How to make users addicted to your product? 5 steps!

"Information overload" is the current situation, and "APP is downloaded but not used" is also the current situation. Is it because users' subjective will is not strong, or is it because the product strength is insufficient? What is the user psychological motivation behind this situation? How to create products that make users "addicted"?

In this era of information explosion, "information overload" poses an increasing challenge to PMs. Almost all apps are enjoying the war for users' attention. Making products that make users "addicted" is the ultimate pursuit of all product personnel.

Will users buy into the PM’s original intention for the project? As a veteran APP unlocking killer, I have a certain say. Excluding those that come with the mobile phone system, I have more than 100 APPs on my phone, but I only use about 15 of them frequently, and the rest are "comfort APPs".

What is a “comfort app”? That is the APP that “you will feel unhappy if you don’t download it, but you won’t want to uninstall it if you don’t use it after downloading it”. Let’s understand the psychological motivations and practical factors behind this.

@Mingfang: “My classmate recommended it to me. He said that I would need English a lot after I start working, so he recommended that I download “Scallop Word” and “Bai Ci Zhan”. However, I only used them for a week and didn’t make it a habit. ”

@笑笑大王: "After work, everyone is constantly recharging themselves. I downloaded the "Library" and after downloading it, I felt like I was reading a book. ”

@摇摇: “I downloaded The Paper because I majored in journalism in college. If I don’t download this kind of app, I feel like I’m not a professional journalist. However, the chance of opening it is very small.” ”

@Dear Jing: “I downloaded “Everyone is a Product Manager ” because I wanted to be a product manager before, but now I’m a teacher, so I rarely open it again. ”

@Tuantuan: "My boyfriend bought this game for me when I downloaded it . Although I don't play it now, I spent money on it and I can't bear to uninstall it. I will play it again if I have nothing to do in the future."

@铛铛: "Everyone was playing " Travel Frog " some time ago, so I downloaded it. At that time, I couldn't bind my account, so if I uninstalled it, the data couldn't be saved, and I would never be able to get my Daidai back, so even if I kept it on my phone, it would be a kind of comfort." ”

@hey Sam: "I downloaded "keep". People around me are working out and losing weight, so I also want to try it out. But I only watched it while lying in bed when I first downloaded it. Watching it is like exercising. You can say I am very Buddhist." ”

@亦已: “I downloaded travel apps such as Mafengwo and Xiaozhu. I always thought that I would need them whenever I traveled. If I didn’t download them, I would feel that my life was missing something. As a result, I opened them about once a year.”

@鲜小小的: “My colleague has it on his phone, so I have to download it too, otherwise I won’t be able to fight back when he shows off to me first. Especially the recent popular apps, such as TikTok , and content-based apps. I download them just to show off, but I never use them once. But I think I can use them next time, so I don’t uninstall them.”

I believe that everyone’s empathy can easily make it easier for them to understand this fact – users’ subjective desire to download apps is definitely positive, especially for learning and tool- based apps. So why are those dusty apps being neglected?

The reason is: this app does not meet the user's demand for "getting a big improvement with less effort", that is, this app is not easy to use.

People are lazy and are emotional and conceptual animals. Most people think according to the situation and have no systematic logical system. This is a weakness of human nature. Except for a small number of people who have strict self-discipline, know exactly what they want, and have a set of self-improvement mechanisms, most users are mid-level users of Internet products, that is, they account for the largest proportion and are also the main target users of APPs, especially learning or tool-based APPs, where this performance is more obvious.

The most obvious psychological characteristic of this group of mid-level users is: "I hope to gain the most knowledge with the least effort." Of course, their behavioral characteristics are also very obvious. They are easy to buy various courses, but if they don't use them after purchasing, their anxiety will increase. If the product design can make users feel more fulfilled, then stickiness will be created.

I think the ideas of Himalaya FM and WeChat Reading are very good. If you don’t like reading and feel sleepy when you read, then I will read to you. You will feel tired if you listen for too long, so I will break down the book and read it to you.

He grasped the users' laziness, thereby lowering the threshold for users to acquire knowledge, and users naturally bought into it.

There are also many real feedbacks from users about the product:

@Xiao Ya: Many apps have unclear positioning and too many different contents. Even if they have some advantages or features, they are affected by unnecessary contents. If the first experience is unsuccessful, they will not be used again.

