Nir Eyal
Writes about products that move people. Author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.
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Nir Eyal
@nireyal · Author of "Hooked" blog at NirAndFar.com
Hi, I’m Nir. I write for TechCrunch, Forbes, Psychology Today, and am a frequent speaker at industry conferences and Fortune 500 companies. I’m the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and I have Lectured at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Design School and have sold two technology companies since 2003.
For most of my career I’ve worked in the video gaming and advertising industries where I learned, applied, and at times rejected, the techniques used to motivate and manipulate users. I write to help companies create behaviors that benefit their users, while educating people on how to build healthful habits in their own lives.
As an active angel investor, I put my money where my mouth is by backing habit-forming products I believe improve lives. Some of my past investments include: Eventbrite, Product Hunt, Symphony Commerce, Pantry, Refresh.io, Presence Learning, and 7 Cups of Tea.
Although I received most of my education earning an advanced degree from the The School of Hard Knocks, I also received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Happy to be answering your questions today, so fire away!
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David Spinks
@davidspinks · CEO, CMX Media
@nireyal Go Nir!!!
My question: what's the mistake companies most commonly make when trying to apply the hooked model to their product?
@davidspinks Not reading my book first :)
I'm only half joking. I'm often called-in for expensive consulting sessions that could have accomplished the same thing if the attendees had just bothered to do the exercises in the book. I wrote Hooked to be a very efficient read that any time-starved entrepreneur can work through in a few hours. I'm not trying to sell more books here (I only make a few bucks per book), rather I'm hoping to save people countless hours and dollars by helping them build the right products sooner instead of just guessing what they should build.
Thanks for the question.
Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
Nir! Awesome to have you on LIVE. You write a lot about how an understanding of psychology can help people build more engaging, habit-forming products, but you also talk about the dangers and responsibility in doing so. Technology is becoming increasingly part of our life, especially as it literally changes the way we see the world (Google Glass may have failed but something like it is inevitable... we are becoming cyborgs).
There's a blurring of lines between building a habit-forming, engaging product and one that is manipulative. How do you balance this and what advice do you have for morally-sound makers?
@rrhoover This is a topic I care about deeply and I've written about the "morality of manipulation" quite a bit, both on my blog and in Hooked. I think user ethics is something the tech industry is not thinking about nearly enough.
In a nut shell, I think there are 3 parties involved when we consider the role of persuasive technology in our lives...
1. The Maker - the people who actually make the products that change our behavior. For them, I offer the the "Manipulation Matrix" see: http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/07... ... I also like The Silver Rule, "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you", credited to Hillel the Elder, HT @NathalieNahai
2. The Corporation - the businesses who create the workplaces and connect to end users. I'd like to see companies adopt a "“Use and Abuse Policy,” which I describe in this essay, "Is Some Tech Too Addictive?" http://www.nirandfar.com/2014/06...
3. The User - that's all of us! We also have a role to play in making sure tech doesn't control us. This video I call, "UnHooked: Increasing Focus in the Age of Distraction" gives a recipe for putting technology in its place, see: http://www.nirandfar.com/2015/06...
Eric Willis
@erictwillis · Working on something new
@nireyal Hello Nir. Thanks for doing this AMA. I'm a huge fan of your book..loved it! Do you have some examples of the Hooked model that aren't related to tech/startups? I'm interested to know how non-tech companies are using your model.
@erictwillis Thanks for the question and the kind words. I've worked with several companies in healthcare who are looking for ways to increase patient adherence. Countless lives could be improved if people formed habits around taking their medication or using a health device as prescribed. Unfortunately, despite the fact that these patients overwhelmingly want to do these behaviors, they don't.
Until now, the healthcare industry has blamed the patients themselves - "they're lazy, dumb, or unmotivated!" they say. NOT TRUE! Non-adherence turns out to be a design problem and using the principles I discuss in my book we can help people do things they want to do (but don't) by designing better products. These solutions are often shockingly low-tech - effective triggers and easier actions, as opposed to building fancy new technology.
Andrea Hill
@afhill · Founder, Frameplay Consulting LLC
@nireyal @erictwillis the applications of 'hooked' are fascinating in the public health space. It's one thing for a habit to be related to entertainment, and a completely different one when it can be literally a matter of life and death. If the gravity of the impact of not adopting of the behavior isnt enough to force the change, what else can you do to see compliance?
Andreas Klinger
@andreasklinger · Tech at Product Hunt 💃
@andreasklinger As I wrote in the acknowledgements section of Hooked, "The world will be hearing a lot from Ryan Hoover some day." NAILED IT!!
