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Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products?
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23 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
> it's like they think i'm only on their site to earn rubies
They're nudging you for continuous interaction. The idea is to get you to make it a routine.
Relevant book recommendation:
https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
Hey, I just graduated from IIIT BBSR, now I'm at IIT BBSR doing research. If you need detailed guidance please PM me direct or I usually attend Quora Meetups ( Reddit BBSR subreddit is dead ) or Dev Meets in BBSR. We could meet in person for a nice chat.
Here's a short outline on what I think you should do:
Individually:
- ACM ICPC is really important. Focus on this. So is Google Code Jam.
- Focus only on C/C++/Java and Python. 4 Years won't still be enough. For making your website/portfolio you could learn HTML/CSS and JS. For some frustration and joy, add a functional language, my top pick goes to Haskell.
- Find a passion. Competitive isn't going to take forward very far as it's basically solving solved questions. It's practice. Passion in a field of CS or maybe something applied.
- Open source contributions and designing habit forming products. Check this book by Nir Eyal which goes by the same name.
- Read Code Complete 2, Pragmatic Programmer, make stackoverflow your Facebook. Don't answer if you can't, but read. Read. And code.
- Apply for Internships! Startups are nicer as the team is small so you'll learn a lot of new things.
Group/Social stuff:
- ACM ICPC is a group event. Finding 2 friends in your college won't be difficult, I guess, who share the same passion.
- Teachers aren't just bad in your college, they are present at every college. Ignore them and let's rather be graceful than sulk with remorse.
- You have the whole city to explore. Go grab an Ola/Uber and visit institutes or email Profs you want to work with. BBSR has really nice people provided you search right.
Above all, don't do something because it's the trend. Do if it's fun. Sorry for the brevity and not much of an expert advice on the job/software product market as my career is mostly research and a bit of entrepreneurship.
For the very best of times,
Ankit
Check out the book "Hooked"
https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
It's largely an instruction manual for how to build super addictive apps, and driving these highly emotional dopamine responses is a big part of it.
There is literally a very popular industry pop book called Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. This sits on the shelf of every software product team everywhere.
It does have a chapter discussing the ethics of persuasion though. It's not a terrible, evil book but that that title should tell you everything you need to know about the approach to designing user experiences and the cutthroat jostling for a larger user base.
The algo feeds what people want see. Creating bubbles where someone rarely sees anything to challenge their beliefs, be it political or otherwise. Because seeing conflicting ideas and arguments gives people discomfort. The algorithm doesn't want to create discomfort, it wants to create clicks and engagement.
Social media uses rules from gambling like never give someone the idea of a loss. Facebook won't notify you when someone unfriends you. Twitter won't notify you when someone unfollows you. There's a whole (perverted) psychological science behind it. I can highly recommend te book "Hooked" if you want to learn about it.
It is all very bad in many ways. I find it saddening you can't really agree to disagree with people anymore. At least online its a big issue. In real life not so much, people are much more reasonable. But you didn't do any of that, which is nice! I think we don't agree on many things but we can stil have a conversation without name calling. Rare but good, thank you!
https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
> These developers are assholes that know exactly what they are doing.
They sure do - Hooked came out in 2014 and changed the whole landscape. App developers actively seek out and exploit all kinds of psychological weak spots to make people addicted to their apps.
Honestly I think it should be illegal and I wouldn't be surprised if the government cracks down on it in the same way that they cracked down on big tobacco - it is damaging to the younger generations growing up with it.
Thanks, these sound exactly like what I was looking for.
Just a thing about the first book: I've already read Hooked by Nyr Eal (https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788), would you say that the one by Alter is pretty much the same thing?
100% it's bad, apps and websites exploit weakness in our brain to get us attached. One of the most widely read books in the field is called Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Not really all that secret either. Look at the UX books that get into app architecture/design:
For the uninitiated - 'Hooked - how to make habit forming products' is on pretty much every start-up's bookshelf in Silicone Valley.
https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
I know he's kidding. Right? May I suggest some reading for his or anyone's endeavor?
The future of software isn’t an app. It’s a habit
>"The companies that establish habits are the ones that will win"
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
You have to have features that engage and hook your users so that they can't even fathom using silly services without features and incentives.
Steam Sales. Steam Sales Discovery card drops? Steam Market. I think Valve have created an engaging and habit forming product in Steam.
- from an ethical standpoint XPAW your game store might just pass the regret test? At least you are not using features and incentives to manipulate consumers? But, most customers want entertained and manipulated. Right?
>the techniques used by product managers at the world’s largest companies are equal parts psychology and technology
How many physiologist do Epic have hired? Anyone?
This one? https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
I'll order it now, thanks!
Same here! Social media is just a machine created by the most intelligent people (engineers, psychologists, economics) to get ourselves hooked.
If you want to read about that phenomenon, I really recommend this book:
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Nir-Eyal/dp/1591847788
And well, I guess you are a man, so this may also interest you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpVnXJl3GK8
I'm glad you don't have social media, keep it like that and keep fighting for your goals!
God bless you!
Hooked and Contagious also both touch on this as well.
If anyone in the app development world is perusing here I highly recommend the book "Hooked". Required reading IMO. https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
<u>Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products</u> by Nir Eyal is a playbook of dirty tricks aimed at product designers.
Did you see any captologists on the roll call? One B.J. Fogg per chance? Maybe not, but I'm certain there must have been some Stanford graduates. I'm sure if you aggragated the reading lists of developers you'd see Nir Eyal time and time again.
Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products, by Nir Eyal is another good one!
yes, behaviorist ideas are heavily used in advertizing and videogame design. Here is a good read on that: https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
Psychologist They already know what you want to know as a student, you should just ask them or read a book
There’s a neurological explanation: dopamine. See how you use rewards / payout
>prize draw to win 1 of 5 Amazon Gift Cards worth $50 USD, or 1 Samsung Galaxy Tablet
which makes us want to repeat behavior? GG
> Isn't it weird that so many of its users seems to dislike the app - and yet, we're all still there? I kept wondering that.
https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788
It's actually "essential" that I eliminate my smartphone & social media. The more I learn about the brain science of app developers stimulating the reward centers of the brain over and over (dopamine), making us chemically addicted to likes, tweets, invites, etc -- that is NOT essential.
An iphone for minimalists is a flip phone that only has SMS.
Being chemically addicted to a cute, slightly radioactive screen is not essential - it's getting your brain hijacked. (sources here and here and especially here if you're interested.)
My tech EDC right now is an iphone SE and a macbook air. I use an internet blocker as much as possible and I'm still tweaking RescueTime to optimize how much time I'm wasting on the net. I killed twitter last month, the detox was a bitch and I'm giving myself until the end of this weekend to kill reddit.
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