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Productivity: All You Need To Know To Be Productive
What is productivity and how do you measure it? Some people think being productive has to do with how much time they spend working. Others base their productivity on how much money they make.
The topic of productivity is discussed in many areas of our lives, from business productivity to personal productivity. The articles below cite the newest research on this hot topic with a strong focus on productive habits, and why it’s so important to improve them. Learn how to adopt habits to get ahead of schedule and have more time for what you love.
Regardless of whether you want to learn how to be more productive at work, home, or in school, below you’ll find resources that can help. While it’s not clear whether productivity makes people more happy or if happiness makes people more productive, there is a connection. Would you feel better about yourself and your life if you accomplished more? If so you’ll want to read on.
Explore below for my best articles packed with productivity tools that work.
Top Articles on Productivity
Referent Power: The Ultimate Form of Influence
Studies Show Self-Compassion is the Motivator You’re Missing
How to Banish Virtual Meeting Boredom
Limiting Beliefs: Ditch the 4 Dream Killers Holding You Back
Sales Psychology: Why You Make Terrible Buying Choices
Listening to Fitness Gurus is Making You Fat
The Magic of Now, Not How
The App that Transforms Drinking Habits: a Case Study
3 Steps to Master Your Emotions and Be Your Best Self
The Ultimate Guide to Unstoppable Motivation
Multitasking During Meetings? How to Make Your Colleagues Indistractable
How to Build a Habit-Forming Enterprise Product
Score Your Spats: How to Stop Arguing and Enhance Your Relationships
Unlocking Focus with the Distraction Tracker
The Crucial Difference Between Distraction and Diversion
Decoding Self-Serving Bias: A Spy’s Guide to Clear Thinking
This Meeting Could have Been an Email: From Time Suck to Unstuck
When Do You Feel Most Creative? Why Ideas Bloom at Bedtime
32 Morning Affirmations: Rise & Shine! [Science-Backed]
Scheduling for Life’s Surprises: When Timeboxing is Toast
Messaging App Madness: How To Stay Productive [and Sane]
How to Build an Irresistible Product for VC Investors
You Don’t Have to Follow the Same Routines Forever
You Can Have Your Retirement Fantasy Today
How to Craft an ‘Indistractable’ Summer Schedule for Your Kids
The 4-Day Workweek: How To Do More With Less
Managers, Stop Distracting Your Employees
Here’s How I Made the Time to Write 2 Bestselling Books
A Case Study in Implementing the Hooked Model: Gatorade’s Gx App
Money Buddies: Don’t Go It Alone with Your Wallet
5 Productivity Myths Ruining Your Life
6 Habits That Are Secretly Making You Miserable
One Question to Ask Yourself to Know Your Future
Make Time for Procrastination
People Make Time for What They Want — Rightfully So
Kickstart the New Year with a Self-Audit
’Tis the Season for Reexamining Your Values
4 Mental Traps That Kill Productivity
Labeling Yourself is Keeping You Down, Do This Instead
Not Enough Hours in the Day To Slay Your To-Do List
3 Reasons Why Subscription Businesses Fail
Skip the Digital Detox—Abstinence Won’t Work (But This Does)
The Surprising Science of “Manifestation”
Best Productivity Tools: 6 That Stuck With Me
Schedule Maker: a Google Sheet to Plan Your Week
A Fail-Safe Trick in your Search for the Right Productivity Apps
You’re Not Addicted to Technology. Here’s What’s Happening Instead.
Locus of Control: How It Affects Your Life and How To Manage It
Distraction at Work Is a Symptom of Dysfunction
8 Productivity Hacks You Can Do in 30 Minutes
Why Values In a Relationship Are What Make It Last (Or Not)
Why People See Problems Where There Are None
3 Ways to Filter Your Friends
How Products Shape Our Mindsets and Change Our Reality
How to Prevent Burnout Using Timeboxing
Fear of Being Alone is Natural. Embrace It.
Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Surprise! There’s a Right Way to Multitask
Can Someone with ADHD be ‘Indistractable’?
Planning a Vacation Is Practice for a Great Life
Why It’s So Hard to Shake the Way People Make You Feel
Don’t Write About What You Already Know — Instead, I’m “Writing To Learn”
Are We Really Having Fun at Bars or Just Escaping Reality?
The 6 Behavioral Design Books That Paved My Career
The 4 Steps to Becoming Indistractable
Why You’re Never Going to Be Satisfied With Life
How a Morning Brain Dump Helps You Stay on Track All Day
The Key to Behavior Change is Identity Change
How to Make Sure Working From Home Doesn’t Mean You’re Always Working
Planning Ahead Is the Key to Living With More Spontaneity
To Fix Your Problems, Find the Root Cause
One Question to Help You Get More Done
The Pursuit of ‘Flow’ Is Overrated
How to Survive in a World of Information Overload
How to Get a Friend to Put Away Their Phone Without Being a Jerk
How to Tame Your Wandering Mind and Actually Get Some Work Done
If You Don’t Plan Your Time, Someone Else Will
You Don’t Need a Mentor. You Need a Buddy.
Would You Rather Give Up Sex or Your Phone?
Habit Tracker in Google Sheets – Free Template
Here’s How to Ensure Your Kids Don’t Spend the Entire Break Staring at Screens
I Changed My Mind About Saying “Merry Christmas,” and You Should Too
How the Ancient Greeks Beat Distraction
Habits Are Overrated
Need Motivation? Make a Price Pact
Researchers Say We’re Trapped in a “Cycle of Distraction.” Here’s How to Break Free.
The Pinky Promise: Stick To It – Or Shed Some Blood
Tame Daily Distractions With a ‘Precommitment Pact’
From Homer to Franzen, productive people lean on precommitments as a proven way to stick to their goals.Famed director Quentin Tarantino “never use[s] a typewriter or computer.” He prefers to write screenplays by hand in a notebook. Pulitzer Prize-winning author...
“Digital Body Language” Is Everything: Interview with Erica Dhawan
Nir’s Note: Erica Dhawan is the author of the new book “Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance.” She is an entrepreneur, WSJ best-selling author, and award-winning speaker. Erica is a globally recognized authority on digital...
Good News! Your Willpower Isn’t Limited–Don’t Believe the “Ego Depletion” Theory
Contrary to the “ego depletion” theory, willpower is not a depletable resource if you know how to use it wisely. It’s common to hear people complain about feeling “burned out” or “spent” these days. However, these terms conjure a completely incorrect view of...
Getting Over FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out
Choice Architecture: Your Decisions Aren’t Entirely Yours (Interview with Eric Johnson)
Nir’s Note: Eric Johnson teaches at the Columbia Business School where he is the Director of the Center for Decision Sciences. He has authored some of the most influential research on decision-making, with papers published in leading scientific journals and articles...
The New Norms of Business: Interview with Nathalie Nahai
Nir’s Note: Author, speaker, and host of “The Hive Podcast,” Nathalie Nahai’s work explores the intersection between persuasive technology, ethics, and the psychology of online behavior. Following her best-selling book, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online...
How to Play The Long Game: Interview with Dorie Clark
Nir’s Note: Entrepreneur, speaker and consultant, Dorie Clark is a recognized leader in the field of executive education, a topic she teaches at Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. She has developed over 20 LinkedIn Learning courses...
Here Are The 4 Simple Introspection Steps That Will Boost Self Awareness
Can’t Seem to Stick With Your Commitments? Try Making a Pact.
You’ve surely heard the protest chant: “What do we want? “[Insert social change here.]” “When do we want it?” “NOW!” But imagine walking by a protest and hearing this: “What do we want?” “We’re not really sure!” “When do we want it?” “Whenever you get around to it is...
The Real Reason Why You Sabotage Your Own Goals
Recently, as I was clearing the dinner table, I asked my daughter if she could wash the dishes. “I was going to, Dad,” she said. “But now that you’ve asked me to, I don’t want to anymore.” I should have known better. This was a classic example of psychological...
How to Stay on Schedule Even When You Go Off Track
Don’t let one distraction keep you from what you intended to spend your time on. Here’s how to stay on schedule.To-do lists are supposed to keep us on task. It turns out they do the opposite. I’ve written about the many reasons why. To regain focus and be more...
Stop Thinking About Your Bad Habits! [Do This Instead.]
There’s a much more effective way to conquer your vices.In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, there’s a scene where a magical plant called Devil’s Snare captures Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. The vines wrap around their bodies like hungry pythons as they struggle...
Steal These 3 Advertising Secrets–To Use As Motivation Hacks
You can create some powerful motivation hacks by learning techniques from the persuasion business.The reason why you hate being micromanaged by your boss is the same reason why, as a kid, you refused to put your coat on when your mom told you to bundle up. We’re all...
How to Escape the Vicious Cycle of Distraction
You have time for everything, even if it doesn’t feel that way.People are always saying “there aren’t enough hours in the day” to get stuff done. And yet research suggests that the average working American has four hours of leisure per day. If we have so many hours to...
A List of 20 Values [and Why People Can’t Agree On More]
What would be your list of values? When you replace the typical definition of ‘values’ with a better one, it suddenly becomes clearer.When I recently came across the headline “The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic,” I couldn’t help but click—a good data...
Can We Please Stop Calling Everyone “Addicted”?
It’s disrespectful, degrading, and disempowering. In my review of The Social Dilemma, I challenged the filmmakers’ rather extreme view that huge swaths of people are “addicted to technology,” that social media is like a dangerous drug that’s hijacking people’s brains,...
Why Do People Believe the ‘Social Media is Mind Control’ Myth?
In our search for easy answers, we give up control.The evidence is overwhelming: we are far more powerful than the technology that is supposedly mind-controlling us. It’s not even close. As I’ve discussed in other articles, we need to give ourselves more credit....
Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024
Children and Technology: 3 Things Parents Need To Know
Whatever your view of tech’s impact on our children, here are three common sense rules we can all follow.Nir's Note: This article is a collaboration between Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and me. He researches...
