Post

Jacob Wright sells novel-writing software mostly to hobbyists. Dabble runs at 4% churn and has grown to nearly $2M ARR over nine years. At MicroConf Europe 2026, Jacob explained the product principles behind it 🧵

Jacob starts with Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think.” Every confusing label or odd error message drains a user’s goodwill. So Jacob leans on conventions people already know, such as putting the profile menu top right and using a gear icon for settings.

Here’s how Dabble applies it: → Writers create chapters and scenes, not files and folders → Focus mode kicks in as soon as you type → The loading screen greets writers with a writing quote → Confetti fires when a writer hits a goal