If you want to build a product that sticks like super glue in your customer’s brain, you have to master the art of habit. 

It’s not enough to just have a product they like…you need a product they can’t live without. 

When you create a habit-forming product, you stop begging people to use it. 

Instead, they keep coming back on their own, without a single ad in sight. 

Why? Because you’ve become a part of their routine, their life. 

It’s like printing money. Higher customer lifetime value, more pricing power, and a massive edge over your competition. That’s what happens when you’ve got habits on your side.

This weekend I revisited my notes from the book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal. It’s the ultimate guide to crafting a product your customers can’t live without. 

I thought I’d share them with you…

The Hook Model

• The Hook Model are four phases—Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, and Investment—which companies can use to build habits:some text
  1. Trigger: External (ex: notifications) or internal (ex: emotions like boredom or loneliness) triggers prompt users to take action.
  2. Action: Simplify the user’s ability to take the next step by making the desired behavior easier to complete than to ignore. Make it easier to click that button than to think about it. Fogg’s Behavior Model explains this process.
  3. Variable Reward: Throw in some uncertainty, give them a dopamine rush. Incorporate unpredictable rewards to create desire and keep users engaged.
  4. Investment: Users must contribute something (time, data, inviting friends, etc.), which increases their likelihood of returning

Make ‘Em Emotional

• Identify the negative or positive emotions driving your users (ex: fear of missing out, desire for social connection) to create powerful internal triggers.
• Leverage pleasure vs. pain, hope vs. fear, and social acceptance vs. rejection to inspire action. Humans are wired to avoid pain. Find out what makes your customers tick, trigger those emotions, then hand them your product like it’s the only solution.

Make It Easy, Stupid

• If it’s hard, they won’t do it. You need to grease the wheels so they slide right into action without even thinking. Make it so easy they don’t have to think twice. You want a simple, smooth, “duh” moment. Time, money, physical effort, mental effort, social deviance, non-routine actions—remove as many obstacles as you can. Products that simplify steps or reduce effort to complete an action will see higher adoption and frequent engagement

Variable Rewards

• Don’t give them what they expect. Surprise them. Make your product deliver a mix of predictable and unexpected rewards. Examples include social rewards, content discovery, and gamified elements. This keeps them coming back for more.

Get Them Invested

• Once your users put something into the product—whether it’s time, money, or effort—you’ve got ‘em. They’ve invested. They’re locked in. You’ve made it so they want to come back because they’ve already built something with you. Investments make the product more valuable with every use.

Keep Improving

• You can’t rely on your gut. You’ve gotta test, test, test. Product managers should continuously test and analyze the habit-forming potential of their products by evaluating user behavior. Find where they get stuck and fix it. 
• Focus on understanding what triggers user actions and what behaviors are forming into habits to guide product improvements. Pay attention to how your users behave and adjust. Constantly refine your product. Make it easier, more habit-forming, and more tailored to their needs. 

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