Helping Users Create Good Habits @ MCE 2017

HELPING USERS CREATE GOOD

HABITS@MOSTGOODSALLY SHEPARD

@mostgood MCE 2017

WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT HABITS?

@mostgood MCE 2017

I play Candy Crush for research purposes

@mostgood MCE 2017

IS THIS TALK ABOUT ENGINEERING OR DESIGN?

@mostgood MCE 2017

THIS TALK IS BOTH ENGINEERING & DESIGN

@mostgood MCE 2017

1) BASICS OF HABITS 2) IMPLEMENTING HABITS 3) TESTING HABITS

@mostgood MCE 2017

BASICS OF HABITS!

@mostgood MCE 2017

WHY BUILD HABITS?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Downloads do not equal users.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Downloads

Opens app

1 day later

1 month later

1 week later

2 weeks later

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

(top grossing apps)

@mostgood MCE 2017

What makes these apps so successful?

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

They develop habits with users.

@mostgood MCE 2017

WHAT IS A HABIT?

@mostgood MCE 2017

A habit is created when a behaviour is repeated.

Behaviour = Habit

@mostgood MCE 2017

Motivation

Trigger Action

@mostgood MCE 2017

Motivation

Trigger Action

@mostgood MCE 2017

Behaviour

Motivation

Trigger Action

@mostgood MCE 2017

= HabitBehaviour

@mostgood MCE 2017

Habit Hook1) Trigger 2) Action 3) Reward 4) Investment

@mostgood MCE 2017

ACTIONTRIGGER

REWARDINVESTMENT

@mostgood MCE 2017

!

@mostgood MCE 2017

What brings users to your app?External trigger:

1MAIL

I’m a new message!Read me! Read me! Read me!

32m ago

@mostgood MCE 2017

What brings users to your app?Internal trigger:

I should check my email

@mostgood MCE 2017

♺ Internal triggers

External triggers

@mostgood MCE 2017

ACTIONTRIGGER

REWARDINVESTMENT

@mostgood MCE 2017

Action: The thing a user needs to do.

@mostgood MCE 2017

1) Understand reason for using app/feature. 2) List all steps. 3) Simplify by removing steps.

Action ⬌ Ability

@mostgood MCE 2017

“the greatest return on investment will generally come from increasing a product’s ease-of-use.”

-‘Hooked’ by Nir Eyal

@mostgood MCE 2017

List every step then remove as

many as possible

@mostgood MCE 2017

ACTIONTRIGGER

REWARDINVESTMENT

@mostgood MCE 2017

Possible rewards: Unlocking in-app content Awards Sense of completion Status

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

❤Variability

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

ACTIONTRIGGER

REWARDINVESTMENT

@mostgood MCE 2017

# $ % &

Investments

@mostgood MCE 2017

Investment should work towards improving the

users experience.

@mostgood MCE 2017

IMPLEMENTING HABITS!

@mostgood MCE 2017

Build habits around goals.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Start with the goal the user

wants to achieve.

@mostgood MCE 2017

I want to run 5k I want to be healthier I want to sleep better I want to be less stressed I want to improve my singing I want to lose weight

@mostgood MCE 2017

List possible reasons why they want to achieve their goals.

@mostgood MCE 2017

“I want to improve my singing”

Karaoke Night

Sing in choir

Band wants to record

Professional singer To serenade someone

Reunion performance Improve confidence

Performing in musical

Why might you want to improve your singing?

Love singing

@mostgood MCE 2017

Thinking about the ‘why’ behind a goal,

how can you motivate users?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Triggers need to include a motivation.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Actions should be simple to understand and easy to complete.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Rewards should align with motivations from the trigger,

and contribute to the users goal.

@mostgood MCE 2017

The size of investment you can ask for, is

proportional to how long they’ve used the app.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Ask for investments right

after rewards.

@mostgood MCE 2017

STREAKS & HABITS

@mostgood MCE 2017

⌚What’s your longest move streak?

(Check in the activity app on your phone, in the Achievements tab)

@mostgood MCE 2017

Hard streaks: Requires completing an action in every 24h period.

(

@mostgood MCE 2017

Soft streaks: Doesn’t require completing an action in every 24h period.

)

@mostgood MCE 2017

Dangers of Hard Streaks: Missing a day means starting over. You might never get that user back. The very happy user can become very angry. Not everyone responds to streaks.

@mostgood MCE 2017

You can soften a hard streak by better defining what a day is.

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

Who goes to sleep after midnight?

✋

@mostgood MCE 2017+-

People do not magically reset at midnight!

,

@mostgood MCE 2017+-

People do not magically reset at midnight!

.,/

@mostgood MCE 2017

Don’t be lazy about date calculation in streaks.

Time zones exist and you need to account for them.

@mostgood MCE 2017

We place significance on doing something a

certain number of times.

