Months back, I met an ex-colleague of mine after more than a decade at a Bandra pub, and discussions about his start-up and building a product company was the subject of discussion. Strangely, we were discussing future and but not so much of the past when we worked together, which is normally the case when you meet old friends !

‘Hooked – How to Build Habit-Forming Products’ by Nir Eyal was recommended to me as a must read, in that meeting. And so, it was soon ordered via an e-commerce site. I was hooked from the very first introduction page that said “habits are automatic behaviors triggered by situational cues : things we do with little or no conscious thought”.

The Hook Model (Trigger – Action – Variable Reward – Investment) is a simple yet impactful framework to evaluate your product or program during design and post design usage phase. What distinguishes the Hook Model from a plain vanilla feedback loop is its ability to create craving.

The book is a fabulous read and reference material for all dealing in the intersection of technology, economics and behavioral sciences and seeking to increase Customer Life Time Value (CLTV). Chapter 1 – Habit Zone – presents useful insights on how the human brain works and serves up gems on why better products need not necessarily win if the competition has already got a large number of users hooked on to it. Eyal tells us about building monopoly in the minds of the user through neural pathways.

Chapter 2 on ‘Triggers’ and Chapter 3 on ‘Actions’ can virtually be used as a guide by product designers.  Eyal introduces the ‘Fogg Behaviour Model’ and the ‘six elements of simplicity’ from an users perspective and gives several examples from E-mail, video games, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and more.

The section on ‘Rewards of the Tribe, the Hunt and the Self’ (Chapter 4) is superlative stuff with examples cited from various social/psychological experiments. Readers will find the examples, like that of the San people of South Africa and the hunt for kudu really interesting. Chapter 5 on ‘Investment’ has the important mention about ‘storing value’ as a key element of the Hooked Model.

Eyal asks ‘What are you going to do with this ?’ in Chapter 6 and presents the Manipulation Matrix of Peddlers, Dealers, Entertainers and Facilitators. What readers must not miss is the absolutely engrossing Case Study on the Bible App and how it’s a successful example of the Hooked Model and also adheres to the moral compass of addicting users to something that betters their life rather than must making money for the creator of the product.

The book ends with sharing how Habit Testing can be done on products by following the Identify-Codify-Modify cycle.

‘Hooked’ is a short, handy book of 200 pages and a fast and interesting read ! It’s a must for anyone designing a product or program or re-evaluating the effectiveness of one. The reference notes at the end of the book, are a treasure trove of information.

Nir Eyal’s blog site http://www.nairandfar.com and his tweets are must visits/ to follow, if you become his fan after reading the book.

Go ! Get “Hooked” !! And as the quote at the end, from a partner at Y Combinator goes…”Live in the Future !”

© Sanchayan Paul