Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Picked this up to gain some insight into how tech companies keep us coming back
I was surprised and appreciative that the author took significant time to address the morality of 'hooking' users to their products and how these things can best be used for good.
I was surprised and appreciative that the author took significant time to address the morality of 'hooking' users to their products and how these things can best be used for good.
Good material, but the author narrated it himself and the quality is inconsistent. Should have used a professional.
Let me just start by saying this is probably one of the most malicious books I've ever read. Let me add the caveat that the author has no declared intention for this to be a recipe book for evil. No, we're not building "addictive" apps, we're building "habit-forming" products.
There's nothing about the book itself that is poorly written (other than the fact it is very obviously typographically stretched out to the length of a book) but just the underlying values of the book are insane.
This is the recipe for addictive technology. People like to say we're addicted to our phones and that's really not the case. We're addicted to the social medias. This book is the guide for how to make apps addictive and breaks into human psychology to figure out exactly how to keep people on their devices for as long as possible.
Eyal answers the question of if addictive apps are really good for the user, if they're just a nicety or a cure to a real problem with "Habit forming [addictive] technologies are both. These services seem at first to be offering nice-to-have vitamins, but once the habit is established, they provide an ongoing pain remedy." This is how drug dealers operate. You get the user hooked to the point they constantly need the product just to solve the problem created by the cure.
One thing we talk a lot about in the issues of social media addiction is that socials, with their algorithms designed to keep users on the app as long as possible, tend to provide content that is shocking, infuriating, or otherwise provoking. This model then leads to social media creating feelings of stress and anxiety in it's users, and when people are grinded down by algorithms, a lot of the time they'll only want to engage more with low-effort content consumption.
Page 48, "Emotions, particularly negative ones, are powerful internal triggers and greatly influence our daily routines. Feelings of boredom, loneliness, frustration, confusion, and indecisiveness often instigate a slight pain or irritation and prompt an almost instantaneous and often mindless action to quell the negative sensation [such as opening an app like TikTok or Instagram]." Granted, Eyal says in the following paragraph that positive emotions can also trigger users to use a product, but let's not kid ourselves. No one is having a beautiful day at the beach and thinking "some Youtube Shorts would be wonderful right about now." It's a vicious cycle of negative emotions in the real world then causing a trigger to open a social media only to have more negative emotions be pumped in by the app.
I think the saddest part is that the underlying theme of the book is the idea that these tactics have to be undertaken by companies that want to remain competitive and profitable. Hell, the book opens with the argument that habit-formation [addiction] is a good business practice. Even if your cute startup wants to take the moral high ground and not use any kind of psychological manipulation on its users, you'll be competing against business people who have no qualms about fighting to the death for what little of potential users attention they can attract.
At the end of the day, I shouldn't have purchased this book brand new. I do not support the author or his mission (he followed up this guide on how to create addictions with one teaching the reader that their addictions are their faults alone) however, I think this is a book a lot of people should read. It really exposes how a lot of smartphone apps function to keep user attention, and I think it can help some people overcome the dealing of attention that the target audience of this book provides.
There's nothing about the book itself that is poorly written (other than the fact it is very obviously typographically stretched out to the length of a book) but just the underlying values of the book are insane.
This is the recipe for addictive technology. People like to say we're addicted to our phones and that's really not the case. We're addicted to the social medias. This book is the guide for how to make apps addictive and breaks into human psychology to figure out exactly how to keep people on their devices for as long as possible.
Eyal answers the question of if addictive apps are really good for the user, if they're just a nicety or a cure to a real problem with "Habit forming [addictive] technologies are both. These services seem at first to be offering nice-to-have vitamins, but once the habit is established, they provide an ongoing pain remedy." This is how drug dealers operate. You get the user hooked to the point they constantly need the product just to solve the problem created by the cure.
