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Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products Hardcover – Illustrated, November 4, 2014
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How do successful companies create products people can’t put down?
Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us?
Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Through consecutive “hook cycles,” these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.
Hooked is based on Eyal’s years of research, consulting, and practical experience. He wrote the book he wished had been available to him as a start-up founder—not abstract theory, but a how-to guide for building better products. Hooked is written for product managers, designers, marketers, start-up founders, and anyone who seeks to understand how products influence our behavior.
Eyal provides readers with:
• Practical insights to create user habits that stick.
• Actionable steps for building products people love.
• Fascinating examples from the iPhone to Twitter, Pinterest to the Bible App, and many other habit-forming products.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPortfolio
- Publication dateNovember 4, 2014
- Dimensions5.71 x 0.87 x 8.55 inches
- ISBN-101591847788
- ISBN-13978-1591847786
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From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
"With concrete advice and tales from the product-development trenches, this is a thoughtful discussion of how to create something that users never knew they couldn’t live without."
—Publisher's Weekly
“A must read for everyone who cares about driving customer engagement."
—Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup
“The book everyone in Silicon Valley is talking about.”
—Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, founder of The Next Web
“Hooked gives you the blueprint for the next generation of products. Read Hooked or the company that replaces you will.”
—Matt Mullenweg, Founder of Wordpress
“The most high bandwidth, high octane, and valuable presentation I have ever seen on this subject.”
—Rory Sutherland, Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather
"You'll read this. Then you'll hope your competition isn't reading this. It's that good."
—Stephen P. Anderson, Author of Seductive Interaction Design
"Nir's work is an essential crib sheet for any startup looking to understand user psychology.”
—Dave McClure, Founder 500 Startups
"When it comes to driving engagement and building habits, Hooked is an excellent guide into the mind of the user."
—Andrew Chen, Technology Writer and Investor
“I’ve learned a great deal from Nir, and you will too. He’ll help you design habits to benefit your users, and your company.”
—Dr. Stephen Wendel, author Designing for Behavior Change
About the Author
To learn more or to get in touch with Nir, visit nirandfar.com
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
contents
introduction
Seventy-nine percent of smartphone owners check their device within fifteen minutes of waking up every morning.1 Perhaps more startling, fully one-third of Americans say they would rather give up sex than lose their cell phones.2
A 2011 university study suggested people check their phones thirty-four times per day.3 However, industry insiders believe that number is closer to an astounding 150 daily sessions.4
Face it: We’re hooked.
The technologies we use have turned into compulsions, if not full-fledged addictions. It’s the impulse to check a message notification. It’s the pull to visit YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter for just a few minutes, only to find yourself still tapping and scrolling an hour later. It’s the urge you likely feel throughout your day but hardly notice.
Cognitive psychologists define habits as “automatic behaviors triggered by situational cues”: things we do with little or no conscious thought.5 The products and services we use habitually alter our everyday behavior, just as their designers intended.6 Our actions have been engineered.
How do companies, producing little more than bits of code displayed on a screen, seemingly control users’ minds? What makes some products so habit forming?
Forming habits is imperative for the survival of many products. As infinite distractions compete for our attention, companies are learning to master novel tactics to stay relevant in users’ minds. Amassing millions of users is no longer good enough. Companies increasingly find that their economic value is a function of the strength of the habits they create. In order to win the loyalty of their users and create a product that’s regularly used, companies must learn not only what compels users to click but also what makes them tick.
Although some companies are just waking up to this new reality, others are already cashing in. By mastering habit-forming product design, the companies profiled in this book make their goods indispensable.
FIRST TO MIND WINS
Companies that form strong user habits enjoy several benefits to their bottom line. These companies attach their product to internal triggers. As a result, users show up without any external prompting.
Instead of relying on expensive marketing, habit-forming companies link their services to the users’ daily routines and emotions.7 A habit is at work when users feel a tad bored and instantly open Twitter. They feel a pang of loneliness and before rational thought occurs, they are scrolling through their Facebook feeds. A question comes to mind and before searching their brains, they query Google. The first-to-mind solution wins. In chapter 1 of this book, we explore the competitive advantages of habit-forming products.
How do products create habits? The answer: They manufacture them. While fans of the television show Mad Men are familiar with how the ad industry once created consumer desire during Madison Avenue’s golden era, those days are long gone. A multiscreen world of ad-wary consumers has rendered Don Draper’s big-budget brainwashing useless to all but the biggest brands.
