building a desire engine

@nireyal NirAndFar.com

What kind of advice should you listen to?


1. Advice that helps you build something people want


2. That fits your business model


3. That fulfills your purpose in life.


I’ll try to help you with all three, if...


If...

- Your business depends on frequent user engagement.

- You are not evil.

Then, you should stay.


Spoiler:The answer is habits.


Habit PotentialHighLow

Vir

al

Coe

ffici

ent

(K)

Leaky Bucket Rocket Ship

Commitment Business

Garbage

K < 1

K >1

Facebook, Paypal, Pinterest

Evernote, Pandora, Amazon

Spammy apps

Habits > Viral


Me


A bias to build first


How learn?

@nireyal NirAndFar.comNirAndFar.com

Patterns


“OMG? businesses”


Vitamins or painkillers?


Selling painkillers

- Obvious need - stop pain- Quantifiable market- Monetizable


Selling vitamins

- Emotional need, not efficacy- “Makes me feel good knowing...”- Unknown market


Vitamins or painkillers?


Habit when not doing

causes pain.


Habit-forming technology

Vitamin Painkiller

Pleasure seeking

Pain alleviation


Creating pain?(more of an itch)


Best odds of success

= founder / market fit

Access+ Speed + Data

Everything is becoming more addictive


Desire Engines create habits


The Desire EngineTrigger Action

Var. RewardInvestment

ExternalInternal


Remember: A TARI

A - A Desire Engine has 4 parts:

T - Trigger

A - Action

R - Reward

I - Investment


Trigger


Trigger ExamplesExternal Internal

AlarmsAdvertising

Calls-to-actionEmailsStores

EmotionsRoutinesSituations

PlacesPeople

What to do next is in the trigger

What to do next is in the user’s head


Habits aren’t created, they are built upon


• Formulate consistent calls-to-action.

• Each embedded answer to “what is this for?” supporting the internal trigger.

External trigger


Internal trigger

• What is the existing behavior you’re attaching to?

• When would user engage?

• Know the narrative. “Every time you (verb), use ...”


DissatisfiedIndecisiveLostTenseFatiguedInferior

Fear of lossBored LonesomeConfusedPowerlessDiscouraged

Negative emotions are powerful internal triggers


Habit-forming products provide a solution to an

internally triggered problem.


Depressed people check email more.

(cause or effect?)


The “Instagram moment”


Instagram triggers

External Internal

- FB and Twitter- App notifications

- Fear of lossing the moment...- Bored, lonesome, curious...


Action


whendoing < thinking

= action


triggers

ability

B = m.a.t.

Fogg Behavior Modelm

otiv

atio

n


mot

ivat

ion

Motivators for Behavior

Seek:PleasureHopeAcceptance

Avoid:PainFear

Rejection

SensationAnticipation

Social Cohesion

@nireyal NirAndFar.comability

Factors of ability

TimeMoneyPhysical effortBrain cyclesSocial devianceNon-routine


Focus on ability and triggers before motivation


How likely is the intended action?

B = m.a.t.


Sufficient motivation,high ability, clear triggers


How likely is the intended action (Tawkon)?


triggers = interface design

ability = product

Behaviors to actions with cross-functional teams

mot

ivat

ion

= m

arke

ting


Variable Reward


Curious by nature


We crave predictability

• Variable rewards drive us nuts

• Compulsion to make sense of cause and effect

• Dopamine system drives the search


The search for rewards

the Hunt

the Tribe

the Self


Search for Social Rewards

theTribe

- Acceptance- Sex- Power


Search for Resources

theHunt

- Food- Money- Information


Search for Sensation

theSelf

- Mastery- Consistency- Competency- Purpose


Tribe, Hunt, or Self?


Dare you not to scroll


Rewards Levers

•Type (Tribe, Hunt, Self)

•Frequency

•Amplitude

Keep ‘em guessing


Rewards Decay• As rewards become predictable, they

become less novel

Finite Variability Infinite Variability

- Single-player games- Consumption of media

- Multi-player games- Creation- Communities


Investment


Investment

• Where user does a bit of “work.”

• “Pays” with something of value: time, money, social capital, effort, emotional commitment, personal data ...


- People who pick lottery numbers more likely to play.

- Assign greater odds.

Langer, 1975

Doing work, increases commitment


Little investments, big results

Group 1: 83% refused

Group 2: 76% accepted

Freedman & Fraser, 1966


Investment is about future rewards that

makes the next action more likely.


Investing in Any.do• Investment into the

product with time, data, and social capital

• Loads the next external trigger and teaches the internal trigger - when? and what for?


Desire Engine CanvasTrigger Action

Var. RewardInvestment


When Desire Engines works:

High habit potential:- Frequent behaviors

- Fast cycles


Cycles over time Increase motivation

and difficulty of action


The Desire Engine helps you create and prioritize

hypotheses to test.


1. Start with the intended ACTION

• What behavior does your business model depend on?

• Make simple and defined. “We want user to want to scroll.”


2. Think of what the INTERNAL TRIGGER will be.

• What’s the existing behavior you’re attaching to?

• When would user engage?

• Know the narrative. “Every time you (verb), use ...”


3. Find the EXTERNAL TRIGGER(s)

• Formulate calls-to-action.

• Each embedded with a consistent answer to “what is this for?”


4. Add

VARIABLE REWARDS• Must be authentic and meaningful

to the user.

• Formulate multiple hypotheses using various types of “searches for rewards” (tribe, hunt, self)

• Change frequency and amplitude


5. Ask for INVESTMENT

• Does it increase the likelihood of the next cycle through Desire Engine?

• Time, money, social capital, data, emotional commitment, physical effort.


Examples


EmailT A

RI

Icon on phoneOpen unread messages

Write back

Procrastinate, anxiety, thoughts of others....

Tribe, hunt and self


Twitter (Consumer)T A

RI

Facebook, friend, email ...

Scroll

Information(Hunt)Follow


Twitter (Creator)T A

RI

App icon, mention, messageRe-Tweet or Tweet

Social feedback(Tribe)

Connect with others: @ reply, DM ...

Boredom, curiosity, Lonesome


Be a facilitator.

BUILD the change you want to see in the world.


Please raise your phone in the air.


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