Optimal Work Daily - Career, Productivity and Entrepreneurship

1601: User Investment: Make Your Users Do the Work by Nir Eyal of NirAndFar

Feb 17, 2025

Exploring the concept of user investment, the discussion highlights how small efforts from users can deepen their commitment to products. Rather than simplifying everything, successful platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn encourage users to engage actively. This investment turns services into indispensable parts of daily life. The episode also touches on habit formation, illustrating how even minor contributions can elevate user engagement and retention. It's a fascinating look at how effort enhances value and connection with technology.

11:54

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Quick takeaways

User investment, where users exert effort on tasks, significantly enhances their commitment and attachment to a product.

Effective habit-forming products leverage both stored value and network effects, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of user engagement and satisfaction.

Deep dives

The Concept of User Investment

User investment, the idea that having users exert effort on a task can enhance their commitment to a product, is a key insight. Research has shown that when users engage in more effortful actions, such as choosing their own lottery numbers, they are more likely to continue using the product, despite the absence of an increased chance of winning. This phenomenon highlights how perceived investment can create a psychological commitment that makes users feel more attached to their choices. Ultimately, by encouraging users to invest time, effort, or resources, companies can create deeper engagement with their products and services.

The Importance of User Investment in Product Design

2min

The Power of User Investment in Habit Formation

9min

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Episode 1601:

Expending effort on a product makes users more committed to it, a concept known as "user investment." Instead of always making things easier, successful habit-forming products like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Evernote encourage small investments - such as following someone, entering data, or contributing content - that increase a service's value over time. When stored value meets a network effect, user commitment deepens, making the product an integral part of daily life.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.nirandfar.com/2012/07/makeyourusersdothework.html

Quotes to ponder:

"Despite the considerable effort required to pick the lottery numbers, a process reminiscent of filling out multiple choice questions on a test, players valued the tickets they spent the time and effort picking."

"The tiny bit of effort associated with providing workplace information created a hook the system could use to get users to return."

"The more users invest in a way of doing things through tiny bits of work, the more valuable the service becomes in their lives and the less they question its use."

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