The Influencers Dinner: An Interview with Jon Levy
Nir’s Note: What do Bill Nye, break dancer Crazy Legs, cyber illusionist Marco Tempest, and economist Nouriel Roubini have in common? They’ve all been guests at a little-known "Influencers dinner" regularly hosted by behavioral scientist Jon Levy at his New York...
What Is Motivation? You’ve Probably Been Thinking About It All Wrong
What is motivation: Understanding the relationship between motivation and discomfortIt took me five years to write my last book, which was a lot longer than it should have taken. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do–I did. I just didn’t do it. I wasn’t...
“Just Say No” Is Bad Productivity Advice
Try schedule-syncing instead.You’ve probably read this advice before: “The best thing you can do for your productivity is to say no more often.” By freeing yourself from unnecessary tasks, the thinking goes, you can spend more time working on the things that really...
Cancel the New York Times? Good Luck Battling “Dark Patterns”
‘Dark patterns’ aren’t always malicious mind control. They’re often a symptom of disjointed company culture. It's suspiciously difficult to cancel the New York Times. Will the Times change?'A recent New York Times op-ed, titled “Stopping the Manipulation Machines,”...
Can We Regulate Social Networks To Curb Addiction—Without Making Them Suck?
Social networks can help addicted users while leaving the rest of us alone. If they wanted to. About five years ago, I sat down in a series of meetings with leaders from Reddit, Snapchat, Facebook, and other social media networks. My goal was to discuss social media...
So, You Want To Become a Great Product Manager? [Q&A with Jackie Bavaro]
Nir’s Note: Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jackie Bavaro about her latest book, Cracking the PM Career—a complete guide to the skills, frameworks, and practices you need to become a great product manager. Jackie serves as the Head of Product Management...
Why the Illusion of Control Is Hurting Your Goals
A classic survivor test shows us how the illusion of control can sidetrack us from our mission when things get uncomfortableLet’s try something. Imagine you’ve just crash-landed somewhere in the Sonoran Desert, deep in the American Southwest. Though the aircraft is...
Are You a Wage Slave?
Can we create a future where people no longer have to work at jobs they hate?In 100 years, some things we consider normal today will make people say, “Wow, how barbaric—I can’t believe people did that! How were they okay with that?” Wage slavery, I hope, will be one...
What is the Opposite of “Distraction?” The Single Word that Will Change Your Life This Year
In my research and consulting work, I’ve heard countless people tell me how difficult it is to manage their time. Yet, when I ask them what they got distracted from, that is, what they planned to do with any given moment in time, they have trouble answering the...
Don’t Fall for This Excuse Trap: Why “That Won’t Work for Me” is Self-Sabotaging
To find your focus, learn to resist this self-sabotaging excuse.Imagine this: You’ve been diagnosed with a rare and serious disease. In hopes of keeping you alive, the doctor recommends a new, experimental course of treatment. It works for some people—maybe 60%. But...
Maybe Social Media Isn’t Making Teens Depressed, After All. And Here’s What Likely Is.
Here’s what the Covid-19 lockdowns have revealed about teen depression.What do bicycles and social media have in common? Soon after being adopted, each of these technologies brought on a tsunami of unjustified moral panic. Let’s start with bikes. When bicycles burst...
Will Clubhouse be a Habit or Has-Been?
Photo by William Krause on UnsplashNir’s Note: This article is part of a series on “The Hooked Model in Action.” Previous analyses have included Slack, Fortnite, Amazon’s Echo, Tinder, and The Bible App. I never take compensation from any company profiled.Maybe you’ve...
How to “Listen Like you Mean It”
Ximena Vengoechea says we need to “Reclaim the Lost Art of True Connection.” Ximena (pronounced “hee-men-ah“) is a writer and illustrator best known for her Life Audit project. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, Inc., The Washington Post, The Muse, and Newsweek....
Smartphone Too Distracting? Here’s How to Reclaim Your Focus
In 2017, I decided I’d had enough of my smartphone and the companies that make the apps that were robbing me of my time and attention. I thought I found the perfect solution: the card phone. The card phone is what it sounds like: It’s a $18 tiny phone with no social...
“Tech Addiction” Is the New Reefer Madness
By promoting the idea that technology is hijacking our brains and getting all of us addicted to our devices, techno-fearmongers elevate the exception rather than the rule.Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, introduced the Social Media Addiction Reduction...
Love is Measured By the Benefit of the Doubt: The Secret to True Kindness
Babies. They’re such jerks, aren’t they? They wake you up in the middle of the night. They make huge messes for you to clean up. And let’s not forget to mention the inevitable diaper blowouts that happen at all the wrong times. Who do they think they are? Of course,...
An Illustrated Guide to the 4 Types of Liars
Why You Might Need a Humor Audit: the Benefits of Laughter
Meet Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, authors of Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life. Dr. Jennifer Aaker teaches about human-centered AI, designing for VR/AR, and the power of story at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where...
Hypocrites: How to Survive in a World that’s Full of Them
What is a Hypocrite?hyp-o-crite /ˈhipəˌkrit/ noun a person who claims to have moral standards to which that person’s own behavior fails to conform.What is an Example of Being a Hypocrite?I once worked with a person we’ll call “Dick.” Dick always told me he’d get...
How to Finally Find the Motivation You’ve Been Missing
Photo by luca pizzarotti on UnsplashNir’s Note: This guest post was written by Cheryl MaguireThe laundry hamper was overflowing with dirty clothes. Lacking the motivation to throw it into the wash, I pushed the clothes down deeper into the bin so I could fit more...
Ashley Stahl: Former National Security Expert Helps Us Get Unstuck
Ashley Stahl is a counter-terrorism professional turned career coach, speaker, and, most recently, author of You Turn, a book about getting unstuck, discovering your career direction, and designing your dream job. Through her two viral TEDx talks speeches (here and...
David Burkus: The One Thing Remote Leaders Need to Know
David Burkus is a speaker, business thought-leader, professor, and best-selling author. His TedX talk, "Why You Should Know How Much your Coworkers Get Paid" has been viewed over 2 million times. He teaches courses on organizational behavior, creativity and...
Hindsight Bias: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
How to Turn Off Harmful Stress Like a Switch
By Nir Eyal and Todd SnyderLet’s play a game of “would you rather.” Would you rather speak in front of 500 people for an hour or be stuck in an elevator with your ex? Would you rather get a cavity drilled or be forced to take a four-hour Zumba class? Would you rather...
Review of The Social Dilemma: No, Social Media Is Not “Hijacking” Your Brain
Over the past few weeks, people have asked me for my review of the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. It’s no surprise. One of the film’s central themes is that social media is like an addictive drug, and I wrote the book on habit-forming technologies: Hooked:...
This is How the Media is Misleading You on “Technology Addiction”
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Siri Helle, a clinical psychologist living in Sweden.Which of the following is true? Screen time is the leading cause of anxiety and depression amongst teenagers Studies have found that screen time shrinks people’s attention span to...
Be a Schedule Builder, Not a To-Do List Maker
Imagine you bought a new phone, but at the end of each day, every day, the operating system crashed. Would you keep using the faulty phone? Of course not. You’d take it back to the store, complain, and get a new one. And yet, many people run their entire lives on a...
Handling Life Transitions: Interview with Bruce Feiler
Recently I had the opportunity to sit down for a Q&A with Bruce Feiler, a Ted Talk veteran and seven-time bestselling author, who most recently wrote Life is in the Transitions, a guidebook for navigating the times when our lives pivot dramatically. You can find...
Indistractable Schedule Maker Tool
Below is a free schedule maker template (it’s a Google sheet available here) to create your own timeboxed weekly calendar. After you open it, click on the blue “Use Template” button to create your own copy—it will show up in your Google account at drive.google.com. To...
Screen Time for Kids: Give Them What They Need
Society’s fear of technology destroying our children's future has reached a fever pitch and many parents have resorted to extreme measures. A quick search on YouTube reveals thousands of videos of parents storming into their kids’ rooms, unplugging the computers or...
Changing Habits: Interview with Dr. Amy Bucher, a Behavior Change Designer
Nir’s note: I recently caught up with Dr. Amy Bucher, the author of Engaged, a compelling guidebook on designing products and services that change people’s lives. She talks about behavioral design, the science of crafting products and services in such a way as to...
From Friday Forward to Monday Motivation: Q&A with Robert Glazer
Many of us start our Mondays wondering where our motivation will come from, and for some, whether we’ve even chosen the right career. Reference the (mostly) uplifting Twitter hashtag #MondayMotivation. A recurring theme in my articles is the importance of aligning...
Email Management: How to Hack Back and Cure Inbox Insanity
Email is the scourge of the modern workplace. Here are four rules that can help keep it in check.Email is the curse of the modern worker. Some basic math reveals just how big the problem is. The average office-dwelling professional receives a hundred messages per day....
The Surprising Benefits of Unconditional Positive Regard
In 1967, a catchy tune by The Beatles, “All You Need is Love,” became the anthem for the Summer of Love. The Flower Power culture embraced the song and its message, “love is all you need.” If someone had asked humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers what the song meant,...
How to Raise Distraction-Free Kids
Nir's Note: This interview with my good friends Vanessa Van Edwards first appeared on her blog, Science of People. She did such a great job summarizing our interview that I wanted to share it with my readers as well. Check out Vanessa's site and let me know what you...
How to Get the Most Out of Your Calendar
These Two Questions Will Completely Change the Way You Use Your Calendar: It’s all about reflecting and refining.It doesn’t so much matter what you do with your time; rather, success is measured by whether you did what you planned to do. It’s fine to watch a video,...
Extrinsic Motivation: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
Don’t Follow Your Gut (and What to Do Instead)
How should we make decisions in life? Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, a behavioral economist and cognitive neuroscientist, says that whatever you do, Never Go With Your Gut. It’s such bold advice that Dr. Tsipursky decided to make it the title of his latest book. In this...
Why You Don’t Have to Be a Rocket Scientist to Think Like One
If you looked up the word “polymath” in the dictionary, you may see a picture of Ozan Varol. He teaches at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon and has written a widely cited book on comparative politics. Most surprisingly, however, he was part of the NASA...
