How to Build Habit-Forming Products - Nir Eyal
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging talk, the speaker delves into the psychology behind habit-forming products, highlighting the four-step 'hook' model that keeps users returning. Starting with triggers that prompt action, the speaker explains how simple actions in anticipation of rewards, like scrolling on social media, can create a cycle of engagement. The talk also emphasizes the importance of variable rewards and the investment phase, where users invest in the product, enhancing its value and their attachment. The speaker challenges the notion that the best product always wins, urging the audience to focus on capturing the 'monopoly of the mind' through user habits.
Takeaways
- 🎯 The importance of making products habit-forming is emphasized, as it is crucial for retaining users and ensuring they return to the product repeatedly.
- 🔗 The concept of a 'hook' is introduced, which is a four-step process embedded within products that keeps users coming back.
- 🔔 The first step of the hook is the 'trigger', which can be either external (environmental cues) or internal (emotional states like boredom or loneliness).
- 💡 The significance of internal triggers is highlighted, as they are often linked to negative emotions and prompt users to engage with products to modulate their mood.
- 🛠 The second step is the 'action', which should be the simplest behavior done in anticipation of a reward, such as scrolling or clicking.
- 📈 BJ Fogg's formula for behavior is mentioned, stating that for any action to occur, three elements must be present: motivation, ability, and a trigger.
- 🔑 The focus should be on making the action as easy (in terms of time, money, effort, etc.) as possible to increase the likelihood of the user performing it.
- 🏆 The third step is the 'reward', which should not only fulfill the user's desire but also leave them wanting more, often using variable rewards to maintain engagement.
- 🎲 Variable rewards are explained as being of three types: rewards of the tribe, rewards of the hunt, and rewards of the self, each catering to different human desires and motivations.
- 💼 The final step of the hook is the 'investment' phase, where users invest time or data into the product, which increases the likelihood of their return and deepens their engagement.
- 🔒 The investment phase is crucial as it builds value and customization into the product, making it harder for users to leave, even if a better product comes along.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the speaker's presentation?
-The speaker's presentation is focused on how to make products habit-forming, drawing on the principles outlined in his book 'Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products'.
What is a 'hook' according to the speaker?
-A 'hook' is a four-step process embedded within a product's user experience that encourages users to return to the product repeatedly. It includes triggers, action, reward, and investment.
What are the two types of triggers mentioned in the script?
-The two types of triggers are external triggers, which are environmental cues that tell us what to do next, and internal triggers, which are negative emotions that prompt us to take action.
Why are internal triggers considered critical for forming habits?
-Internal triggers are critical for forming habits because they are linked to negative emotions that frequently occur and prompt users to turn to the product or service with little or no conscious thought.
What is the 'action' phase in the context of a hook?
-The 'action' phase is defined as the simplest behavior done in anticipation of a reward, which is a small, immediate action the user can take to get relief from their internal trigger.
What does the speaker mean by 'variable reward'?
-A 'variable reward' is a reward that is not always predictable, which creates a sense of wanting and desire in the user's brain, making the product more engaging and habit-forming.
What are the three types of variable rewards?
-The three types of variable rewards are rewards of the tribe (social interactions), rewards of the hunt (search for information or material possessions), and rewards of the self (intrinsic pleasure from mastery, consistency, or control).
What is the purpose of the 'investment' phase in the hook model?
-The purpose of the 'investment' phase is to increase the likelihood of the next pass through the hook by loading the next trigger and storing value, making the product more personalized and harder to leave.
Why is frequency important when it comes to habit-forming products?
-Frequency is important because if the desired behavior does not occur within a week's time or less, it becomes almost impossible to change consumer habits and form a habit with the product.
What are the five fundamental questions the speaker suggests answering to build a habit-forming product?
-The five fundamental questions are: 1) What's the internal trigger? 2) What's the external trigger? 3) What's the simplest behavior in anticipation of a reward? 4) Is the reward fulfilling and leaves the user wanting more? 5) What bit of work is done to increase the likelihood of the next pass through the hook?
