After spending a few weeks in China, the most notable behavioural difference is the usage of mini-programs. Every restaurant has a menu mini-program sitting on top of WeChat or Meituan. Hello Ride the bike-sharing startup is a mini program on top of Alipay.

Here is a diagram showing the architectural differences between the two.

OS agnosticism

Mini programs are operating system-neutral. Developers don’t need to duplicate and maintain iOS and Android versions. Instead, they deploy to the parent app (think WeChat or Alipay).

Mini programs are lightweight by design. They’re capped at a file size somewhere between 8 and 20mb depending on the parent app. They’re akin to sub-apps living within a bigger, parent app’s ecosystem.

Each platform uses a simple language stack for developers to build with. Think of it as slightly remixed versions of CSS, HTML, and JS.

The lightweight nature and QR-centricity of the build world in China means almost every daily task can be completed inside a mini-program.

For instance, to ride the bus and metro in Shanghai I had to activate a transport mini-program and scan the dynamic QR. Seeing as my payments through Alipay was already set up this was instantaneous.

Discovery dilemma

Mini programs are difficult to discover. There is no natural mini-program app store (just a half-baked search) and discovery typically happens through friends or offline QR codes. WeChat claims they’ve got 60 different ways to discover mini-programs.

Unlike in the West where an app developer might create a landing page, store listing, buy ads etc to promote a new app, no such parallel exists.

On the flip side, users are already on WeChat or Alipay. You don’t need to convince users to download another app; they’re already there.

The download and sign-up flow of a native app is usually 5 to 10 steps adding a bunch of friction to adoption. After adoption designers nudge the user to enable push notifications to remember the app even exists.

There are clear signs of app fatigue in the West, downloads in the app store have been stagnant since 2022. “There’s an app for that” is becoming annoying rather than a positive value proposition.

Payments as the base

Payments are the bread and butter of these parent apps, so mini-programs often come with frictionless payment baked in. WeChat Pay and Alipay are the default digital wallets for Chinese users so anything built on top is 1-click pay.

Tasks such as buying a movie ticket in the West would be done via a native app or web app. In China, it will most certainly be done through a mini program.

Such a clearly defined task-oriented interaction is accomplished more efficiently as a mini-program. The cheap development costs mean that local businesses can afford to develop mini-programs, too.

Duopoly vs duopoly

The rise of mini-programs has led to a new duopoly in China, where WeChat and Alipay dominate the mini-program ecosystem. This dynamic mirrors the iOS vs. Android dichotomy in the traditional app world, concentrating power in the hands of a few major platforms as power laws take hold.

Complying with OS regulation is replaced by complying with parent app regulation which is notoriously volatile.

UX differences

When my wife asked me to navigate to mini programs in WeChat I had no idea what to do.

Check this video, mini programs are accessed by a swipe gesture that displaces the WeChat chat threads interface.

THERE ARE NO AFFORDANCES AT ALL, madness 🤯.

Discovery is one challenge, but the question then becomes how does a user return to a previously-used mini program?

Programs can be pinned to a home screen which creates a familiar app layout grid, inside the platform rather than the OS.

Ecosystem play

China’s digital landscape is highly bundled and interconnected.

For example, e-commerce occurs almost entirely on a handful of aggregators (e.g. Taobao). In the West, we still navigate to websites of individual brands to buy products.

To quote Jack Ma, “An empire can fall but an ecosystem can be endless.” The Alibaba ecosystem is immense. Small satellite companies are allowed to run autonomously, placing many bets and doubling down on successful ventures.

Parent apps are in a constant race to capture the best mini-programs.

Every useful mini-program that sits on a platform increases the value and lock-in of that platform. The ecosystem enjoys a positive feedback loop as more developers flock to it.

Some similarities can be drawn to the WordPress plug-in ecosystem. If I choose to build my website with WordPress I get to access the huge plug-in ecosystem. This means WordPress can focus on the core product experience and not worry about building every other niche feature, plug-in builders take care of that.

Conclusion

Mini programs are an interesting model. They’re challenging our ideas about what an app should be and how we might interact with mobile services.

Could a highly adopted app in the West try a similar ecosystem play? I’d estimate for this to be viable the parent app would need adoption of 70%+. WhatsApp is the first app that comes to mind, especially if they ever get around to adding payments 🤔.