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Business, Design, Society, Start-up, Tech

The Visionary of Habit-Forming Technology

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Do you ever wonder why you are completely absorbed in certain applications and not others? Now, more than ever, technology has become a permanent partner in our lives allowing us to live, work, and play more efficiently. What exactly is it that keeps us coming back for more from our favorite products?

To find out, I spoke to Nir Eyal, an entrepreneur who has sold two separate tech companies since 2003, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, and speaker at prominent tech conferences and Fortune 500 companies. With a passion for behavioral design, Nir seeks to explore the bridge between the beauty of our products and the technology that keeps us enthralled. He contributes to TechCrunch, Psychology Today, Forbes, and has taught courses at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Below are excepts of the conversation.

Tell me about your background and how you got your start in the tech and startup industry?

At my last company I worked at the intersection of gaming and advertising and I saw all kinds of tactics used to change customer behavior. I noticed that many people in the industry didn’t know why certain things worked or the psychological principles driving behavior — they just knew they were effective.

As an entrepreneur, I spent a lot of time banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why people were or were not engaging with the products my company built. Many designers experience this same frustration. Some products fly while others flop and we are never quite sure why.

What influenced you to study the cross between technology and its role in shaping user behavior?

When my company was finally sold, I decided I needed to understand user behavior better before starting another venture.

I wanted to find out what made some experiences habit-forming and that’s really been the central question with my work – how do products create habits? How do some companies draw users back again and again without wasting money on expensive advertising or spammy marketing tactics?

I spent years pouring over consumer psychology texts, behavioral economics books, and human-computer interaction research but didn’t find practical tools for building repeat engagement. So I decided to write the book I couldn’t find.

Hooks start with a trigger, then an action, then a reward, and finally an investment. Through successive cycles through these hooks, user habits are formed.

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In the Photo: Nir speaking on consumer technology and habits. Photo Source: Franklin Heijnen

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Tell me more about your book, Hooked, and what makes your insights here so appealing?

The premise of my book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, is that the products we find most engaging have a basic design pattern called a Hook. Hooks are experiences that connect users’ problems to a company’s solution with enough frequency to form a habit. Hooks are in all sorts of products we use with little or no conscious thought. Over time, customers form associations that spark unprompted engagement, in other words, habits. They move from needing external trigger like ads and other calls to action, to self-triggering through associations with internal triggers.

Use of the product is typically associated with an emotional pain point, an existing routine, or situation. For example, what product do people use when they’re feeling lonely and seek connection? Facebook of course! What do we do when we feel uncertain? We Google! What about when we’re bored? Many people open YouTube, Pinterest, check sports scores, or stock prices — there are lots of products that address the pain of boredom.

Habit-forming products are not made by chance; they are designed to be engaging.

In the four-step process I describe in Hooked, I detail how products use hooks to create these powerful associations. Hooks start with a trigger, then an action, then a reward, and finally an investment. Through successive cycles through these hooks, user habits are formed.

Photo Source: Nir and Far 

Who is your target audience and what mark are you trying to leave with them?

My reader is anyone who works on a product or service that requires repeat customer engagement. I want them to know that habit-forming products are not made by chance; they are designed to be engaging.

Do you see user engagement as a rising issue? More specifically, how would you apply the Hook Model to, for example, the new products Twitter launched to raise user engagement, like Moments?

Along with growth and monetization, engagement is a critical element for product success. Companies have for too long focused on the top of funnel, that is, acquiring users but more are starting to look for ways to retain customers and keep them engaged. When you do the math, keeping a customer provides a much higher ROI than acquiring a new one.

Do you see a need to further develop the Hook Model and perhaps write a new book about it or update the present one?

I’m working an a few things to extend the Hook Model to non-tech businesses as well as bring insights from consumer psychology to all sorts of industries.

We all need to learn how to put technology in its place.

In the Video: Un-Hooked: Increasing Focus in the Age of Distraction.

 In your TEDTalk, you reflect on “how to keep technology in its place,” how to “control it and not let it control us.” Here, you mention a few examples – not texting or emailing during meetings and creating a trigger-free environment by shutting the Internet down. Would you care to add anything else to the examples you gave in your TED Talk?

I think we all need to learn how to put technology in its place. By following the four steps of the Hook Model, we can learn to build healthy habits as well as deconstruct the habits that don’t serve us.

Do you think that future possibilities for “new ways to form user habits” may begin to run their course, that there is a need to consolidate the ground already covered and to appropriate more deeply the changes and habits already in use? For example, the daily use of Facebook, considering the return, the number of  “likes” and the response in terms of meaningful comments is not what is used to be a few years ago.

I think we’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg. Sure, some services are already mastering the psychology of habits (like Facebook) but the overwhelming majority of companies are still building very un-engaging products.

What are your most prized applications that you couldn’t live without?

There are two reasons I wrote Hooked. First, I want to help people build products that create healthy habits. I think there is so much we can do to help our users live happier, healthier, more productive lives by designing healthy habits. Second, even if you’re not a product designer, you’re still a consumer yourself and it’s important to understand how products change behavior so that you can break the hooks that aren’t serving you in your own life. Hooked exposes the hidden psychology of all the attention-draining distraction in your life so that you can regain control.

