Psychology of Design
How the design of digital products motivates user behaviour
Definitions of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and how behavioural techniques and ideas adopted by digital products influence user engagement
Imagine the following scenario: you’re running a marathon, you’re tired, your legs are heavy, fatigue is kicking in, and you feel like you can’t carry on. Suddenly, the race finish line appears on the horizon, and you now discover the inner energy to pick up the pace to reach your goal. This is a psychological phenomenon called motivation.
Motivation is an energy for action; an internal process that keeps us living.
During the marathon, you experienced a spark — an internal process called motivation. As soon as you saw the race finish line, you tapped into a wall of energy that endowed you with a drive and direction to accomplish your goal.
Now imagine the next scenario: you’re watching a vintage camera on eBay. The auction begins, and you put in a bid. With just 1 minute remaining, you feel yourself closing in on the prize, but then some ‘other bastard’ comes along and puts in a higher bid. You could let this one slide, but you’re adamant you will win. You choose to enter a tense bidding war, and by doing so, you go over budget. However, after 60 intense seconds, you achieve victory, and the precious piece of kit is yours!
Question: In the eBay story, what motivated you most?
A) The physical reward
B) The anticipation of winning
As we experienced in the eBay scenario, different external factors can influence our behaviour — for better or worse. In this article, we’ll address what motivation is and then identify what ways digital products motivate user behaviour.
Motivation is an inner-energy
Motivation is a drive or need, and a desire for change, either in the self or the environment. Motives direct our behaviour in many different ways — whether we’re running a marathon, bidding for an item, playing a game or learning a new skill; the inner energy encourages us to keep moving forward.
All humans are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain; to seek hope and avoid fear; and finally, to seek social acceptance and avoid rejection — Dr B. J. Fogg
Motivation can be defined as two basic types: extrinsic — everything that exists in the world, and intrinsic — what comes from the self — the individual.
Extrinsic motives — the world
Our desire for change or to seek a reward in our environment is referred to as extrinsic motivation. Just like running a marathon, the alterations in our world, including the sight of the race finish line and the sound of cheering crowds, increase our motivation to run faster.
Extrinsic motivation occurs when our behaviour is driven by external factors within the world
Extrinsic motives direct our behaviour to earn external rewards. As ultimate hunter-gatherers, we find satisfaction in seeking and owning physical items, such as badges, medals, certificates, and money. We also crave positive responses from social interaction; for example, we might adapt our behaviour to receive praise or recognition, or to achieve fame.
Not all motivation is positive. Fear is a tremendous motivator that can affect our behaviour in different environments, such as a place of work or even at the local supermarket. For example, when we worry about losing our job we might work harder. And, if you see people panic buying — filling up their trolleys full of toilet paper, what do you do? Copy their actions, or face the consequence of missing out?
Intrinsic motives — the self
Acting without any obvious external rewards is known as intrinsic motivation. This occurs when we do something interesting and enjoyable. For example, reading a book, playing a game, or learning a new skill, is naturally satisfying.
Intrinsic rewards are naturally satisfying and occur without any obvious external rewards
Intrinsic motivation comes from the self and directs our behaviour to satisfy different needs. According to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need, our motives start with physiological needs, such as water, food, and shelter. Once we attain these necessities, then we can move on to the next stages that are more essential for wellbeing and growth.
At the highest level of needs — self-actualisation — we want to fulfil our potential and be the best we can be. For example, you might have a desire to be a role model for your children, or have high hopes of achieving success in your job. Not only are intrinsic motives incredibly self-rewarding, but they’re longer-lasting and easier to sustain than their extrinsic counterpart.
Motivation in digital products
Companies in banking, gaming, education, retail, and other industries, adopt different techniques for stimulating consumer engagement in digital products. The social media networks you constantly check, and the fitness apps you use as part of your daily exercise routine, influence your behaviour in many weird and wonderful ways.
