Book of the Week: Hooked
13 Jun 2015
The last book I read was about the power of habits. This book is about how to create habits in mostly the context of Internet companies. How to build products that cause users to have cravings like a drug addict. We all can’t sell drugs, so they next best thing is to peddle internet products. Each chapter ends with a summary, so you can get a quick read do the book just by reading a one pager for each chapter. You’re probably better off doing that. The Hook Model
Gourville writes that the products that require a high degree of behavior change are doomed to fail even if the benefits of using the new products is clear and substantial.
You can’t just build a better product. You need to build a better product and change the user’s old habits. The Hook Model provides a framework for changing the user’s habits.
- Trigger - cues for the user to take action that can be external (information within the environment) or internal (associated stored in memory). Internal triggers are frequently negative emotions.
- Action - simplest behavior in anticipation of reward. Core motivators: seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, seeking hope and avoiding fear and seeking social acceptance while avoiding social rejection.
- Variable Reward - come in 3 types: the tribe (social connectedness with other people), the hunt (material resources or information), and the self (mastery, competence, and completion). Variable awards cause the user to be more engaged.
- Investment - increases likelihood of user returning by improving service next time. Value can be stored in content, data, followers, reputation, or skill.
You can probably see parts of the Hook Model in things you interact with everyday. Casinos and online games use a lot of variable rewards. Elements of Simplicity B.J. Fogg developed a behavioral model of how difficult or easy it is to do something.
- Time - how long it takes to do something
- Money - how much money it costs
- Physical effort - how much labor is involved
- Brain cycles - mental effort and focus required
- Social deviance - is this a social norm
- Non-routine - how much action matches or deviates from existing routines
To increase the occurrence of a behavior, you need to reduce each of the elements to make it simpler. You will never form a habit if there are not enough occurrences of an action. IKEA Effect If you’ve invested effort in making something, you will value the item greater than somebody else.