42 pages • 1 hour read
Nir EyalHooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Index of Terms
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapters 6-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: “What Are You Going to Do With This?”
Eyal admits that, if used for harmful purposes, the Hook model is a “recipe for manipulation” and should leave the reader feeling “unsettled” (164). He argues that since product design can be very persuasive and change people’s behavior, designers have a responsibility to ensure that their products will help, or at least not harm, the user. Eyal claims that manipulation is a ubiquitous marketing strategy used by all kinds of companies, and that the technology industry in particular must adopt an “ethical code of conduct” (166).
His ethical code is based on his “Manipulation Matrix.” This requires designers to consider if they would use their own product, and whether their product will improve the user’s life. There are four possible answers to these questions. If the designer would use their own product and believes it will improve the user’s life, the designer is a “Facilitator.” This is the most ethical and helpful type of designer who “build[s] the change they want to see in the world” (171).
If the designer believes their product will help others, but would not use it themselves, they are a “Peddler.” Eyal claims that this group tends to struggle to understand their clientele, as they do not identify with the demographic using their services.
The “Entertainer” uses their own product, but can’t argue that it really improves anyone’s life. Eyal argues that many art forms, which provide enjoyment and social and intellectual stimulation, fall into this category. Most forms of entertainment are “fleeting”; they are enjoyed temporarily before trends change and other art forms emerge (173).
Finally, Eyal addresses the least ethical designer in the Manipulation Matrix, the “Dealer.” This kind of designer would not use their own product and knows that it does not offer the user anything valuable. Eyal calls this type of product a form of “exploitation,” and criticizes designers who knowingly make addictive products purely to reap the profits (174).
Eyal asks the reader to consider where they fall in the Manipulation Matrix. He claims that the “Facilitator” category is not only the most ethical, but the most likely to enjoy long-term success.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Case Study: The Bible App”
Eyal uses Bobby Gruenewald, the CEO of the Bible app “YouVersion,” as an example of a designer who successfully combined a good business idea with his own values. Eyal argues that the YouVersion Bible app is an example of a habit-forming product ethically created by a “Facilitator” designer. He writes: “The lesson here is how a technology company created a user habit while staying true to the founder’s moral calling” (179).
Gruenewald’s app, which allows people to access a digital version of the Bible and frequently sends them Biblical verses, has been downloaded by over 100 million users. Eyal points to several reasons behind the app’s success: easy accessibility; a wide array of themed reading options; and how it makes a dense, formal text more understandable by offering it in “bite-size pieces” (184). Gruenewald designed this app to send new users brief verses and an “inspirational thought” to ensure that users feel their new routine is an easy and positive experience (187).
Gruenewald also recognized the connection between frequent engagement and habit formation and designed his app to trigger user actions through daily notifications. Messages between users can function as triggers to entice users back to the app. When users review their daily verses, the app rewards them with a check mark on their reading calendar. Users become more invested in the app each time they personalize their experience by highlighting, taking notes, or creating bookmarks.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Habit Forming and Where to Look for Habit-Forming Opportunities”
Eyal asks the reader to consider where they could include aspects of habit-forming design in their own product. He encourages the reader to test their new design ideas and carefully study how users are using their product. Eyal suggests that the reader use his method of “Habit Testing” to improve their product by gathering and acting on data. The first step of Habit Testing is to identify who the target demographic is, and how often they should use the product. It is reasonable to assume that a user will visit a social media site like Instagram much more often than a review site such as Rotten Tomatoes. Next, the reader should identify how many users are already using the product in this habitual way.
The second step is to evaluate if at least 5% of the product’s users have developed a habitual use of the product. Next, the designer must “codify” this information into a “habit path,” which Eyal defines as a “series of similar actions shared by your most loyal users” (196). In identifying this “habit path” the designer should be better equipped to coax more people into becoming habitual users. Finally, the last step is to “Modify” the product based on the data and insights from the first two steps.
