4 Steps To Building The Ultimate Addictive Product.

Step 1: Trigger

At the heart of the Hook Model lies the concept of the “Trigger,” the initial spark that propels users toward a product or service. 

Triggers can be broadly categorized into two types: external and internal. 

Understanding these triggers is crucial for designing interactions that naturally draw users into the engagement cycle of a product.

External Triggers are cues from the environment that tell the user what to do next through explicit prompts. 

These can include anything from push notifications and email alerts to advertisements and social media posts. 

For instance, a notification from a fitness app reminding you to log your daily workout acts as an external trigger. 

Another example is a promotional email from a streaming service suggesting a new series based on your watching habits. 

These triggers are direct and aim to elicit an immediate response from the user.

Internal Triggers, on the other hand, are cues triggered by user thoughts, emotions, or pre-existing routines. 

These are often linked to feelings of discomfort like boredom, loneliness, or stress, which the product can help alleviate. 

For example, feeling bored might prompt a user to open a social media app to feel connected or entertained. 

Another common internal trigger is the habit of checking a news app each morning. Here, the trigger is not a specific notification but a part of the user’s daily routine or emotional state.

As a marketing expert, I’ve seen firsthand how critical it is for marketers to identify and implement effective triggers. 

The process begins with a deep understanding of the target audience’s behaviors, preferences, and pain points. 

Marketers can gather this intelligence through user research methods such as surveys, interviews, and usage data analytics. 

Analyzing when and how frequently users engage with the product can reveal what drives them to take action.

Once these triggers are identified, they can be optimized to become more compelling. 

For example, if data shows that users often engage with an app when they are feeling stressed, marketers might focus on enhancing features that are soothing or distracting, and highlight these through targeted external triggers.

In my experience, the most effective triggers are those that seamlessly fit into the user’s life and resonate on a personal level. 

They not only prompt action but are also deeply integrated with the user’s emotional or cognitive rhythms. 

For marketers aiming to make their product a habitual part of users’ lives, crafting finely tuned triggers based on user behavior and preferences is not just beneficial—it’s essential.

Step 2: Action

Once a trigger has effectively captured the user’s attention, the next step in the Hook Model is the “Action.” 

This component is crucial because it translates user interest into concrete behavior that engages them with the product. 

An action, in this context, is the simplest behavior in anticipation of a reward. It should be so effortless that the user has little reason to opt out.

For an action to be effectively integrated into the Hook Model, it must meet several key criteria:

• Ease of Use: The action must be easy to perform, with minimal physical or cognitive effort required from the user. The simpler the action, the more likely it is to be performed.
• Clear Instructions: Users should have a clear understanding of what to do and what to expect as a result. Ambiguity can deter action, so clarity is paramount.
• Immediate Availability: The opportunity to act must be readily accessible at the moment the trigger occurs. If users have to wait or go through several steps, the impulse to act may wane.

Consider the example of Twitter. The action of tweeting or retweeting is designed to be incredibly simple. A user can tweet with just a few taps, responding instantly to the trigger of wanting to share a thought or react to a post. 

The immediate feedback loop, in the form of likes and retweets, also reinforces the action, making it more likely to be repeated.

Another example is Amazon’s “1-Click” ordering system. By reducing the action to a single click, Amazon removed nearly every barrier to purchasing. 

The action is straightforward, and the path to completion is crystal clear, making it highly effective at converting interest into sales.

From my personal perspective, the genius of designing for action lies in understanding the user’s context and streamlining the process to fit within that context. 

For instance, mobile apps often simplify actions to gestures like swiping or tapping, aligning with how users interact with their devices. 

This harmonization between the user’s behavior and the product’s interface enhances the likelihood of the action being taken.

Marketers and product designers must think deeply about the actions they want users to take and then remove as many obstacles as possible. 

Whether it’s signing up, making a purchase, or sharing content, the action should feel natural and almost thoughtless. 

This seamlessness is what transforms occasional users into loyal, habitual ones. 

Through this lens, the design of actions is not just about usability—it’s about creating an intuitive flow that users are eager to follow.

Step 3: Variable Reward

A pivotal aspect of the Hook Model is the “Variable Reward” phase, where the action taken by the user is met with a reward that varies in its nature or intensity. 

