Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

by Nir Eyal

it is standard practice for game developers to delay asking users to pay money until they have played consistently and habitually. Once the compulsion to play is in place and the desire to progress in the game increases, converting users into paying customers is much easier.

Hooked users become brand evangelists—megaphones for your company, bringing in new users at little or no cost.

Even when we change our routines, neural pathways remain etched in our brains, ready to be reactivated when we lose focus.

habit is when not doing an action causes a bit of discomfort.

people’s declared preferences—what they say they want—are far different from their revealed preferences—what they actually do.

the user must have sufficient motivation; (2) the user must have the ability to complete the desired action; and (3) a trigger must be present to activate the behavior.

all humans are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain; to seek hope and avoid fear; and finally, to seek social acceptance and avoid rejection.

People will stand in line for hours to ride the twists and turns of a roller coaster but are panic stricken when they experience a bit of turbulence on an airline flight.