@Lane: There is information overload and users can obtain information in many ways. If you want to increase stickiness, you have to create some characteristics.

@兰宗主: The APP does not have a good user portrait system, nor does it have a user activity mechanism. I think we should use tags to specify different push activity mechanisms for different users. This will greatly improve the activity of the product. Otherwise, if it pushes me some types that I am not interested in, it will be difficult for me to open it again.

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First of all, we’d better lay the foundation for explosive growth - identify the needs and make good products.

Many people believe that the low usage rate, low traffic , and low daily activity of APPs are attributed to the lack of good channels and insufficient exposure. This is only one reason. According to the previous analysis of users' "download but not use" behavior, users do not become dependent on your APP. A big reason is insufficient product strength, that is, the APP is not attractive enough to users.

Products with extremely strong product power will be promoted with great success. Users will overcome obstacles, actively seek them out, and spread the product spontaneously. This power is huge, so making a useful app is the key.

The second is the operation and promotion stage, which is divided into four stages:

That is, the incentive that prompts users to take certain actions, and it is the beginning of the user's linkage effect.

For example, when you are browsing your Moments , you see a friend sharing a Tik Tok video (external trigger). After you click on it and watch it, you feel happy and interested. Not only can you watch other people’s funny videos, but you can also post short videos of your own. You may even become an inexplicable celebrity like Wen Wan (internal trigger), so you download Tik Tok without hesitation.

Therefore, in order to increase the probability of touching users, the APP must be operated and promoted on multiple platforms and channels to enhance product exposure.

Action is an act performed with the expectation of some reward. In order to increase the frequency of people's behavior, pay attention to two points: 1. The behavior is simple and easy to operate. 2. The user has this subjective desire.

Douyin users can download Douyin, register and log in to watch and record videos. There are also various background music to choose from. It is simple and easy to operate.

Be careful not to set obstacles for users. Setting obstacles for users will only cause trouble for yourself. For some APPs, you cannot log in using WeChat , QQ or other platform accounts, and you must register with your mobile phone number. There are also APPs that are confusing, you can’t find the functions you want, and they are difficult to operate, which will cause user loss.

The difference between the addiction model and ordinary feedback loops is that it can stimulate people's strong desire for a certain thing. Providing varying rewards for “installing” a product is an important means of attracting users.

Scientific research shows that when people anticipate a reward, the amount of dopamine secreted in their brains increases dramatically. The greater the variable of the reward, the richer the neurotransmitter secreted by the brain, causing people to enter a state of concentration, and the part responsible for needs and desires is activated.

For example, one day at noon, you choose to order food through Ele.me. After you successfully place the order, Ele.me immediately pops up a red envelope sharing window, telling you that "you and your friends have red envelopes to receive" and the amount received in the red envelope can be used for the next food order. After you share, you find that what you shared is a "lucky red envelope". Only the nth person who receives it can get a large red envelope, and the rest are small amounts. Sometimes you click and get 1 yuan, or even 50 cents. Occasionally, if you are lucky, you win a big package, which may be 5-10 yuan. When you draw a big pack, dopamine is secreted in large quantities, giving you extraordinary pleasure.

Variable rewards give users a sense of stimulation and excitement, thereby generating lasting enthusiasm for the product.

This is the final step in the addiction model and the final step in the relationship between the user and the product. Investment occurs when users provide their personal data and social capital, their time, energy, and money to a product.

Investment does not mean that users are willing to spend money, but that user behavior can improve the quality of subsequent services. Adding followers, adding to favorites, downloading and sharing, and learning about new product features are all investments made by users to improve the product experience.

By making good use of addiction theory, we can effectively make users "addicted" to using our products , but everything should be done in moderation. Because as long as it is an "addiction", there is a possibility of being "quit", just like you will get tired of the videos pushed to you by Tik Tok after watching them too many times, and finally uninstall the software. Therefore, cultivating loyal users is the fundamental thing, and delivering valuable information to users is the most important thing to retain users.

"Information overload" is the current situation, and many apps are "downloaded but not used". As the threshold for app downloads becomes lower and lower, user experience becomes more and more important. Whether it is from the product design, product interaction, smart use of products, or motivating reward mechanisms, in order to create products that make users addicted, product personnel really need to spend more time and effort to improve product strength. Every link is crucial.

The author of this article is @51coo小士妹. It is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games