Today, small start-up teams can profoundly change behavior by guiding users through a series of experiences I call hooks. The more often users run through these hooks, the more likely they are to form habits.
How I Got Hooked
In 2008 I was among a team of Stanford MBAs starting a company backed by some of the brightest investors in Silicon Valley. Our mission was to build a platform for placing advertising into the booming world of online social games.
Notable companies were making hundreds of millions of dollars selling virtual cows on digital farms while advertisers were spending huge sums of money to influence people to buy whatever they were peddling. I admit I didn’t get it at first and found myself standing at the water’s edge wondering, “How do they do it?”
At the intersection of these two industries dependent on mind manipulation, I embarked upon a journey to learn how products change our actions and, at times, create compulsions. How did these companies engineer user behavior? What were the moral implications of building potentially addictive products? Most important, could the same forces that made these experiences so compelling also be used to build products to improve people’s lives?
Where could I find the blueprints for forming habits? To my disappointment, I found no guide. Businesses skilled in behavior design guarded their secrets, and although I uncovered books, white papers, and blog posts tangentially related to the topic, there was no how-to manual for building habit-forming products.
I began documenting my observations of hundreds of companies to uncover patterns in user-experience designs and functionality. Although every business had its unique flavor, I sought to identify the commonalities behind the winners and understand what was missing among the losers.
I looked for insights from academia, drawing upon consumer psychology, human-computer interaction, and behavioral economics research. In 2011 I began sharing what I learned and started working as a consultant to a host of Silicon Valley companies, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 enterprises. Each client provided an opportunity to test my theories, draw new insights, and refine my thinking. I began blogging about what I learned at NirAndFar.com, and my essays were syndicated to other sites. Readers soon began writing in with their own observations and examples.
In the fall of 2012 Dr. Baba Shiv and I designed and taught a class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business on the science of influencing human behavior. The next year, I partnered with Dr. Steph Habif to teach a similar course at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
These years of distilled research and real-world experience resulted in the creation of the Hook Model: a four-phase process companies use to forms habits.
Through consecutive Hook cycles, successful products reach their ultimate goal of unprompted user engagement, bringing users back repeatedly, without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.
While I draw many examples from technology companies given my industry background, hooks are everywhere—in apps, sports, movies, games, and even our jobs. Hooks can be found in virtually any experience that burrows into our minds (and often our wallets). The four steps of the Hook Model provide the framework for the chapters of this book.
The Hook Model
1. Trigger
A trigger is the actuator of behavior—the spark plug in the engine. Triggers come in two types: external and internal.8 Habit-forming products start by alerting users with external triggers like an e-mail, a Web site link, or the app icon on a phone.
For example, suppose Barbra, a young woman in Pennsylvania, happens to see a photo in her Facebook News Feed taken by a family member from a rural part of the state. It’s a lovely picture and because she is planning a trip there with her brother Johnny, the external trigger’s call to action (in marketing and advertising lingo) intrigues her and she clicks. By cycling through successive hooks, users begin to form associations with internal triggers, which attach to existing behaviors and emotions.
When users start to automatically cue their next behavior, the new habit becomes part of their everyday routine. Over time, Barbra associates Facebook with her need for social connection. Chapter 2 explores external and internal triggers, answering the question of how product designers determine which triggers are most effective.
2. Action
Following the trigger comes the action: the behavior done in anticipation of a reward. The simple action of clicking on the interesting picture in her news feed takes Barbra to a Web site called Pinterest, a “social bookmarking site with a virtual pinboard.”9
This phase of the Hook, as described in chapter 3, draws upon the art and science of usability design to reveal how products drive specific user actions. Companies leverage two basic pulleys of human behavior to increase the likelihood of an action occurring: the ease of performing an action and the psychological motivation to do it.10
Once Barbra completes the simple action of clicking on the photo, she is dazzled by what she sees next.
3. Variable Reward
What distinguishes the Hook Model from a plain vanilla feedback loop is the Hook’s ability to create a craving. Feedback loops are all around us, but predictable ones don’t create desire. The unsurprising response of your fridge light turning on when you open the door doesn’t drive you to keep opening it again and again. However, add some variability to the mix—suppose a different treat magically appears in your fridge every time you open it—and voilà, intrigue is created.
