Behavior by Design

500 Startups April 17, 2012

Nir EyalNirAndFar.com

@nireyal

Who is this for?

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The frustrated entrepreneur

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Me

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So I looked for patterns

“WTF? businesses”

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Vitamins or painkillers?

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Selling painkillers

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- Obvious need - stop pain- Quantifiable market- Monetizable

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Selling vitamins

- Emotional need, not efficacy- “Makes me feel good knowing...”- Only viable business if habit

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Vitamins or painkillers?

It’s a habit when not doing it

causes you pain.

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Habit-forming technology

Vitamin Painkiller

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Pleasure seeking

Pain alleviation

Why am I here?

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1. Help you understand your own behavior.

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Access+ Speed + Data

High addictive potential

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Behavior engineering is a Super Power

... can be used for good or evil.

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2. Help you build stuff to help us all.

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"We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." - Peter Thiel

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Nir’s Rule:Users’ interests

=Designer’s interests

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Your challenge:• More distractions• Harder to find new users• Viral channels are dying

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Habit ScoreHighLow

Vir

al

Coe

ffici

ent

(K)

Leaky Bucket Rocket Ship

Commitment Business

Garbage

K < 1

K >1

Facebook, Paypal, Pinterest

Evernote, Pandora, Amazon

Spammy apps

Habits > Viral

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Evernote Smile Graph

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Let’s get started

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Automaticity:a powerful mental

shortcut

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How engineer automaticity?

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Create desire

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Desire engines create habits

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The Desire EngineTrigger Action

Var. RewardCommitment

ExternalInternal

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Trigger

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Trigger ExamplesExternal Internal

AlarmsAdvertising

Calls-to-actionEmailsStores

EmotionsRoutinesSituations

PlacesPeople

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Action

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whendoing < thinking

= action

triggers

ability

B = m.a.t.

Fogg Behavior Modelm

otiv

atio

n

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triggers = user experience

ability = product design

Behaviors into Actionsm

otiv

atio

n=

mar

ketin

g

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Variable Reward

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We crave predictability

• Variable rewards drive us nuts

• Compulsion to make sense of cause and effect

• Dopamine system drives the search

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Curious by nature

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The search for rewards

the Hunt

the Tribe

the Self

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Search for Social Rewards

theTribe

- Acceptance- Sex- Power

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Search for Resources

theHunt

- Food- Money- Information

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Search for Sensation

theSelf

- Sensory- Mastery- Consistency

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Tribe, Hunt, or Self?

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Tribe, Hunt, or Self?

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Tribe, Hunt, or Self?

• Searching, searching and never done

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Var Rewards Levers

•Type

•Frequency

•Amplitude

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Commitment

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Commitment

• Where user does a bit of “work.”

• “Pays” with time, money, social capital, or data

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Commitments make the next action

more likely.

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Little commitments, big results

Group 1: 83% refused

Group 2: 76% accepted

NirAndFar.comFreedman & Fraser, 1966

Commitments are about consistency of

self-image.

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FarmvilleT A

VRC

Play

• Points (hunt)• Personalized virtual goods (self)

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????

Facebook feed, email ...

FarmvilleT A

VRC

Play

• Build farm• Invite others• Pay $

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• Points (hunt)• Personalized virtual goods (self)

Facebook feed, email ...

FarmvilleT A

VRC

Facebook feed, email ...Play

• Build farm• Invite others• Pay $

Boredom, lonesome,loss aversion = anxiety

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• Points (hunt)• Personalized virtual goods (self)

EmailT A

VRC

Icon on phoneOpen unread messages

Write back

Want to procrastinate, bored, lonesome...

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Tribe, hunt and self

Use this for good.

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Desire Engine CanvasTrigger Action

Var. RewardCommitment

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How to use a Desire Engine

1. Think of what the INTERNAL TRIGGER will be. What’s the existing habit you’re attaching to?

2. Confirm the EXTERNAL TRIGGER touches the user near the existing habit. Ensure user understands “what it’s for?”

3. Prompt the intended ACTION - Make sure it’s very simple and defined. Ex - We want user to scroll

4. Add VARIABLE REWARDS - Mix the type (hunt, tribe, self), change frequency, and amplitude.

5. Ask for the COMMITMENT - Does it increase the likelihood of next cycle?

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To increase automaticity:

- Increase speed through each engine.- Increase number of engines in user flow.- Keep steps of engine novel.

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To break automaticity:

- Remove the desire engine altogether.- Create space between steps to slow engine.- Allow novelty to decay, becomes predictable.

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Leave Feedback, Win a Prize!

http://goo.gl/UEEX2nir@nireyal.comNirAndFar.com

Slides: scribd.com/nireyal