I very nearly didn’t like this book. I’m not a fan of ideas that have the potential to make people addicted to things that could be bad for them. When I was young, I hated The Phantom of the Opera because of how much control the Phantom had over Christine.
I almost didn’t like this book because I don’t like the idea of people being under other people’s control.
The book talks about using triggers to get customers to use the product, actions they can take while using it, variable rewards to keep them guessing, and has them invest in the process so they keep coming back, and only then does it discuss the ethics of using the method. (“You know, you really should have stolen the whole book. The warnings come after the spells…”)
Nir Eyal talks about how nothing can be called a superpower unless it can be used for both good and evil. The ability to make habit-forming products is no more no less than that–a superpower.
He goes on to lay the foundation for what he holds as ethical use of building habit-forming products. I don’t remember the entire thing, but I do remember the right use, because it struck true to me.
If your product benefits your customer’s lives, and you, personally, would use your product habitually, then it is ethical to make it habit forming. I agree with this framework.
The reason for that is that there is a product that I believe would be immensely beneficial to building brain power, but the product is incredibly boring and difficult to get into a habit of using. (I’ll talk about this product another time.)
I would redesign that product so using it is fun and addictive, because that’s the only way to get the benefits of its brand of brain training.
So use the principles of this book to make it easier for people to improve themselves. That’s where its real strength is.
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