Why We Should All Be Wearing (and Making) Face Masks Right Now
Everyone should be wearing a face mask now, whether they are sick or healthy. We can make our own masks to ensure we're not taking them away from health care workers. In several Asian countries that are successfully lowering the number of infections from Covid-19,...
[Survival Tips] Homeschooling During Coronavirus Closings
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, some 850 million children are suddenly learning at home instead of in traditional classrooms. My family has had practice homeschooling for the past five years, so I thought it would be helpful to share some tips and tactics to help get...
Why You’re Not Good at Changing Minds (and What You Can Do About It)
Dr. Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he studies how products, ideas, and behaviors catch on. He’s written two bestsellers, Contagious and Invisible Influence, and his newest book, The Catalyst,...
This is How to be Less Distracted By Having Fun in Tedious Tasks
Want to be Less Distracted? Try This: Find the Fun in Tedious TasksFrom comic books and radio programs to TV shows and Atari games, the world has always been full of things that distract us. Today, most of us blame our phones or, more specifically, social media, Words...
“Addicted” to Technology? Why You Need To Turn The Tables And Hack Back!
Opinion: Telling ourselves that devices and platforms “hijack” our brains plays right into Big Tech’s hands.Does repeating a falsehood make it true? It seems so, at least when it comes to the myth that technology is addicting us all. While a reassessment of the role...
What You Need to Know When Visualizing Your Goals
Nir’s Note: This guest post is written by Dr. Todd Snyder. Dr. Snyder is a Psychologist and Productivity Coach at ToddSnyderCoaching.comThe world is full of self-help myths and half-truths. One bit of folk psychology that won’t seem to die is the idea that we can...
This is What Most People Get Wrong About Willpower
You come home after a long day of work and you immediately curl yourself up on the couch and binge the latest Netflix craze for hours, while you scroll and scroll through your social media feeds and snack on potato chips even though you're "on a diet." You look around...
Is Tech Ruining Kids? How to Safely Manage Screen Time
We have to help our children manage screen time — not outlaw itOur fears about what technology and smartphones are doing to our kids has reached a fever pitch. Articles with headlines like “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” and “The Risk Of Teen Depression And...
5 Ways to Distraction-Train Your Mind
Recently, the BBC asked me to provide a few tips for how to distraction-train our minds to manage distraction. Notice the phrasing. It’s not about how to eliminate distractions from your phone or your computer, but rather it’s about us. To regain control over our...
Here Is How to Practice Stillness and Increase Focus
Ryan Holiday is the author of ten books which have sold over 2 million copies. His books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, and Conspiracy have been translated into thirty languages. In this interview, Ryan discusses his latest...
This is How to Repair a Toxic Work Culture
When Harvard’s Leslie Perlow began to study The Boston Consulting Group, she was well aware of the firm’s round-the-clock reputation. After conducting interviews with BCG’s staff, Perlow found that this reputation was coming at a major cost. Employees were leaving the...
How to (Finally) Put an End to Pointless Arguments
Count me as a Buster Benson fan. His 2016 Cognitive bias cheat sheet is legendary among behavioral designers. I have a framed print out of his codex in my home and I’ve enjoyed his writing on various topics for years. He has extensive experience building products that...
Progressive Extremism: How To Be A Better You
I had just finished giving a speech on building habits when a woman in the audience exclaimed, “You teach how to create habits, but that’s not my problem. I’m fat!” The frustration in her voice echoed throughout the room. “My problem is stopping bad habits. That’s why...
The Most Important Skill of the Future is Being ‘Indistractable’
How the difference between traction and distraction could transform your productivityI know how distractions work from the inside. For over a decade, I’ve helped tech companies build products to keep you clicking. In fact, I wrote the book about it in 2014: Hooked:...
How To Disarm Internal Triggers and Improve Focus
Use this 4-step method to handle unwanted thoughts that can derail your focusWhile we can’t control the feelings and thoughts that pop into our heads, we can control what we do with them. Research of smoking cessation programs performed by Dr. Jonathan Bricker, of the...
This Is The Most Important Skill Parents Should Teach Their Kids
As parents, we all want to raise kids who are smart and focused, especially in a world where digital distraction seems to be inescapable. (Even tech titans like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have strategies for limiting their children’s screen time.) Why? Because in the...
How to Master Hard Skills Quickly with “Ultralearning”
Scott Young is an “ultralearner.” He’s known for learning M.I.T.’s grueling 4-year computer science curriculum in just twelve months. He speaks six languages. In fact, he’s presented his lecturers to audiences in Chinese. It’s fitting that Scott is also the author of...
The Addictive Products Myth: Who Is the Culprit Here?
Nir’s Note: This article explores a new model for understanding addiction. I challenge the simplistic view that addictive products cause addiction. Rather, addiction is a confluence of three factors. Gasoline is highly flammable. But without oxygen and heat, it will...
1 Thing You Need To Know To Save You From Your Email Inbox
Is your email inbox taking over your work-life? Are you unable to get any “real” work done because you’re too busy responding to emails? Do you feel stressed, distracted, and overwhelmed when you see new emails pop up in your email inbox? You’re not alone. The average...
If Tech Is So Distracting, How Do Slack Employees Stay So Focused?
How Slack’s culture kills distraction by building psychological safety, telling employees to go home, and using lots and lots of emojis.If there’s one technology that embodies the unreasonable demands of the always-on work culture that pervades so many companies...
Stop Confusing Habits for Routines: What You Need To Know
Trying to build good habits can often backfire. Here’s why it’s important to know how habits are formed and when it’s better to stick with a routine instead.Habits are hot. Self-help articles extol the power of habits and books on the topic sell by the millions. Yet,...
Learn How To Avoid Distraction In A World That Is Full Of It
Distraction is a curse of modern life. Between our cell phones and computer screens, not to mention our kids and coworkers, our attention is constantly being diverted. It can become difficult to focus on any one task—or any one person—for very long. If anything, the...
[Focus Guide] How To Make The Most Out Of Your Time And Your Life
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote that “few things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do it.”[footnote]Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York:...
The One Fitness App That Hooked Me For Good
Nir's Note: This article is part of a series on "The Hooked Model in Action." Previous analyses have included Slack, Fortnite, Amazon's Echo, Tinder, and The Bible App. Note, I never take compensation for writing articles on my blog. Could there be a behavior more...
The Truth About Kids and Technology: Jean Twenge (iGen) and Nir Eyal (Hooked) Discuss Tech’s Effect on Children’s Mental Health
Recently, I was invited to discuss how technology might impact children's mental health at the Johnson Depression Center at the University of Colorado. I shared the stage with Dr. Jean Twenge, author of the book iGen and an article in The Atlantic that got a lot of...
Fundamental Attribution Error: Why You Make Lousy Life Choices
Nir’s Note: This post part of a series on cognitive bias co-authored by Nir Eyal and illustrated by Lakshmi Mani. Discover other reasons you make terrible life choices like confirmation bias, hyperbolic discounting, distinction bias, extrinsic motivation, hindsight...
Kids’ Video Game Obsession Isn’t Really About Video Games. It’s About Unmet Psychological Needs.
Many parents are concerned with their child’s seemingly obsessive video game play. Fortnite, the most recent gaming phenomenon, has taken the world by storm and has parents asking whether the shooter game is okay for kids. The short answer is yes, Fortnite is...
Here’s How Fortnite ‘Hooked’ Millions
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Patricio O’Gorman, technology consultant and professor at Universidad de Palermo. If you have kids, you’ve likely heard about Fortnite. The wildly popular online battle game has amassed over 125 million players and hosts more than 3...
The Real Reason Apple and Google Want You to Use Your Phone Less
This week Apple follows Google by announcing features to help people cut back on their tech use. Why would the companies that make your phone want you to use it less? If tech is “hijacking your brain” with their “irresistible” products, as some tech critics claim, why...
How Bad is Tech Use for Kids, Really?
It feels impossible to tell if the technology our kids use should be celebrated or feared. A few years ago I wrote a book, Hooked, about how technology can be used to change our habits. I intended the book to teach startups how to build healthy habits, but now I’m not...
How Apps Can Shape Your Future Self
Nir's Note: This guest post is written by Jeni Fisher, a London-based Googler who consults startups on applying behavioral insights to achieve business and user goals. Early on in my role as an Apps partner manager at Google Play, I was drawn towards the...
How to Be Indistractable: Video by Nir Eyal
In this talk, I describe a new model for managing distraction — how to become "Indistractable." I'll write more on this topic in the coming months and I'm finishing a book with the same title. Also, please share this video with people who may benefit from watching it....
Peak-End Rule: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
Nir’s Note: This post part of a series on cognitive bias co-authored with and illustrated by Lakshmi Mani. Discover other reasons you make terrible life choices like confirmation bias, hyperbolic discounting, distinction bias, extrinsic motivation, hindsight bias,...
How Netflix’s Customer Obsession Created a Customer Obsession
Nir's Note: This guest post is by Gibson Biddle, former VP at Netflix and CPO at Chegg. Gibson is speaking at the Habit Summit in San Francisco on April 11th. In 2005, as I joined Netflix as VP of Product, I asked Reed Hastings, the CEO, what he hoped his legacy...
Distinction Bias: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
Nir’s Note: This post part of a series on cognitive bias co-authored with and illustrated by Lakshmi Mani. Discover other reasons you make terrible life choices like confirmation bias, hyperbolic discounting, extrinsic motivation, fundamental attribution...
Want to Design User Behavior? Pass the ‘Regret Test’ First
What are the ethical responsibilities of companies that are able to manipulate human behavior on a massive scale? It’s a question one hopes technologists and designers ask themselves when building world-changing products — but one that hasn’t been asked often enough....
Confirmation Bias: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
How to Regain Focus at Work by Slaying the Messaging Monster
Technology is taking over our lives, especially in the workplace. What can we do to put technology in its place to finally get focused work done? Below are resources, tools, and articles for regaining focus in your digital life. These are tools I use myself but is not...
How to Trigger Product Usage that Sticks
Nir's Note: This guest post is by Janet Choi, Senior Manager of Product Marketing and Content at Customer.ioMeditation, like any healthy habit, takes repetition to stick. But while the folks behind Calm, a meditation and mindfulness app, knew their product’s core...
