Episode #59: Nir Eyal Bestselling Author, Investor – The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology

Episode #59: Nir Eyal Bestselling Author, Investor – The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology
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Episode #59: Nir Eyal Bestselling Author, Investor – The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology

In this episode we speak with Nir Eyal, an expert in behavioral design and author of the bestselling books: “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” and “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life”.

He’s known as the habits guy, the one who can help understand how to get app users to come back again and again. 

Bloomberg business week named him “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology

He’s a former lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

He’s also founded and sold two tech companies, and he actively invests in habit-forming products such as Eventbrite, Kahoot, Canva, Product Hunt, and more.

In this interview, we explore Nir’s insights on how to design products that create user habits, the ethical considerations of persuasive design, and his strategies for overcoming distraction and staying focused in today’s always-connected world.

Nir’s authority on habit-forming products comes from both sides of the equation: he built and sold two tech companies before becoming the researcher and Stanford lecturer behind Hooked and Indistractable, and he continues to invest in habit-forming products like Eventbrite, Kahoot, Canva, and Product Hunt today. That dual perspective, as both builder and critic, is what makes his take on persuasive technology so pointed in this episode — he pushes back hard on what he calls the media’s overuse of the word ‘addiction’ as an excuse to avoid taking control of one’s own attention, and lays out the practical difference between reactive and reflective work.

We discuss:

  • The difference between persuasive technology and cohesive technology 
  • The hypocrisy of the media
  • The abuse of the concept of addiction, as an excuse to not take control of one’s life
  • How to take control of our attention
  • Phubbing (phone snubbing)
  • Where pain plays in 
  • The power of planning your day
  • Reactive work vs reflective work
  • How labeling feelings helps
  • And much more!

Enjoy this deep dive into Nir’s mind and expertise!

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