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The secret of Tinder
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Or..
The hunter’s loopAnd how to apply it to your products
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Ever wondered why Tinderis such an addictive dating platform?
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There are of course many reasons
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But I think that more than anything, Tinder is actually a casual game. (With benefits).
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Backboned with one of the most addictive loops I know:The hunter’s loop.
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Which is a primal, instinctive model wired to our brains.
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This model can be applied to almost everything,digital and tangible.
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Applied right, this could boost your product to a never before seen engagement.
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But before I spill the beans and tell you what it is..
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1. Make sure you have 5 minutes.This is the average reading time for this deck.
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2. I’ll introduce myself
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My name is Dori Adar,creative director at TabTale.
I love games, digital products and junk food.
[email protected]
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The hunter’s loop has 6 phases.
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Phase #1Spotting patterns
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Spotting patterns1
Spotting patterns is something that we are wired to do.
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Spotting patterns1
Our brains loves this activity.We do it passively most of the time.
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Spotting patterns1
Until we spot something that triggers an emotion.. the prey.
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Phase #2Envisioning the prize
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envisioning the prize2
Upon spotting the target, the hunter starts to feelher heart pounding faster
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envisioning the prize2
She might look at an antelope, but what she really sees..
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envisioning the prize2
Is the prize.
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envisioning the prize2
If you ever filled up a lottery ticket and immediately started thinking of the millions to come, you know what I’m talking
about.
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envisioning the prize2
Envisioning the prize fills our hunter’s headwith a “let’s do it” feeling
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envisioning the prize2
Caused by the sweet dopamine dosesthe nerve cells now release
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This dose is just enough for what I call:the small act.
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Phase #3The small act
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The hunter decides to act. A small, simple act.
The small act3
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She moves to place, aiming, waiting for the right moment to attack.
The small act3
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Phase #4Anticipation phase
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During this phase dopamine keeps on kicking, ensuring she were more focused
Anticipation4
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Making the reward even more desirable.
Anticipation4
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This build up is extremely important. Without it the hunt would be emotionless.
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Phase #5The big act
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The big act5
Everything is channeled to the moment when the hunter goes for the battle!
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Phase #6The reward
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The reward6
(And if all went as planned)Winning the reward, the prize.
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This marks the end of the hunters loop,leaving the hunter hungry for the next one.
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Spotting patternsFinding the target
Imagining the reward
The small act Anticipation phase1 2 3 4
Action starts.
The reward6
Action stops
A few minutes
The big act(Battle phase)
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The hunters loop
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Some casual games use this loop as the backboneof their game mechanic
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Although it is usually one phase shorter.No “big act” (phase #5) in a casual game.
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Or the game might become too complex and hardcore.
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Let me show you what I mean while deconstructing “Angry birds”
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1: spotting patterns
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1: spotting patterns 2: Envisioning the reward
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1: spotting patterns 2: Envisioning the reward
3: The small act
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1: spotting patterns 2: Envisioning the reward
3: The small act 4: Anticipation phase
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1: spotting patterns 2: Envisioning the reward
3: The small act 4: Anticipation phase 5: The (variable) reward
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This also works in Candy crush saga.
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1: spotting patterns 2: Envisioning the reward
3: The small act 4: anticipation(Chain reaction)
4: The (variable) reward
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As you can see, no “big acts” are needed here.
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But I want to stress out the importance of variable rewards, that we have just seen in those
games.
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A variable reward is changing all the time. Sometimes small, sometimes big,
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In a nutshell - this variability is what gets us hooked.
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Nir Eyal, the author of “Hooked” described it nicely:
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The light in the refrigerator is a nice reward,but constant. It’s always there.
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Therefore, not very exciting. This door will remain closed until we are hungry.
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However, if each time we opened the door we’d find a different snack inside...
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We would open this fridge A LOT.
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(BTW each time you share this presentation you will also see a different snack.)
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Now lets see how Tinder does it.
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1: Spotting patterns, finding the target
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1: Spotting patterns, finding the target
2: Envisioning the reward
Whatever you imagine….
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1: Spotting patterns, finding the target
2: Envisioning the reward
Whatever you imagine….
3: The small act
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1: Spotting patterns, finding the target
2: Envisioning the reward
Whatever you imagine….
3: The small act 4: Anticipation
Waiting for the answers...
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1: Spotting patterns, finding the target
2: Envisioning the reward
Whatever you imagine….
3: The small act 4: Anticipation
Waiting...
5: reward
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Since tinder is also a “real-life” game, “It’s a match” is sometimes just triggering the big act (chatting, flirting,
meeting)
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And the hunters could continue and get their tangible reward in real life
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Whatever it may be.
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But since most of the “tinder relationships” ends with “it’s a match”I argue that this phase is the digital reward.
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And because of Tinder’s mobile nature, it is all happening pretty fast, too.
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Which makes it a tight and perfect hunters loop.
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This reward is also variable.You know, “Some girls are bigger than others”.
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So what can we learn from applying the hunter loop into a digital product?
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1. Make sure the reward is super understandable and desirable, so the users could envision it.
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2. Make sure that the “small act” is indeed small,understandable and easy to do.
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3. Try to complete the loop within the digital realms, saving “big acts” for real life
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4. Remember the variable reward.
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I want to leave you with 2 more thoughts:
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Thought #1: Almost everyone is a hunter.
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People hunting for dates are a big marketand their reward is clear.
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But people also hunt for art, food, jobs, experiences..
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Basically anything.
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Think how you can apply the hunters model in your product.
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Thought #2: There are also the gatherers.
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Gatherers act differently than hunters.Pinterest, for example, is a good product for gatherers.
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Think of your users. Who are they?Hunters or gatherers?
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Subscribe to get my next presentation on the gatherers loop
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And feel free to drop a line should you need some insights on your product!
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P.SDid you learn something from this presentation?
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If the answer is yes..
Please share it!
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Though I lied about the different snacks appearing when sharing :P