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on August 21, 2014
"Hooked" presents a simple, yet very useful model to channel your thoughts when building a product you want to get in the hands of millions. It's quick to read (only 140 pages), to-the-point and made a world of difference to our concept&design challenges. We used it a lot to model the behavior of our users and figure out specific areas we missed and needed to focus on in order to get engagement.
Another great value of the book is the in-depth analysis of the hooks we are subject to every day (in Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram etc). As you go around the everyday loop you know so well from the user perspective, you see in a structured way the other side of the coin. The side of the people who know how to design behavior patterns and make others tick.
I closed 'Hooked' with a much better understanding of social&scalable products and a lot of interesting ideas for what our team is building. These came from the numerous examples and case studies, as well as the structured questions you can answer at the end of each chapter.
If you'd like to learn about habits and how they are built&changed in general, I'd recommend 'The Power of Habit' book by Charles Duhigg. If you want to understand how habits are formed in the world of technology, startups and software and mobile products, "Hooked" is the book for you. It's built on the same solid research base, yet much closer to practice and much more relevant to today's tech world.
Thank you Nir Eyal for this amazing book!
Another great value of the book is the in-depth analysis of the hooks we are subject to every day (in Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram etc). As you go around the everyday loop you know so well from the user perspective, you see in a structured way the other side of the coin. The side of the people who know how to design behavior patterns and make others tick.
I closed 'Hooked' with a much better understanding of social&scalable products and a lot of interesting ideas for what our team is building. These came from the numerous examples and case studies, as well as the structured questions you can answer at the end of each chapter.
If you'd like to learn about habits and how they are built&changed in general, I'd recommend 'The Power of Habit' book by Charles Duhigg. If you want to understand how habits are formed in the world of technology, startups and software and mobile products, "Hooked" is the book for you. It's built on the same solid research base, yet much closer to practice and much more relevant to today's tech world.
Thank you Nir Eyal for this amazing book!
on April 19, 2014
As a designer, I'm always interested in user's behavior and motivation. This book provides insights for both in a way that's well structured (hook model as a framework).
I also appreciate the real world examples and stories that show the concepts discussed in action.
This book already changed my design approach and thinking and I'm sure that I'll be using this book as a reference as I do my work.
I also appreciate the real world examples and stories that show the concepts discussed in action.
This book already changed my design approach and thinking and I'm sure that I'll be using this book as a reference as I do my work.
on February 17, 2014
I just finished Hooked last night and if you're looking to learn how to actually design for behavioral change, this is a great resource. If you're in the behavioral sciences field you know how difficult it is to find help in actually applying these sciences to business, particularly innovation. Nir explains how to design for habit formation in layman's terms and at the back of each chapter he actually coaches you on immediately applying what you learned to your own specific project - which I thankfully did. These activities were the best way to take theory to direct application. Nicely done.
on April 2, 2017
Love the book.
I will readily admit I borrowed "Hooked" from my library first, lately I delved into a couple of hyped books (for more details please see my other reviews) and now got smarter. I don't buy every book asap. However, after reading halfway through "Hooked" I purchased it because it is fascinating and intelligent on many levels.
Browsing through a couple of negative reviews here I noted that somebody mentioned that this book "Hooked" doesn't provide a perfect blueprint; well, no book ever does. Anybody who believes that is either under the age of 23 or has never tried any business endeavor.
What I like about "Hooked" is that author Nir Eyal presents a multi-faceted picture and thinking. He does not have one scenario but explains how the experiences from many fields lead us to a model how we (most likely) can "hook" customers.
The book is witty and Eyal brings a lot of obvious examples that make the reader think:
"... (p.44) Types of External Triggers: ... Imagine if Facebook or Twitter needed to buy an ad to prompt users to revisit their sites–these companies would soon go broke..."
It's a brilliant example. Most of the people who read this book have a presence on either one or both social media sites, hence we can imagine the situation and we can see why "the advertisement model of yore" is not the answer to today's more complex situation any longer. Opposite to only 25 years ago when running ads on TV or in newspapers was one sure path to success today we have more opportunities hence that old system isn't working any longer.
The book features absolutely fascinating examples.
On p. 32 Eyal lays out that today many investors want to know "Are you building a vitamin or a painkiller?" implying, though a "great vitamin" will have many fans and followers who swear by it there will be others who don't care about living healthy; in contrast, everybody who has pains needs a painkiller whether they like it or not.
Eyal makes the reader go through the exercise of pondering if today's hottest consumer technology companies (FB, Twitter, Instagram etc.) offer vitamins or painkillers. Indeed, though at first it looks as if all of them offer vitamins there are already enough "addicted" people who need "social media site painkillers" to vent, to reaffirm their own worth and so on...
It is this interesting and fascinating thinking which I believe to be valuable to all people regardless of whether they are entrepreneurs who want to sell something, or people who work in a steady employment.
These days we never know how things are going, hence adding this riveting perspective to one's thinking can only be extremely beneficial.