Avoiding Bystander Effect: Getting People to Help Each Other
Hyperbolic Discounting: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices
Here’s How Amazon’s Alexa Hooks You
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Darren Austin, Partner Director of Product Management at Microsoft. Last year we added a new member to our household. I must admit that upon first meeting her, our initial impression was that she was a little creepy. Today though, we...
Technology Is Not Hijacking Your Brain (video)
Some tech critics will have you believe that technology is "hijacking your brain" or that it's "irresistible." Not only is that not true, believing such nonsense is dangerous. In my recent talk at The Next Web conference, I discuss: The difference between...
When Distraction is a Good Thing
Is distraction a curse or a blessing? Not giving full attention to what we should be doing makes us miss deadlines, fail classes, and crash into other drivers. Distraction certainly has a price. Nonetheless, we love our distractions! Social media, spectator sports,...
How to Use Psychology to Make Persuasive Video
Nir's Note: This guest post is excerpted from Nathalie Nahai's best-selling book, Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion. A film, a piece of theatre, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world. - Alan Rickman, ActorWhat...
Tech Companies are Addicting People! But Should They Stop?
To understand technology addiction (or any addiction for that matter) you need to understand the Q-tip. Perhaps you've never noticed there’s a scary warning on every box of cotton swabs that reads, “CAUTION: Do not enter ear canal…Entering the ear canal could cause...
How to Use Personality Science to Drive Online Conversions
Nir's Note: This guest post is by Vanessa Van Edwards, lead investigator at the Science of People — a human behavior research lab. This exclusive book excerpt is from Vanessa's new book, Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, which was recently named as one...
Technology Is Distracting. Here’s How to Fix It. (Video)
Our personal technology is becoming more pervasive and persuasive. Critics claim it is addictive, irresistible, and hijacking our brains. Instead of offering another knee-jerk reaction, here's my take on the peril and promise of persuasive technology. This is the talk...
The Strange Way Being “Good” Hurts Your Willpower
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Paulette Perhach. Paulette writes about finances, psychology, technology, travel, and better living for the likes of The New York Times, Elle, and Slate. I learned how to respect authority from my father. At the top of a huge water...
Research Reveals How to Take a Better Break
Until recently, when I needed a break I’d grab my phone. Whether I was bored, mentally fatigued, or just wanting a pick-me-up, I felt relief checking the news, Facebook, or Instagram. However, new research suggests there are good ways and not-so-good ways to spend our...
The Unbelievable Future of Habit-Forming Technology
Nir’s Note: Jane McGonigal is a game designer at The Institute for the Future and bestselling author of Reality is Broken and SuperBetter. She’ll be speaking at the upcoming Habit Summit in April. (You can register here!) In this interview with Max Ogles, McGonigal...
Why Our Tech Obsession Might Be a Work Obsession
Nir's Note: Below is the transcript of an interview I did with David Burkus, an award-winning podcaster and author of Under New Management: The Unexpected Truths about Leading Great Organizations. This interview was part of a Heleo Conversation on the topic of...
The Secret Marketing Power of Evolutionary Psychology
Nir’s Note: Gad Saad is a professor of marketing at Concordia University and the author of The Consuming Instinct. He’ll be speaking at the upcoming Habit Summit in April. (You can register here!) In this interview with Max Ogles, Saad discusses the role of...
Your Ability to Focus Has Probably Peaked: Here’s How to Stay Sharp
Having a hard time focusing lately? You’re not alone. Research shows interruptions occur about every twelve minutes in the workplace, and every three minutes in university settings. In an age of constant digital interruptions, it is no wonder you’re having trouble...
Don’t Ask People What They Want, Watch What They Do
Nir’s Note: Irene Au is a design partner at Khosla Ventures and former Head of Design at Google, Yahoo, and Udacity. She’ll be speaking at the upcoming Habit Summit in April. (You can register here!) In this interview, she chats with Max Ogles about design strategy...
How to Achieve Your Goals By Creating an Enemy
DJ Khaled, the one-man internet meme, is known for warning his tens of millions of social media followers about a group of villains he calls “they.” “They don’t want you motivated. They don’t want you inspired,” he blares on camera. “They don’t want you to win,”...
How Cognitive Biases Can Help (and Hurt) Your Business
Nir’s Note: Buster Benson is a former product manager at Slack who worked previously at Twitter and Habit Labs and is working on a new book about productive disagreements. In this interview, he chats with Max Ogles about how cognitive biases affect product design. Q:...
What Most People Don’t Know About Behavioral Design
Nir’s Note: Susan Weinschenk is a behavioral scientist, author, and speaker at the upcoming Habit Summit in April. (You can register here!) In this interview, she chats with Max Ogles about some of the overlooked principles of behavioral design. Q: You’re the author...
How to Start a Career in Behavioral Design
How to Stay Informed Without Losing Your Mind
Around the election, in a desperate search for answers about our nation’s future, I found myself scrolling, reading, and watching everything I could. I was trapped in an endless pull-to-refresh cycle of consuming more news, tweets, posts, and videos than was good for...
What Do You Do When Someone “Steals” Your Amazing Idea?
The subject line read: “did you see this?” The message was from my editor Jen. “Nir, I saw the headline on this story and thought it might be written by you—but no!” she wrote. “Very weird.” I instantly clicked on the link she’d sent. It was uncanny! An article...
The Way You Think About Willpower Is Hurting You
Not so long ago, my after work routine looked like this: After a particularly grueling day, I'd sit on the couch and veg for hours, doing my solo version of "Netflix and chill," which meant keeping company with a cold pint of ice cream. I knew the ice cream, and the...
Your World is Full of Placebo Buttons (and That’s a Good Thing)
All products and services, everything we buy and use, have but one job—to modulate our mood. The fundamental reason we use technology of all sorts, from stone tools to the latest iPhone, is to make us feel better. To prove the point, consider how perception of relief...
How to Build Technology that Feels Like a Friend
This Weird Research-Backed Goal Setting Hack Actually Works
Nir's Note: This article on goal setting was originally published in early 2016 but got such a great reader response that I decided to expand and update it along with adding the video below.Over the past four years, I’ve discovered many incredible ways to hack my...
3 Pillars of the Most Successful Tech Products
If you’ve started a tech company to make a lot of money, chances are you’re bad at math—or simply delusional. Statistically speaking, your odds of a big-time payday are somewhere between zero and almost zero.Ninety-two percent of startups fail within three years....
Here’s How to Ethically Manipulate Other People
Are we using behavioral design (and ethical manipulation) for good? How do we know? Now that we have the power to profoundly change peoples' habits through technology, how do change behavior ethically?Manipulation Matrix In this short video, I talk to Amir Shevat,...
How Two Companies Hooked Customers On Products They Rarely Use
Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet (the company formerly known as Google), has a quirky way of deciding which companies he likes. It’s called “The Toothbrush Test.” According to the New York Times, when Page looks at a potential company to acquire, he wants to know if the...
Don’t Let Friendships Starve to Death: Use This Happiness Hack to Keep People Close
Several months ago, I wrote an article sharing a happiness hack my wife and I use to maintain and nourish close friendships.Here's a SlideShare summary of the happiness hack article. [bctt tweet="Don't let friendships starve! Use this #happiness hack to nourish...
Conquer Distractions With This Simple Chart
Is the world more distracting? Sometimes it seems that way. With our digital devices buzzing, world events demanding our attention, and more things to entertain us than ever before, it certainly seems harder to focus on what’s really important. And yet, focus is...
Should We Worry About the World Becoming More Addictive? Q&A with Nir Eyal
Nir's Note: This Q&A recently appeared on the 15five.com blog and it pulled out some thoughts I've been chewing on regarding technology, addiction, and our relationship with the products we use. I've edited it slightly and hope you find it interesting. Question:...
How to Hook Users in 3 Steps: An Intro to Habit Testing
Changing user habits isn't easy -- but understanding how to conduct Habit Testing will increase your odds of success. In this video, I provide a brief introduction to the three steps of Habit Testing. I explain how product designers use these steps to identify their...
The Four People Addicting You to Technology
Recently, the Pokemon Go phenomenon has reigniting the question of technology's role in changing behavior. To put things in perspective, I wanted to share the main points of an article I published on the topic titled, Who’s Really Addicting Us to Technology?, in a...
Die Dashboards, Die! Why Conversations Will Reinvent Software
In years to come, conversations will breathe new life into software—particularly the boring enterprise tools millions of knowledge workers begrudgingly use every day. Conversational user interfaces (CUIs) work because of our familiarity with messaging. Even the most...
“Think Different” is Bad Advice
Nir's Note: This guest post is an excerpt from the new book Invisible Influence: The Hidden Factors that Shape Behavior, written by my friend and Wharton School professor, Jonah Berger. Being different, the notion goes, is the route to success. Think different was...
The Secret to Sending Emails and Notifications That Work
In this video I discuss the psychology of sending good triggers. The video is based on an earlier post written with Ximena Vengoechea.Related Articles
Three Steps To Get Up To Speed On Any Subject Quickly
You have just a few days to learn everything there is to know about a subject you know nothing about. Now what? "Don’t boil the ocean," Terry said as he slapped a tall stack of papers on my desk. "Just tell us what we need to know." I was staring at a serious problem....
It’s How You React to Failure that Matters: Why Ego is the Enemy
Nir's Note: This guest post is an excerpt from my friend Ryan Holiday's new book, Ego Is the Enemy. Ryan is the author of three other books and his monthly reading recommendations, which go out to 50,000+ subscribers, can be found here. It can ruin your life only if...
How to Win Your Competition’s Customers
About a year ago, I wrote an essay about how to win your competition's customers habits. Today, I'd like to share a quick video of the ideas in that article. Let me know what you think about this format and if you'd like to see more videos like this one...Related...
Hooked for Good: How Habit-Forming Products Improve Lives
Below is my opening presentation from Habit Summit highlighting examples of companies changing user behavior for good.BTW - If you couldn't attend the Habit Summit, you can get access to the presentations you missed here.Related Articles[catlist name=hooked-resources...
