The one change Notion needs to win me over

For those unfamiliar with Notion, it is a blank canvas that you can shape how you like.

At its core, Notion is a powerful markdown editor and reader with the ability to create fully relational databases. The app has a strong community of contributors who create useful plug-and-play templates to get the most out of the app.

Growth and new apps

As the app has grown — and the company absorbed more startups — new features were added and new apps were created. Last year, the company released a calendar app and followed up with an email app this year.

Both of these applications are not yet mature enough to drive users away from competing products. The calendar app isn’t iPad-friendly, which is a missed opportunity, as tablets are ideal for visualizing and interacting with calendars. The mail app currently only supports a single Gmail account, limiting its appeal for users with multiple accounts or non-Google inboxes.

As the apps continue to grow, users may flock to it. If the company reaches a high level of disruption, the possibility of a large competitor either buying it or changing its own model and pricing strategies enough to kill off their user base increases.

A focus on AI

Recently, the company has invested a lot in its AI tool, Notion AI. If Reddit is any indication of user sentiment, many Notion users don’t care for the AI features. They find the tool to be intrusive and disruptive to their work flow. I have no strong opinion either way.

One change

Here’s my one strong opinion: Notion needs to bundle its core apps into a single, unified experience. I do not want to have to open multiple apps to read email and handle events. It’s what keeps me as a Microsoft Outlook user. That is the only desktop app that does this well (in my opinion) and Notion has the ability to cut into its user base.

Wait, I guess I do have an opinion on AI

AI is baked into everything and companies have struggled to find a way to truly differentiate their flavor from others. People have AI fatigue and may be shying away from using AI features. If Google and OpenAI can’t get it right, how can a small startup?

Instead of trying to be the latest and greatest at creating an already ubiquitous tool, companies should focus on developing the core features of their product(s). More opportunities exist there to make game changing products.

TL;DR

Notion is an integral part of my workflow, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. There is too much clutter on desktops and docks to prioritize three separate applications. A mature, established product like Microsoft Outlook bundles email, calendar, contacts, and notes into one easy-to-use application. If Notion unified its apps, it could finally pull users like me away from Outlook.