I also appreciated the detailed list of social media sites and apps mentioned throughout the book. I am one of the people Eyal mentions, people who have reservations to join just any site and build cross connections. Still, learning about Codeacademy, Mahalo, Fitocracy, Any.do, Tinder, and what makes visitors come back to them was extremely interesting,.
Recommended with a wholehearted – 5 stars. Now purchased; in fact, I am thinking about getting my two children copies of this book too.
Gisela Hausmann, author and Amazon review expert.
I will readily admit I borrowed "Hooked" from my library first, lately I delved into a couple of hyped books (for more details please see my other reviews) and now got smarter. I don't buy every book asap. However, after reading halfway through "Hooked" I purchased it because it is fascinating and intelligent on many levels.
Browsing through a couple of negative reviews here I noted that somebody mentioned that this book "Hooked" doesn't provide a perfect blueprint; well, no book ever does. Anybody who believes that is either under the age of 23 or has never tried any business endeavor.
What I like about "Hooked" is that author Nir Eyal presents a multi-faceted picture and thinking. He does not have one scenario but explains how the experiences from many fields lead us to a model how we (most likely) can "hook" customers.
The book is witty and Eyal brings a lot of obvious examples that make the reader think:
"... (p.44) Types of External Triggers: ... Imagine if Facebook or Twitter needed to buy an ad to prompt users to revisit their sites–these companies would soon go broke..."
It's a brilliant example. Most of the people who read this book have a presence on either one or both social media sites, hence we can imagine the situation and we can see why "the advertisement model of yore" is not the answer to today's more complex situation any longer. Opposite to only 25 years ago when running ads on TV or in newspapers was one sure path to success today we have more opportunities hence that old system isn't working any longer.
The book features absolutely fascinating examples.
On p. 32 Eyal lays out that today many investors want to know "Are you building a vitamin or a painkiller?" implying, though a "great vitamin" will have many fans and followers who swear by it there will be others who don't care about living healthy; in contrast, everybody who has pains needs a painkiller whether they like it or not.
Eyal makes the reader go through the exercise of pondering if today's hottest consumer technology companies (FB, Twitter, Instagram etc.) offer vitamins or painkillers. Indeed, though at first it looks as if all of them offer vitamins there are already enough "addicted" people who need "social media site painkillers" to vent, to reaffirm their own worth and so on...
It is this interesting and fascinating thinking which I believe to be valuable to all people regardless of whether they are entrepreneurs who want to sell something, or people who work in a steady employment.
These days we never know how things are going, hence adding this riveting perspective to one's thinking can only be extremely beneficial.
I also appreciated the detailed list of social media sites and apps mentioned throughout the book. I am one of the people Eyal mentions, people who have reservations to join just any site and build cross connections. Still, learning about Codeacademy, Mahalo, Fitocracy, Any.do, Tinder, and what makes visitors come back to them was extremely interesting,.
Recommended with a wholehearted – 5 stars. Now purchased; in fact, I am thinking about getting my two children copies of this book too.
Gisela Hausmann, author and Amazon review expert.
on May 10, 2015
This is a dangerous and misleading book. The author is advocating am Operant Conditioning approach to building habits - dressed up as the ultimate solution to building engaging products. Anyone who's sophisticated in behavioral science will see right through the shallow, misleading logic laid out in this book. Beginners who aren't aware of the well-established limitations of Operant Conditioning will be WOW-ed -- and excited about finding a "magic solution." But just like all magic solutions, there's less here than meets the eye. This approach won't help you design a truly delightful product that drives long-term engagement. What it WILL do is give you a well-established model for manipulating behavior in the short term, which will ultimately backfire in the longer term. If you want to understand this dynamic better, read this: http://bigthink.com/wikimind/an-incomplete-loop-a-review-of-hooked-by-nir-eyal BTW I fully expect the author to jump in and refute this review -- I'll let readers draw their own conclusions :-)
on March 1, 2017
This book has been an extremely useful guide in design thinking. You can read the book and learn from a theoretical standpoint if you are not building a product, but given that I am actively in the process of creating a (hopefully) habit forming product, Nir basically forced us to reconsider everything we did.
The Hooked Model does an excellent job of outlining the psychology behind each step in the model and makes a strong case for the reason each step is taken and in the order they occur.
The model was abstract enough to be able to think about almost any product or project, yet provided enough examples to get a good understanding of how it can be applied. It might have been helpful to have more examples that weren't social networks (i.e. Pinterest, FB, Twitter), and maybe more examples of products that were tools or in other domains (i.e. Mint.com, Amazon, Mailbox), but overall it still did a great job of outlining the examples in the context of the chapter.
Lastly, the "Do This Now" section was fantastic and we even white boarded ideas after each chapter in order to get a better understanding of how our product might function. Picture included.
Overall, highly recommended for anyone designing or thinking about designing products and in particular software.
The Hooked Model does an excellent job of outlining the psychology behind each step in the model and makes a strong case for the reason each step is taken and in the order they occur.
