Do you want to know how psychology affects our decision? How it's connect with our actions and how to use it in our favor of our products. Psychology behind mobile apps is all about understanding what makes users tick and us digital products.

1. Psychology behind mobile
apps
Piotr Biegun,Whalla Labs
@piotrbiegun
MobileTrends Conference, Kraków 2015

2. ‘Software is eating the
world’Marc Andreessen, 2011

3. Software is booming, but …

4. ‘For the first time,
the technology industry
is selling to everybody’
Benedict Evans, 2014

5. device
in every pocket

6. Smartphones don’t interfere with our life
Smartphones aren’t innovation anymore
Smartphones are part of our life.This means that innovation called
„smatphones” is fully adopted.

7. That means that we have
new restrictions &
opportunities
we need to take into
account

8. There is a limit to number of apps
smartphone user has
The limit is ~100 apps per
smartphone user.
But probably they will use
~30 of them on monthly basis.

9. We spend more & more time in the
apps
Even if there is the limit
of apps we will be using
in the future we will use them
more frequently, spending even
more time in them.

10. Power user is the new casual
Users will use demand
smartphones to enhance
everyday life – work,
entertainment, productivity,
sport.
Most of them will become power
users very soon.

11. Mobile is everywhere
Mobility will be in even more areas very
soon
Mobile is taking over areas
whereTV, PCs or consoles have
their strenghts.
We are going to see a lot process
innovation using mobile as a
core of it.

12. Only in 3 yrs app revenues will increase 2x
times

13. In 3 yrs mobile ads spending will increase
2x times

14. Why is mobile
overtaking PCs?

15. Smartphone – the most
private device we take
everywhere
75% of Americans admit they’re using their mobile phone in the bathroom.
19% of people from other study admit they dropped their phones into loo.
51 % of UK residents said that they suffer from ‘extreme tech anxiety’ when
separated from their devices.

16. When we use
smartphones
we are:

17. 1. Particular need
similar as in case of using PCs
Satisfying

18. 2. Specific timeframe
similar as in case of using PCs
Within

19. 3. Access to new
sensors camera, GPS,
accelerometer
WOW!That’s it.
That’s something new!
That’s differentiation from PCs.
While having

20. 4. Each time in
different situations
and contexts
Using the same app with different context gives us different results.
People using the same app, place and in own context will have personalized results.
That’s another differentiation from PCs.
Using apps

21. The effect is change
in interaction model
We use mobiles when we need, not when we merely have a possibility to.
We have many quick interactions to do small things.
That’s something new and we need to design for it.

22. Users have similar
problems but individual
way to solve them
The most successful apps focus on solving one problem at a time.
That’s why we have so many apps in stores.
This is the true power of mobile.

23. What is the biggest
challange for desginers?

24. We have only 24 hours
of user attention

25. Users don’t multitask.
Users can use in given moment only one app.
They have many distractors around them. Switching apps is so easy.
We need to catch their attention in the right time with the right message.

26. We have to design
actions – intents
alignement
For the last 20 years we were focused on CTRs not on people.
Researches are showing that the ads effectiveness is more dependent on ads creation
and our interactions time than on our clicks.That’s why a big change
is coming – attention economy.
We have to draw people attention in our apps and align actions with their plans

27. We need to assume for a
fact:
User’s brain is stupid.
It’s not that brain isn’t capable of doing things. It’s that representation of things are
different and our brain takes shortcuts.We do things we don’t really want.
This is how our brain operates when it’s flooded with too much information.
As a designers we need to take care of it and help users to do things better.

28. We have two „brains”,
which sometimes don’t
work togheter

29. Logic
al
Automa
tic
Used when our brain know how to
respond for stimulus. Our brain triggers
response without our knowledge.
Used when we brain doesn’t know how
to respond for stimulus. We need to
take extra effort to response.
We don’t make rational decisions (Daniel Kahneman, Nobel in Economy 2002).
Sometimes our automatic brain response to things that we don’t know
and our logical brain doesn’t notice it.

30. What users do isn’t what
they want to do.
Our decision system has constrains:
• Scarcity of self control -> is easier to say than to do things
• Scarcity of attention -> we are focused on wrong aspects
• Scarcity of cognitive capacity -> we perceive things in different ways
• Scarcity of understanding -> we have different mental representation of things

31. Innovation in mobile is
the new interface
New interface makes things easier.We need less effort to make action.
That’s why we have so many interactions in mobile -> there is less effort
need to accomplish our tasks.
We can solve many problems by removing small unpleasant costs of doing things.

32. We are influenced by our
emotions
We think deeper (analytically) when we are stressed.
We think wider (creatively) when we are in good mood.

33. Beautiful things work better,
even if they don’t.
We perceive things on three levels (Don Norman):
• Visceral -> we are attracted to things that are nice in our eyes.
• Behavioral -> things that we do automatically, our habits.
• Reflective-> It’s our inside voice.Why are you doing it? It’s ok to do it?

34. Great products change
user behavior
We solve users problems by making their pains go away.
With our products we have to change how users do things.
From our perspective great products build new habits.
Mobile is about building new habits.

35. Habit – a behavior done
with little or no
conscious thought
We need to show users how to use Automatic Brain, when they use our product.
As a product designers we are responsible for our products.
We should design for good things not addictions.

36. Habit forming is about
frequency and attitude
The more we repeat actions the easier for our brain is to do it
and positive attitude makes it even easier

37. Forming habits –HOOKed
model
by Nir Eyal

38. The hook – is an
experience designed to
connect user’s problem
to your solution
A hook has a four parts:
• Trigger
• Action
• Reward
• Investment

39. Nir Eyal

40. Trigger – a stimuli that
makes people act in a
certain way
External– the information for what to do next is within the trigger.
Internal– the information for what to do next is informed trough
association in the user’s memory.

41. Action – the simplest
action
in anticipation of a
reward
BJ Fogg - for any behavior to occur we need:
• Motivation
• Ability
• Trigger

42. Motivation – is increased
by:
• Seeking pleasure
• Avoiding pain
• Seeking hope
• Avoiding fear
• Seeking acceptance
• Avoiding rejection

43. Ability – is affected
by:
• Time
• Money
• Physical effort
• Brain cycles
• Social deviance
• Non-routine

44. Reward – what we get
for
our effort
Our reward system activates with anticipation and calms when we get what we want.
The unknown is fascinating.Variability causes us to focus and engage.
Rewards:
• Tribe – social rewards
• Hunt – search for resources
• Self – search for self-achievements

45. Investment – what user
put
for future benefits
Money, time, personal data, emotional commitment, effort
Investment should be connected with next pass through the Hook:
• Loads next trigger of the hook
• Store value, improves next use of a product

46. The HOOK Canvas

47. Examples

48. Examples

49. piotr.biegun@whallalabs.co
m
+48 607 127 551
@piotrbiegun
piotr.biegun
Piotr Biegun, CEO
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