Outlines
🎉 Welcoming the Speaker and Introduction to Habit-Forming Products
The speaker is introduced with enthusiasm, highlighting his experience in building and scaling companies, and his success with his book 'Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products'. The speaker aims to address how technology impacts daily life and the strategies behind habit-forming products. He emphasizes the importance of engagement over growth, noting that retaining users is crucial for a product's success. The talk will cover a four-step process known as 'the hook', which is embedded in habit-forming products, and invites the audience to a Q&A session for further discussion on engagement challenges.
🔍 The Role of Internal and External Triggers in Habit Formation
This paragraph delves into the concept of triggers, distinguishing between external triggers that prompt actions through environmental cues and internal triggers that stem from negative emotions. The speaker discusses how negative emotions like boredom or dissatisfaction often lead to the use of technology to modulate mood. He stresses the importance of identifying the internal trigger for a product, as it is key to forming habits. The speaker also introduces the idea that habits should ideally form within a week for the behavior to be sustained, and that frequency of use is critical for a product's habit-forming potential.
🛠 The Action Phase: Simplicity and the BJ Fogg Behavior Model
The speaker explains the 'action' phase of the hook, which involves the simplest behavior a user can perform to anticipate a reward. He references BJ Fogg's model, stating that behavior occurs when motivation, ability, and a trigger are present simultaneously. The focus is on making the action as easy as possible, discussing factors that affect a user's ability to perform an action, such as time, money, physical effort, brain cycles, social deviance, and routine. The speaker argues that reducing the difficulty of an action is more effective than trying to increase motivation.
🎰 The Reward Phase: Variable Rewards and Their Impact on User Engagement
The paragraph discusses the 'reward' phase, where users receive a variable reward that not only satisfies their desire but also leaves them wanting more. The speaker explains the concept of variable rewards, drawing from B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning experiments. He outlines three types of variable rewards: rewards of the tribe (social interaction), rewards of the hunt (searching for information or material possessions), and rewards of the self (intrinsic pleasure from personal achievements). These rewards are integral to maintaining user engagement and forming habits.
🏦 The Investment Phase: Storing Value and Encouraging Future Interaction
The final paragraph of the script focuses on the 'investment' phase, where users invest time or effort into a product with the expectation of future benefits. This phase is crucial for loading the next trigger and storing value, which can be in the form of data, content, followers, or reputation. The speaker argues that as users invest in a product, it becomes increasingly personalized and valuable to them, making it harder to leave, even if a better product comes along. The investment phase solidifies the habit by increasing the likelihood of future engagement.
📝 Conclusion and Call to Action for Ethical Habit Design
In conclusion, the speaker challenges the notion that the best product always wins, emphasizing instead the importance of capturing the 'monopoly of the mind'. He encourages the audience to consider the five fundamental questions related to habit-forming产品设计, including identifying internal and external triggers, the simplicity and rewarding nature of the action, and the investment made by users. The speaker ends with a call to action, asking the audience to participate in a survey for feedback and reminding them of the upcoming Q&A session, while also promoting his SlideShare for further insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Habit-forming
💡Triggers
💡Engagement
💡Action
💡Reward
💡Investment
💡Variable Reward
💡BJ Fogg
💡Negative Emotion
💡Product Design
💡Q&A Session
Highlights
Introduction of the speaker, N AAL, as an experienced entrepreneur and author of 'Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products'.
The importance of making products habit-forming to ensure user retention, which is as crucial as growth hacking.
The concept of a 'hook', a four-step process embedded in user experiences of successful products.
Differentiation between external and internal triggers, with a focus on the role of negative emotions as internal triggers.
The revelation that people use products primarily to modulate their mood and feel something different.
The significance of identifying the internal trigger for building a habit in customers' lives.
The necessity for a habit to occur within a week's time or less for it to form effectively.
The action phase of the hook, emphasizing the importance of simplicity in user actions to anticipate rewards.
BJ Fogg's formula for behavior, requiring motivation, ability, and a trigger to occur.
The six factors of ability that make a behavior more likely to occur, including decreasing time, cost, physical effort, and brain cycles.
The role of variable rewards in creating desire and maintaining engagement with a product.
Three types of variable rewards: rewards of the tribe, rewards of the hunt, and rewards of the self.
