Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. The M.I.T. Technology Review dubbed Nir, “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology.” Nir is the author of the bestselling book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. In this presentation, Nir highlights products that use persuasive design to improve people's lives.

1. <$100 on street>
• Any economists in the room? Good let’s make fun of them for
a moment.
• There’s an old joke about economists’ assumptions about our
human rationality and efficient markets. The joke goes.
• “Two economists are walking down the street. One sees a
$100 bill lying on the sidewalk and says, “Look! There’s $100
bill!” The second economist responds, “Nah, that’s not a $100
bill. If it was, someone would have picked it up already.”
• So the joke illustrates a point. Some times there are $100 bills
laying around that people don’t bother to pick-up…

2. <$100 on street>
• Any economists in the room? Good let’s make fun of them for
a moment.
• There’s an old joke about economists’ assumptions about our
human rationality and efficient markets. The joke goes.
• “Two economists are walking down the street. One sees a
$100 bill lying on the sidewalk and says, “Look! There’s $100
bill!” The second economist responds, “Nah, that’s not a $100
bill. If it was, someone would have picked it up already.”
• So the joke illustrates a point. Some times there are $100 bills
laying around that people don’t bother to pick-up…
ARE YOU
minting value
people aren’t
picking-up?

3. • 58% of those eligible do NOT
claim benefits from the
Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families program.
• 54% of those eligible do NOT
access Supplemental Security
Income (“food stamps”).
• “Earned Income Tax Credit is
neglected by an estimated 6.7
million eligible people each
year – 25% of the population
of eligible individuals.”
Source: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds/docs/bhargava/bhargava_takeup
%20aer%202015.pdf and http://www.misbehavingbook.org/blog/
2016/1/20/why-dont-people-take-free-cash

4. • 23,000 products launch every
year in the U.S., but 80% fail.
• Only 3% of consumer packaged
goods succeed at launch.
• Less than 1 percent of apps in
Apple app store will be
financially successful.
• 92% of startups fail within 3
years.
• 75% of venture-backed tech
startups fail to return investor
capital.
Source: Nielsen 2014, Harvard Business Review 2011, Shikhar Ghosh,
Harvard Business School, Startup Genome Report, Gartner Research

5. GOOD PRODUCTS
die for bad reasons.
Illustration: Kristian Bjornard

6. <poor kid>
OPPORTUNITIES
to help people are
slipping through
our fingers

7. THIS IS WHY
we are here today

8. Source: Inspired by Ideas42
People know what they want and
act consistently.
Preferences change based on
context.
Motivate through awareness.
People just need the right
information.
Motivation forms intention but that’s
not enough to drive behavior.
People fail to act because they
don’t value what’s being offered.
Inaction is often the result of
barriers, not lack of intent.
Figure out what the user is doing
wrong and make them do it right.
Fix what’s wrong with experience.
BUILDING PRODUCTS BUILDING BEHAVIORS
Build the best technology. Use the right psychology.

9. EXAMPLES
show us what’s
possible

12. Level of motivation and ability determines if action
will occur … but move ability first.
MOTIVATION
ABILITY
TRIGGER
SUCCEEDS
TRIGGER
FAILS
ABILITY
MOTIVATION
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University

13. WHAT’S IN
people’s way?

14. Earned Income Tax Credit Study
Source: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds/docs/bhargava/Bhargava_Takeup%20AER%202015.pdf

15. Simplicity really matters
Source: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds/docs/bhargava/Bhargava_Takeup%20AER%202015.pdf
64%

16. “…the lowest-income workers … had
roughly twice as large of a response to
mailer simplification as did recipients
above median income. In short,
simplification matters – and it
matters most for the people who
have the least.”
Source: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds/docs/bhargava/Bhargava_Takeup%20AER%202015.pdf

19. Source: Pantry

20. Source: Glide

21. Source: Uber

23. Source: Product Hunt

24. Source: Dexcom

25. WE CAN
design healthy
habits
Source: 7Cups

27. OPPORTUNITIES
to help people
live better lives

28. THANK YOU
let’s get to work