Hooked Workshop

Designing for habits8.October.12

NIR EYALNirAndFar.com@nireyal


When an investor suggests ways to

increase engagement, I’m like...

Source: runningastartup.tumblr.com


The science of engagement


Some prerequisites


1. A vision


2. A moral compass


3. A business model

Source: Alex Osterwalder, Business Model Generation


4. A process

Source: Eric Ries, The Lean Startup


“What do we build?”


My goal

• If your model requires regular, unprompted user engagement ...

• ... design patterns to help you form better product hypotheses ...

• ... to increase odds of success.


Today’s deliverable

• 3 testable hypotheses intended to increase engagement.

• Anything else?


Me

NIR [email protected]

Patterns


“OMG businesses”


Vitamins or painkillers?


Selling painkillers

- Obvious need - stop pain- Quanti!able market- Monetizable


Selling vitamins

- Emotional need, not e"cacy- “Makes me feel good knowing...”- Unknown market


Vitamins or painkillers?


Habit is when not doing

causes pain.


Habit-forming technology

Vitamin Painkiller

Pleasure seeking

Pain alleviation


Creating pain?(more of an itch)


hab· it/ˈhabit/

Noun, Def: An behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary, without cognition.


pref· er· ence/ˈpref(ə)rəns/

Noun, Def: A greater liking for one alternative over another or others.


ad· dic· tion/əˈdikSHən/

Noun, Def: A persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance.


Habits are good business

• Higher life-time value

• Greater price inelasticity, can charge more

• Word-of-mouth brings down cost of acquisition

= Higher ROI

Helping people do what they want to do.

NIR EYALNirAndFar.com@nireyalSource: Inc. magazine, Dec. 2011

Why is this graph “smiling”?


Holding on to customers

Source: Amy Jo Kim, “Community Building on the Web”


StackOver#ow

• Largest technical QA site

• Alexa rank 93

• 5,500 questions answered daily

• FT Sta$: 66


To build habits need...


Frequency and utility


Hooks

Low engagement

High engagement


The Hook


Remember: ATARI

A - A hook has 4 parts:

T - Trigger

A - Action

R - Reward

I - Investment


In summary

• Habits generate unprompted engagement (the itch) and user preference.

• Creating habits is a function of utility and frequency.

• Repeatedly connecting your solution with the user’s problem is called, “The hook.”


Your turn

• Does your business model require habits? Why?

• How frequently do you expect users to engage?

• What problem are they coming to solve?

5 min activity


Triggers


Habits aren’t created, they are built upon


TriggersExternal Internal

AlarmsCalls-to-action

EmailsStores

Authority

EmotionsRoutines

SituationsPlacesPeople

What to do next is in the trigger

What to do next is in the user’s head


External triggers in tech

• Owned - Emails, SMS, noti!cations..

• Paid - SEM, ads..

• Earned - PR, free media..

• Relationship - Word of mouth, a"nity groups..


Example: PharmaExternal Internal

What to do next is in the trigger

What to do next is in the user’s head


Dissatis!edIndecisiveLostTenseFatiguedInferior

Fear of lossBored LonesomeConfusedPowerlessDiscouraged

Negative emotions are internal triggers


Bored Stressed

ExcitedContent

Emotional triggersShiv x-framework


People with depression check

email more.

Source: Kotikalapudi et al 2012,Associating Depressive Symptoms in College Students with Internet Usage Using Real Internet Data


When I feel... ... I use

LonelyHungryUnsureAnxious

LostMentally fatigued

FacebookYelp

GoogleEmailGPS

ESPN, Glam

Internally triggered technologies


Habits form from frequent

problem/solution !t.


How !nd the problem?


• Find the trigger to attach to.

• “Every time you (internal trigger) use (product).”

Know the narrative


Jack Dorsey on narratives


Betty Crocker

• 1952 invented instant cake mix.

• Assumed the trigger was hunger and narrative included making a complete meal quickly.

• Complete marketing disaster.

• What customer really wanted was to feel and show love. “Instant” didn’t cut it.

Source: Finding Betty Crocker, Susan Marks


Instagram triggers


Instagram triggers

External Internal

- FB and Twitter- App noti!cations

- Fear of loosing the moment...- Bored, lonesome, curious...


In summary

• Triggers are the !rst step of the hook.

• The designer informs what to do next through external triggers.

• The user informs what to do next through internal triggers.

• Emotions provide frequent internal triggers.


Your turn • Refer to the problem (you think) users

are solving with your product.

• Come up with 3 internal trigger hypotheses (emotions, routines, situations...)

• If you’re stuck, ask “why?” until you get to a feeling.

10 min activity


Build a narrative

• Pick the most frequent internal trigger.

• Who is the user?

• What are they doing right before they use your product?