Variable rewards are one of the most powerful tools companies implement to hook users; chapter 4 explains them in further detail. Research shows that levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine surge when the brain is expecting a reward.11 Introducing variability multiplies the effect, creating a focused state, which suppresses the areas of the brain associated with judgment and reason while activating the parts associated with wanting and desire.12 Although classic examples include slot machines and lotteries, variable rewards are prevalent in many other habit-forming products.
When Barbra lands on Pinterest, not only does she see the image she intended to find, but she is also served a multitude of other glittering objects. The images are related to what she is generally interested in—namely things to see on her upcoming trip to rural Pennsylvania—but there are other things that catch her eye as well. The exciting juxtaposition of relevant and irrelevant, tantalizing and plain, beautiful and common, sets her brain’s dopamine system aflutter with the promise of reward. Now she’s spending more time on Pinterest, hunting for the next wonderful thing to find. Before she knows it, she’s spent forty-five minutes scrolling.
Chapter 4 also explores why some people eventually lose their taste for certain experiences and how variability impacts their retention.
4. Investment
The last phase of the Hook Model is where the user does a bit of work. The investment phase increases the odds that the user will make another pass through the Hook cycle in the future. The investment occurs when the user puts something into the product of service such as time, data, effort, social capital, or money.
However, the investment phase isn’t about users opening up their wallets and moving on with their day. Rather, the investment implies an action that improves the service for the next go-around. Inviting friends, stating preferences, building virtual assets, and learning to use new features are all investments users make to improve their experience. These commitments can be leveraged to make the trigger more engaging, the action easier, and the reward more exciting with every pass through the Hook cycle. Chapter 5 delves into how investments encourage users to cycle through successive hooks.
As Barbra enjoys endlessly scrolling through the Pinterest cornucopia, she builds a desire to keep the things that delight her. By collecting items, she gives the site data about her preferences. Soon she will follow, pin, repin, and make other investments, which serve to increase her ties to the site and prime her for future loops through the Hook.
A New Superpower
Habit-forming technology is already here, and it is being used to mold our lives. The fact that we have greater access to the web through our various connected devices—smartphones and tablets, televisions, game consoles, and wearable technology—gives companies far greater ability to affect our behavior.
As companies combine their increased connectivity to consumers, with the ability to collect, mine, and process customer data at faster speeds, we are faced with a future where everything becomes potentially more habit forming. As famed Silicon Valley investor Paul Graham writes, “Unless the forms of technological progress that produced these things are subject to different laws than technological progress in general, the world will get more addictive in the next 40 years than it did in the last 40.”13 Chapter 6 explores this new reality and discusses the morality of manipulation.
Recently, a blog reader e-mailed me, “If it can’t be used for evil, it’s not a superpower.” He’s right. And under this definition, building habit-forming products is indeed a superpower. If used irresponsibly, bad habits can quickly degenerate into mindless, zombielike addictions.
Did you recognize Barbra and her brother Johnny from the previous example? Zombie film buffs likely did. They are characters from the classic horror flick Night of the Living Dead, a story about people possessed by a mysterious force, which compels their every action.14
No doubt you’ve noticed the resurgence of the zombie genre over the past several years. Games like Resident Evil, television shows like The Walking Dead, and movies including World War Z are a testament to the creatures’ growing appeal. But why are zombies suddenly so fascinating? Perhaps technology’s unstoppable progress—ever more pervasive and persuasive—has grabbed us in a fearful malaise at the thought of being involuntarily controlled.
Although the fear is palpable, we are like the heroes in every zombie film—threatened but ultimately more powerful. I have come to learn that habit-forming products can do far more good than harm. Choice architecture, a concept described by famed scholars Thaler, Sunstein, and Balz in their same-titled scholarly paper, offers techniques to influence people’s decisions and affect behavioral outcomes. Ultimately, though, the practice should be “used to help nudge people to make better choices (as judged by themselves).”15 Accordingly, this book teaches innovators how to build products to help people do the things they already want to do but, for lack of a solution, don’t do.
Hooked seeks to unleash the tremendous new powers innovators and entrepreneurs have to influence the everyday lives of billions of people. I believe the trinity of access, data, and speed presents unprecedented opportunities to create positive habits.
