Hooked

Editorial review

The book that made consumer-tech product managers fluent in 'trigger / action / variable reward / investment.' It reads almost like a confession; Eyal's later 'Indistractable' is its ethical mirror.

AI-distilled summary

Nir Eyal presents a four-step Hook Model — Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, Investment — used by the most engaging consumer products to build durable user habits. Each chapter pairs case studies (Twitter, Pinterest, Slack) with concrete design questions for product teams.

Key takeaways

• 1

  Habit-forming products require a trigger, an easy action, a variable reward, and an investment loop.

• 2

  Variable rewards (especially social and self-mastery) are the most powerful kind.

• 3

  Investment increases the chance the user comes back — for everything from photos uploaded to followers earned.

• 4

  Build morality into product design, or someone else will design without it.