So how does the design of digital products motivate user behaviour?
To answer the question, we’ll assess some popular techniques and ideas on motivation — some of which are relatively new; others old yet still highly relevant. With each observation, we’ll understand how different motivators used in digital products influence behaviour.
Freemium model
A freemium model is simply a pricing strategy by which a product or service is charged for free, but monetizes purchases on additional features or goods. In gaming apps, players are motivated to spend real-world money to acquire new resources or access exclusive content, usually to make faster progress.
Freemium models are designed to influence people to invest real-money on premium rewards
In Supercell’s free-to-play game — Clash of the Clans, players are given the option of buying extras, such as green gems — a premium currency that can be exchanged for goods, such as troops and buildings. Players are more likely to purchase gems when they need to quickly acquire new resources or finish upgrades. By doing so, they can progress faster in achieving extrinsic rewards which range from winning battles to reaching higher-tiered leagues.
When a player’s investment pays off by defeating a hard opponent or by reaching a long distant league, they’ll find their achievement incredibly self-rewarding. Positive results can help build esteem and inspire players to make further in-game purchases to make even bigger progress.
Gamification
Gamification is the adoption of characteristics and mechanics from games to make products more fun and engaging. The concept is to keep people hooked by incentivising them with tangible rewards, such as points, milestones, badges, and leaderboards.
Although gamification is predominantly extrinsic, showing small signs of progress and constant praise can help build confidence and esteem. This stimulates intrinsic motives in thriving for further success or becoming the best you can be.
Gamification adds emotion and intensity; the hunt for external rewards keeps people amused and engaged
Retail brands particularly adopt gamification to motivate customer spending. Way back in 1995, eBay introduced a new and exciting way of shopping — online bidding. As we explored in a scenario at the beginning of this article, consumers are not only driven by acquiring the item but by beating ‘the other bastard’. There is even a thrill in the selling aspect of the online auction; receiving your first bid is an exciting moment, and collecting badges and statuses becomes a game in itself.
Point and tiered systems
Point systems and tiered programmes have been in existence for a long time, and are used for increasing brand engagement and frequency; consumers invest more personal information or money to receive rewards.
Some loyalty programmes motivate consumers by incentivising them with premium rewards in higher tiers. Annemarie Skin Care’s Wild & Beautiful Collective programme offers a basic membership that’s free to join to encourage faster adoption. The higher tier entices higher spending by rewarding customers with exclusive features, including increased point to spend ratios and early access to new products.
Loyalty cannot be bought; it has to be earned through trust and understanding people’s intrinsic motives
Relationships are hard to sustain with just extrinsic rewards, which is why many loyalty programmes have been and gone. To earn longer lasting loyalty requires strong CRM strategies that tap into people’s needs, thoughts, feelings and emotions.
In a competitive world of consumerism, companies have innovated ways to build meaningful relationships with their audiences. For instance, Disney Movie Insiders reach out to their fans on a personal level by enabling them to redeem points for merchandise and special experiences, such as Walt Disney Studio tours.
Social proof
Social proof, coined by Robert Cialdini, is a theory that people adapt their behaviour according to the actions of others. For example, we might choose to dine at a certain restaurant because it was recommended by a friend.
Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways of influencing decision making
Booking websites particularly motivate consumer behaviour by presenting regular updates on what other people are doing. For example, you might see a message appear on a hotel listing that reads: ‘18 others viewing this hotel right now,’ or even ‘only 1 room left’; the latter certainly adds a scarcity effect — a perception of something low in abundance as being high in value.
Reviews and endorsements can influence how we frame products and services as being positive or negative
The grading and opinions of other people can also have a powerful effect on our decision-making process. For example, a five-star rating on Tripadvisor can give us an instant impression of the quality and value of a hotel. However, a written personal review can endow us with greater trust and credibility as opposed to what the hotel owner would tell you.
