductivity chicā aesthetic is as much a design system as it is a statement of ideology:
Intentionally limited formatting options (3 fonts, 10 colours)
Clean, uncluttered interfaces with plenty of whitespace
Subtle animations that delight without distracting
Brutalist design paired with whimsical emojis
Distinctive, hand-drawn, playful illustrations
Stark minimalism with pops of personality
Industrial utility meets artisanal craft
Compared to its predecessors Microsoft Word and Google Docs, Notion is more playground than processor.
ā A screenshot of a .docx or a doc.new is just a page - you donāt think think of what tool it was made on.
ā A screenshot of a Notion page is instantly recognisable - anyone remotely familiar with the tool can see it was built on Notion.
A rare product where the interface itself is Instagram-worthy.
By injecting personality into productivity, Notion transforms work from obligation into creative expression.
2. A user journey that changes who you are
The beauty of Notionās experience design is the unique yet predictable journey that every user seems to go on.
For some, Notion is a handful of documents with a simple page hierarchy.
For others, itās a no-code software development environment.
Its Lego-like flexibility means it can be used for just about anything:
Journal
To-do list
Recipe book
Travel planner
Note-taking app
Collaboration space
Company onboarding wiki
Project management dashboard
Automated content production engine
āThe IKEA effectā is a cognitive bias where people attribute a disproportionately higher value to things they build themselves.
Regardless of where you begin your Notion journey, once you start creating and see what itās capable of, you fall in love with your creation, and therefore the product.
Abraham Maslow famously said: āGive a man a hammer & everything becomes a nailā.
Once you have your first āwinā (i.e. useful Notion creation) on the board, you have a familiar tool that you love, and youāll want to use it for everything.
Hence, users quickly realise they can solve every organisational use case in their lives with a Notion database.
Your Notion setup is not just a productivity tool.
Itās an everything tool, built just for you (because you built it).
It only takes a few Notion creations for a user to identify as a full-blown Notion super-fan. But this transition isnāt just about high product usage.
Itās a new expression of the users identity:
Minimalist, organised, and clean.
An unusual blend of technical and artistic.
Systems thinker. Second brain. Automations.
Appreciation for aesthetics and design-led creation.
Collaborative and productive, but more playful than corporate.
Plus, a compulsive personal responsibility to convince all their close friends to use Notion.
Itās rare to meet a Notion user that isnāt proud to live the Notion lifestyle.
3. Notion, the tool ā Notion, the movement
Once youāve adopted Notion into your personality, it doesnāt take long to feel the giant hug of Notion content, people, references, art-style, symbolism, communities, and creations in every corner of the internet:
YouTube channels dedicated to Notion tutorials and demos
Branded Twitter accounts selling ready-to-use templates
āNotion Certifiedā consultants offering custom build-outs
Facebook Groups to discuss the latest product updates
Active Discord communities for sharing free templates
Personal websites inspired by Notionās design system
Instagram accounts showcasing aesthetic setups
A top 1% subreddit r/Notion with 350k members
Viral TikToks of Notion setup tips and tricks
The organic, user-generated content ecosystem is augmented by Notionās home-grown initiatives that continually invite you further down the Notion rabbit hole:
ā The infamous ~āpoor early technical choices, run out of money, move from SF to cheaper and calmer Kyoto, no team members speak Japanese, so they can focus 100% on coding every day for 3 years to build the Notion we love todayā founding story.
ā Offices that feel like the software.
Notion's office circa 2018. This was the first time I had ever stepped into an office that felt like an extension of the software itself. It was like being in Notionās app, but in real life. I later learned that Ivan, founder/ceo of Notion, had designed the office himself,ā¦ x.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
ā Ben Lang (@benln)
3:10 PM ā¢ Apr 2, 2024
ā First-person product updates directly from the founders
ā Build-in-public blog posts sharing what goes down behind-the-scenes @NotionHQ
Working at @NotionHQ feels more like being at a video game studio than your typical software startup āwhere technology meets the liberal arts in perfect balance.
This article beautifully captures the magic behind the creation of Notion's new AI face: fastcompany.com/91192119/notioā¦
ā Akshay Kothari (@akothari)
6:36 AM ā¢ Sep 26, 2024
ā Branded meetups and events for local power-users
#makewithnotion vibes
ā Notion (@NotionHQ)
5:35 PM ā¢ Oct 28, 2024
ā Eclectic Spotify playlists with thousands of followers, keeping Notion back-of-mind mind while you work
ā Statement merch that matches the quality and philosophy of the brand
Startup merch is notoriously trash, but Notion's Kinfolk Mag-esque chore coats is a rose among thorns
ā clayton chambers (@claytonchambrs)
5:00 PM ā¢ Mar 27, 2024
The result is more than a growing user base - itās a movement.
Supreme started as skateboarding brand.
Wearing Patagonia means more than just āI like hikingā.
Notionās productivity DNA has evolved into something much bigger.
Just as we identify through the clothes we wear or the neighbourhoods we live in ā today, our choice of software is a fundamental expression of who we are.
Rabbit Hole
The where: 3x high-signal resources to learn more
[20 minute read]
āWe get asked this question a lot. āHow does the Notion team use Notion?ā
We're in a unique position to show you how to use this tool because we made the thing. We know its nooks and crannies and generally try to stretch its limits.ā
If youāve ever wondered how Notion (the company) uses Notion (the product) to build Notion (the movement/ecosystem/transformation/operating-system) - this is a fascinating read.
[3 minute read]
4 product rebuilds. A desperate loan from mom. Failed experiments like "X-ray blocks." Testing 30 shades of white paint for their office walls. A decade-long journey to build āLEGOs for softwareā.
Ivan Zhao's letter to users reveals how Notion's obsession with craft and beauty shaped their journey from near-death to 100 million users.
[1 minute read]
6 months ago I saw this Tweet, and 1-click added it to Notion using the āSave to Notionā extension.
A week ago, I asked Notion AI āWhat Notion-related content / ideas / topics have I written / saved that could be the basis for a Strategy Breakdowns article about Notion?ā
Today, Iām using Notion to organise, prioritise, track, log, research, summarise, write, edit, remix, and distribute this article about Notion.
Thatās all for todayās issue, folks!
If you liked todayās edition, feel free to follow along on Twitter [@tomaldertweets] and LinkedIn [/in/tom-alder].
Thanks for being here.
ā Tom
P.S. This article wasnāt sponsored by Notion. Iām just a tragic fanboy. If you or someone you know works at Notion - letās collab! My DMs are always open :)
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