Presentation and workshop around the Hooked model, based on Nir Eyal and BJ Fogg's work to whom I owe all the credit.

1. Hooked
Workshop
Charles Roels
January 2019

2. Introduction
- What is the Hooked model?
- Examples
- Workshop

3. Credits
● Based on Nir Eyal - Hooked (www.nirandfar.com) and BJ Fogg
(www.bjfogg.com)
● Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business.
Nir founded two tech companies since 2003 and has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of
Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. He is the author of the bestselling
book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.
● B.J. Fogg is a behavior scientist and author. He is the founder and director of the Stanford Behavior
Design Lab. Fogg was the first scientist to articulate the concept of "captology", or the study of how
computers can persuade people.

8. Creating habits
● Every pass through the hook cycle increases the likelihood to create a habit
● Higher frequency of passing through the hook, also increases the likelihood
that a habit if formed

10. Triggers
● External triggers:
○ a Call To Action (CTA), what to do next
○ The information is the trigger (visual, auditory)
● Internal triggers:
○ No external CTA
○ The information about what to do next is contained through association in the user’s mind

11. Emotions
Emotion dictate our habits
● The foundations of these habits are these internal triggers
● Negative emotions are more powerful than positive
○ Loneliness, dissatisfaction, boredom, fear of loss, depression
● To lift our mood, we use technology
→
● What is the user’s itch?
● And what is the CTA that prompts them to action

13. Action
Action is the simplest behaviour in anticipation of a reward
→ scroll, search, like
B = M + A + T
Behaviour = Motivation + Ability + Trigger

14. Motivation
Motivation is energy for action
6 levers:
● Seeking pleasure - Avoid pain
● Seeking hope - Avoid fear
● Seeking acceptance - Avoid rejection

15. Ability
Ability is the capacity to do a certain behaviour (how easy is it?)
6 factors that increase or decrease ability:
● Time
● Money
● Physical effort
● Brain cycles
● Social deviance
● Non routine

18. Rewards
Rewards give users what they came for, they scratch the itch.
However… it’s the ANTICIPATION of the reward that generates dopamine in our
brain.
Variable rewards increase focus, engagement and are habit forming

19. Variable Rewards
● Rewards of the Tribe: Social (empathy, acceptance, status, belonging)
● Rewards of the Hunt: Resources (money, information, food)
● Rewards of the Self: Self improvement (mastery, control, competency)
→ Give the users what they came for… but leave them wanting more

21. Investment
What bit of work does the user need to perform to load the next trigger?
The user ‘invests’ something of value: time, money, social capital, effort, emotional
commitment, personal data, etc)
● Loads the next trigger
● Stores value
● Increases reputation

26. Questions?

27. Workshop time!

28. Workshop
Why does your business model require users to form a habit?
What problem are users solving with your product?
How do users currently solve that problem and why does it need a solution?
What is the user behavior you want to turn into a habit? (the intended habitual
behavior)
How frequently do you expect users to engage with your product?

29. Triggers
Who is your product’s user? Be clear about the person you intend to help form a
habit. Name a real person you know that needs your product?
What is the user doing right before he or she does the intended habitual behavior?
Using the 5 Whys technique, come up with three internal triggers that could cue
your user to action.

30. Triggers
What internal trigger does your user experience most often?
Using your most frequent internal trigger and the intended habitual behavior you
described
Finish the brief narrative below:
Every time the user (internal trigger) , he/she (intended habitual behavior).
For example: Every time the Jenny feels bored, she opens the Facebook app on her phone

31. Triggers
What might be the best places and times to display an external trigger?
How can you time your external trigger so that it fires as closely as possible to when
your user experiences their internal trigger?
Think of at least three conventional ways (e-mails, direct mail, text messages, etc.)
and three crazy or currently impossible ways (wearable computers, biometric
sensors, carrier pigeons, etc.) to trigger your user with an external trigger the
moment he or she experiences the internal trigger.

32. Action
Starting from the time your user feels their internal trigger, count the number of
steps it takes to reach the expected outcome.
a. How does this process compare with the simplicity of some of the examples
described in Hooked?
b. How does this compare with competitors’ products and services?

33. Action
What is limiting your users’ ability to accomplish the intended habitual behavior?
Time
Brain cycles (too confusing)
Money
Social deviance (outside the norm)
Physical effort
Non-routine (too new)

34. Action
Brainstorm three testable ways you can make the intended habitual behavior easier
to complete by removing the barriers we talked about.
Consider how you might apply heuristics to make the intended behavior more likely.

35. Variable Reward
Speak with five of your customers or users in an open-ended interview; identify
what they find enjoyable or encouraging about using your product.
Make note of any moments of delight or surprise. Is there anything they find
particularly satisfying about using the product?

36. Variable Reward
Review the steps your customer takes to use your product or service habitually.
What outcome (reward) alleviates the user’s pain?
Is the reward fulfilling?
Does it leave the user wanting more?

37. Variable Reward
Brainstorm three ways your product might heighten users’ search for variable
rewards using the variable reward types below:
a. Rewards of the tribe
b. Rewards of the hunt
c. Rewards of the self

38. Investment
Review your flow. What “bit of work” are your users doing to increase their
likelihood of returning?
Brainstorm three ways to add small investments into your product to:
a. Load the next trigger.
b. Store value as data, content, followers, reputation, and skill.

39. Investment
Identify how long it takes for a “loaded trigger” to re-engage your users.
How can you reduce the delay to shorten time spent cycling through the Hook?

40. Conclusion
Now that you have several testable ways to improve your product or service from
doing these exercises, identify which insight you would like to implement first.