retention-design

Overview

Based on Hooked by Nir Eyal. The Hook Model is a four-phase loop that drives habit formation in products. Habits require frequent, perceived utility, and a degree of pain when the habit is disrupted. Products that become habits are harder to churn from - not because users are locked in, but because the product genuinely fills a need they return to automatically.

The four phases: Trigger - Action - Variable Reward - Investment

Use this skill ethically. Eyal's own caveat: design habits for products that genuinely improve users' lives. Manipulating users into unhealthy habits is both wrong and unsustainable.

Workflow

Step 1: Define the habit you want to create

What behavior should become automatic?

• Frequency target: daily / weekly / monthly?
• Context: when and where does this behavior occur?
• Current alternative: what do users do today instead?