I’ve constructed a framework for designing habit-forming products. The “desire engine” gives product makers and designers a model for thinking of the necessary components to create user behavior. Habit design is a super power. If used for good, habit design can enhance people’s lives with entertaining and even healthful routines. If used for evil, habits can quickly turn into wasteful addictions. The trinity of access, data, and speed creates new opportunities for habit-forming technologies to hook users and everything becomes more addictive. Companies need to know how to harness the power of the desire engine to improve peoples’ lives, while consumers need to understand the mechanics of behavior engineering to protect themselves from manipulation. More and more developers realize that their success hinges on understanding user behavior. I’ve used patterns collected from my 4 years in the gaming and advertising business and my year of research as a consultant and lecturer at the Stanford GSB, to create a tool, which should greatly improve the odds of success for a startup. For more, please see my blog at: http://www.nirandfar.com.
