Part 1: Triggers & Action:

It’s important to note that people come from the inside out. They generally have a need (which was triggered internally or externally), look for ways to satisfy their needs and then the need subsides.

A habit is formed after a person has satisfied a need a number of times, in doing so the behaviour becomes automatic. As a product designer, you have to consider under what situations your product would be needed (the triggers) and how to become a solution in that moment.

2 Important Factors to Consider:

Motivation: Ideally Motivation is High and the task is easy to do Ability: If the solution is too difficult to implement that trigger will fail.

Once your the solution a few times, can you make this behaviour automatic?

Great solutions are often very satisfying, so much so that they release dopamine. Not only is your problem solved, but your brain then doubles down and rewards you chemically.

Hooked Model

Step 2: Variable Rewards:

Solving the same problem in the same exact way can introduce a new problem: boredom. This is what most routines look like and why most of us find routines so unappealing. We try to solve this problem by being spontaneous.

What if our products solved our problems in a very reliable, consistent way yet were somehow spontaneous?

Research shows that dopamine surges when your brain is expecting a reward. Introducing variability multiples this effect, creating a focused state which suppresses areas of the brain associated with judgement! This is why some people can play Slot machines all night long.

Hooked Model

Step 3: Investment:

It’s like any other relationship… the more time, energy, you have invested in a product/solution the greater the pain of having to move to new product and start over.

This makes certain types of products very difficult to navigate away from (eg: Facebook) because we have so much time, connections, pictures, etc invested.

The more invested your users are the less likely they are to leave.

If you enjoyed the Hook Model, I strongly recommend checking out ‘Hooked’ by Nir Eyal.

Resources:

Eyal, Nir. Hooked. New York: Penguin, 2014. Print.