HOOKED How to Build Habit-Forming Products - NIR EYAL - 0. Introduction

Intro.md

HOOKED How to Build Habit-Forming Products - NIR EYAL

0. Introduction

How I Got Hooked

• How did the se companies engineer user behaviour?
• What were the moral implications of building potentially addictive products?
• Could the same forces that made these experiences so compelling also be used to build products to improve people's live?
• Where could I find the blueprints for forming habits?

The author researched hundreds of companies.

through consecutive Hook cycles, successful products reach their ultimate goal of unprompted user engagement, bringing users back repeatedly, without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.

1. Trigger

The actuator of behaviour.

1. External triggers: Where Habit-forming products start

• Email
• A website link
• The app icon on the phone

2. Internal triggers

• Formed by successive hooks

e.g., See a photo in Facebook News Feed

2. Action

• The behaviour done in anticipation of a reward

e.g., Click the photo in news feed, to store it in Pinterest

3. Variable Reward

• Research shows that levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine surge when the brain is expecting a reward.

e.g., Pinterest shows related pictures - the promise of reward

4. Investment

• Investment implies an action that improves the service for the next go-around

e.g., Inviting friends, collecting items in Pinterest, follow, pin, etc - ties user to the site

A New Superpower

Unless the forms of technological progress that produced these things are subject to different laws than technological progress in general, the world will get more addictive in the next 40 years than it did in the last 40.

• The new reality
• The morality of manipulation
• Leads how to build products to help people do the things they already want to do but, for lack of a solution, don't know
• The trinity of access, data, and speed presents unprecedented opportunities to create positive habits

When harnessed correctly, technology can enhance lives through healthful behaviours that improve our relationships, make us smarter, and increase productivity.

• Hook model is a practical tool rather than a theoretical tool
• Hooks connect the user's problem with a company's solution frequently to form a habit

Hook Model

• Trigger
• Action
• Variable Reward
• Investment