Hooked Book Summary

How to Build Habit-Forming Products

by Nir Eyal212

TL;DR

Hooked by Nir Eyal provides a comprehensive guide to creating habit-forming products using the four-step Hook Model, based on years of research and practical experience.

What is Hooked about

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal explores the intricacies of consumer habits and product psychology. The book introduces the Hook Model, a four-step process that many successful companies use to subtly encourage user behavior and create products that people return to repeatedly. Through detailed examples and actionable insights, Eyal explains how products like the iPhone, Twitter, and Pinterest achieve their habit-forming status. Written for product managers, designers, marketers, and start-up founders, the book serves as a practical guide for building better, more engaging products.

Hooked 6 Key Takeaways

The Hook Model

The core concept of the book, the Hook Model, consists of four steps: Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, and Investment. These steps work together to create habits in users.

Triggers

Triggers are cues that prompt users to take action. They can be external, such as notifications, or internal, such as emotions or thoughts.

Actions

Actions are the behaviors users perform in anticipation of a reward. Eyal discusses how to design these actions to be as simple and enticing as possible.

Variable Rewards

Variable rewards keep users engaged by offering unpredictable outcomes. This unpredictability encourages repeated engagement as users seek the reward.

Investment

Investment refers to the time, effort, or data users put into a product. The more users invest, the more likely they are to return.

Practical Applications

Eyal provides actionable steps and real-world examples to help readers apply the Hook Model to their own products, making the book a practical guide rather than just theoretical.

Top Hooked Quotes

  • Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (the motivation to do).
  • The companies that know how to create user habits understand the power of external triggers and use them to their advantage.

Who should read Hooked?

Hooked is ideal for product managers, designers, marketers, and start-up founders who aim to understand and leverage consumer behavior to create engaging products. It provides actionable insights and real-world examples that can benefit anyone involved in product development or marketing.

About the Author

Nir Eyal is a writer, educator, and consultant with extensive experience in consumer psychology and behavioral design. He has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. Eyal is also the author of 'Indistractable,' which explores techniques for maintaining focus and productivity in a world full of distractions.

Hooked Best Reviews

  • A must-read for anyone looking to understand and leverage the power of consumer habits. Eyal's insights are grounded in solid research and presented in an engaging, practical manner. – TechCrunch
  • Hooked is a guidebook for anyone who wants to build the kind of products that users keep coming back to. Eyal breaks down complex psychological concepts into easy-to-understand steps. – Forbes

Hooked FAQs

How spicy is the book Hooked?

Hooked focuses on consumer psychology and product development. It does not contain 'spicy' scenes and is suitable for a professional audience.

What is the Hooked book about?

Hooked is the result of Nir Eyal's years of research into consumer habits and psychology. The book teaches readers how to influence customer behavior and create habit-forming products.

Who should read Hooked?

Hooked is written for product managers, designers, marketers, start-up founders, and anyone interested in understanding how products influence behavior.

How many pages is Hooked by Nir Eyal?

Hooked is 256 pages long.