Instagram’s killer feedback loopAnd how to apply it to your products

Since you’ve downloaded Instagram you are

snapping more photos than ever.

I’m not even asking, we both know it’s true.

The question is Why do you take more photos.

Well, I can tell you it has something to do with...

The Tribal Feedback Loop

And a smart design.

Let me simplify these concepts and put them in easy

to understand frames

So you can harness them in your products as well.

But before we dive in,

I’d like to tell you a short story.

My name is Dori Adar,Game and product designer from Tel-Aviv.

doriadar@gmail.com

Back in the day,

When I was studying electronic music production

I had the pleasure of learning from one of the best

Israeli music producers.

One day, after a long musical session

he asked us students a question:

Why do we make music?

And answered himself immediately:

Cause our friends tell us our beats are awesome.

Matushka was referring to the #1 motivator for

creators to create: Feedback.

Part 1

The Tribal Feedback Loop

First things first.

What is a feedback loop?

Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are

"fed back" as inputs, creating a loop.

Take this mic for instance,

As an input to the speaker standing in front of it.

The speaker (output) amplifies the signal,

sending it back to the mic

Which uses that as an input to the speaker,

this time louder

And this loop escalates to this terrible noise

we call “audio feedback”.

This is the nature of a feedback loop.

It escalates.

See where am I getting at?

The Instagram feedback mechanism is based on

likes, comments and followers.

(Hence, reward of the tribe)

And they do their best to ensure that the user gets

them all.

The Tribal Feedback Loop goes as follows:

TriggerSmall Act

(Input)Anticipation

Variable

Reward

Let’s use Instagram’s own words to see this loop in action:

Trigger(Instagram is) a simple way to capture and share the world's moments on your iPhone

The “world’s moments” are the triggers.

A cat, a piece of landscape, a sunset,

are opportunities for us to show the world

How great capturers of these moments we are.

As capturers, we are always trigger happy,

shooting before the moment is gone.

Small actIt’s a simple way to capture

Snapping a photo is easier than posting a tweet

It only takes the effort of grabbing your phone and

tapping 3 times.

Making it a very quick mechanism of creating

content, hence, getting feedback.

Instagram also tells us:

Transform everyday moments into works of art.

That’s the magic.

Altering the pictures to something worthy.

A work of art! one may think.

(Usually the one who shot the photo).

If gaming taught me anything,

it is that users like to feel smart.

Instagram makes us feel talented.

Now the picture looks even better,

and we are emotionally invested.

When we put effort into something we tend to value it

more.

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely calls it

“The IKEA Effect”

Choosing a filter in Instagram is a “good amount” of

effort.

Not complicated, but yet it feels as if we have done

something creative.

Anticipation

The picture shared on everyone’s feed.

Will the world recognize our talent?

In some way it is like leaving a cake in the oven.

Checking on it is inevitable.

Variable Reward

46 likes on my new cat photo! not bad!

Instagram users take social acceptance as a reward,

AKA reward of the tribe.

This reward is measurable,

and variable from its nature.

We get a different amount of likes and comments

each time.

Which leaves us wondering..

How much will our next photo get?

This last piece in the loop, the variable reward,

feeds back to the first piece, the trigger.

TriggerSmall Act

(Input)Anticipation

Variable

Reward

Part 2

Smart design

As product designers, we must ensure that our users

enjoy liking the works of others.

Instagram has made a great job,

presenting a feed that has now become a standard

Liking is easy and fun.

Double tap for getting a beautiful heart.

Secret have done an even better job with their

“swipe to like” mechanic.

Back to Instagram,

see how picture descriptions look

like comments.

This design encourages comments in the sense that

the conversation “has already started”.

Facebook does a similar trick

My pic is already there! Guess I’ll

write something….

And of course, following other people.

see how clear this call to action is.

Wow, Meital Harel LOVES my work!

Now lets wrap it up.

If you build a “user generated” product...

1

Make sure you have a solid tribal feedback loop

2

Users have a frictionless way of discovering and

liking content.

Food for thought

Many apps uses bare and bones feedback mechanism: voting.

Product Hunt

Yik Yak

Can you think of a new way of quick feedback mechanism?

Plz write me if you do, And...

If you share this deck and tag me,

you’ll get a special heart in return!

@doriadar @dori adar doriadar@gmail.com