We live in an age where technology is a part of almost everything we do: from when the alarm rings to wake us up in the morning, to when we check social media before going to bed at night. Most of us feel an urge to check our smartphones every time we hear the notification bell. We casually open Facebook or Instagram and scroll through our newsfeed when we are in line at the supermarket. We have developed something of an addiction, forming habits that 10 years ago would have seemed crazy. How did this happen? Let us first try to understand what a habit is: psychologists say that the term habit denotes an "automatic behaviour that is triggered by a situational signal", or to put it simply, an action that we perform automatically in certain circumstances.
Anyone who creates a product today must ask themselves the following question: How can I get my users to continue using my product? The answer is simple: invent a habit-forming product. To do this, product developers need to understand the mechanism that triggers the repeated use of any product or service. If you want your users to form habits, you need to guide them through a series of steps: the more often these steps are repeated, the more likely they are to become a habit.
These steps can be observed in any behaviour that creeps into our minds, thus turning that behaviour into a habit:
- Trigger – the signal that sets the action in motion. There are two types: internal and external.
- Action – what we do, usually with the expectation of a reward.
- Variable reward – creates a desire for the user.
- Investment – the user invests something – money, time, or effort – ensuring that the cycle will repeat itself in the future.
