Product
Hooked
Nir Eyal
2014
Summary
Hooked explains why some products become daily habits while most are quickly forgotten. Nir Eyal's Hook Model is a four-step process embedded in the most successful consumer products: a trigger (internal or external) prompts an action, which delivers a variable reward, which leads the user to invest something that makes the next trigger more likely. Understanding this cycle helps product teams design for genuine engagement rather than gimmicks.
Key Takeaways
- 1The Hook Model: Trigger → Action → Variable Reward → Investment
- 2Internal triggers (emotions, routines) are more powerful than external ones (notifications, ads)
- 3Variable rewards — unpredictable outcomes — are what make products compulsive
- 4Investment phase (data, reputation, followers) makes users less likely to leave
- 5Habit-forming products reduce friction to the minimum viable action
- 6Use the Hook Model ethically: design for behaviors users genuinely want to have