Good Products Start With Good Questions
Nir's Note: My friend Jake Knapp just published a fantastic book titled, Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days. The book details a process he and his colleagues at Google Ventures use to quickly go from idea, to prototype, to live...
Why People Check Their Tech at the Wrong Times (and the Simple Trick to Stop It)
Chances are you’ve experienced the following: You’re with a small group of friends at a nice restaurant. Everyone is enjoying the food and conversation when someone decides to take out his phone — not for an urgent call, but to check email, Instagram, and Facebook....
Happiness Hack: This One Ritual Made Me Much Happier
When my wife and I moved to New York City in 2001, recently graduated from college and newly wed, we were eager to find friends. We knew nearly no one but were sure we’d soon find a fun-loving group like the 20- and 30-something New Yorkers who spontaneously dropped...
Who’s Really Addicting You to Technology?
“Nearly everyone I know is addicted in some measure to the Internet,” wrote Tony Schwartz in a recent essay in The New York Times. It’s a common complaint these days. A steady stream of similar headlines accuse the Net and its offspring apps, social media sites and...
How to Clear Your Computer of Focus-Draining Distraction
By the looks of his laptop, Robbert Van Els could be mistaken for a secret agent. His screen is an explosion of urgent files — a master control center for managing clandestine operatives. The man of mystery persona is typified by a side-sliding sports car winding...
Human + A.I. = Your Digital Future
In the new film Ex Machina, a reclusive billionaire invents a robotic artificial intelligence. To test whether his invention is indistinguishable from a human being, he helicopters-in a young engineer to see if he falls in love with the robot. Today, making machines...
Why ‘Assistant-As-App’ Might Be the Next Big Tech Trend
Whenever I feel uncomfortable writing about a topic, that’s when I know I should write about it. So here goes. This article is about how a new way of designing apps changed my life. But to explain the power of this trend, I need to tell you about poop. That’s the...
People Don’t Want Something Truly New, They Want the Familiar Done Differently.
If your new product or service isn’t gaining traction, ask yourself “What’s my California Roll?” I’ll admit, the bento box is an unlikely place to learn an important business lesson. But consider the California Roll — understanding the impact of this icon of Japanese...
Un-Hooked: Increasing Focus in the Age of Distraction
I recently presented a new talk about how to manage digital distraction using the Hooked Model. I hope you enjoy the brief video below.Also, I've been thinking of writing more on this topic. Let me know what you think. Is this an interesting topic? Do you struggle...
Would You Take A Bet That Would Change Your Life? Probably Not. Here’s Why
Changing habits is hard. But what if there was a way to dramatically improve your odds of quitting even your worst habits? What if this method was shown to be over 8 times more effective than traditional methods at helping people quit a stubborn addiction like...
The Behavioral Economics Diet: The Science of Killing a Bad Habit
Diets don’t work. Studies show that temporary fixes to old habits actually make people gain weight. Essentially, the dieter’s brain is trained to gorge when off the diet and inevitably the weight returns. In my previous essay, I shared the story of my father's...
The Mind-Hack I Used to Help My Father Lose Weight
When my family immigrated to the United States in 1981, my father weighed 185 pounds. He came chasing the American dream but got more than he expected. Along with a new, more prosperous life for his family, he also acquired some bad habits. For one, he took up smoking...
4 Ways to Win Your Competitor’s Customer Habits (Slides)
After the slide presentation I posted about "The Secret Psychology of Snapchat" received such a warm response from readers, I decided to create another set of slides. This presentation is about how to win over your competition's customer habits. I hope you enjoy it....
4 Cures for Feeling Overwhelmed: A Book Review
Nir’s Note: This book review is by Sam McNerney. Sam writes about cognitive psychology, business, and philosophy.Many of us feel we’re drowning in the rising tide of emails, updates, and digital distractions. According to a survey by the Families and Work Institute,...
Here’s Why You’ll Hate the Apple Watch (and the Important Business Lesson You Need to Know)
If you are among the 19 million people Apple predicts will buy an Apple Watch, I have some bad news for you — I’m betting there is an important feature missing from the watch that’s going to drive you nuts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy one. In fact, I’m...
The Secret Psychology of Snapchat
You've undoubtedly heard of Snapchat, the habit-forming messaging service used by over 100 million people monthly. This week, I teamed up with Victoria Young and Dori Adar to help explain what makes the app so sticky. We decided that instead of writing a long blog...
Can’t Kick a Bad Habit? You’re Probably Doing It Wrong
I had just finished giving a speech on building habits when a woman in the audience exclaimed, "You teach how to create habits, but that's not my problem. I'm fat!" The frustration in her voice echoed throughout the room. "My problem is stopping bad habits. That's why...
Everything Is Obvious (Once You Know The Answer) Book Review
Here's the Gist: Duncan Watts is a sociologist and principal researcher at Microsoft Research. His latest book is Everything Is Obvious (Once You Know the Answer): How Common Sense Fails Us. Personal preference, though not entirely arbitrary, is likely constructed and...
Your Fitness App is Making You Fat, Here’s Why
Fitness apps are all the rage. An explosion of new companies and products want to track your steps and count your calories with the aim of melting that excess blubber. There's just one problem -- most of these apps don't work. In fact, there is good reason to believe...
The Psychology of Notifications: How to Send Triggers that Work
Nir’s Note: This post was co-authored with Ximena Vengoechea. Ximena is a design researcher at Twitter and will be speaking at this year's Habit Summit. In his famed experiments, Ivan Pavlov trained his dogs to associate mealtime with the ring of a bell. Pavlov found...
How Technology Tricks You Into Tipping More
My taxi pulled up to the hotel. I got out my credit card and prepared to pay for the ride. The journey was pleasant enough but little did I know I was about to encounter a bit of psychological trickery designed to get me to pay more for the lift. Chances are you’re...
Building Community Starts with Understanding People
Curated by Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt, a site and community for discovering the latest tech products, backed by Andreessen Horowitz. Ryan is the contributing writer of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, and blogs on startups, marketing, and product...
When Persuasion Becomes Deception
Curated by Harry Brignull, freelance UX consultant, user researcher, and expert witness. Harry has a PhD in Cognitive Science and is the founder of Dark Patterns, a site dedicated to naming and shaming websites that use deceptive user interfaces. Harry blogs at...
Latest Tech Trends: Products to Eliminate Distractions and Increase Willpower
Four minutes into pitching the wonders of his invention to an influential reporter, Patrick Paul gets hit with the kind of snarky comment startup entrepreneurs dread. Paul is the founder of Hemingwrite, a “distraction free writing tool with modern technology like a...
Mastering Pricing Principles
Curated by Gregory Ciotti, part of the content marketing team at Shopify and prior to that, Customer Champion at Help Scout. Gregory writes essays on human behavior on his blog, Sparring Mind.There's a reason people on Craigslist are always overvaluing their crap: the...
3 Ways to Make Better Decisions Using “The Power of Noticing”
Nir’s Note: This book review is by Sam McNerney. Sam writes about cognitive psychology, business, and philosophy.In Moneyball, Michael Lewis tells the story of Billy Bean, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who transformed the A’s using sabermetrics, the...
A Handy Behavioral Design Toolkit
Curated by Jason Hreha, former Global Head of Behavioral Science at Walmart. Jason is the co-author of abook on applied behavioral economics with Dan Ariely and Kristen Berman and used to be a Researcher in the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab–led by BJ Fogg, author...
Onboarding Matters – Getting Users Engaged in your Product
Curated by Josh Elman, Venture Partner at Greylock, where he led investments in Medium, Discord, Jelly, Mammoth Media, and other companies. Previously, Josh was an early employee of LinkedIn, launched Facebook Connect while at Facebook, and helped Twitter grow its...
The Limits of Loyalty: When Habits Change, You’re Toast
“I’m endlessly loyal,” my wife said, staring straight into my eyes. But she wasn’t talking about our marriage -- she was pledging her allegiance to a piece of software. “I’ll never quit Microsoft Office,” she told me. “It does too much for me to leave it.” For a...
Dual Process Theory: Is Your Product the Elephant or the Rider?
Curated by Steve Wendel, a behavioral scientist and the Founder of the Action Design Network, and the author of the book Designing for Behavior Change, which gives step by step guidance on using behavioral techniques to help your users take action.Dual Process...
4 Ways to Use Psychology to Win Your Competition’s Customers
Let’s say you’ve built the next big thing. You’re ready to take on the world and make billions. Your product is amazing and you’re convinced you’ve bested the competition. As a point of fact, you know you offer the very best solution in your market. But here’s the...
Web Psychology – The Science of Online Persuasion
Curated by Nathalie Nahai, international speaker, and best-selling author of Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion. She coined the term 'web psychology' , defining it as 'the empirical study of how our online environments influence our attitudes and...
Email Habits: How to Use Psychology to Regain Control
"You teach best what you most need to learn." - Richard Bach I don't usually write about personal and revealing matters, but recently I've noticed something I don't like about myself--I check email too often. This confession doesn't come easily, because, ironically, I...
Developing User Empathy with Design Sprints
Curated by Alex Baldwin, Designer at Envoy. Alex served as the CΧO at Hack Design and designer at Envoy. Previously, he's worked as a designer-in-residence with Techstars and 500 Startups. You can find him climbing nature, disc jockeying, drinking lattes, or possibly...
The Real Reason “Stupid” Startups Raise So Much Money
Have you noticed all the startups raising massive sums of money recently? Perhaps you’ve scratched your head wondering how a company like Buzzfeed, known for its website full of animated gifs, listicles and quizzes, just raised $50 million dollars, valuing the company...
Want To Be A Game Psychologist? What You Need to Know
Curated by Jamie Madigan, Ph.D., originator of psychologyofgames.com where you can find his writings. Jamie writes and talks about how psychology can be used to understand how games are made, played, and sold. He has written on the subject for various websites and...