The unpredictability of these rewards is what makes them so captivating and effective at sustaining user engagement. 

Humans are naturally drawn to variability, particularly in the context of rewards, as it triggers a dopamine-driven pleasure response in the brain that encourages repeated behavior.

Variable rewards can be categorized into three types, each targeting a different aspect of human desire:

• The Tribe: Social rewards that create connections and enhance one’s status within a group. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are prime examples. The variable reward comes in the form of likes, comments, and shares, which provide social validation and reinforce the user’s sense of belonging and importance within their social circles.
• The Hunt: This type of reward is tied to the pursuit of material or informational gains. eBay uses this mechanism effectively through its bidding system. Users experience the thrill of the chase and the excitement of potentially winning an item at a good price. The unpredictability of whether one will win the auction and how much they will pay is a powerful motivator to keep users coming back.
• The Self: Intrinsic rewards that involve personal gratification or self-fulfillment. Fitness apps like Strava or Fitbit leverage this type of reward by tracking personal achievements, such as beating a personal best in a run. The reward is the personal satisfaction and the enhanced sense of personal achievement.

From a marketing perspective, I find the concept of variable rewards particularly fascinating because it taps into fundamental aspects of human psychology. 

By varying the type of reward, products can appeal to a broader range of motivations and keep the user experience fresh and engaging.

For example, video games often master the art of variable rewards. Games like Fortnite offer a mix of rewards: social (playing with friends and socializing), the hunt (searching for items and achieving victory), and the self (developing skills and achieving high scores). 

This combination keeps players engaged for long periods, with each play session offering a different set of rewards.

The effectiveness of variable rewards in maintaining high levels of user engagement cannot be overstated. They create a compelling reason for users to return, driving habit formation and loyalty. 

For creators and marketers, understanding how to properly integrate these rewards into their products is critical. It involves not just knowing what users want, but how they want it delivered — unpredictably. 

The challenge and opportunity lie in balancing these rewards in a way that feels satisfying and yet always leaves users wanting more.

Step 4: Investment

The final component of the Hook Model is “Investment,” which occurs when a user contributes something of value to the system, enhancing their future interactions with the product. 

This phase is critical because it increases the user’s commitment to the product and makes it harder for them to disengage. 

The investments users make can take various forms, each fostering a deeper connection between the user and the product.

Types of Investment:

• Time: Users invest time in customizing or setting up their preferences within an app or platform. For example, Spotify users spend time creating playlists. This investment not only improves their experience (by tailoring the music to their tastes) but also makes them more likely to return, as they have built a personalized music library that isn’t easily replicable on other platforms.
• Data: By providing personal information, users help the system to tailor experiences, offers, or content to their preferences. Google services, like Maps or Search, are prime examples. The more data users input, the more personalized and useful the results become, which, in turn, makes Google’s services more indispensable to the user.
• Effort: This can be seen in platforms like LinkedIn, where users spend considerable effort to build and maintain their professional profiles and networks. This investment not only enhances their own experience but also increases the utility of the platform as a whole, with more connections and richer profiles leading to better networking opportunities.
• Social Capital: Users contribute social capital by engaging with others within the platform, as seen on social media sites like Twitter or Facebook. By posting content, commenting, and interacting with others, users build social networks and a sense of community, which becomes a self-reinforcing reason to stay engaged with the platform.
• Money: Financial investments increase the stakes for the user, such as when subscribing to premium features in an app. An example is cloud storage services like Dropbox, where users not only store their data but also pay for more space as their storage needs grow. This financial commitment makes switching costs higher, thereby increasing user dependency.

From my perspective, the investment phase is where the relationship between the product and the user truly solidifies. It turns casual users into committed ones by tying their success and satisfaction directly to the product’s use. 

The clever aspect of investment in the Hook Model is that it not only increases the perceived value of the product but also leverages a powerful psychological principle known as the “sunk cost fallacy,” where people continue an endeavor because of the cumulative prior investment of resources; thus, the more they invest, the less likely they are to abandon the product.

Investments done right can transform a product from being merely useful to becoming a critical part of a user’s daily routine or professional life. 

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, understanding and facilitating these investments can be a key differentiator in the crowded market. It’s not just about creating a product that people use, but creating one that they cannot imagine living without.