If we believe AI agents are here to do things for us, then why are we still measuring success by how long users spend in an app?
Time in app is a tempting metric—but it doesn’t always mean what we think it does. It might mean someone is engaged. Or it might mean they’re stuck. Still searching. Still comparing. Still trying to find the outcome your product promised to deliver.
I don’t want to optimize for time in app. I want to optimize for problem solved (along with delight).
When I launched one of my Shopify apps 8+ years ago, the problem was clear: merchants needed their product photos resized so their store looked clean, professional, and consistent. The app scanned the store, identified the images that didn’t meet the size guide, and fixed them automatically. You could even turn on “auto resize” and never think about it again. No time wasted, no interface dependency. Just a solved problem. A cleaner storefront for a merchant and their shopper.
The value wasn’t in the time spent in the app—it was in the result.
That same thinking guides how we build at Carted today.
Our users (aka shoppers) are in the ‘evaluation of alternatives’ phase of their shopping journey. They’re trying to decide on which thing—that perfect dress, the right sofa, the shoes in their size—and feel good about buying it. That’s a shopping win. We help by tracking saved items across any store, down to color and size variants. We tell you if it comes back in stock, drops in price, or is available elsewhere. You don’t need to refresh. You don’t need to check back (unless you want to). The app does the work in the background, grabbing your attention when it's important. That winter coat you saved is finally back in stock. Your favorite ice cream is 25% off. The outcome is what matters: not just deciding on the product, but feeling confident in the purchase.
Don’t get me wrong—Of course, there are moments where time in app is a feature, not a bug. People love scrolling Pinterest because it sparks ideas. They spend hours there because inspiration is the outcome. But most tools confuse time spent with value delivered—when in fact, the opposite is just as often true.
The best products don’t just save users time. They move them forward. They solve something. They give them the feeling of “done”—or even better, “nailed it.”
So the real question isn’t: how long did they stay?
It’s: Did they get what they came for?
That’s what we should be building for.