I'm proud to have worked with him before he got famous :)
Sydney Liu
@sydney_liu_sl · Co-Founder of Commaful
Hi Nir
Thanks for doing this! You talk a lot about Internal Triggers and how oftentimes, negative internal triggers are extremely powerful (like fear, uncertainty, loneliness, etc.). How does a product reach those internal triggers or how can a product get designed/optimized on a trigger point (or is just natural from what problem the product is solving)? Google is used when people are unsure, but I can’t think of a way to optimize for that internal trigger, other than the fact that it’s what the product does.
@sydney_liu_sl There are many techniques to finding your user's internal triggers (5 whys, narratives, etc.) and I discuss a few in Hooked. Remember, we don't make internal triggers! These emotional needs are core to being human. Feelings of loneliness, fear, uncertainty, etc. are age-old problems and it's our job to solve them with our products. The goal of a habit-forming product is to be associated with solving a frequent pain-point by attaching to an internal trigger.
Rodrigo Prior
@rodrigoprior · CEO @ Welearn
Hi Nir! Great to see you here...
What do you think about the cumulative effect of lots of apps and services triggering and manipulating habits of users in a long term view? What will happen when it turns to not so healthful states? Can it compromise our interpersonal relationships permanently?
Thank you ;-)
@rodrigoprior Thanks for the question. I think the idea that technology is somehow melting our brains is widely exaggerated and inaccurate.
For one, habit-forming technology is nothing new - I'd rather people communicate with friend over Facebook than stare at another sports game on TV.
Second, by and large technology has connected us together and enhanced our relationships.
Third, though there are clearly negative aspects of technology, I think the solution is (surprise!) more technology!
Many people struggle (me included) with too much tech but there are a host of new products to help us, see "Latest Tech Trends: Products to Eliminate Distractions and Increase Willpower" http://www.nirandfar.com/2015/02...
Also, see this talk about how to break unwanted Hooks: http://www.nirandfar.com/2015/06...
I think winding back the hands of progress is impossible, but we can learn how to control technology and not allow it to control us.
Milly Toovey
@millytoovey · BOOMCAST
@rodrigoprior Great question. @nireyal great answer!
I also wonder this!! It pains me to see how the masses have become so self-obsessed and that people would rather take a selfie than a story of someone who's improving the world. I'm trying to change that with Boomcast and using "Hooked" as my bible. Cheers!
Joshua Bright
@joshua_d_bright · Product Manager
@nireyal Thanks for doing the AMA.
What do you think of the history of hooks being used within software and what trends do you foresee in the future?
@joshua_d_bright The highlight of my past few years has been seeing companies apply the Hook Model to their businesses. I've seen it happen with my consulting clients but also with companies I've never been affiliated with but where the founders, employees and sometimes users, have come up with significant improvements to drive engagement. Some notable examples include Product Hunt (of course), Meerkat, 7 Cups of Tea and others.
As for upcoming trends, I'm very interested to see what's next in the assistant-as-app space, see "Why ‘Assistant-As-App’ Might Be the Next Big Tech Trend" http://www.nirandfar.com/2015/07...
jan
@frytweets
@nireyal How long until Product Hunt has an 'Assistant-As-App' feature? ;) Approved set of Hunters who specialise in particular industries. "Hello @rrhoover, I'm looking for a product that does X, can you suggest any?" "Certainly, I recommend Y and Z. Here are the collections Y and Z have been featured in." And so on and so forth.
Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
@frytweets we have something coming that might solve that exact use case, but not in the same way. 😀
Yusuf Parak
@yusufpq
Hi Nir! Massive fan of your book and blog!
I've just started creating a product (more of a side project) in the education space where user retention levels are extremely poor with many users 'dropping out' of courses. What would your advice be to products in this sector and how can triggers (or different techniques) be used to create an engaging product, when all the user wants to do is quit as times get rough?
Much Love from South Africa!
@yusufparak14 Make your product hard to stop using! See how Minerva is doing it in the education space, see: http://www.inc.com/nir-eyal/what...
Charles Vinette
@charlesvinette · Founder, @appandflow
Hi M.Eyal, I was waiting for this PHLive session!
Do you think that the advancing in wearables (Android Wear, Apple Watch...) will have a significant impact on the model? In what ways?
Thanks!
@charlesvinette Smart watches have disappointed (as I suspected they would, see: http://www.nirandfar.com/2015/04...) but I think they'll go mainstream in the next 5 years. The killer app for the smart watch will be a camera that makes it easier to take pics with your watch than the phone.
I think wearables will open up all sorts of new habit-forming opportunities by increasing developers ability to send well-timed triggers and making the action phase of the Hook easier.