The Psychology Behind Why We Can’t Stop Messaging
Today, there’s an app for just about everything. With all the amazing things our smartphones can do, there is one thing that hasn’t changed since the phone was first developed. No matter how advanced phones become, they are still communication devices — they connect...
How to Do Effective User Research
Curated by Steph Habif, Behavior Designer at Habif Health. Steph is a behavioral scientist with 10+ years of experience leading healthcare teams on ways to design for consumer engagement. She specializes in user research and behavior design and has worked with...
Context Driven Design (The “Context Effect”)
Curated by Michal Levin, Senior User Experience Designer at Google. She is also the author of the book Designing Multi-Device Experiences by O'Reilly Media, offering a new context-driven approach to designing user experiences across devices. In a UX career of over 10...
The Psychology of a Billion-Dollar Enterprise App: Why is Slack so Habit-Forming?
Slack isn’t just another office collaboration app. The company has been called, “the fastest-growing workplace software ever.” Recent press reports claim that “users send more than 25 million messages each week,” and that the company is, “adding $1 million to its...
Writing Copy for Your Reader’s Brain
Curated by Roger Dooley, an international keynote speaker and consultant. He is the author of Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing (Wiley), and he writes the popular blog Neuromarketing, as well as Brainy Marketing at...
Mind Hacking a Book
“Hi Nir,” the email began. “I have been reading your work and find it incredibly interesting.” Naturally, this is the kind of message a blogger loves to receive. However, this email was special for another reason. It was from a prominent New York publishing agent who...
Designing Habit-Forming Products
Curated by Nir Eyal, Author of Hooked: How To Build Habit Forming Products. Nir has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Nir is a co-creator of this course.How do companies design experiences to...
Framing Reward is as Important as Reward Itself
On May 1, 1981, American Airlines launched its frequent flyer program AAdvantage. Since then, a flood of loyalty programs have attempted to bring customers back through rewards. Today, you can become a card-carrying member of just about anything: hotels, supermarkets,...
Games, Play, and Motivation
Curated by Stephen P. Anderson, an internationally recognized speaker and consultant based out of Dallas, Texas. He created the Mental Notes card deck, a tool that's widely used by product teams to apply psychology to interaction design. He’s also of the author of the...
How Scarcity & Impatience Drive Irrational User Behavior
Curated by Yu-kai Chou, President of Octalysis Group. Yu-kai is a gamification pioneer and President of Octalysis Group, as well as an international keynote speaker and lecturer at Stanford, TEDx, SxSW, and Accenture. Yu-kai was rated the "Top Gamification Guru" by...
Habits, Obstacles, and Media Manipulation with Ryan Holiday
This week I chat with Ryan Holiday, an author, hacker, and self-described “media manipulator.” Ryan Holiday’s new book “The Obstacle is the Way” takes an interesting look at how challenges shape and improve our lives. We discuss the personal habits Ryan integrated...
Should You Listen To Your Users or Your Data?
Curated by Matthew Pearson, Behavioral Economist at Airbnb. As a former user researcher on Airbnb's design team with a background in behavioral economics, Matthew brings methods and insights from economics and psychology to bear on the user experience, particularly as...
Emotional Engagement – Designing with the Heart in Mind
Curated by Paul Sas, Behavioral Economist at Intuit. Paul was Intuit’s Behavioral Economist from 2012 to 2015, working with Mint, Quick Books, and TurboTax to deliver the most emotionally engaging product experiences. Paul got his PhD in experimental psychology at...
A Free Course on User Behavior
I do quite a bit of research, writing, and consulting on product psychology — the deeper reasons underlying why users do what they do. I also frequently teach and speak on the topic. Invariably, after each talk, someone approaches me and asks, “That was very...
This Simple Equation Reveals How Habits Shape Your Health, Happiness, and Wealth
Nir's Note: This guest post is by James Clear. James writes at JamesClear.com, where he share ideas for mastering personal habits. Join his free newsletter here.In 1936, a man named Kurt Lewin wrote a simple equation that changed the way we think about habits and...
It’s Not All Fun And Games: The Pros and Cons of Gamification at Work
Nir’s Note: This post was co-authored with Stuart Luman, a science, technology, and business writer who has worked at Wired Magazine, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and IBM.MAKING WORK INTO A GAME HAS ITS CRITICS. IS THIS A PRACTICE WORTH KEEPING?In...
Product Psychology: The 3 Things Everyone Should Know About
Curated by Nir Eyal. Nir Eyal is the author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life and Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. Nir has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at...
Getting Traction: How to Hook New Users
Nir’s Note: Justin Mares is the co-author of the book Traction, a startup guide to getting customers. Justin's framework provides a simple way for new marketers to discover their most effective triggers. In his book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products,Nir...
Designing for Behavior Change Book Review
Nir’s Note: This guest post comes from Marc Abraham, a London-based product manager. In this article, Marc reviews the recently published book Designing for Behavior Change by Stephan Wendel. Follow Marc on Twitter.Behavioral economics, psychology and persuasive...
The Sneaky Trick Behind the Explosive Growth of the Kardashian Game
Recently, I started looking into the explosively popular new game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The game has ranked at or near the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store charts for the most downloaded free game. Industry watchers say the app could gross $200 million annually and...
The Sweet Spot: Where Technology Meets the Motivational Brain
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Dr. Marc Lewis, who studies the psychology and neuroscience of addiction. After years of active research, Marc now talks, writes, and blogs about the science and experience of addiction and how people outgrow it. Visit his website...
The Number One Reason Good Habits Don’t Last
Nir’s Note: This guest post is written by Max Ogles. Max writes at MaxOgles.com about behavior change, psychology, and technology. Sign up for a free copy of his upcoming e-book, “9 Ways to Motivate Yourself Using Psychology and Technology.” A commonly quoted and...
How Successful Companies Design for Users’ Multi-Device Lives
Nir's Note: This guest post comes from Marc Abraham, a London-based product manager at Beamly. In this article, Marc reviews the recently published book "Designing Multi-Device Experiences" by Michal Levin. Follow Marc on Twitter or check out his blog.We live in a...
The Link Between Habits and User Satisfaction
Nir's Note: In this essay, Ryan Stuczynski and I discuss the relationship between habits and user satisfaction. Ryan was the Director of Analytics at Fab and today leads growth for theSkimm. Follow Ryan on Twitter or Medium.Here's the Gist: People have limited...
What Triggers The Best Word of Mouth Marketing?
Nir's Note: Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the Wharton School and author of the New York Times bestseller Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Contagious explains the science behind word of mouth, how six key factors drive products and ideas to become popular,...
Is Some Tech Too Engaging?
Addiction can be a difficult thing to see. From outward appearances, Dr. Zoe Chance looked fine. A professor at the Yale School of Management with a doctorate from Harvard, Chance's pedigree made what she revealed in front of a crowded TEDx audience all the more...
Can Online Apps Change Real-Life Behavior?
Nir’s Note: This guest post is written by Max Ogles. Max is an editor for NirAndFar.com and heads marketing for CoachAlba.com, a mobile health startup. Follow him on Twitter and read his blog at MaxOgles.com.Weight gain happens pound by pound, over many years, and...
What Tech Companies Can Learn from Rehab
Nir’s Note: This guest post is written by Max Ogles. Max is an editor for NirAndFar.com and heads marketing for CoachAlba.com, a mobile health startup. Follow him on Twitter and read his blog at MaxOgles.com.Last year, The Huffington Post published some fascinating...
Auction Addiction: This Online Industry’s Dirty Secrets
Nir's Note: This article about the psychology of auction addiction was authored by Lisa Kostova, one of the first product managers at Farmville and CEO and Founder of CareerClimb™. While at Zynga, Lisa learned how to shape user behavior, but in this essay she...
Teach or Hook? What’s the Real Goal of Online Education?
Nir's Note: This guest post is written by Ali Rushdan Tariq. Ali writes about design, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation on his blog, The Innovator's Odyssey. As I clicked the big green “Take This Course” button, I became acutely aware of an uneasy feeling....
Using Mind Control to Raise Startup Cash
Nir's Note: This guest post is written by Michael Simpson. Michael is the co-author of The Secret of Raising Money, which he wrote with Seth Goldstein. Raising money for a startup is like sex. The more unattainable you seem, the better your chances of getting lucky....
How To Build Habits In A Multi-Device World
Nir's Note:Michal Levin asked me to write this essay for her new book, Designing Multi-Device Experiences. Allow me to take liberties with a philosophical question reworked for our digital age. If an app fails in the App Store and no one is around to use it, does it...
How To Cope with Your Insane Jealousy Of The WhatsApp Deal
Wednesday was my birthday. It should have been a great day. My wife and daughter had prepared a delicious breakfast, I had lunch with close friends, and I finished up some writing and client work. At the end of the day I headed to San Francisco to enjoy a swanky...
Why Do Fads Fade? The Inevitable Death Of Flappy Bird
Nir’s Note: Parts of this article are adapted from Hooked: A Guide to Building Habit-Forming Products. On February 8, 2014, an app called Flappy Bird held the coveted No. 1 spot in the Apple App Store. The app’s 29-year-old creator, Dong Nguyen, reported earning...
You’d Be Surprised By What Really Motivates Users
Nir's Note: This article is adapted from Hooked: A Guide to Building Habit-Forming Products, a book I wrote with Ryan Hoover and originally appeared on TechCrunch. Earlier this month, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone unveiled his mysterious startup Jelly. The...
Nostalgia: A Product Designer’s Secret Weapon
Nir's Note: In this guest post, Ryan Hoover, contributing writer of my book Hooked, describes how nostalgia is used to drive attention and build an engaging product. Follow @rrhoover or visit his blog to read more about startups and product design. Remember pogs?...
How You Can Help Users Change Habits
Nir’s Note: This guest post comes from Stephen Wendel, Principal Scientist at HelloWallet and the author of Designing for Behavior Change. Steve's new book is about how to apply behavioral economics to product development. Follow him on twitter @sawendel.It can be...
Is “Lean Startup” Right for Your Idea?
Nir's Note: Lyle McKeany is an entrepreneur writing and working on an early-stage startup. In this essay, he shares his experience using lean startup methodologies with my Hooked Model at the Lean Startup Machine conference. This article also appears today on Pando...
