[kcdc 2025] designing for behavioral change – the science behind habit-forming products

Speaker: Preston Chandler

For more see the table of contents


General

  • Why do some products become second nature while others are forgotten – valuable, fun, etc

Habit Loop

  • Cue -> Response -> Reward
  • If you put a golf ball near a nest, a goose will pull it into nest. Maximizes number of chicks from when egg rolls out of nest

Hook Model

  • Trigger -> Action -> Variable reward -> investment
  • Investment can be effort/time/money
  • Consultants expensive. If free, wouldn’t care about. “That was just $100 of advice”
  • Variable rewards are more appealing than predictable ones. ex: gambling
  • Some things need to be predictable – ex: excel formula

B=MAP

  • behavior = motivation * ability * prompt
  • Cathedral in Milan – had to sign up for entry with a QR code. Prompt was QR code. Motivated to get in. Couldn’t get website to work after 20-30 minutes

Effort vs Reward

  • Amazon – easy – buy now button, reward by getting stuff faster, microtransactions, made easy for you to give them money.
  • Tiktok – easy – just scroll down and get gratification. Variable reward; not every video good. Also dark pattern.
  • US Treasury – hard. Keyboard where click each letter and not in order. Changed since
  • hard website – abandon
  • AT&T – expensive. Negative reward compared to others. 8 hours to leave service. Multiple calls to customer service. People will never go back if left dissatisfied
  • Rewards – money, time, scrolling motivation
  • Checklists motivate most people, satisfaction of moving as done
  • Line of sight goals are motivating. Ex: daily goals, gold coins
  • Different people motivated by different things

Dark Patterns

  • Sign up for newsletter and get 30% in
  • Confusing radio buttons on whether to opt in
  • Link with very little contrast to background so can barely see
  • Company and user incentives not aligned

Voice Assistant

  • Use for music, timer, shopping
  • Sticky because personalizable to you

DuoLingo

  • Motivated to keep streak alive. Child said didn’t have enough time to finish homework. Said ok because went zoo. But wanted to keep streak
  • Easy to pick up, don’t need a lot of time
  • Bird will look angry and shame you – dark pattern
  • Constantly upselling – dark pattern

Exercise

  • For trigger clarity, action simplicity, reward value and investment payoff, think about obstacle today and how make better

Other

  • Behavior is deisgnable – ex: clear trigger, low effort
  • Ethics = engagement + trust
  • Small changes can have a big impact. If hose squished, have a constraint and hardly any water goes though. Must fix that to improve

Playbook

  • Identify internal/external triggers
  • Minimize friction, simplify first action
  • Offer variable rewards tied to meaning
  • Encourage invementment, effort builds attachment
  • Align outcomes with user values

Creativity

  • Chore Kanban
  • Have ChatGPT make budget a Shakespearean sonnet

My take

Great examples to understand ideas. Fun examples

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