Nir And Far: Business, Behaviour and the Brain

The Strange But Effective Way You Can Stick to Hard Goals - Nir & Far

There’s a saying that you should never trust a skinny chef. By that logic, you should never trust an out of shape behavioral designer . Over the past four years, I’ve discovered many incredible ways to hack my habits and improve my life. I have taught myself to love running, dramatically improved my diet and found the focus to write a bestselling book . Understanding how the mind works and using it to affect my daily behaviors has yielded tremendous dividends. Nir & Far, a podcast about busi...

How Two Companies Hooked Customers On Products They Rarely Use - Nir & Far

Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet (the company formerly known as Google), has a quirky way of deciding which companies he likes. It’s called “The Toothbrush Test.” According to the New York Times , when Page looks at a potential company to acquire, he wants to know if the product is, like a toothbrush, “something you will use once or twice a day.” Page clearly understands habits. As I wrote in my book, “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products ,” frequently used products form sticky customer habits...

How Technology Tricks You Into Tipping More - Nir & Far

My taxi pulled up to the hotel. I got out my credit card and prepared to pay for the ride. The journey was pleasant enough but little did I know I was about to encounter a bit of psychological trickery designed to get me to pay more for the lift. Chances are you’re paying more, too. Digital payment systems use subtle tactics to increase tips, and while it’s certainly good for hard-working service workers, it may not be so good for your How Technology Tricks You Into Tipping More https://www.nira...

The Limits of Loyalty: When Habits Change, You’re Toast - Nir & Far

“I’m endlessly loyal,” my wife said, staring straight into my eyes. But she wasn’t talking about our marriage — she was pledging her allegiance to a piece of software. “I’ll never quit Microsoft Office,” she told me. “It does too much for me to leave it.” For a moment I wondered if her husband had engendered the same reverence, but then I remembered things at Microsoft aren’t all wine and roses. In fact, the conversation with my wife was sparked by a debate over switching from Office to Google D...

Your Fitness App is Making You Fat, Here’s Why - Nir & Far

Fitness apps are all the rage. An explosion of new companies and products want to track your steps and count your calories with the aim of melting that excess blubber. There’s just one problem — most of these apps don’t work. In fact, there is good reason to believe they make us fatter. One study called out “the dirty secret of wearables,” citing that “these devices fail to drive long-term sustained engagement for a majority of users.” Endeavour Partners’ research found “more than half of U.S. c...

Email Habits: How to Use Psychology to Regain Control - Nir & Far

I don’t usually write about personal and revealing matters, but recently I’ve noticed something I don’t like about myself–I check email too often. This confession doesn’t come easily, because, ironically, I am the author of a book titled Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products . It is a guidebook for designing technology people can’t put down. There’s just one problem–I can’t put my technology down. You can read the Nir and Far blog post on: Email Habits: How to Use Psychology to Regain Cont...

Latest Tech Trends: Products to Eliminate Distractions and Increase Willpower - Nir & Far

Four minutes into pitching the wonders of his invention to an influential reporter, Patrick Paul gets hit with the kind of snarky comment startup entrepreneurs dread. Paul is the founder of Hemingwrite , a “distraction free writing tool with modern technology like a mechanical keyboard, e-paper screen and cloud backups.” You can read the Nir and Far blog post on: Latest Tech Trends: Products to Eliminate Distractions and Increase Willpower https://www.nirandfar.com/2015/02/distraction-tech.html ...

Can’t Kick a Bad Habit? You’re Probably Doing It Wrong - Nir and Far

I had just finished giving a speech on building habits when a woman in the audience exclaimed, “You teach how to create habits, but that’s not my problem. I’m fat!” The frustration in her voice echoed throughout the room. “My problem is stopping bad habits. That’s why I’m fat. Where does that leave me?” I deeply sympathized with the woman. “I was once clinically obese,” I told her. She stared at my lanky frame and waited for me to explain. How did I hack my habits? You can read the Nir and Far b...

Here’s Why You’ll Hate the Apple Watch (and the Important Business Lesson You Need to Know) - Nir and Far

If you are among the 19 million people Apple predicts will buy an Apple Watch, I have some bad news for you — I’m betting there is an important feature missing from the watch that’s going to drive you nuts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy one. In fact, I’m ordering one myself. However, this paradox illustrates an important lesson for the way companies design their products. You can read the Nir and Far blog post on Here’s Why You’ll Hate the Apple Watch (and the Important Business Lesson You...

4 Ways to Use Psychology to Win Your Competition’s Customers - Nir and Far

Let’s say you’ve built the next big thing. You’re ready to take on the world and make billions. Your product is amazing and you’re convinced you’ve bested the competition. As a point of fact, you know you offer the very best solution in your market. But here’s the rub. If your competition has established stronger customer habits than you have, you’re in trouble. The cold truth is that the better product does not necessarily win. However, there’s hope. The right strategy can crowbar the competiti...

Nir And Far: Business, Behavior, and the Brain (Preview)