The investment phase of the hook, where users invest in the product for anticipated future benefits.
Investments increase the likelihood of the next pass through the hook by loading the next trigger and storing value.
The myth that the best product always wins is debunked, emphasizing the importance of capturing the monopoly of the mind.
The five fundamental questions to answer for building a product that requires unprompted engagement.
Invitation for feedback and a reminder of the upcoming Q&A session, showcasing the speaker's engagement with the audience.
Transcripts
I'm really much excited to introduce the
next speaker n AAL is amazing and as
many of you know some of the best
tactics and strategies for
entrepreneurship comes from experienced
entrepreneurs who've been through the
grind and the hustle just like you NE
roel is no Foreigner to this experience
he has built and scaled companies one
that has been Venture backed one that
has been acquired and has since
transitioned into helping other
entrepreneurs like all of you in the
room succeed with his pop selling book
called hooked how to build and scale
productive products that make people
love you so please join me in a ReSound
and welcome get up on your feet and
introduce near iel thank
[Applause]
[Music]
you thanks every much louder thank you
thanks very much hey
everybody thank you so much uh it's it's
a pleasure to be here and I just want
you to know by the way that uh there is
an army of people back here uh that is
making this conference happen they're
all over the place so can we just take a
a quick minute to thank those folks that
have put in so much work to making this
conference thank you very
much so um today I want to talk about
for just a few minutes about how to make
your product habit forming you know when
we think about the technologies that
we're carrying around with us every day
these these amazing devices in our
pockets these products have had a
profound impact on our day-to-day lives
and so what I want to answer today today
is this question around how do they do
it how do companies like Facebook and
Twitter and Instagram and WhatsApp and
slack and Snapchat how do they bring
people back time and time again not just
in the consumer space but also in the
Enterprise space these products that
form consumer habits so I have just a
few minutes with you this morning but
what we're going to do right after my
talk actually at 10 o'cl there going to
be a Q&A session where we I would love
to take your questions uh come ready
that that's my favorite part is is kind
of this open-ended questions and answers
to try and figure out uh any kind of
Engagement challenges you have because a
lot of people today V focus on growth
and growth hacking and that's super
important but remember that's only a
piece of the puzzle that if you can't
retain users if you can't keep them
coming back you've got nothing so I
would argue that engagement is is as
important if not more important than
growth so what we want to try and do
today is to try and understand what is
it about these companies that keeps
people coming back and through my
research I would argue that all of these
world changing companies who are
touching the lives of hundreds of
millions if not billions of users and
making hundreds of millions if not
billions of dollars all have embedded
within their products what I call a hook
now a hook is a four-step process it's
it's it's built into the user experience
I describe a lot more of it in my book
but what I want to do today is to kind
of walk you through the four steps of a
hook to kind of give you a 30,000 ft
view of this basic pattern that we see
repeated again and again and again in
all sorts of products that keep us
coming back on our
own hooks have these four basic parts
every hook starts with a trigger
triggers are these things that tell us
what to do next now there are two types
of triggers we have external triggers
and we have have internal triggers
external triggers are things in our
environment that tell us what to do next
with some piece of information in the
trigger itself click here buy now play
this these are things in our environment
right that we see that tell us what to
do they give us the information for what
to do next right we as product designers
we know all about these external
triggers we see them every single day
but what product people don't think
about enough and what turns out to be
absolutely critical to forming these
long-term habits is creating an
association with what's called an
internal trigger internal triggers are
things that tell the user what to do
next but the information for what to do
is stored as a memory inside the user's
head now these internal triggers are
most frequently emotions but not just
any emotion they are specifically
negative emotions negative emotions are
these most oftenly occurring internal
triggers so what we do when we're
feeling bored or Lonesome or uh
dissatisfied or fatigued or uncertain
what we do when we experience these
negative emotions prompts us to action
prompts us to turn to these apps to
these devices with little or no
conscious thought in fact there was a a
study a few years ago that found that
people suffering from depression from
clinical depression check email more
often I actually just saw like three
people put away their phones not anyway
what this study found was that people
suffering from depression experience
what psychologists call negative
veilance States they feel down more
often than the rest of the population