When harnessed correctly, technology can enhance lives through healthful behaviors that improve our relationships, make us smarter, and increase productivity.
The Hook Model explains the rationale behind the design of many successful habit-forming products and services we use daily. Although not exhaustive given the vast amount of academic literature available, the model is intended to be a practical tool (rather than a theoretical one) made for entrepreneurs and innovators who aim to use habits for good. In this book I have compiled the most relevant research, shared actionable insights, and provided a practical framework designed to increase the innovator’s odds of success.
Hooks connect the user’s problem with a company’s solution frequently enough to form a habit. My goal is to provide you with a deeper understanding of how certain products change what we do and, by extension, who we are.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
At the end of each section, you’ll find a few bulleted takeaways. Reviewing them, jotting them down in a notebook, or sharing them on a social network is a great way to pause, reflect, and reinforce what you have read.
Building a habit-forming product yourself? If so, the “Do This Now” sections at the end of subsequent chapters will help guide your next steps.
REMEMBER & SHARE
• Habits are defined as “behaviors done with little or no conscious thought.”
• The convergence of access, data, and speed is making the world a more habit-forming place.
• Businesses that create customer habits gain a significant competitive advantage.
• The Hook Model describes an experience designed to connect the user’s problem to a solution frequently enough to form a habit.
• The Hook Model has four phases: trigger, action, variable reward, and investment.
1
The Habit Zone
When I run, I zone out. I don’t think about what my body is doing and my mind usually wanders elsewhere. I find it relaxing and refreshing, and run about three mornings each week. Recently, I needed to take an overseas client call during my usual morning run time. “No biggie,” I thought. “I can run in the evening instead.” However, the time shift created some peculiar behaviors that night.
I left the house for my run at dusk and as I was about to pass a woman taking out her trash, she made eye contact and smiled. I politely saluted her with “Good morning!” and then caught my mistake: “I mean, good evening! Sorry!” I corrected myself, realizing I was about ten hours off. She furrowed her brow and cracked a nervous smile.
Slightly embarrassed, I noted how my mind had been oblivious to the time of day. I chided myself not to do it again, but within a few minutes I passed another runner and again—as if possessed—I blurted out, “Good morning!” What was going on?
Back home, during my normal post-run shower, my mind began to wander again as it often does when I bathe. My brain’s autopilot switch turned on and I proceeded with my daily routine, unaware of my actions.
It wasn’t until I felt the nick of the razor cutting my face that I realized I had lathered up and started shaving. Although it is something I do every morning, shaving was painfully unnecessary in the evening. And yet I’d done it anyway, unknowingly.
The evening version of my morning run had triggered a behavioral script that instructed my body to carry out my usual run-related activities—all without mindful awareness. Such is the nature of ingrained habits—behaviors done with little or no conscious thought—which, by some estimates, guide nearly half of our daily actions.1
Habits are one of the ways the brain learns complex behaviors. Neuroscientists believe habits give us the ability to focus our attention on other things by storing automatic responses in the basal ganglia, an area of the brain associated with involuntary actions.2
Habits form when the brain takes a shortcut and stops actively deliberating over what to do next.3 The brain quickly learns to codify behaviors that provide a solution to whatever situation it encounters.
Product details
- Publisher : Portfolio; Illustrated edition (November 4, 2014)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1591847788
- ISBN-13 : 978-1591847786
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.71 x 0.87 x 8.55 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #13,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Industrial & Product Design
- #3 in Industrial Product Design
- #23 in Marketing & Consumer Behavior
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products" and "Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life."
He has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. His writing on technology, psychology, and business appears in the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, TechCrunch, and Psychology Today.
Nir blogs regularly at NirAndFar.com
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book insightful and informative, providing a good overview of behavioral psychology. They describe it as an excellent, well-written resource that is easy to read and understand. The book provides simple steps to implement the ideas and exercises, making applying them easier than just having a set of psychological principles. Customers find the content engaging and interesting, with interesting twists. They mention the book is fast-paced and short enough to go through quickly. The book offers practical exercises and demystifies triggers, cues, and rewards embedded in popular products.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book insightful and engaging, with relevant examples. They appreciate the author's knowledge of behavioral psychology and how it can be applied to software design. The book provides a good overview of how those two elements interact to create a long-lasting user experience. Readers find the book practical and inspiring, with a methodical approach and real-world examples that illuminate the path.
