In a recent project, something a user said stood out to me. They described logging into an app daily because it gave them a ‘dopamine hit’ — a small burst of happiness that kept them logging back in for more. This comment got me thinking about why we use certain apps so often. What is it about these digital experiences that makes them a part of our daily lives and routines? As UX researchers, it’s our job to understand these behaviours and use that knowledge to help design apps and products that people genuinely enjoy.
What Gets Us Started
Every habit starts with a trigger—something that reminds or encourages us to take action. Triggers can be:
- External triggers, like notifications or emails, that prompt you to open an app.
- Internal triggers, like feelings or routines, that make you think of the app on your own.
Over time, repeated exposure to these external triggers fosters the development of internal triggers. For example, seeing a notification might remind you to check the app, but later you might do it just because you’re bored or curious. UX research can help you understand which triggers resonate most with your product’s user base. Engaging users through interviews or diary studies can help uncover which notifications, visuals, or other stimuli elicit positive emotional responses.
Making It Easy
Once a trigger happens, the next step is taking action. For apps, this could be as simple as logging in, tapping a button, or scrolling through content. The easier it is to do, the more likely people are to keep doing it.
To make actions easy, apps need to be simple and user-friendly. By observing how customers interact with a product, we can identify barriers and recommend design improvements that not only enhance usability but also increase the likelihood of habitual engagement. This approach ensures that motivation—whether intrinsic (e.g. the satisfaction of completing a challenge) or extrinsic (e.g.earning a reward)—is effectively harnessed.
Why We Stick Around
We all love a good reward. Whether it’s getting a discount, seeing likes on a post, or completing a challenge, rewards make us feel good. Apps can offer different kinds of rewards:
- Social rewards, like comments or likes from others.
- Material rewards, like points or discounts.
- Personal rewards, like a sense of achievement.
Sometimes, the best rewards are unpredictable. Not knowing exactly what you’ll get—like opening a mystery box or checking a leaderboard—can make the experience more exciting.
User researchers can play a key role in identifying which types of rewards resonate most with a target audience. For instance, surveys or focus groups can reveal whether users are more motivated by social recognition, tangible incentives, or a sense of personal accomplishment. Additionally, A/B testing different reward systems can provide empirical evidence on what drives sustained engagement.
Understanding Different Users
Not everyone uses apps for the same reasons. By understanding these distinctions, product teams can design features that align with specific user segments, fostering deeper engagement. For example, someone who likes a challenge might appreciate progress tracking, while someone who values social interaction might prefer sharing options.
Segmentation processes such as persona development, journey mapping, and motivation analysis allow researchers to capture the nuances of user behaviour. These insights not only inform feature design but also guide marketing strategies to better communicate the app’s value propositions to different audience groups.
Practical Applications
The findings from user research are only as valuable as their application. Translating insights into actionable recommendations requires collaboration with product teams, designers, and developers. For example:
- Encouraging repeat engagement – Design daily check-ins or streak-based rewards to cultivate habits.
- Leveraging variable rewards – Introduce unpredictability in rewards to maintain user interest.
- Streamlining usability – Address pain points identified through testing to reduce friction in user actions.
- Personalising experiences – Use segmentation insights to tailor features to distinct user motivations.
Final Thoughts
Apps that keep us coming back are often designed with our habits and motivations in mind. As UX researchers, our job is to understand these behaviours and help create experiences that people love. By focusing on what triggers actions, makes them easy, and rewards users, we can design apps that fit naturally into people’s lives while still being enjoyable and useful.
Armed with these insights, we can enable product teams to create solutions that not only meet user needs but also align with their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, ensuring sustained success in the competitive digital landscape. Contact us today