and what are they doing to boost their
mood to get out of those negative
veilance States they were turning to
their devices they were going online
they were checking email more often
than the rest of the
population and if we're honest with
ourselves we all do this right we all do
this Let Me Tell You Folks there is only
one reason that people use your product
there's only one reason that people use
any product and that one reason is to
modulate our mood to make us feel
something
different let me ask you what um what
website or app do we go to when we're
feeling the emotion of loneliness where
do we go Facebook right somebody said
Tinder
also also true different kind of
loneliness but also
true what what about uh when we're
feeling uncertain before we scan our
brains to see if we know the answer what
are we doing we Google it of course and
what about when we're bored you know
between two and 4:00 in the afternoon
you have that big project you don't feel
like working on right now where do you
go you check YouTube you check red you
check stock prices you see what's
happening in the news right all of these
products cater to this painful internal
trigger of bordom we don't like that
sensation and we turn to these products
and services with little or no conscious
thought before we even understand why
we're using these products we already
online so what does that mean for you
how can we help people improve their
lives how can we help them live richer
lives by knowing about the importance of
these internal triggers if you want to
build a healthy Habit in your customer's
life you have got to be able to tell me
what is your internal trigger it's
amazing when I I work in my Consulting
practice and I I talk to folks uh
product teams they bring me in for these
big expensive design reviews and they
tell me all the amazing technological
features of their product and when I ask
the team okay that's terrific but what's
the internal trigger what's the
frequently occurring itch that your
product is
addressing they haven't a clue so you've
got to be able to tell me what that
internal trigger is and does it occur
with sufficient frequency to form a
habit let me talk about this word
frequency it's incredibly important when
it comes to these habit forming products
the data shows us that if your behavior
if the Habit that you want to create in
your user's day-to-day life if that does
not occur within a week's time or less
you have a problem it is almost
impossible to change consumers habits if
the behavior does not occur within a
week's time or less now more is always
better when you think about products
like Facebook and slack and Instagram
and WhatsApp and Snapchat how often are
these products used how often right more
more than daily these are intad daily
behaviors the stats are showing us that
people check their home screens 150
times a day so these products have a
very very high habit forming potential
because they're used so frequently so
the minimum bar has to be for your habit
to take hold that that key Behavior
opening the app scrolling a feed
checking something that has to occur
within a week's time or less okay and
you have to be able to tell me what is
that internal trigger that prompts them
to action that itch that emotional that
that negative veilance state that
prompts them to
action the second step of the hook is
the action phase the action phase is
defined as the simplest Behavior done in
anticipation of a reward the simplest
thing the user can do to scratch that
itch to get relief it's as something as
simple as scrolling on pinest or a quick
search on Google or what could be
simpler than just pushing the play
button on YouTube these incredibly
simple actions done in anticipation of
an immediate reward now there's a great
formula that that I like to share with
folks that comes from a researcher at
Stanford by the name of BJ fog and fog
tells us that for any singular Behavior
Behavior any singular Behavior we just
need three things at the same time for
any Behavior to occur any click any
action anything you want the user to do
they have to have sufficient motivation
motivation is the energy for Action how
much we want to do a particular Behavior
they have to have sufficient ability
ability is the capacity to do the
behavior how easy it is to do and the
trigger must be present right we just
talked all about triggers now we know
the trigger has to be there that's a
precondition let's talk about motivation
and ability nine times out of 10 when I
work with product teams they're trying
to figure out how to motivate people to
do the behavior right let's show them a
video let's give them testimonials let's
talk at them let's prove to them why
they should be more motivated to do the
thing we want them to
do 90% of the time that's the wrong
approach the better approach the better
Roi for your time money and and brain uh
brain Cycles is to worry about ability
that it turns out that the harder
something is to do the less likely
people are to do it so there are six
factors of ability six factors of
ability six things that you can do to
make the behavior you want done more
likely to occur you can decrease how
much time something takes how much money
something costs how much physical effort
is required brain Cycles brain Cycles
are very important when it comes to
technology products because the harder
something is to understand the less
likely that behavior is to occur social
deviance is number five social deviance
has to do with the fact that people are