"Very nicely written, and important for improving your product-thinking." Read more
"...fun to read, went by fast, and is relatively informative regarding the psychology behind habit-forming products...." Read more
"...by Nir Eyal presents a very interesting approach to how understanding habit formation (and behavior in general) can be helpful in reaching business-..." Read more
"...It was a little out of date but I thought it was a good read to sharpen my viral marketing skills. ~~~~~~~..." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and a good resource for startups and individuals. They appreciate the clear explanations of psychological concepts and how they're simplified. The content is interesting and worth reading, making it a fun and fast read.
"Very nicely written, and important for improving your product-thinking." Read more
"This book was generally fun to read, went by fast, and is relatively informative regarding the psychology behind habit-forming products...." Read more
"...It is truly a well-written resource that both offers useful, actionable information and a contemplative experience for everyday readers on behavior..." Read more
"...An excellent read and perfect for that FOUNDATIONAL understanding of building a new app/tool/anything...." Read more
Customers find the book easy to use. It provides simple steps to implement the ideas and exercises. The author outlines a methodology or four-step system to break down how to attract, retain, and improve user experience. The formula is straightforward and relatable.
"...Commitment to Product He manages to be both simple and accurate, and still only come in at a little over two hundred pages...." Read more
"...Action - For a product to be sticky, it has to be simple and easy to use so that there are no barriers to adoption and usage...." Read more
"...In addition to providing the Hook Model, Mr. Eyal gives specific to do steps, discusses the moral implications of misusing the model and gives some..." Read more
"...The book provides specific steps to implement the ideas and exercises, as well as a key bullet point list of important items to remember...." Read more
Customers find the book's content engaging and interesting. They say it provides useful, actionable information and a contemplative experience. Readers appreciate the helpful examples and activities that help build products that engage users in helpful ways.
"...It is truly a well-written resource that both offers useful, actionable information and a contemplative experience for everyday readers on behavior..." Read more
"...for actual application in design - it is research presented in an interesting and digestible way...." Read more
"...It's extremely well written with helpful examples, activities to help your user flow and design, and is based on actual data rather than theory...." Read more
"I'm not sure of the validity of certain parts but it's definitely interesting. As a reader and builder I'd be curious to test some of these pieces...." Read more
Customers find the book's pacing fast and engaging. They say it's a quick read with a time-saving technique. The book is well-written and concise, making it easy to understand quickly.
"This book was generally fun to read, went by fast, and is relatively informative regarding the psychology behind habit-forming products...." Read more
"...Eyal offers both a time-saving technique, but also a more nuanced approach to nurturing leads and client relationships in general...." Read more
"...It was a fun and fast read. It portrays a lean model for thinking about product development...." Read more
"...It's a quick, easy read and one that I think most will get value from." Read more
Customers find the book's approach actionable. They appreciate the practical exercises and insights into triggers, cues, and rewards that drive repeat usage of products and apps. The book offers a mix of theory, examples, and action items in a quick read. It demystifies the mechanisms that create repeat usage of a product or app.
"...implement the ideas and exercises, as well as a key bullet point list of important items to remember...." Read more
"...Nir has done a great job demystifying the triggers, cues, and rewards embedded in popular, ‘sticky’ services such as Twitter, Facebook, and..." Read more
"...It's built on the same solid research base, yet much closer to practice and much more relevant to today's tech world...." Read more
"...to someone that is now a year into his job, Nir did a great job breaking down the steps in his "hook" model for anyone to be able to..." Read more
Customers find the book insightful and helpful for creating software products. It offers a detailed view of building the right hooks and making them usable and appealing. The book provides a firm spotlight on the nuances that separate winners from losers. They appreciate the clear path laid out in the book and the example of the Bible App as a great example of the plan suggested. Overall, customers find the book lucid and insightful, offering unique perspectives not often encountered.
"...Very lucid and clearly lays out the path to create a product that 'hooks' people...." Read more
"...It's a fast and easy read at about 200 pages with images inflating the page total. If you can get this on sale for $5, buy it...." Read more
"Very interesting vision that explains lots of things that we see on our mobile apps and online platforms every day and will inspire you to design..." Read more
"...It is articulately written and it highlights key takeaways and questions to ask oneself in a very clear fashion...." Read more
Customers have different views on the book's length. Some find it short and to the point, with only 140 pages. Others feel it could use more depth and is not a recommended read.