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

If you place significance on doing something a

certain number of times, make sure it’s consistent.

@mostgood MCE 2017

HABIT EXAMPLE

@mostgood MCE 2017

Goal: “I want to improve my singing”

@mostgood MCE 2017

External trigger: Push notification

@mostgood MCE 2017

Action: Complete daily vocal exercises.

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

Reward: -Completion of action -Grading -Points to level up -Data about my performance -Streak

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

Investment: Review the app…

@mostgood MCE 2017

TESTING HABITS!

@mostgood MCE 2017

ARE MY HABITS WORKING?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Analytics are your friend.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Analytics are like crash reports for user habits.

They help you analyse and debug what going on.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Analytics are only helpful if they give you a complete picture.

Track events that verify the success as well as the failure of each part of a habit.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Define what an ideal user is, then look for patterns.

Use these patterns to create more ideal users.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Twitter: follow 30 people and you’re

likely to stick around.

@mostgood MCE 2017

WHY ARE MY HABITS FAILING?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Where in the habit hook are users leaving? Find the leaks and fix them.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Analytics are not always the answer.

Sometimes you might need to dig deeper.

@mostgood MCE 2017

-Battery drain -Crashes -Uses too much data -Doesn’t work offline

@mostgood MCE 2017

Are triggers being triggered?

@mostgood MCE 2017

1st hurdle: enabling the trigger

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

Make triggers easy to turn on and off.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Are actions able to be completed?

@mostgood MCE 2017

012345

Root of action failure

Time Money Physical Effort

Brain Cycles

Social Deviance

Non-routine

@mostgood MCE 2017

Is the reward strong enough? Is there variability in the reward?

@mostgood MCE 2017

@mostgood MCE 2017

Is the investment too expensive? Are you asking just after the user received a great reward?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Thanks for completing your first day! Please fill out this 75-page long survey!

6

@mostgood MCE 2017

HABIT TIME MACHINE!

@mostgood MCE 2017

How does the habit time machine work? - Timescale - Questions - Empathy

@mostgood MCE 2017

DAILY 1 Day 7 Days 14 Days 21 Days 1 Month 2 Months 4 Months 6 Months 1 Year

WEEKLY 1 Week 2 Weeks 3 Weeks 1 Month 2 Months 4 Months 6 Months 1 Year 100 weeks

Timescale: -Regular intervals -Any milestones

@mostgood MCE 2017

Questions: 1) Are my triggers motivational? 2) Is the action too difficult? 3) Is the reward strong enough? 4) Has the investment improved their experience?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Empathy: What state will the app be in? What will happen if I miss a day? What kind of pressure do I feel? Am I closer to achieving my goal?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Trigger:

Where’s our motivation? Is this the same message I get everyday?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Trigger:

1 day in - this is fine 7 days in - I’m not motivated by this 2 months in - I’m turning off notifications

@mostgood MCE 2017

Trigger:You could include streak information - ‘Complete today’s training to increase your streak to 8 days! You could include information about the exercises - ‘Todays training includes Foundation, Agility and Head Voice’

@mostgood MCE 2017

Action:

Is the action too difficult?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Time Money Physical Effort

Brain Cycles

Social Deviance

Non-routine

012345

Root of action failure

@mostgood MCE 2017

Action:1 day in - I’m still getting the hang of this 7 days in - this is helping me 2 months in - this is taking too long! 4 months in - this is taking too long and the exercises are repetitive

@mostgood MCE 2017

Action:The more I practice, the more I increase my singing range. This means it takes longer to complete my exercises. This can result in me not wanting to expand my singing range 7

@mostgood MCE 2017

Action:

Time Money Physical Effort

Brain Cycles

Social Deviance

Non-routine

012345

@mostgood MCE 2017

Reward:

Is the reward strong enough?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Reward:1 day in - Woo! I’m awesome :) 7 days in - Yay, I levelled up! 2 months in - I don’t remember the last time I levelled up 4 months in - I wish it did more analysis for me

@mostgood MCE 2017

Reward:Levels are meaningless and it takes a super long time to level up. I want more than just basic stats. I don’t have any way to measure my overall success.

@mostgood MCE 2017

Investment:Has the investment improved their experience?

@mostgood MCE 2017

Investment:1 day in - Hmm 7 days in - Rate the app - OK 2 months in - Nothing… 4 months in - Nothing…

@mostgood MCE 2017

Investment:I’ve reviewed the app. I sent some feedback. It should prompt me to recheck my singing range at certain times. I don’t get any emails, I wonder what’s going on with the development?

@mostgood MCE 2017

HABITS VS ADDICTION

@mostgood MCE 2017

Habit

Addiction

@mostgood MCE 2017

Manipulate for good.

@mostgood MCE 2017E V I LDON’T BE

8

@mostgood MCE 2017

THANKS FOR LISTENING!@MOSTGOOD