• What brings them back? “Every time user (internal trigger) ... they ... ”

10 min activity


Hypotheses check

• Is your internal trigger hypothesis correct?

• Is your narrative really happening? If not, why?

• “Get out of the building.” - Stephen Blank

• Do your external triggers communicate and connect with the internal trigger?

• Do they answer “what it’s for?”


Actions


Simple actions before reward

• Log-In (Facebook, Wordpress)

• Search (Google, Kayak, Yelp)

• Open (Twitter, SMS, email)

• Scroll (Pinterest, Instagram)

• Play (YouTube, online games)


whendoing < thinking =

action


triggers

ability

B = m.a.t.

Fogg Behavior Modelm

otiv

atio

n

Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University


trigger(SUCCESS!)

trigger(FAIL!)

ability

mot

ivat

ion


B = m.a.t.

Fogg Behavior Model


mo· ti· va· tion/mōtə vāSHən/

Noun, Def: The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action.


mot

ivat

ion

Motivators of Behavior

Seek:PleasureHopeAcceptance

Avoid:PainFear

Rejection

SensationAnticipation

Social Cohesion



a· bil· i· ty/əˈbilitē/

Noun, Def: The capacity to do.

NIR EYALNirAndFar.com@nireyalability

How increase capacity to do something?


NIR EYALNirAndFar.com@nireyalability

Factors of ability

TimeMoneyPhysical effortBrain cyclesSocial devianceNon-routine



triggers = interface design

ability = product

Cross-functional teamsm

oti

vati

on

= m

arke

ting


Which increase !rst, motivation or ability?


triggers

ability

mot

ivat

ion

Move ability before motivation



You can try and increase motivation...


But often get same result


Focus on simplicity to increase behavior

“Simplicity is a function of your scarcest resource at that moment.”

- BJ Fogg

TimeMoneyPhysical effortBrain cyclesSocial devianceNon-routine

Factors of ability

Differ by person and context


Twitter homepage

2009

NIR EYALNirAndFar.com@nireyal2010

Twitter homepage

NIR EYALNirAndFar.com@nireyal2012

Twitter homepage


Evolution of Twitter2009 2010

2012


In summary

• Action is the second step of the hook.

• The action is the simplest behavior the user can do before getting rewarded.

• To increase behavior:

• Ensure a clear trigger is present.

• Increase ability by making it easier.

• Align with the right motivator.


Your turn

• Map the steps users take to solve their problem with your product.

• Start with o$-line internal trigger...

• ... through your interface ...

• ... to the reward, the point where the problem is alleviated a bit.

10 min activity


Quora mobile app• Internal trigger = Bored + curious

• Action =

1 - click app icon

2 - sign-in if not already

3 - scroll

• Am I bored anymore? If not, that’s the reward. Reward = see interesting questions


The “scarcest resource”• Review the #ow and ask where is the action

the most di"cult?

• Which resource is lacking?

• Time, money, physical e$ort, brain cycles (too confusing), social deviance (too outside the norm) or non-routine (too new)

• Brainstorm three testable ways to make the action easier.

10 min activity


For homework

• Does your “what it’s for?” messaging align with your users’ motivator?

• Explore latent motivators you might hear from users.

Seek:PleasureHopeAcceptance

Avoid:PainFear

Rejection


Variable rewards


The brain and rewards

Source: Olds and Milner, 1945


Reward system stimulators


Were Olds and Milner stimulating pleasure?

(not exactly)


The stress of desire• Dopamine system activated by anticipation of

reward

• And dampened when reward achieved

Source: Knutson et al 2001


To supercharge the “stress of desire”

add variability


Ann’s story

• Su$erers from Parkinson’s

• Treatment includes dopamine boosters

• Becomes a compulsive gambler

• Why?


The endless search

• We crave predictability

• Compulsion to make sense of cause and e$ect

• Dopamine system drives the search


Curious by nature


Variable rewards

the Hunt

the Tribe

the Self


Search for social rewards

theTribe

- Acceptance- Sex- Power- Empathetic joy


Rewards of the tribe


Rewards of the tribe

“experience taking”


Search for resources

theHunt

- Food- Money- Information


Rewards of the hunt: search for resources


Rewards of the hunt: search for information


Dare you not to scroll


Search for sensation

theSelf

- Mastery- Consistency- Competency- Purpose


Rewards of the self:competency and mastery


Farmville fatigue

Source: Sterne Agee analyst report 2012


Rewards decay• As rewards become predictable, they

become less novel

Finite Variability In!nite Variability

- Single-player games- Consumption of media- Finishing a race

- Multi-player games- Creation of content- Communities- Running for pleasure or competition


Gut check

• Does the reward have an in!nitely variable component?

• Is the reward authentic and meaningful?