"...It's quick to read (only 140 pages), to-the-point and made a world of difference to our concept&design challenges...." Read more
"...It's short and concise. You WILL learn something actionable...." Read more
"...In other words, this is not a book you will read only once." Read more
"...The book is thankfully short and to the point, although some of the supporting examples seemed to focus on correlation rather than causation,..." Read more
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Foundational for Viral Marketing Strategy
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2025Hooked is perfectly structured and easy to read. A ton of valuable information for anybody designing a product and wants to figure our the technical aspect of how to keep them coming back for more.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2024This book was generally fun to read, went by fast, and is relatively informative regarding the psychology behind habit-forming products.
It tells you how/why people get hooked on certain games and apps.
However, I don’t think it delivers on its promise of telling you “how to build habit-forming products.”
Instead, he reveals the mind games involved and then gives you homework to figure out the building part for yourself, with no specific guidance.
And that’s fine, I guess, but this book should probably be marketed as more of an introduction to habit-forming products. It’s great for that!
In fact, it may be a good introduction to Wesley Bush’s “Product-Led Growth” book. Let Eyal break down the psychology for you, then let Bush give you specific ideas about how to apply it.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2025Very nicely written, and important for improving your product-thinking.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2016Behavior and technology have a tenuous relationship with one another; however, one has always tried to inform the other. Hooked by Nir Eyal presents a very interesting approach to how understanding habit formation (and behavior in general) can be helpful in reaching business-oriented goals for all professional levels. The simple truth is that majority of observable human behavior is primarily an instance of behavior elicited by an antecedent, and then rewarded (or punished). This behavioral relationship, when reinforced over time, becomes a habit. Sounds modest enough. Eyal’s explanation is elegant and easy to understand, centered around four events:
Trigger Behavior
Perform Action
Variable Reward for Action
Commitment to Product
He manages to be both simple and accurate, and still only come in at a little over two hundred pages. It is in the unified and consistent approach to this behavior methodology and how it forms a habit where his content really shines. It should come as no surprise that the behavior model itself harkens back to an operant model of conditioning, but this in no way diminishes Eyal’s approach. His addition is commitment, which is the holy grail for behavior psychologists, as program adherence is difficult to maintain.
Eyal sees this fourth step as an answer to a nebulous question.
Let’s walk through his process. A potential customer is alerted to your service or product by a trigger; the behavior proceeds in short order. This feels firmly rooted in the antecedent-behavior relationship. Then comes the most important part: rewarding the behavior. Behavior psychologists (enthusiasts like myself) always err on the side of intermittent schedules of reinforcements, which is a fancy way of saying you don’t always get the reward, but it is offered frequently enough that the reward is constantly being chased. It is the variability in the reward that gives it real value, as it demonstrates both engagement and authenticity in the process, which then feeds future instances––and on and on it goes.
Habit formation is the key to both delegation and hacking business growth. Learning what behavior relationships are not well formed allows you to free up time accordingly by having an assistant step in with a well-designed process for accomplishing those troublesome behaviors. Eyal offers both a time-saving technique, but also a more nuanced approach to nurturing leads and client relationships in general. The true strong suit of the book is its accessibility, making it a wonderful portal into applied behavior analysis for business. It is truly a well-written resource that both offers useful, actionable information and a contemplative experience for everyday readers on behavior engineering. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you do.
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2024For December 2023 I chose "Hooked" by Nir Eyal (2014/2019).
I found this book on Amazon and it was highly rated and referred. I loved the context of this book and speaking to the psychological aspect of 'viral' videos/products/etc. It was a little out of date but I thought it was a good read to sharpen my viral marketing skills.
~~~~~~~
💡Here are my favorite quotes💡:
"companies must learn not only what compels users to click but also what makes them tick."
"predictable [feedback loops] don't create desire."
"the exciting juxtaposition of relevant and irrelevant, tantalizing and plain, beautiful and common, sets [the] brain's dopamine system aflutter."
"Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of building products that are only marginally better than existing solutions."
"Your product must ultimately be useful."
"relationship triggers drive growth because people love to tell one another about a wonderful offer."
"Looking for discrepancies exposes opportunities."
"To initiate action, doing must be easier than thinking."
