Building A Desire Engine

What kind of advice should you listen to?
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
1. Advice that helps you build something people want
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
2. That ts your business model
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
3. That fullls your purpose in life.
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Ill try to help you with all three, if...
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
If...
- Your business depends on frequent user engagement. - You are not evil. Then, you should stay.
@nireyal NirAndFar.com
Spoiler: The answer is habits.
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Habits > Viral

Leaky Bucket
K >1
Viral Coefcient (K)
Spammy apps Facebook, Paypal, Pinterest
Rocket Ship
Garbage
K<1
Commitment Business
Evernote, Pandora, Amazon
Low
@nireyal
High
NirAndFar.com
Habit Potential
Me
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
A bias to build rst
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
How learn?
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Patterns
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com NirAndFar.com
OMG? businesses
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Vitamins or painkillers?
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Selling painkillers
- Obvious need - stop pain - Quantiable market - Monetizable
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Selling vitamins
- Emotional need, not efcacy - Makes me feel good knowing... - Unknown market
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Vitamins or painkillers?
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Habit when not doing causes pain.

Habit-forming technology
Pleasure seeking Pain alleviation
Vitamin
Painkiller
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Creating pain? (more of an itch)
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Best odds of success
= founder / market t
Access + Speed + Data Everything is becoming more addictive
Desire Engines create habits
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
The Desire Engine

Trigger
External Internal
Action
Investment
Var. Reward
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Remember: A TARI
A - A Desire Engine has 4 parts: T - Trigger A - Action R - Reward I - Investment
Trigger
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Trigger Examples
External Alarms Advertising Calls-to-action Emails Stores What to do next is in the trigger
@nireyal
Internal Emotions Routines Situations Places People What to do next is in the users head
NirAndFar.com
Habits arent created, they are built upon
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
External trigger

Formulate consistent calls-to-action. Each embedded answer to what is this for? supporting the internal trigger.
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Internal trigger

What is the existing behavior youre attaching to? When would user engage? Know the narrative. Every time you (verb), use ...
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
Negative emotions are powerful internal triggers

Dissatised Indecisive Lost Tense Fatigued Inferior
@nireyal
Fear of loss Bored Lonesome Confused Powerless Discouraged

NirAndFar.com
Habit-forming products provide a solution to an internally triggered problem.
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Depressed people check email more. (cause or effect?)
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
The Instagram moment
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Instagram triggers
External - FB and Twitter - App notications Internal - Fear of lossing the moment . . . - Bored, lonesome, curious...
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
Action
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
when doing < thinking = action

Fogg Behavior Model B = m.a.t.

motivation triggers
@nireyal
ability
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Motivators for Behavior

Sensation Anticipation Social Cohesion Seek: Pleasure Hope Acceptance Avoid: Pain Fear Rejection
@nireyal
motivation
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Factors of ability
Time Money Physical effort Brain cycles Social deviance Non-routine
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ability
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Focus on ability and triggers before motivation
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Focus on ability and triggers before motivation
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
How likely is the intended action?
B = m.a.t.
Sufcient motivation, high ability, clear triggers
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
How likely is the intended action (Tawkon)?
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Behaviors to actions with cross-functional teams

motivation = marketing triggers = interface design
ability = product
Variable Reward
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Curious by nature
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
We crave predictability
Variable rewards
drive us nuts
Compulsion to make
sense of cause and effect drives the search
Dopamine system
The search for rewards

the Tribe the Hunt
@nireyal
the Self
NirAndFar.com
Search for Social Rewards

the Tribe
- Acceptance - Sex - Power
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Search for Resources

the Hunt
- Food - Money - Information
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Search for Sensation

the Self
- Mastery - Consistency - Competency - Purpose
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Tribe, Hunt, or Self?
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
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
- Single-player games - Consumption of media
Innite Variability
- Multi-player games - Creation - Communities
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Investment
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Investment
Where user does a bit
of work.
Pays with something
of value: time, money, social capital, effort, emotional commitment, personal data ...
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
Doing work, increases commitment

- People who pick lottery numbers more likely to play. - Assign greater odds.
Langer, 1975
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Little investments, big results

Group 1: 83% refused Group 2: 76% accepted
Freedman & Fraser, 1966
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
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?
NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
Desire Engine Canvas

Trigger Action
Investment
Var. Reward
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
When Desire Engines works: High habit potential:

- Frequent behaviors - Fast cycles
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Cycles over time

Increase motivation and difculty of action
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
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? want user to want to scroll.
Make simple and dened. We

2. Think of what the INTERNAL TRIGGER will be.
Whats the existing behavior

youre 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?

NirAndFar.com
@nireyal
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)

NirAndFar.com
Change frequency and amplitude

@nireyal
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.
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Examples
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Email
T
Icon on phone Procrastinate, anxiety, thoughts of others.... Open unread messages
I
Write back Tribe, hunt and self
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Twitter (Consumer)
T
Facebook, friend, email ...
A
Scroll
I
Follow Information (Hunt)
@nireyal
NirAndFar.com
Twitter (Creator)
T
App icon, mention, message Boredom, curiosity, Lonesome
A
Re-Tweet or Tweet
I
Connect with others: @ reply, DM ...
@nireyal
R
Social feedback (Tribe)
NirAndFar.com
Be a facilitator.
BUILD the change you want to see in the world.
Please raise your phone in the air.

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What kind of advice should you listen to?

1. Advice that helps you build something people want

2. That ts your business model

3. That fullls your purpose in life.

Ill try to help you with all three, if...

Spoiler: The answer is habits.

Habits > Viral

A bias to build rst

- Obvious need - stop pain - Quantiable market - Monetizable

Habit when not doing causes pain.

Creating pain? (more of an itch)

Best odds of success

Access + Speed + Data Everything is becoming more addictive

Desire Engines create habits

The Desire Engine

Habits arent created, they are built upon

Negative emotions are powerful internal triggers

Fear of loss Bored Lonesome Confused Powerless Discouraged

Habit-forming products provide a solution to an internally triggered problem.

Depressed people check email more. (cause or effect?)

The Instagram moment

when doing < thinking = action

Fogg Behavior Model B = m.a.t.

Motivators for Behavior

Focus on ability and triggers before motivation

Focus on ability and triggers before motivation

How likely is the intended action?

Sufcient motivation, high ability, clear triggers

How likely is the intended action (Tawkon)?

Behaviors to actions with cross-functional teams

The search for rewards

Search for Social Rewards

Search for Resources

Search for Sensation

Tribe, Hunt, or Self?

Tribe, Hunt, or Self?

Tribe, Hunt, or Self?

Dare you not to scroll

Type (Tribe, Hunt, Self) Frequency Amplitude

Pays with something

Doing work, increases commitment

Little investments, big results

Freedman & Fraser, 1966

Loads the next

Desire Engine Canvas

When Desire Engines works: High habit potential:

Cycles over time

1. Start with the intended ACTION

What behavior does your

business model depend on? want user to want to scroll.

Make simple and dened. We

2. Think of what the INTERNAL TRIGGER will be.

Whats the existing behavior

When would user engage? Know the narrative. Every

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

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