less likely I'm sorry are more likely to
do something when they see other people
like them doing it and finally non
routine is number six n non routine says
that we become more likely to do
something simply for the fact that we
have done it before in the past and this
is why habits are so important because
the more we do a particular Behavior the
easier it becomes and the more likely we
are to do it in the future what do we
call that that's called practice the
more we do it the easier it becomes the
more likely we are to do it in the
future so habits have this repeater
effect the more we do something the
easier it becomes and we become more
likely to do it now we've talked about
internal triggers we talked about
external triggers we've talked about
making the action as easy as possible to
do now it come comes the time to give
users what they came for to give them
the reward to scratch their itch and
that's the third step of the hook the
reward phase I argue that it's not good
enough to just give people what they
want it's not good enough just to give
people what they want what all of the
products all the companies that I
mentioned earlier all do they give
people what they want they scratch the
itch but they leave them wanting
more and here's how they do it they all
use a variable reward a variable reward
comes from the work of BF Skinner BF
Skinner was a father of operant
conditioning if you took psych 101 back
in college you'll know the name Skinner
took did these very famous experiments
where he took pigeons and he put them in
a little box and he gave them a disc to
Peck at
and at first every time the pigeon would
Peck at the disc they would receive a
reward they would get a little food
pellet they were all hungry pigeons by
the way they had to have the internal
trigger of hunger to begin with for this
experiment to work so basically Peck at
the disc get a food pellet terrific
that's called operant conditioning he
could train these pigeons to know to
Peck at the disc whenever they wanted
the food
pellet but then Skinner did something a
little bit different Skinner introduced
a variable reward so sometimes the
pigeon would Peck at the disc and no
food pellet no reward would come out the
next time the pigeon would Peck at the
disc they would receive a reward and
what Skinner observed was that the rate
of response the number of times these
pigeons pecked at the disc
increased when the reward was given on a
variable schedule of
reinforcement why does this happen
because variability spikes this reward
system in our brain it creates this
wanting this desirous response and so in
all sorts of products that you find most
engaging uh most habit forming the
things that capture your attention and
won't let go by the way both offline and
online you will find these variable
rewards there are three types of
variable rewards let me describe these
for you briefly three types of variable
rewards rewards of the
tribe rewards of the hunt and rewards of
the self and when you start looking for
these you will see them in everything
that holds on to your attention rewards
of the tribe are things that feel good
that have this element of variability
this bit of uncertainty and come from
other people cooperation competition
romance empathetic Joy feeling good
because someone else feels good all are
things that feel good come from other
people and have this bit of mystery this
bit of uncertainty
around what might happen next of course
the best example online is social media
right when you think about when you open
up your Facebook Newsfeed you're never
quite sure what you're going to see
right what videos did people post or
photos or what does the comments say how
many likes does something get high
degree of variability when it comes to
using a social media product next is
rewards of the hunt rewards of the hunt
have to do with our Primal need for food
and material possessions and in modern
society we buy these things with money
right so when you think about um slot
machines for example right when I play a
slot machine what's fun exciting what's
interesting about playing a slot machine
is the variabilities the uncertainty
around what I might win when I play
these games of
chance consider for a
moment the
feed right what is it about the feed
that makes it so effective think about
about how everything today on your
mobile device seems to have a feed take
LinkedIn for example there was AC quied
recently by Microsoft you opened up
LinkedIn it's no longer the company it
used to be LinkedIn is no longer about
finding jobs and resumes that's not what
LinkedIn is about LinkedIn is a Content
company so when you open up your your
feed on LinkedIn and you start scrolling
through that feed you'll see one story
that's n not that interesting but the
next story might be interesting and to
find more of that interesting content
what do you have to do what do you have
to keep doing got to keep scrolling and
that's scrolling and scrolling and
scrolling used the exact same psychology
as pulling on a slot machine searching
and searching and never done searching
for that next interesting piece of
information the rewards of the
hunt finally the third type of variable
rewards is rewards of the self rewards
of the self are things that feel good
that have this element of variability
but don't come from other people and
aren't about the search for material or
information rewards these are things
that feel good in and of themselves
they're intrinsically pleasurable the
search for Mastery competency
