hooked model

The hooked model (showcased in the book ‘Hooked’ authored by Nir Eyal - a former management consultant turned entrepreneur and author) is a very interesting framework for analyzing successful digital products and the psychological drivers behind their success. The hooked model is a way to design digital products that hack the neural system of consumers which is responsible for forming habitual actions i.e. actions that can be performed with less mental energy expenditure due to specialized construction of certain neural pathways in the brain. Involuntary bodily functions like breathing and heartbeats are an extreme case of habitual actions that require no conscious mental effort due to specialized neural pathways in the brain that enable this. Neuroplasticity is a phenomenon which enables us to inorganically create new neural pathways in the brain to consciously build requisite habitual actions like brushing our teeth or riding a bicycle. The hooked model leverages the natural habit-forming mechanisms of humans which enables the creation of neural pathways in the brain that drives habitual action, in order to drive key product metrics like adoption, engagement and retention. The habit-forming mechanism involves a series of sequential steps which ultimately gets implemented in a loop in order to construct a neural pathway in the brain where the pathway becomes stronger with each iteration of the loop. The hooked model involves deeply understanding how each step works and then meticulously designing each step such that we increase the odds of building a product that can externally construct a habit-forming neural pathway in the brain. The steps under the hooked model include:

1. trigger: this is the initiation step of the loop where the trigger is ultimately some type of signal or information (which can be external or internal) that nudges us to initiate the habitual action. The trigger is a like a key of sorts that unlocks the neural pathway to enable its functioning. External triggers involve using external environment to deliver the trigger information like advertisements, press mentions, social recommendation etc. Internal triggers are signals within the body like emotions particularly negative ones (like fear, boredom, loneliness) that can activate a neural pathway and drive us to perform certain actions which can immediately nullify the emotions. Internal triggers are more powerful than external triggers and have better odds of iteratively activating a neural pathway in the brain, thereby driving sustained action. Successful products try to attach themselves to frequently felt internal triggers in order to drive product usage. For example: Instagram effectively serves as a means to nullify emotions of boredom or loneliness which is a frequent internal trigger.

   
   

2. action: this step is the crux of the habit-forming loop. Once a trigger activates the neural pathway, the mind gets primed to perform the requisite action. The nature of the action being performed plays a strong role in construction of the corresponding neural pathway and enforcing the habit-forming loop. A simplified action that requires less effort will have a higher probability of forming a stronger neural pathway in the brain. This is because our mind is naturally optimized for energy preservation which is an unavoidable evolutionary trait deeply baked into our biological system designed to serve the primary purpose of increasing our survival odds in a primitive world where the supply of essential resources was limited and unpredictable. Hence, successful products incorporate this inherently evolutionary philosophy in their product design by trying to simplify the steps and reducing the friction required to complete a certain action. For example: Widgets are auxiliary extensions of an app that enable users to perform very specific actions facilitated by the app with reduced friction thereby simplifying the action and consequently strengthening the habit-forming loop. Motivation to complete an action is also a very important factor to consider because a simplified action is futile if the user has no motivation to successfully complete the action. Understanding heuristics can play an advantageous role in manipulating the minds of consumers to complete requisite actions. Heuristics are mental shortcuts unconsciously deployed by the brain that play a dominant role in driving the actions we undertake. For example: the scarcity effect is a trick deployed by e-commerce products like Amazon where they display that a particular item is in limited stock, and this instantly and unconsciously triggers a perception in our mind that this particular item is of high value as high value items are generally limited in supply.

   
   

3. variable reward: while the ‘action’ step is the crux of the habit-forming loop, the ‘variable reward’ step plays a crucial role in ensuring sustained iteration of the habit loop which is crucial for effectively constructing the neural pathway in the brain. The variable reward in an all essence is a desirable chemical (in most cases dopamine) that gets released internally by our body on completion of a certain action. Our body in actuality is biologically programmed to release chemical rewards when we complete certain actions that are essential for survival in some way or another from a primitive evolutionary standpoint (like consumption of high calorie foods or procreation) in order to drive the repetition of those same actions in the future. Successful products are able to design reward systems tied to the required habitual actions, which try to satiate very fundamental human needs like material needs, the need of social belonging, need to feel socially competent, need for completion, need to satisfy curiosity and many more. An interesting requirement for the reward system in order to successfully enforce the habit loop, is variability. Our brain gets sensitized to repeated and predictable patterns which affects the secretion of reward chemicals. Predictable reward systems reduce the secretion of chemical rewards which weakens the habit loop due to reduced incentive to repeat the habitual action. Variability in the reward system creates a sense novelty for the brain to avoid sensitization which causes the reduced secretion of chemical rewards. Hence, a variable reward is essential for successfully building a habit-forming product. For example, this is what happens when we access and refresh our Twitter (sorry X) feed which creates a sense of unpredictable novelty in the content we consume which satiates our fundamental human need of curiosity and triggers a sustained level of reward chemical secretion which does not diminish with repetition.

   
   

4. investment: this step plays an important role in the hooked model of building a product as it gets the user mentally invested in the habit loop thereby making it harder to break the loop in the future. The ‘investment’ step of the hooked model capitalizes on the human tendency to irrationally value their efforts and be consistent with past behaviors. Digital products into which users have invested a certain amount of effort (like posting a certain amount of content or acquiring a certain number of followers on social media product) making it extremely hard for the user to switch to an alternative product. A streak feature incorporated in an ed-tech product like Duolingo or a social media product like Snapchat ensures continued action as we irrationally value the effort we put into building those streaks and thereby end up positively enforcing the habit loop.