Hunting for Habits: Keying in on smart design to make a product irresistible
Nir's Note: In this guest post, Ryan Hoover describes the design decisions and strategies used to build a habit-forming product, largely influenced by the learnings on this blog. Follow @rrhoover or visit his blog to read more about startups and product...
Are Companies Too Obsessed With Growth? How to Measure Habits
Nir’s Note: In this guest post, Abhay Vardhan, discusses how to measure the strength of user habits with cohort analysis and retention rate. Abhay is a founder of Blippy.com and blogs at abhayv.com. Follow Abhay on Twitter @abhayvardhan. Imagine an entrepreneur showed...
Refresh: The App a Secret Agent Would Love
A few minutes before his helicopter touched down in a covert military base just outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tommy Thompson reached for his secret weapon. He was about to meet with top Afghan officials and he needed to ensure he hit his mark. But Thompson's mission...
Angel or Devil: Who’s Really Investing In Your Start-Up?
This article originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review A friend called me heartbroken, crying. She had spent months looking for investors to fund her fledgling startup and now she had a big problem. Someone was ready to give her the money. Trouble was, the...
3 Ways I Use Technology to Find Happiness
Nir’s Note: This guest post comes from Brendan Kane who has built technology for MTV, Paramount, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and the NHL. In this article, Brendan describes how he reprogramed the way he views the world using little more than his iPhone and iPad to find...
In 10 Years, We Won’t Use Personal Technology
Nir's Note: In this guest post, user experience designer Aaron Wilson, discusses a deep flaw of our digital devices and makes an audacious prediction about the future of consumer technology. Follow Aaron on Twitter @aarowilso. No one wants to make a mistake like the...
How to Break 5 Soul-Sucking Technology Habits
Nir's Note: In this last in a series of guest posts on the topic of technology habits, Jason Shah shares practical tips he used to regain control over his devices and break bad habits. Jason is a Product Manager at Yammer and blogs about user experience and technology...
4 Simple Things I Did to Control My Bad Tech Habits
Nir’s Note: In this guest post, Sharbani Roy explores techniques she used to break bad habits related to eating, sleeping and exercising. Sharbani blogs at sharbaniroy.com and you can follow her on twitter @Sharbani. It’s 2 AM and you’re exhausted, but unable to...
The Real Reason You’re Addicted to Your Phone
Nir's Note: I no longer agree with this article. It's been several years since it was written by Avi Itzkovitch and published to my site and I'm leaving it up for posterity. But after extensive research, I do not think it properly depicts "addiction." Please see my...
“Yes, And”: The Two Words that Created a #1 App
Nir’s Note: In contrast to last week's post on the power of saying "no," Eric Clymer shares how a creative attitude helped his team build a #1 ranked app. Eric was the lead developer of the “A Beautiful Mess” app and is a Partner at Rocket Mobile.In improv comedy,...
The Power of No
Nir's Note: Is "no" the most powerful word in the English language? In this guest post Chikodi Chima explores the power of no and what happens when people say, "No." Chikodi is a former VentureBeat staff reporter who helps startups with their public relations and...
From Laid to Paid: How Tinder Set Fire to Online Dating
Nir's Note: In this guest post, Ryan Hoover takes a look at Tinder, a red hot dating app. Ryan dives into what makes the Tinder app so popular and engaging. Ryan blogs at ryanhoover.me and you can follow him on Twitter at rrhoover. Tinder, a hot new entrant in the...
What if In-App Purchases Came to Real Life?
Nir’s Note: In this guest post, Jonathan Libov explores free-to-play apps with in-app purchases, and takes a wry look into our future. You can connect with him on Twitter at @libovness or visit his website, Whoo.ps.Three-card Monte is a classic street hustler's game....
To Become a Superstar, Improve Your Strengths (Not Your Faults)
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Auren Hoffman, the CEO of LiveRamp in San Francisco. This essay is a bit different from the normal subject matter on the blog but I hope it will stir some discussion about which of our personal habits are worth improving. Connect with...
Hooking Users One Snapchat at a Time
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Ryan Hoover. Ryan blogs at ryanhoover.me and you can follow him on Twitter at @rrhoover. When Snapchat first launched, critics discounted the photo-messaging app as a fad - a toy for sexting and selfies. Their judgements were...
How To Save Your Startup From The “Spotlight Effect”
Nir's Note: This guest post is by Max Ogles, a writer and entrepreneur based in Utah. Connect with him on Twitter at @maxogles.In the beginning of 2010, when daily deals site Groupon was really hitting its stride and copycat businesses were popping up left and right,...
Bible App: Getting 100M Downloads is Psychology, Not a Miracle
Nir's Note: An edited version of this essay appeared in The Atlantic. Below is my original. It’s not often an app has the power to keep someone out of a strip club. But according to Bobby Gruenewald, CEO of YouVersion, that’s exactly what his Bible app did. Gruenewald...
Why Behavior Change Apps Fail to Change Behavior
Imagine walking into a busy mall when someone approaches you with an open hand. “Would you have some coins to take the bus, please?” he asks. But in this case, the person is not a panhandler. The beggar is a PhD. As part of a French study, researchers wanted to know...
How to Boost Desire Using the Psychology of Scarcity
Interested in boosting customer desire? A classic study that demonstrates the psychology of scarcity reveals an interesting quirk of human behavior that may hold a clue. In 1975, researchers Worchel, Lee, and Adewole wanted to know how people would value cookies in...
Marketplaces & The Curse of the Network Effect
Ethan Stock lived the Silicon Valley dream. He had recently sold his company to eBay and emanated the tanned skin and relaxed composure you'd expect of someone who just cashed a big corporate check. But as we sat across from one another in a Palo Alto coffee shop, I...
Today’s Behaviors, Tomorrow’s Startups
Nir’s Note: In this guest post, Ryan Hoover takes a look at how new behaviors are shaping tech opportunities. Ryan blogs at ryanhoover.me and you can follow him on Twitter at rrhoover. Startups that build a product attached to nascent behaviors have an opportunity to...
Venture Capital and The Superstitious Investor
Nir's Note: This guest post comes from my friend Jules Maltz, a General Partner at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), a late-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park. In this article, Jules admits something few people are brave enough to say here in Silicon...
Think You Like What You Like? Think Again
A funny thing happens when you lie to people: they tend to believe. Why shouldn’t they? They lie to themselves all the time. Our minds are wired to respond in predictable ways--among them is perceiving the world the way we want to see it, not necessarily the way it...
The Roots of Temptation
How do products tempt us? What makes them so alluring? It is easy to assume we crave delicious food or impulsively check email because we find pleasure in the activity. But pleasure is just half the story. Temptation is more than just the promise of reward. Recent...
Our More Engaging World
Nir’s Note: A few weeks ago, I wrote a brief post summarizing some thoughts for a potential book chapter. I asked my readers for help and you delivered! The comments were fantastic and I received several insightful emails. Therefore, I've decided to continue with the...
The Future is Driven by Interface Changes
Nir’s Note: In this guest post Ryan Hoover takes a look at how interface changes drive innovation. Ryan blogs at ryanhoover.me and you can follow him on Twitter at rrhoover.What do motorized vehicles, broadband internet, and smartphones have in common? These...
Why Business Is Obsessed With Habits
Nir's Note: This post is a little different from my normal writing. For one, its much shorter. You'll notice I provide fewer citations and the ideas are less developed than my previous essays. This is intentional and I need your help. I'm considering writing a chapter...
Viral Loops Or Viral ‘Oops’?
Not more than 10 days after it launched, the MessageMe chat app company happily announced it had grown to 1 million users. The revelation captured the attention of envious app makers throughout Silicon Valley, all of whom are searching for the secrets of customer...
Making a Marketplace
A Checklist for Online DisruptionOn November 13, 2012, Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark Capital, posted a remarkable essay on his blog. In it, he described the, “10 factors to consider when evaluating digital marketplaces.” Given the tremendous value marketplaces...
Why Positive Thinking is Bad For You
Oliver Burkeman's new book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, challenges many widely-held assumptions. In this video, Burkeman discusses how positivity, goal setting, and visualization, often backfire.Burkeman writes the This...
What Killed Turntable.fm?
Nir's Note: In this guest post, Ryan Hoover, Director of Product at PlayHaven, utilizes my thinking on the "Habit Zone" to shed light on where Turntable.fm fell short. Ryan blogs at ryanhoover.me and you can follow him on Twitter at rrhoover.Remember Turntable? When...
What You Don’t Know About Human Intuition Can Hurt You
Nir's Note: This guest post is by Francesca Gino, an associate professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the author of "Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan"A few years ago, Joe Marks, then Disney’s...
Designing to Reward our Tribal Sides
We are a species that depend on one another. Scientists theorize humans have specially adapted neurons that help us feel what others feel, providing evidence that we survive through our empathy for others. We’re meant to be part of a tribe and our brains seek out...
New Video – “Hooked: Building Habit-Forming Products”
My latest video overview of the "Hooked Model" Related Articles
This Will Be the Last Article You Read
If the Internet had a voice, I am fairly certain it would sound like the HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. “Hello Nir,” it said to me in its low, monotone voice. “Glad to see you again.” “Internet, I just need a few quick things for an article I'm writing,” I’d...
How Technology is Like Bug Sex
This week, thousands of people swarmed the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Looking from above, the scene resembled an insect infestation of scampering masses in a hive of the latest must-haves. When considering our complex relationship with technology,...
Time for Digital Hat Racks
The first thing Don Draper does when he gets to his office is give his busty secretary a suggestive wink. The second thing he does is take off his fedora. Finally, depending on the severity of the previous night, he completes his morning routine with a stiff drink....
Ways To Get People To Do Things They Don’t Want To Do
A reader recently asked me a pointed question: "I've read your work on creating user habits. It's all well and good for getting people to do things, like using an app on their iPhone, but I've got a bigger problem. How do I get people to do things they don't want to...