• Does it satisfy the internal trigger, the problem the user came to solve?


In summary• Variable reward is the third step of the hook.

• Levers for variability include:

• Reward type (Tribe, Hunt, Self)

• Frequency (how often)

• Amplitude (how high or low the valence of emotional response)

• Authentic, in!nitely variable, and provides a solution to user’s problem.


Your turn• Take a look at your user #ow. Does your

reward o$er something that keeps the user looking for more?

• Brainstorm 3 ways you could add variability to the reward. Consider the search for rewards of the:

• Tribe (rewards conferred by others)

• Hunt (rewards of resources)

• Self (rewards of personal mastery, control, purpose)

10 min activity


Investments


Investment

• Where user does a bit of “work.”

• “Pays” with something of value: time, money, social capital, e$ort, emotional commitment, personal data ...


Increase likelihood of next pass

• Done in anticipation of future rewards

• Makes next pass through hook more likely by:

• Loading the next trigger

• Storing value

• Increase preference

• Improving the service


Pinterest (consumer)T A

VRI

Facebook, Twitter, WOM

Scroll

Objects of desire(Hunt)

Join

Boredom, curiosity, mental fatigue


Pinterest (curator)T A

VRI

Email noti!cation

Log-in

Communication(Tribe)

Pin, Re-Pin, Like, Comment

Lonesome, seeking connection ...


• Investment into the product with time, data, and social capital

• Loads the next external trigger by connecting to calendar.

Loading the trigger in Any.do


Storing value

Data


Storing value

Followers


Storing value

Reputation


Storing value

Content


Increasing preference


Endowment e$ect• When chimps given juice bar

and peanut butter, 50/50 preference split.

• When given PB !rst, 80% chose to keep rather than exchange.

• The “endowed” item was preferred

• Only worked for food

Source: Brosnan et al 2007


Labor is love

• Value own work almost as much as an expert’s.

• Even if other’s don’t.Source: Ariely, Mochon and Norton, 2012

Source: Langer, 1975

• People who pick lottery numbers assign greater odds.

Labor increases value


Source: Buell and Norton, 2011

Others’ labor increases value


Others’ labor increases value

• Search took same time.

• People “seeing” the work perceived more value.

Source: Buell and Norton, 2011


As we invest, we endow and tend

to overvalue.


Jesse Schell, Professor of game design, Carnegie Mellon University

Rationalization and commitment


Preference cycleInvestment:

“Should I ‘spend’ on this?”

Rationalization:“Only an idiot would

have ‘spent’ on something not good.”

Con!rmation:“Since I spent on it

before, and I am not an idiot, it must be good.”


“Adaptive preference formation”

• Changing preferences to be more compatible with the situation.

• We acquire preferences to serve our need to be consistent.

• Relieve pain of cognitive dissonance.

Source: Jon Esler, 1983


Little investments, big results

Group 1: 17% accepted

Group 2: 76% accepted

Source: Freedman & Fraser, 1966


Acquiring taste

• Think of the !rst time you tried spicy food or alcohol.

• Acquiring taste follows similar patterns of rationalization to avoid cognitive dissonance.

• Change ourselves as we change our preferences.

• “I’m a ____ drinker.”


Creating preference

• We overvalue the results of our labor (endowment e$ect)

• But need to rationalize this irrational value (cognitive dissonance)

• One way to do this is to change our taste (adaptive preference formation)


In summary

• Investment is the fourth step of the hook.

• Small amounts of work to increase the likelihood of the user returning by:

• Loading the next trigger

• Storing value

• Increasing preference

• Improving the service


Your turn• Take a look at your user #ow. Is your user

asked to invest after or before the reward?

• Brainstorm 3 ways you could add small investments into the user experience to:

• Load the next trigger

• Store value

• Increase preference

• Improve the service with use

10 min activity


Hookscreate engagement

- External triggers

- Low preference

- Internal triggers

- High preference

Low engagement

High engagement


The hook canvasTrigger Action

Variable RewardInvestment

3. What does the user have to do to receive the reward? How can it be made simpler?1. Internal trigger - What does

the user really want?

2. External trigger - What gets the user to the product?

4. What’s the reward? Does it give the user what she wants?Does it maintain an element of surprise?

5. What makes the user want to come back?Has the user put in a bit of work to increase the odds of returning?


T A

RI

Icon on phoneOpen unread messages

Write back

Procrastinate, anxiety, thoughts of others....

Tribe, hunt and self

Email


T A

RI

Facebook


With more hook cycles

Greater loyalty, increased price inelasticity, greater satisfaction.


3 hypotheses

• What will you test?


Now go test it

• Thank you!

• Please take this survey: OpinionToUs.com

Hooked Workshop

Documents

Transcript of Hooked Workshop