Endowed progress effect
The endowed progress effect, studied by Joseph C. Nunes and Xavier Dreze, is a phenomenon where people think they have a head start toward completing a goal. Let’s demonstrate with a simple example:
Which of the following loyalty cards will influence you to put in more effort?
A) An eight stamp card with no headstart
B) A ten stamp card with 2 free stamps
According to Nunes and Dreze’s studies, the answer is usually B. Even though both loyalty cards required the same number of stamps (8), the hypothesis is that people will likely work harder and faster when endowed with an illusion of progress.
An artificial headstart gives you the illusion of progress
In Qordoba, an artificial intelligence writing assistant, new users are given an interactive demo as part of an onboarding experience. The activity comes partially completed which endows learners with an illusion of an easy headstart. Furthermore, motivation is increased by presetting a performance indicator with an attractive high score.
Artificial advancements in Qordoba ignite intrinsic motives, including desires for learning, accomplishment, and success. The endowed progress effect fundamentally inspires users and adds enjoyment to their experience.
Goal setting
Goal-setting, pioneered by Dr Edwin Locke and Dr Gary Latham, is the application of clear goals and appropriate feedback. The hypothesis is that people work harder and perform better when they are set with goals. eLearning products particularly adopt this theory to help students satisfy their intrinsic needs in making progress and achieving personal goals.
Telling someone to “try hard” or “do your best” is less effective than saying “try to get more than 80 percent correct”
The Interaction Design Foundation, an education service that offers online courses, adopt goal-setting to inspire deeper and more challenging learning. For example, every time students sign in, they see a dashboard that shows their progress. The external motives kick in when learners work towards a series of completion checkpoints, including a minimum 70% pass, top 10%, and a 100% best in class.
Each milestone serves as a challenge to help increase effort and productivity. The highest goal encourages students to answer 100% of the course questions correctly, and by doing so awards them with a prestigious distinction. The special reward is printed on a certificate and displayed on the member’s public profile. This endows them with encouragement, builds their esteem, and motivates them to keep learning.
Mastery
Our intrinsic motives for acquiring new knowledge and skills direct our behaviour in reading books, encyclopedias, and learning as much as we can. Although mastery often has no monetary reward and endpoint, we like to feel we are making progress in the things we learn.
People like to feel that they are making progress, and feel that they are learning and mastering new knowledge and skills — Susan M. Weinschenk, PhD.
For example, LinkedIn motivates faster networking and profile building by assigning users simple tasks to complete, as well as showing them small signs of progress. Members become even more engaged when their investment is rewarded with exposure to new connections, career opportunities, and more meaningful content.
Mastery is a powerful element of intrinsic motivation
LinkedIn also inspires intrinsic motivation by providing levels to work towards. For example, one final task might require writing a personal profile; doing so will promote them to an all-star rating status with the benefits of increased findability.
Beyond LinkedIn’s profile building, there is no limit to what members can achieve. They can continue to create relationships and join different communities, each offering something new to learn or contribute.
Motivation is powerful; the psychological phenomenon is an inner energy that keeps us moving.
In an oversaturated digital market, companies are investing more in behavioural design to persuade people to engage with their products. The retail and gaming industries particularly adopt extrinsic motivators to influence behaviour; however, external motives such as praise and signs of progress can inspire intrinsic motivation.
Digital products which promote personal development and mastery are likely to offer more meaningful and longer-lasting experiences. Take Qordoba, for example, the writing companion serves as an extension to the user and helps inspire their intrinsic motivation by praising their productivity and performance. Constant positive and constructive feedback builds esteem and encourages faster progress towards bigger goals.
The study and application of motivation is an evolving field. There are of course many more theories, techniques, and ideas for influencing behaviour, so we’ll end this article with this question: in what other ways do you think motivation affects behaviour in digital products?
Special mentions
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People — Susan Weinschenk
- Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products — Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover
- Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
- Kawaii icons (used in all illustrations) — Freepik