consistency control best example online
is gameplay when you think about Angry
Birds or Pokémon go or the Kardashian
game what makes these experiences these
games so engaging is getting to the next
level the next uh completing completing
the next accomplishment right even if
there's no material rewards you're not
really playing with other people there's
something exciting about finishing that
next accomplishment now I know we're
very serious business people here none
of us play games right but I bet if
you're anything like me you play this
game of checking email all the time
right I think email is probably the
mother of habit forming technology that
mechanic of finishing those unread
messages clearing them uh finishing your
to-do list or the thing that always gets
me is that one notification that I have
on my home screen that I have to open to
clear it away
these are all examples of variable
rewards of the self searching for
Mastery consistency competency and
control now we've talked about triggers
we've talked about action we've talked
about rewards there's one more step
there's one more step and this is
probably the most overlooked of the four
steps of the hook the last step of the
hook is called the investment phase the
investment phase is where the user puts
something into the product
in anticipation of a future benefit it's
not about immediate gratification it's
about a future
benefit Investments the the purpose of
the investment phase is to increase the
likelihood of the next pass through the
hook and Investments do this in two ways
the first way that Investments increase
the likelihood of the next pass through
the hook is by loading the next trigger
loading the next trigger so for example
when you use a WhatsApp or slack or any
number of other messaging services when
you send that message there's no
immediate reward you don't get points
you don't get badges there's no
leaderboard you don't get anything when
you send that message but what you're
doing is you are loading the next
trigger because you will eventually if
the person replies you will get an
external trigger when you get that
reply and that external trigger prompts
you through the Hook Once Again starts a
cycle over again the second way that
Investments increase the likelihood of
the next pass is by storing value now
storing value is a really big deal
storing value is why I love working in
the technology industry as opposed to
physical Goods if you think about things
made out of atoms right they depreciate
with wear and tear things in the
physical world your clothing these
chairs everything in the physical world
loses value with use habit forming
products do the opposite habit forming
products appreciate with use they get
better and better the more we engage
with them by putting data into a product
by you putting content by uploading
content into a product by acre uh
followers and finally through reputation
all of these things make the product
better and better to use they customize
the product for us and they make it
harder to
leave here's the message I want to leave
you with
when these habit forming products get us
to invest in them it doesn't matter if a
better product or service comes along
this is a really important Point why
because it shatters the myth that the
best product wins that is a Lie the best
product there's no promise that was ever
made there's no 11th Commandment that
says the best product win Silicon Valley
graveyards are full of companies that
had the best technology
it's not the best product that wins it's
the product that captures the Monopoly
of the Mind the thing that we turn to
First with little or no conscious
thought that's what captures the market
so if you're building a product that
requires unprompted engagement requires
people to come back on their own you
have to be able to answer these five
fundamental questions of number one
what's the internal trigger what's the
itch that your product is addressing and
does it occur with sufficient frequency
number two what's the external trigger
that prompts your user to action what's
the simplest Behavior the user can do in
anticipation of a reward is the reward
fulfilling and yet leaves the user
wanting more and then finally what's the
bit of work done to increase the
likelihood of the next pass through the
hook now I know this was a quick talk I
only had about 20 minutes what I want to
do is give you an entire slide
presentation with lots and lots of
examples so here's what I'd like you to
do can everybody hold up their phones
for me for a second hold your phones up
for me
this is for two reasons hold up your
phones hi hi hi number one I want to get
a picture for my Instagram page of you
of you it's a great crowd two I just
made the action remember the action fade
I've just made that behavior easier to
do the phone's in your hand all you have
to do is to go to this URL ww. opinion
to. us very short survey take you 30
seconds just five questions would love
to know what you thought of the
presentation if you have any feedback
I'm constantly tweaking it based on your
uh your feedback as soon as you click
submit you will be taken to a link to my
SlideShare page where you can have a
much more detailed explanation of all
the concepts I just discussed Now
reminder at 10 o'clock I'm going to be
doing a Q&A would love to start
addressing some of your questions and
with that I hope you will use these
habits for good thank you very
[Applause]
much
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