Motivation and Attachment

Why a user is here decides whether they stay. This skill covers the reasons that exist before any mechanic is applied to them, and that survive when the mechanic is switched off.

Two halves. The first is segmentation — finding out which cohort actually retains, which is almost never the cohort your dashboard is loudest about. The second is attachment — making an optional behaviour feel like belonging rather than like a cost.

It does not own the mechanics that manufacture obligation (streaks, wagers, leagues), which live in [[../duo-streak-mechanics/SKILL]], nor the cue and surface work of getting a session started, which is return-trigger territory. Come here for the reason; go there for the machinery.

Segment by why, not by who

• [[references/segment-by-stated-motive-not-demographics]] — rank cohorts by the reason they gave at signup; relational motives out-engage instrumental ones, and externally imposed use is the most fragile fuel of all.
• [[references/identity-motives-outlast-utility-motives]] — a goal tied to who someone is has no completion condition and no substitute, so your smallest segment is often your most committed one.
• [[references/segment-by-life-stability-not-enthusiasm]] — a daily habit needs an unbroken daily context, so the most interested cohort is frequently the least consistent; check the age curve of your return metric before you design for it.

Read your engagement numbers honestly

• [[references/intensity-and-frequency-are-two-axes]] — session depth and return frequency are independent; name the off-diagonal cells, because the shallow-but-frequent and deep-but-rare users need opposite fixes.
• [[references/the-growth-cohort-is-not-the-retention-cohort]] — novelty-seeking and persistence are different traits and often inversely distributed, so split acquisition and retention by segment or you will build for the loud new users.