Eyal addresses readers who don’t yet have a product to analyze and modify. He encourages them to consider their own needs and problems that they wish a product would address. By starting with oneself, a designer can thoroughly understand the needs of the user and is more likely to be an ethical and successful “Facilitator.” Eyal urges the reader to be openminded and consider how seemingly niche products could become more popular.
He notes that many of the most successful companies in the world became mainstream by simplifying and streamlining an existing behavior. “Interface change” is one way to incentivize users to adopt a new online behavior (206). For example, Instagram offers flattering and fun camera filters which allow people to take better photos on their phones. Google Glass or Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles are examples of new interfaces which might lure users to develop new behaviors and habits.
Eyal concludes his work by encouraging the reader to follow the habit-testing steps, reflect on their own needs and behaviors, and consider how they might include new behaviors or novel interfaces in their design.
Chapters 6-8 Analysis
In his final chapters, Eyal explores the moral issues inherent in persuasive technology and design, and Habit Formation, Addiction, and Ethics. Eyal uses a multi-pronged strategy to protect himself from criticism on moral grounds. First, he says that he welcomes readers’ discomfort about his insights (164). He writes: “Maybe you felt a bit unsettled reading what seemed like a cookbook for mind control. If so, that is a very good thing” (164).
Next, Eyal claims that all businesses use manipulative strategies to coax customers to use their services, observing that some companies are judged more harshly for this than others. He asks:
Why is manipulating users through flashy advertising or addictive video games thought to be distasteful while a strict system of food rationing is considered laudable? [...] What shared responsibilities do we so-called growth hackers and behavior designers have for our users, to future generations, and to ourselves? (166).
By raising these questions, Eyal implies that consumers should expect advertising and product design to employ some kind of manipulation, but that designers should think carefully about the consequences. In offering a Manipulation Matrix, Eyal offers a way to gauge whether a design is ethical. He explains: “The matrix seeks to help you answer not ‘Can I hook my users?’ but ‘Should I attempt to?’” (166).
When describing the matrix, Eyal uses frank language to warn the reader away from unethical design, suggesting strong feelings on the subject. He writes:
If you find yourself squirming as you ask yourself these questions or needing to qualify or justify these answers, stop! You failed. You have to truly want to use the product and believe it materially benefits your life as well as the lives of your users (168).
Eyal also addresses ethical concerns by assuring the reader that the number of users who become “full-fledged addicts” to digital products is “very small” and that “for the overwhelming majority of users, addiction to a product will never be a problem” (171). However, a potential critique is that he cites only one study about slot-machine gambling, and does not include relevant studies about addictions to digital products.
In these passages, Eyal also provides more examples of how digital products profit from persuasive, habit-forming design. His case study of the YouVersion Bible app breaks down how the app coaxes users into habitual engagement. Eyal suggests that you do not need a novel product to foster online habits in users. Eyal notes that there are numerous online versions of the Bible, none of which are as successful as Gruenewald’s YouVersion Bible app. Eyal’s position is that making a product successful is about designing habit-forming features, rather than having a totally new concept.
Eyal points to how each feature of YouVersion triggers a particular instinct, bias or mental shortcut, prompting the user to form a habit around the app. For instance, YouVersion has a few different features which function as variable rewards. The app, not the user, selects the daily verse. Therefore, Eyal claims, there is a sense of “mystery” and the “unknown” as users wonder which scripture they will be assigned each day (187). Another reward is the congratulation message the app sends the user once they have completed their daily verse. This functions as an individual reward by giving the user a sense of validation and accomplishment. Eyal recalls from his own experience of using the app: “As for my own reward, after finishing my verse, I received affirmation from a satisfying ‘Day Complete!’ screen” (187).
Once the user reads their daily scripture assignment, the app puts a checkmark on their YouVersion Bible calendar to demonstrate another successful day of sticking to their Bible study plan. Eyal argues that this feature taps into the user’s motivation to complete tasks they have already invested their time and effort into (187). He explains: “Skipping a day would mean breaking the chain of checked days, employing the endowed progress effect […] a tactic also used by video game designers to encourage progression” (187). Through this case study, Eyal argues that understanding user psychology is an essential part of the design process, and that a product’s features should be grounded in the same psychological data.
