Nir Eyal: Trigger users' actions and reward them to build habits

Habits versus conversion

Anders: When is it interesting to design for users creating habits, and when is it more interesting to aim for just a conversion?

Nir: Not every business needs to create a habit, but every business that needs a habit needs a hook. Designing habit-forming products isn’t easy and I wouldn’t recommend doing it unless your business model depends on it.

For example, many of the companies I describe in the book like Facebook, Twitter, and others, would go out of business if they didn’t create and retain consumer habits. However, even if your company doesn’t rely upon a habit, there is still much to be learned from consumer psychology. You can essentially learn the fundamentals of user behavior from my book without necessarily needing to incorporate the entire Hook Model.

B.J. Fogg's Behavior model

Anders: You explain how B.J. Foggs behavior model (B = MAT) explains how a clear trigger and sufficient motivation must be present for a behavior to occur. Is it possible to cultivate motivation?

Nir: Boosting motivation is well within the realm of persuasive marketing. Though motivation is an area of debate for psychologists, Fogg tells us that all of us seek pleasure and avoid pain, seek hope and avoid fear, seek social acceptance and avoid social rejection. Modern advertising has focused on using one or more of these motivators to influence our behavior.

Getting the user to invest

Anders: Getting users through the investment phase of your model seems to me as the hardest part to implement. How do you start?

Nir: Perhaps the most frequently neglected step in building a habit-forming product is asking for an appropriate investment – it also represents the biggest opportunity companies often miss. An investment is when the user puts something into the product for a future benefit, not for immediate gratification.

For example, when the user takes steps to accrue data, content, followers, reputation, or skills by using the product, they are more likely to use the product again in the future. With repeated investments into the product, it actually gets better with use. Investments also load the trigger to bring users back through the hook again.

Anders: How do you best approach aligning business goals with user goals?

Nir: In one chapter of Hooked, I give a framework people can use to decide what kind of product is worth building a habit around. I give two criteria: first, is the product or service something you believe materially improves people’s lives? Next, do you yourself use it? If the answer is “yes” to both questions, then you are what I call a “facilitator.” I’m not saying successful businesses can’t be built by people who answer “no” to either (or both) of those questions, but I believe facilitators are not only in a sound moral footing, but they also increase their odds of success. Many of the companies I profile in the book — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google — were founded by facilitators.