What features or UI/UX designs do you think are the secret ingredients of habit-forming products?

Question

Min Zhou · Accepted Answer

@sonimadhuri Appreciate your comment Madhuri, I'm also looking for the answer to how to build a product that can truly hook the audiences.

Our team is developing a community-like app for work. We are testing different features like contribution heatmap and reward badges and want to see if they can retain our users and form their habitual behavior. But gamification kinds of positive triggers don't seem to be motivative enough. The reason why people are addicted to Facebook and Twitter is they are driven by negative emotions. For example, they keep scrolling on the feed cause they're feeling bored, lonesome, or dissatisfied. But we really want to build a product that truly helps people, not hacks the most vulnerable part of their brains into "unconscious" behavior. So I raised my question here :)

Jarod Xu · Answer

@dismore The third step is often ignored by most products. Its getting things running.

Jarod Xu · Answer

@lewis_ppp True, easy to get started is always first.

Gareth Dismore · Answer

Not a secret ingredient: Instant gratification 🍰
1.) make it obvious how to start/use
2.) make it rewarding for the user immediately
3.) make it easy to repeat

After you have 1-3, make it easy to invite/share with others. (great way to measure how good 1-3 really are)

Devyani Gupta · Answer

1. visual cues and actions the user has to do to say they've completed something (the satisfaction and encouragement a user gets from checking off a day and seeing 7 days in a calendar striked off is much more than the app automatically doing it for the user - so it will motivate the user much more)

2. Showing other people who have completed similar habits and their streaks so far as motivation (and results from that) - bonus if it's people the user knows (if you can connect to their IG / FB friends)

3. If the user gets a reward from doing something - but a reward that is actually meaningful to the user - makes a huge difference. (e.g. some gamification)

4. having an accountability partner for the user (can even be the app / some avatar on the app) - and this can keep the user in check and anytime the user is feeling demotivated this avatar is there to encourage them

Lewis P · Answer

It should be easy to learn and easy to use.

Jimmy Spikes · Answer

easy and easy

Gaurav Goyal · Answer

Make it as much self-serve as you can :)

krogerfeed schedule · Answer

Thanks for the information keep sharing such informative post keep suggesting such post. AlaskasWorld

Devyani Gupta · Answer

@sonimadhuri James Clear's Atomic Habits is one of the best habit formation books I've read - a lot of the same principles as Hooked!

Madhuri · Answer

Hey Min, nice question. Don't have an answer but do you have any references to dig deeper into making habit forming products? I am reading 'Hooked' but its quite overwhelming.

Madhuri · Answer

@min_zhou I am also building something along the same lines(for developers). Its ironical how people acknowledge the algorithms ruining their state of mind but not taking any action against it and keep falling into the trap.

What features or UI/UX designs do you think are the secret ingredients of habit-forming products?

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