One thing we talk a lot about in the issues of social media addiction is that socials, with their algorithms designed to keep users on the app as long as possible, tend to provide content that is shocking, infuriating, or otherwise provoking. This model then leads to social media creating feelings of stress and anxiety in it's users, and when people are grinded down by algorithms, a lot of the time they'll only want to engage more with low-effort content consumption.
Page 48, "Emotions, particularly negative ones, are powerful internal triggers and greatly influence our daily routines. Feelings of boredom, loneliness, frustration, confusion, and indecisiveness often instigate a slight pain or irritation and prompt an almost instantaneous and often mindless action to quell the negative sensation [such as opening an app like TikTok or Instagram]." Granted, Eyal says in the following paragraph that positive emotions can also trigger users to use a product, but let's not kid ourselves. No one is having a beautiful day at the beach and thinking "some Youtube Shorts would be wonderful right about now." It's a vicious cycle of negative emotions in the real world then causing a trigger to open a social media only to have more negative emotions be pumped in by the app.
I think the saddest part is that the underlying theme of the book is the idea that these tactics have to be undertaken by companies that want to remain competitive and profitable. Hell, the book opens with the argument that habit-formation [addiction] is a good business practice. Even if your cute startup wants to take the moral high ground and not use any kind of psychological manipulation on its users, you'll be competing against business people who have no qualms about fighting to the death for what little of potential users attention they can attract.
At the end of the day, I shouldn't have purchased this book brand new. I do not support the author or his mission (he followed up this guide on how to create addictions with one teaching the reader that their addictions are their faults alone) however, I think this is a book a lot of people should read. It really exposes how a lot of smartphone apps function to keep user attention, and I think it can help some people overcome the dealing of attention that the target audience of this book provides.
It's good, tells you what it says it would on the cover. If you're interested maybe read it.
I really enjoyed this book. It is interesting to read about how people get addicted to social media. His theories sync with all the habit books I have read. I didn't read this because I want to build some addictive product, but mostly because I wanted to learn about how they try to draw me in, and quite successfully do, it seems.
I have now read two of his books. After reading Indistractable, I turned off all the notifications on my laptop and on my phone. What a difference. I also signed up for FocusMate...which has been an interesting experience. Mostly positive! In this book I learned about an app called FitBod that I am really interested in. I think I might even pay for a subscription. He has good information!
I just recently read an article that really stuck with me. It was about the things you may be doing in the morning that actually ruin your day. First on the list was getting on your phone first thing. Then in the first pages of this book I read that 79% of smartphone owners check their device within 15 minutes of waking up every morning. The thought struck me: if I don't check my phone first thing in the morning, I'm ahead of 79% of the population out there! Perhaps I'm too competitive, but things like this are very motivating to me.
I have now read two of his books. After reading Indistractable, I turned off all the notifications on my laptop and on my phone. What a difference. I also signed up for FocusMate...which has been an interesting experience. Mostly positive! In this book I learned about an app called FitBod that I am really interested in. I think I might even pay for a subscription. He has good information!
I just recently read an article that really stuck with me. It was about the things you may be doing in the morning that actually ruin your day. First on the list was getting on your phone first thing. Then in the first pages of this book I read that 79% of smartphone owners check their device within 15 minutes of waking up every morning. The thought struck me: if I don't check my phone first thing in the morning, I'm ahead of 79% of the population out there! Perhaps I'm too competitive, but things like this are very motivating to me.
Good product design book. Many notes & follow ups to do after reading it
informative
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Indico esse livro para quem está pensando em criar um aplicativo para celulares.
Mostra algumas técnicas que podem ser eficazes para ampliar e manter a base de usuários. As dicas do autor certamente não se aplicam a todos os tipos de aplicativos; mas mesmo assim é interessante conhecer como as empresas de apps mantém o "vício" dos usuários.
Mostra algumas técnicas que podem ser eficazes para ampliar e manter a base de usuários. As dicas do autor certamente não se aplicam a todos os tipos de aplicativos; mas mesmo assim é interessante conhecer como as empresas de apps mantém o "vício" dos usuários.
medium-paced