"How many steps does it take before users obtain the reward they come from?"
"the wave of habit-forming technologies [are] the 'cigarette of this century'..."
~~~~
💭 That last quote reminds me of the Netflix documentary - "The Social Dilemma" https://lnkd.in/gqPJYX6d - which is a must watch.
Nir did a great job explaining the parts of viral/addictive content and apps.
An excellent read and perfect for that FOUNDATIONAL understanding of building a new app/tool/anything.
5.0 out of 5 stars Foundational for Viral Marketing StrategyFor December 2023 I chose "Hooked" by Nir Eyal (2014/2019).
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2024
I found this book on Amazon and it was highly rated and referred. I loved the context of this book and speaking to the psychological aspect of 'viral' videos/products/etc. It was a little out of date but I thought it was a good read to sharpen my viral marketing skills.
~~~~~~~
💡Here are my favorite quotes💡:
"companies must learn not only what compels users to click but also what makes them tick."
"predictable [feedback loops] don't create desire."
"the exciting juxtaposition of relevant and irrelevant, tantalizing and plain, beautiful and common, sets [the] brain's dopamine system aflutter."
"Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of building products that are only marginally better than existing solutions."
"Your product must ultimately be useful."
"relationship triggers drive growth because people love to tell one another about a wonderful offer."
"Looking for discrepancies exposes opportunities."
"To initiate action, doing must be easier than thinking."
"How many steps does it take before users obtain the reward they come from?"
"the wave of habit-forming technologies [are] the 'cigarette of this century'..."
~~~~
💭 That last quote reminds me of the Netflix documentary - "The Social Dilemma" https://lnkd.in/gqPJYX6d - which is a must watch.
Nir did a great job explaining the parts of viral/addictive content and apps.
An excellent read and perfect for that FOUNDATIONAL understanding of building a new app/tool/anything.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
- AmirReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on November 25, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice book
New info , adds up to my knowledge ❤️
- Arjune VenkataramaniReviewed in India on April 28, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for product marketers and product managers
A must read for all product marketers looking to increase customer engagement with products
In today’s competitive, digital and AI landscape, creating a product that not only sells but becomes an integral part of customers daily routine is the holy grail for product marketers
Nir Eyal, provides compelling roadmap to achieve just this. Here’s the breakdown that highlights key takeaways and their applications for marketing leaders
Nir Eyal, ends the book with critical reflection on the 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 of these techniques, it’s our responsibility to use these insights to enhance customer experience, not to exploit them.
Nir Eyal’s wisdom is roadmap for creating products that stick. He says ”𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲” = 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲
Product marketers can use knowledge responsibly and shape products that aren’t just part of the routine but improve everyday life.
Happy Reading!
Arjune Venkataramani
Reviewed in India on April 28, 2024
In today’s competitive, digital and AI landscape, creating a product that not only sells but becomes an integral part of customers daily routine is the holy grail for product marketers
Nir Eyal, provides compelling roadmap to achieve just this. Here’s the breakdown that highlights key takeaways and their applications for marketing leaders
Nir Eyal, ends the book with critical reflection on the 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 of these techniques, it’s our responsibility to use these insights to enhance customer experience, not to exploit them.
Nir Eyal’s wisdom is roadmap for creating products that stick. He says ”𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲” = 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲
Product marketers can use knowledge responsibly and shape products that aren’t just part of the routine but improve everyday life.
Happy Reading!
Images in this review -
Salome JuckenReviewed in Germany on January 17, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Hält was es verspricht
Super geschriebenes Buch, das ohne großes Blabla, aber dennoch anschaulich die wichtigen Daten und Fakten aufzählt. Es ist erschreckend, wie sehr einem danach auffällt, welche Produkte man verwendet.
Empfehlenswert für alle Produktdesigner, Produktmanager, Game- und Appentwickler.
-
Charles BrownReviewed in the Netherlands on March 17, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Praktische boek voor elke ondernemer!
Goed geschreven boek en praktisch toepasbaar! De duidelijke voorbeelden en casestudies geven diepgang op hetgeen de auteur aan de lezer wil overbrengen.
- Oscar555Reviewed in Sweden on July 24, 2022
4.0 out of 5 stars Good written
Even if you’re not interested in starting a business I’ll still give it a read if I was you. It shows the tricks and marketing behind large companies and is enjoyable