Honk is a new consumer social product that has creatively reinvented how chat fundamentally works. It’s a radical departure from other chat products, breaking the mold in how we use and understand the role of text in our lives. 

There are three key themes present in Honk that make it a “sticky” product. When I say “sticky”, I mean something that compels people to stick around to use, especially around the time where people drop off in a product.

First-class sound design

‍Sound design is sometimes somewhat of an afterthought in consumer social products. Sounds are generally low-profile, subtle and conventional. Honk’s flagship sound, the “honk” is such an outrageous, obnoxious sound - which is exactly what makes it so amazing.

Embracing chaos 

The full-screen reactions and sounds adds a chaotic element to chat which has been missing from current chat products. Today’s chat is linear and sequenced with generally predictable inputs like characters, emojis and recently stickers. In regular conversations, chaos sometimes happens and is part of whats makes conversation human. By bringing chaos to conversation, chat becomes a little more human!

Real-time

Anything real-time has proven to be profoundly impactful in retaining engagement. Figma, Google Docs and Clubhouse are examples of how real-time collaboration can be a vessel to delivering core product value. Honk’s take on real time is to show live typing from both sides. While it may sounds chaotic, it definitely creates a more raw dimension of conversation. 

I think Honk has already become a category-defining product. I’m really excited to see what they do next. Watch this product! 

Honk is available for iOS only. You can learn more about Honk at https://honk.me/