The model was abstract enough to be able to think about almost any product or project, yet provided enough examples to get a good understanding of how it can be applied. It might have been helpful to have more examples that weren't social networks (i.e. Pinterest, FB, Twitter), and maybe more examples of products that were tools or in other domains (i.e. Mint.com, Amazon, Mailbox), but overall it still did a great job of outlining the examples in the context of the chapter.
Lastly, the "Do This Now" section was fantastic and we even white boarded ideas after each chapter in order to get a better understanding of how our product might function. Picture included.
Overall, highly recommended for anyone designing or thinking about designing products and in particular software.
on May 30, 2014
I really enjoyed Hooked on a couple of different levels.
As a consumer and someone who's intensely interested in how much our world is changing with technology, the idea of engineering products based on psychology (and even Neurology) is really cool. It also puts a complete different perspective on the apps, games and products that we see every day - do they understand the Hooked model, which ones work, which ones don't, etc.
The other aspect that I found really interesting and useful was the clear and concise model. I don't currently do any product design but the concepts apply at some level to any kind of marketing and could be used (at least in part) for promoting a service business, a tangible product or even just ideas. Obviously those kinds of marketing efforts or products and services aren't likely to create new habits but it's still useful to think of them in some different ways.
It's a quick, easy read and one that I think most will get value from.
As a consumer and someone who's intensely interested in how much our world is changing with technology, the idea of engineering products based on psychology (and even Neurology) is really cool. It also puts a complete different perspective on the apps, games and products that we see every day - do they understand the Hooked model, which ones work, which ones don't, etc.
The other aspect that I found really interesting and useful was the clear and concise model. I don't currently do any product design but the concepts apply at some level to any kind of marketing and could be used (at least in part) for promoting a service business, a tangible product or even just ideas. Obviously those kinds of marketing efforts or products and services aren't likely to create new habits but it's still useful to think of them in some different ways.
It's a quick, easy read and one that I think most will get value from.
on March 17, 2014
Nir's book is one that dives into the all important psychology of consumers to inform software designers and developers on how to use this knowledge as a lever towards achieving the holy grail of repeat usage of your app. Nir employs notable examples of success stories in the tech ecosystem and deconstructs techniques that proved successful across different product verticals to keep users engaged and fulfilled. It's a must read for startup founders, mentors, and investors alike.
on February 1, 2015
Why is it that apps like Facebook and Instagram are so popular? Why does email dominate our lives? What does it take to create products that are similarly habit-forming and successful?
Eyal lays out a simple framework called the "hooked cycle" which consists of a trigger, action, variable reward, and investment.
Trigger - What are users feeling and doing the moment before they would use your product? What is the emotional need they are solving with your product? Facebook, for example, relieves us of the feeling of wanting to belong and be important to others. Email relieves us of uncertainty and staying connected. Understanding these questions is the basis for designing good customer acquisition and re-engagement strategies (eg. email notifications).
Action - For a product to be sticky, it has to be simple and easy to use so that there are no barriers to adoption and usage. While we can also try to motivate users to complete actions, it's easier and usually more effective to reduce the effort it requires.
Variable Reward - Providing variable rewards after actions keeps users excited and motivated to keep on using and returning to your product. The three types of rewards are (1) material (eg. saving money), (2) social (eg. feeling accepted or important), and (3) completion (eg. clearing out your inbox).
Investment - Humans place more value on things they've committed their own labor to. Thus sticky products should become more valuable over time based on whats been put in the user (eg. amassing followers on Twitter).
Overall, the book reads easily but sometimes feels like its bouncing around a bit, leading you astray from the main points. The book also contains simple checklists in each chapter that you can apply to your own work. Not all products and business will benefit from this book-it's great for consumer technology companies that want to increase customer engagement and retention.
Eyal lays out a simple framework called the "hooked cycle" which consists of a trigger, action, variable reward, and investment.
Trigger - What are users feeling and doing the moment before they would use your product? What is the emotional need they are solving with your product? Facebook, for example, relieves us of the feeling of wanting to belong and be important to others. Email relieves us of uncertainty and staying connected. Understanding these questions is the basis for designing good customer acquisition and re-engagement strategies (eg. email notifications).
Action - For a product to be sticky, it has to be simple and easy to use so that there are no barriers to adoption and usage. While we can also try to motivate users to complete actions, it's easier and usually more effective to reduce the effort it requires.
Variable Reward - Providing variable rewards after actions keeps users excited and motivated to keep on using and returning to your product. The three types of rewards are (1) material (eg. saving money), (2) social (eg. feeling accepted or important), and (3) completion (eg. clearing out your inbox).
Investment - Humans place more value on things they've committed their own labor to. Thus sticky products should become more valuable over time based on whats been put in the user (eg. amassing followers on Twitter).
Overall, the book reads easily but sometimes feels like its bouncing around a bit, leading you astray from the main points. The book also contains simple checklists in each chapter that you can apply to your own work. Not all products and business will benefit from this book-it's great for consumer technology companies that want to increase customer engagement and retention.
