CXL minidegree Digital Psychology and Persuasion Review Part 10

Hey! I am back again with my 10th week of reviewing CXL’s minidegree in Digital Psychology and Persuasion. In this post, my review would be based on the mini-course Psychology of Products.
Here’s what you can expect from this post,

1. A short recap of last week’s lesson
2. The four-step framework to build habits and high customer satisfaction around your product
3. Real-life applications to fully optimize the framework to its full potential
4. My opinion on the mini-course Psychology of Products

As usual here’s a disclaimer: Since this course has an exhaustive list of knowledge only a few of the key areas will be covered and I will provide a review based on the entire course at the end of the post.

The Recap
Emotional design is vital to a higher rate of conversion. This is best proven by Netflix’s registration process where they had manipulated emotions so well that users are having trouble saying no. In short, Netflix reemphasizes its main benefit throughout their entire registration process. This, in turn, reduces the fear among new users while simultaneously creating the fear of missing out which drives conversion like crazy.

The four-step framework to build habits and high customer satisfaction around your product

Engage your users

Complete the action

Keep them coming back

Create investment

Engage your users
The most addictive apps such as Facebook and Instagram have thousands of competitors. They are certainly not the first nor the last in the industry. Yet, how could they still manipulate the market with many competitors that are offering almost the same functionality in their products?

Well, you could give them credit for their user design that is backed up by psychology. In fact, they are well adapted that they are making it so easy for their product users to act without any thoughts solely based on their design itself. In a nutshell, they always design their product based on the ways that the users can use the product for their own benefit.

To keep their users engaged they design their products with both internal and external triggers. External triggers are controllable signals that are used to prompt users to start engaging with a product. Normally external triggers are designed to be very clear, exciting, and engaging while delivering them at the right timing. Common external triggers include notifications, emails, text messages, ads, and strong calls to action.

Meanwhile, internal triggers are generated without any push. Internal triggers can be classified as the sudden urge to use without any prompts. Typically, negative emotions such as boredom, hunger or to be specific the ‘hangry’ feeling and angst prompt users to use these apps as a form of stress relievers.

If you want to engage your customers just like the big brands do, identify their internal triggers and the types of external triggers that will keep them engaged.

Complete the action
To achieve this goal, we must understand that building a new habit is not easy. However, accumulating small almost to the point of minuscule behavior can form a new habit. That is why customers should be exposed to tiny commitments before they are exposed to a big commitment. This is because when they are in a habit of committing the small actions previously they are more likely to commit to bigger commitments.

Keep them Coming Back
In this section, we are exposed to the truth that habits are not formed based on will but rather follow a system. The system indicates in order for a habit to form it should start with a cue(trigger), that creates a routine that needed to be done to get a reward. Hence, that’s why social media apps are so addictive as users are continually been bombarded with rewards in the form of likes, shares, and social engagement. Remember in order to get your customers to use your product often; reward them.

To apply this framework to your product, identify the rewards your users usually receive when a particular action is completed and how you could make the rewards more addictive for them.

Create investment
It’s sufficient to say a successful product does not need only rewards but also investment from its users. No, not a financial investment but other investments such as skills. Customers are always eager to see their progress and to be rewarded for it. Hence, by integrating progress with a good user experience that rewards their specialization in your product will increase their tendency to stick with your brand. This is mostly due to the fact, that they will find it a hassle to switch to other brands as they have mastered and worked out the tiny kinks in your product. Let’s not forget that, they are also are very addicted due to your reward system that is triggering them to use your product for the reward that they like. Shortly to say, the more your users are invested in your product, the harder is it for them to switch products or even try new products.

A prime example of the excellent execution of this framework would be IKEA. Since IKEA is mostly DIY-ed, the customers are always left with the feeling of achievement and proud of their handwork. This in turn creates a strong impression that attracts customers again and again. This technique was so successful that the term ‘IKEA effect’ was created.

To further make sure your users are more invested in your products, you should plan on how to build investment inducing user experience along with rewards for your product. Furthermore, listing the steps required for investment and rewards should help you to see the bigger picture.

Conclusion
With all that been settled, I would like to give out my personal verdict on this week’s lesson. Has it achieved its aim to educate marketers on how to build habits and high customer satisfaction around a product? Yes, it does. The four-step framework has provided many useful insights on how to build the right habits and high satisfaction with a product. In fact, much other valuable knowledge I had gained from this week is not covered in this post. So, I would like you as a reader to check it out yourself; to find out more about what you are missing out.
See you next week!