As for my own relationship with these technologies, I find Twitter, Facebook, Slack and good old email to be very habit-forming. However, by understanding how hooks work, I can make sure I stay in control of my technology as opposed to feeling technology controls me.

 

 

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To hear more from Nir check out his blog, Nir and Far, where he blogs about psychology, design, and habit-forming products as well as online on  Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. To learn more about building products and services that people love Nir is hosting the upcoming Habit Summit at Stanford onMarch 22, 2016.

 

Cover Photo: Franklin Heijnen

 

 

 

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About the Author /

Hilary started as a teacher after majoring in Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is passionate about social issues, philanthropy, and loves scouting out the best products and entrepreneurs in the tech industry. She currently resides in Delaware, but moves every few years to explore a new area. She has lived in Germany, Belgium, the United States and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and the U.S.

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The food industry is coming under increasing scrutiny for its environmental impact, from greenhouse gas emissions, to excessive and detrimental land and water usage, to chemical pollution. Given the challenge of feeding a growing world population whilst simultaneously needing to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts, clearly we need to look at alternatives to “dinner as usual”. The contribution of livestock to global greenhouse emissions is estimated at between 14.5 – 18%. Fortunately, there are companies who are tackling this challenge head on and looking at how emissions from food production can be reduced. With consumer interest increasing in alternatives to meat and other protein sources, we’ve spoken to the founders of three companies. From the seemingly futuristic to the rediscovery of superfood trees, each company tackles this new drive in consumer interest in different ways.

Solar Foods, Finland

Dr Pasi Vainnika is the CEO and co-founder of Solar Foods. The slogan of the company is “Food out of thin air”. Pasi was formerly in charge of the single largest renewable energy program in Finland. However, when he found out that 20-25% of the emissions come from food, he realized that emissions from this sector needed to be addressed, as well as those in the energy sector. But with the growth in affordable and renewable energy – particularly solar energy– it led him and his team to question the possibility of producing food solely from energy, carbon dioxide, and water. It turns out, the answer is yes. Solein is a unique single cell protein. It is produced using a fully natural fermentation process like that of the production of yeast or lactic acid bacteria. The powder, which is produced from the process, is 50% protein, 5-10% fat and 20-25% carbohydrate. Most likely, the first product to reach the consumer market will be a replacement in existing plant-based foods. For example, using Solein in shakes or as an alternative to dairy in milks, yogurts, and even in breads and pasta. In the future, a lasagna could include the protein in all aspects of the recipe: the sauce, in the pasta sheets, and in the filling. Further into the future, there is also the possibility that it could be used as the basis for cultured meat production.
In the Photo: Solein Can be used in smoothies as a protein alternative. Photo Credit: Shawn Fields - Unsplash
To produce a kilo of the protein powder takes 10 liters of water in comparison to the 2500 liters of water for a kilo of soy or 15,500 liters for a kilo of beef. Electricity is the main raw material, and the plan is to source this from renewable energy sources. Additionally, Solein binds carbon dioxide rather than emitting it, easing pressure on land use. The product is currently going through regulatory checks and testing at the moment, with a plan to launch in 2021. NASA and the Soviet Union space programs had started to investigate in similar protein production for their expeditions in the past, but Solar Foods has brought it down to earth.

Higher Steaks, United Kingdom

Whilst some people are switching to plant-based diets and others have reduced their meat consumption, some others still want to keep meat in their diets but are looking for more environmentally friendly options. This is where lab-based meat comes in. Benjamina Bollag, CEO and co-founder of Higher Steaks, a UK-based company, believes that it is important to provide alternatives to meat with a lower carbon footprint, but that taste as close as possible to the real thing. She believes that the change required in human behavior to cut emissions will not happen fast enough otherwise. This approach is confirmed by research they have conducted. 52% of respondents confirmed that they would switch from conventional meat to the Higher Steaks alternative, with 21% saying they would prefer a plant-based diet. There are different ways of producing lab-based meat. The process that Higher Steaks is developing is based on pluripotent stem cells, which are taken from a small skin patch or blood sample. The meat that is grown is then shaped into products. Currently, Higher Steaks is working primarily on pork products.
In Photo: Higher Steaks will eventually release pork as its first lab-cultured meat. Photo Credit: Yvonne Lee Harijanto - Unsplash
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Barukas, Brazil

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In Photo: Baruzeiro tree. Photo Credit: Barukas
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In Photo: Closer look at the baruzeiro tree. Photo Credit: Barukas.
From talking with these three pioneers, it is now clearer than ever that we need multiple solutions to address how to sustainably feed a growing population. We need to cut the carbon emissions and reduce other environmental impacts such as water and land use associated with food production. Some of these solutions are a little way off in the future, but others are available now. We are what we eat, but our choices will increasingly determine what kind of future we will live in as well.   EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions expressed here by Impakter.com columnists are their own, not those of Impakter.com.
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