Building a habit-forming product is an iterative process and requires user-behavior analysis and continuous experimentation. 1. Discovering Habit-Forming Opportunities This does not require an existing product to test. Instead of asking “What problem should I solve?” ask “What problem do I wish someone else would solve for me?” As you go about your day…

Building hooks To build effective hooks, ask yourself these five fundamental questions: What do users really want? What pain is your product relieving? (Internal trigger) What brings users to your service? (External trigger) What is the simplest action users take in anticipation of reward, and how can you simplify your product to…

The big idea behind the investment phase is to leverage the user’s understanding that the service will get better with use (and personal investment). Investments are about the anticipation of longer-term rewards, not immediate gratification. …

What draws us to act is not the sensation we receive from the reward itself, but the need to alleviate the craving for that reward. The stress of desire in the brain appears to compel us. Once we figure out what will happen next, we become less excited. To hold…

Three elements must be present at the same time for users to take action: Motivation Ability Trigger (already covered here) Focus on increasing the ability to perform an action first. Although motivation is also required, increasing it is very expensive and time consuming. 1. Motivation Motivation is the energy required for the…

Habits are not created, they are built upon. External Triggers External triggers are embedded with information, which tells the user what to do next. Important: External triggers are only the first step to ultimately form internal triggers. Too many choices or irrelevant options can cause hesitation, confusion or abandonment. Paid Triggers Advertisement Can be…