The Network Effect Isn’t Good Enough
Note: I'm pleased to have co-authored this post with Sangeet Paul Choudary, who analyzes business models for network businesses at Platformed.info. Follow Sangeet on Twitter at @sanguit. If there is one altar at which Silicon Valley worships, it is the shrine of the...
Escape From Message Hell
We are caught in an endless cycle of messaging hell and the pattern is always the same. First, a new communication system is born -- take email or Facebook, for example. Ease-of-use helps the product gain wide adoption and reach a critical mass of users. And then...
Mass Persuasion, One User At A Time
“Successful entrepreneurs recommend reading this article about the persuasion techniques companies use to drive engagement.” Scratch that, how’s this? “Tons of people are tweeting this article. Find out why.” OK, here's one more. “This article will only be on the...
How Investment Drives Engagement (Slides)
This week, focused on the science behind how consumers make decisions. During the class, we walked through my Hooked Model, a four-step cycle that creates preferences and usage habits. Readers of my blog will be familiar with the Hooked Model but I wanted to share...
Getting Your Product Into the Habit Zone
As the web becomes an increasingly crowded place, users are desperate for solutions to sort through the online clutter. The Internet has become a giant hairball of choice-inhibiting noise and the need to make sense of it all has never been more acute. Just ask...
Where Have The Users Gone?
Step 1: Build an app. Step 2: Get users hooked to it. Step 3: Profit. It sounds simple and, given our umbilical ties to cell phones, social media, and email inboxes, it may even sound plausible. Recently, tech entrepreneurs and investors have started to look to...
Infinite Scroll: The Web’s Slot Machine
A few years ago, everyone was clicking. Today, we’re all scrolling. Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Medium - it seems everyone is getting on the infinite scroll bus. What is it about this magical design pattern that has so many consumer web companies...
Designing User Habits Video
Video from my recent talk about designing user habits, at the Designers + Geeks Meetup in San Francisco on August 1st, 2012. Note: This Designing User Habits talk is similar to my "Behavior by Design" talk but has approximately 20% new material.If you're reading this...
Psychology of Sports: How Sports Infect Your Brain
Note: I co-authored this post with Andrew Martin and David Ngo. It originally appeared in TechCrunch. This week, fans packed stadiums in London wearing their nation’s colors like rebels ready for battle in Mel Gibson’s army. They screamed with excitement and anguished...
This is Your Brain On Boarding: How to Turn Visitors Into Users
Before you can change the world, before your company can IPO, before getting millions of loyal users to wonder how they ever lived without your service, people need to onboard through an effective user onboarding process. Building the on-ramp to using your product is...
User Investment: Make Your Users Do the Work
The belief that products should always be as easy to use as possible is a sacred cow of the tech world. The rise of design thinking, coinciding with beautiful new products like the iPhone, has led some to conclude that creating slick interfaces is a hallmark of great...
Behavior by Design Video
This presentation of my "Behavior By Design" talk was made possible by Innovation Endeavors, an early-stage venture fund in Palo Alto. Thank you to the Innovation Endeavors team for hosting me. Also, special thanks to Paula Saslow for the fantastic video production....
When Designing for Good Is Bad
We in the design business love when people do what we want. Nothing is more satisfying than when a user intuitively understands what to do with what we've built. At the heart of good design, however, is understanding what the user really wants to get done. But what of...
Stop Building Apps, Start Building User Behaviors
Do you get the feeling apps are getting dumber? They are, and that's a good thing. Behind the surprising simplicity of some of today’s top apps, smart developers are realizing that they're able to get users to do more by doing less. A new crop of companies is setting...
The Morality of Manipulation
Let’s admit it, we in the consumer web industry are in the manipulation business. We build products to persuade people to do what we want them to do. We call these people “users,” and even if we don’t say it aloud, we secretly wish every one of them would become...
The Next Secrets of the Internet
Right now, someone is tinkering with a billion dollar secret -- they just don’t know it yet. “What people aren’t telling you,” Peter Thiel taught his class at Stanford, “can very often give you great insight as to where you should be directing your attention.” Secrets...
User Growth and Engagement: A Hacker Metric
If you’re like me, you’ve had enough of the Facebook IPO story. For tech entrepreneurs struggling to build stuff, the cacophony of recent press is just more noise. That’s why when my friend Andrew Chen posted an insightful analysis of Facebook user data, I was happy...
Spotting the Next Facebook: Why Emotions are Big Business
Today Facebook will sell shares in one of the biggest tech IPOs in history. New investors will gobble up the stock to get a piece of the global phenomenon famously started in Mark Zuckerberg’s dorm room in 2004. But while owning the stock will have quantifiable value...
Strange Sex Habits of Silicon Valley
My wife put our daughter to bed, brushed her teeth, and freshened up before bed. Slipping under the covers, we exchanged glances and knew it was time to do what comes naturally for a couple on a warm night in Silicon Valley. We began to lovingly caress--but not each...
The Billion Dollar Mind Trick: An Intro to Triggers
Note: I'm proud to have co-authored this post with Jason Hreha, the founder of Dopamine, a user-experience and behavior design firm. He blogs at The Behavioral Scientist.Yin asked not to be identified by her real name. A young addict in her mid-twenties, she lives in...
Why Everyone Hates I.T. People
Quick: what’s the biggest bottleneck in your company? Yup, we both know it’s the Information Technology department. Let’s face it, nobody likes IT people. For all of their technical wizardry, IT is where good ideas go to die. We follow their onerous documentation...
Hooking Users In 3 Steps: An Intro to Habit Testing
The truly great consumer technology companies of the past 25 years have all had one thing in common: they created habits. This is what separates world-changing businesses from the rest. Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter are used daily by a high...
Abolish The Reference Check
Variable Rewards: Want To Hook Users? Drive Them Crazy
Here’s the gist: Rather than using conventional feedback loops, companies today are employing a new, stronger habit-forming mechanism to hook users—the Hooked Model. At the heart of the Hooked Model is a variable schedule of rewards: a powerful hack that focuses...
How to Design Behavior (The Behavior Change Matrix)
Here’s the gist: The rising interest in the science of designing behavior has also sprouted dozens of competing -- and at times conflicting -- methodologies. Though the authors often flaunt their way as the only way, there are distinct use cases for when each method...
How To Design For “Normals”
Note: This post originally appeared in Techcrunch. I’m proud to have co-authored this post with Katy Fike, PhD. Dr. Fike is a gerontologist, systems engineer and Partner at Innovate50, a consulting firm helping companies create products and services for the 50+...
The Hooked Model: How to Manufacture Desire in 4 Steps
Type the name of almost any successful consumer web company into your search bar and add the word “addict” after it. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Try “Facebook addict” or “Twitter addict” or even “Pinterest addict” and you’ll soon get a slew of results from hooked users and...
User Habits: Why Startups Must Be Behavior Experts
NOTE: This post originally appeared in TechcrunchHere’s the gist: In the age of infinite online distractions, successful web businesses must generate new user habits to stay relevant. The strength of a web company’s user habits will increasingly equate to its economic...
What Is, and Is Not, Your Product’s Job
Recently, my mom came for a visit. She read my blog and discovered her son has a crazy habit of running barefoot. After some convincing, she begrudgingly accepted my rationale, especially after I showed her that a nice Jewish professor at Harvard said it’s ok. But...
Forming New Habits: Train to be an Amateur, Not an Expert
Note: I’m proud to have co-authored this post with my good friend Charles Wang. Charles is a co-founder of LUMOback, a former classmate, and an accomplished psychiatrist. He brings a great perspective to the art of Behavior Engineering.Here’s the gist: Forming new...
Pinterest’s Obvious Secret
Note: This article was first published in Forbes Executive Summary: Pinterest is onto something big, but few know its obvious secret. The success of Pinterest is because of its focus on reducing users' cognitive load. Pinterest brilliantly aligns its user experience...
Personalized eCommerce Is Already Here, You Just Don’t Recognize It
NOTE: This post originally appeared in Techcrunch. (Photo credits)Reading Leena Rao’s recent article on Techcrunch about the personalization revolution, you get the sense that the tech world is waiting for a bus that isn’t coming. Rao quotes well-known industry...
Where is the Web Going?
Here’s the gist: Disruptive web innovation comes from changes in interface. Interfaces, which make information easier to understand by mainstream users, create world-changing companies. The next stage of the web is the Curated Web, which like the stages before, will...
The Developer Divide: When Great Companies Can’t Hire
(Photo credit) Lately, I’ve noticed a startling paradox in Silicon Valley. I see shitty companies hiring more engineers than they know what to do with, while other, great companies struggle to fill open roles. Now my definition of “shitty” is completely subjective,...
Being a Quitter Makes You a Good Entrepreneur
This post is part 3 of a 3-part series. See part 1 here and part 2 here. When we look at successful entrepreneurs, it may appear that they spend their lives relentlessly driving towards a singular goal. We assume the path to success was a straight shot, lined with...
Why Your Goals Will Fail, and What You Can Do About It
“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”- Warren Buffet If you’re like most people, you have a New Year’s resolution in place and you may have even stuck to it so far this year. Good for you! Realistically though, you’re...
Behavior by Design
A few weeks ago, I presented to the California Nutrition Education Program, a great group of educators working to help Californians lead healthier lives. My presentation was about how to use the Fogg Behavior Model along with some of my own techniques to design...
What A-Players Do That You Don’t
This post is part 2 of a 3-part series. See part 1 here and part 3 here.What if I told you I know of a guaranteed, foolproof way to get in the best physical shape of your life without strenuous workouts? How would you like to achieve success at work, without grueling...
Why You Should Run Your Business Barefoot
This post is part 1 of a 3-part series. See part 2 here and part 3 here. When I run, I don’t wear much clothing. Just my tighty whities and an old pair of Umbro shorts. I don’t wear shoes. Why I don’t wear shoes while running is another topic, but by the looks I...
Are you a Startup Star, Wacko, or Wannabe?
This week, I had the pleasure of presenting to the latest class of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at the Founder's Institute. I discussed my thoughts on what entrepreneurs should do first when starting a new venture. Here is the video of the talk along with my slides...