1. Becoming a Foursquare Addict James Mao – 5/13/10 habits.stanford.edu CC: http://bit.ly/3yJ7Xc

2. Background Foursquare (4sq) Location based service that lets you find your friends near you Check in via web, app, or SMS Fun gaming elements (badges, mayor-ing) www.foursquare.com Behavior Grid A way of describing and thinking about behavior change 15 ways behavior can change www.behaviorgrid.org

4. Starting out The user learns about 4sq Watching a friend use it Hearing friends tweet/blog about it Creates a new 4sq account Tries 4sq a couple times May be on a friend’s account

5. User types We’ll segment 4sq users into 3 types Browser based (less ability) App based (more ability) Addicts All real 4sq addicts use an mobile app Location awareness (increases ability by making it easy to check in)

6. Two types of users Browser Users Select location each time Higher difficulty, more time  less ability Less engagement Session storage issues (sometimes automatic logout) Trial users start here (browser is preinstalled) App Users Location awareness 1-click check in, easier  more ability Higher engagement One time cost (time) to install app

7. Browser users  Addict Bookmarking 4sq lowers barriers (slightly) Check in for a while This is a Span (time limited) behavior because the action is too difficult Cannot sustain browser UI for frequent check in User either loses interest or eventually buys a 4sq capable phone

8. App users  Addict One time install of the 4sq app Easy, repeat of known behavior (BlueDot) Try checking in for a while User tries different frequency of check in to determine interest User either loses interest or settles into a habit (Addict!)

9. Addict behavior User has found a frequency of check in that suits lifestyle Check in for life (BlueSpan) Becomes a part of the routine, like email

10. Maintenance of addiction 4sq uses badges to boost user actions for a period of time (PurplePath) Badges are permanent, some temporary boost 4sq uses “Mayor-ing” to boost user actions Being mayor requires constant check in Span behavior

11. Conclusion Behavior Grid model provides language to describe 4sq’s user acquisition model Allows for analysis and comparison of acquisition flows for different services