Discussion
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. You can find my regular writings on my blog.
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.
I'm also hosting Habit Summit which takes place in San Francisco on April 4-5, 2017. Sign up here to join us, or click here here for a chance at a free ticket.
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!
Michael Bilderbach
@mbilderbach · Product Designer
what insight about life have you acquired, that seems obvious to you but might not be obvious to everyone else?
@mbilderbach That there is no such thing as a "self" You are just a collection of your past experiences and habits. This realization provides me with a great deal of hope and optimism. It also drives me to ask myself whether what I'm doing daily is really in my best interest or just another dumb habit of mind.
Philip Kuklis
@philipkuklis · Co-Founder, Hubble
Hi Nir, you recently mentioned in a Q&A that „the challenge of our generation is figuring out how to put tech in its place“.
How do you imagine a world where technology is put in its place? What role would it play in our lives?
@philipkuklis I'm very optimistic about personal technology's role in our lives. I think we'll do what humans have always done when faced with technological change -- we'll adapt and adopt.
We'll adapt our behaviors to put tech in it's place and adopt new technologies to fix the bad aspects of the last generation of technology.
Of course, this process can take a while and requires us to question the costs and benefits of the new technology. I think we clearly see that happening now as more people ask when, where, and how is the most appropriate way to use personal tech.
Ali R. Tariq
@alirtariq · Product Designer, Manulife RED Lab
Hi, Nir - thanks for being here. A few years have passed since Hooked was released. I've used it a number of times to think through product design problems and I still find its deceptive simplicity one of its biggest assets. In the years since, what have you seen to be the biggest mistakes in how product designers are using the Hook model? Any lessons learned in seeing it being used in the wild?
@alirtariq Good to see you here as well Ali and thanks for the kind words! The biggest mistake I see is not considering the model in the first place! I see companies (almost daily) with business models that require frequent unprompted engagement (habits) but who haven't taken the time to plan out the four steps of their Hook.
For some reason, people tend to jump into designing and coding without stopping to consider the psychological drivers needed to bring people back on their own. This is a huge mistake! So much time, money, and effort could be saved if product builders stoped to understand the Hooked Model and drew out their core hooks before moving forward.
Nick K.
@duck_muscle · Product Designer
What is a current product that you like that is completely outside of your Hooked methodology but still works well?
@duck_muscle the Hooke Model is only for products that must be used out of habit. Clearly, not all products need to be used habitually. There are lots of products I love that are infrequently used and therefore don't need habits. It's not that every product needs to be habit-forming, it's that every product that needs a habit needs a Hook.
How can we apply hooked model on chatbots? What will be some good use cases where hooked model can increase retention on chatbot?
@keyul I wrote all about how to use the Hooked Model with chatbots here: http://www.nirandfar.com/2016/10...
Although I should mention that I think chatbots are just part of the bigger trend of Conversational UI. Check out the article and let me know what you think.
Ali
@asmiler
Which product(s) are you currently Hooked on now and what got you hooked on that product(s)?
Rich Brown
@designrichly · UX Lead at Etsy, Paris
Hey Nir, you look good today. Following Ali's question, when people do attempt to use the Hooked model, where do they often get it wrong? I'm building tightly to it at the moment, but keen to avoid common pitfalls. The more specific the better!
@designrichly See answer to @alirtariq question
Rich Brown
@designrichly · UX Lead at Etsy, Paris
@nireyal @alirtariq Ah just changed my Q after your response there - if you get a chance to re-address that would be great!
@designrichly @alirtariq It really depends on the product. Each company can have difficulty at a different phase of the Hook.
Either they don't have a frequently occurring "internal trigger", the "action" is too difficult, the "reward" isn't interesting or satisfying, or they fail to ask for "investment" that improves the product with use. It really depends on the particular challenge for each product team. There's no one most frequent pit fall.
Daniel Reilly
@daniel_reilly · Founder at Fuse Technology
What industry/sector would you most like to invest in during the next few years that could benefit from a new generation of habit forming products?
@daniel_reilly I'm very excited about the opportunity to change habits for good. I've invested in companies like 7 Cups in the psychotherapy space and Pantry in food and I'd love to see more companies form habits to help people save money, live healthier, and work smarter.
Jordan Jackson
@jordan_jackson
Hi Nir, how have you seen the hooked model implemented on physical products and client service offerings say such as xyz consulting or real estate agents or etc. Also very much enjoyed your talk at productsf!
@jordan_jackson I think IoT technology will enable much more habit-forming physical products, which will utilize the Hooked Model. As for service offerings, check out this article I wrote about "bolting-on" habits onto infrequently used services like real estate agencies: http://www.nirandfar.com/2016/09...