improve-retention

SKILL.md

Behavior Design Framework

Framework for designing products that reliably change behavior. Behavior is not about willpower or motivation — it is a design problem with a predictable equation.

Core Principle

The Fogg Behavior Model = B=MAP. Behavior happens when Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt converge at the same moment.
            HIGH ┃
                 ┃   ★ Behavior happens
                 ┃  (above the Action Line)
                 ┃
  Motivation     ┃━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ← Action Line
                 ┃
                 ┃   ✗ Behavior fails
                 ┃  (below the Action Line)
            LOW  ┃
                 ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
                 HARD                    EASY
                        Ability

The Action Line: When motivation and ability are sufficient, a prompt causes the behavior; below the line, no prompt works. High motivation compensates for low ability and vice versa. The reliable strategy is making behaviors easier (move right), not pumping up motivation (move up).

See: references/behavior-model.md when you need the curve mechanics behind this model — the full Action Line math, behavior types (dot/span/path), and a step-by-step failure diagnostic for a behavior that isn't happening.

Scoring

Goal: 10/10. The six Quick Diagnostic rows are the single source of score-movers. Rate each pass/fail, then start at 10 and subtract per failing row: low motivation or below the Action Line (rows 1-2) cost -2 each; prompts, celebration, bottleneck, and scaling (rows 3-6) cost -1.5 each. A design that passes all six scores 10; one that fails every row scores 0. Map to bands: 9-10 = behavior reliably crosses the Action Line at low motivation, prompts are event/anchor-tied, key actions are celebrated; 5-6 = depends on a motivation spike or optimizes a non-bottleneck factor; <=3 = core action below the Action Line, prompts are spam, no habit wiring. Always state the score and name the specific failing rows.

The Three Elements

1. Motivation

Core concept: Motivation is the energy for action, driven by three core motivators, each with two sides: Sensation (pleasure/pain), Anticipation (hope/fear), Belonging (acceptance/rejection). It is powerful but unreliable.

Why it works: Motivation comes in waves — it spikes (New Year's resolutions, product launches) and crashes (day 3, week 2). Products that depend on high motivation fail when the wave recedes; the best designs work at the trough.

Key insights:

"Motivation is unreliable. Ability is not." — BJ Fogg

Design for low-motivation moments, not peak excitement

Motivation-first tactics (inspiring videos, aspirational messaging) produce spikes, not sustained behavior

Match required motivation to behavior difficulty — hard behaviors need high motivation

Product applications:

Context
Application
Example

Onboarding
Don't count on the new-user spike lasting
First actions work even when excitement fades

Re-engagement
Assume returning users have low motivation
Show immediate value before asking for effort

Messaging
Tap the right motivator
Social fitness → belonging; financial tool → hope

Copy patterns:

"Takes 30 seconds" (signals ease, lowers motivation needed)

"Join 50,000 teams who..." (belonging motivator)

"Don't lose your 7-day streak" (anticipation/fear motivator)

Ethical boundary: A fear motivator (the streak pattern above) is fair only when the loss is real and user-owned (their data, their progress); never invent a loss that exists solely to drive a session.

See: references/motivation-waves.md for the three motivators, motivation waves, and designing for troughs.

2. Ability

Core concept: Ability is the capacity to do the behavior — a function of the scarcest resource across six factors (the Ability Chain). If any single link is too weak, the behavior breaks.

Why it works: Unlike motivation, ability can be systematically engineered: every removed field, eliminated step, and preset default moves the behavior right on the model, crossing the Action Line even at low motivation. The Ability Chain gives you the diagnostic — find the weakest link and fix it.

Key insights:

Six factors: Time, Money, Physical Effort, Mental Effort, Social Deviance, Non-Routine

Simplicity is a function of the scarcest resource — find the bottleneck, not the most obvious factor

"Simplicity changes behavior" — BJ Fogg

Starter Steps: shrink the behavior to the tiniest version (2 minutes → 30 seconds → one field)

Defaults are the most powerful ability tool — users rarely change them

Product applications:

Context
Application
Example

Signup
Cut cost across all six factors
One-click SSO removes time, mental effort, non-routine

Core action
Fix the weakest link
Mental-effort bottleneck → smart defaults and templates

Enterprise adoption
Address social deviance
"Your team already uses this" reduces social risk

Copy patterns:

"One click to get started" (time + physical effort)

"No technical skills needed" (mental effort)

"Works just like tools you already use" (non-routine)

Ethical boundary: Reduce friction only on genuinely valuable behaviors — never make it too easy to overspend, over-share, or delete important data without confirmation.

See: references/ability-chain.md for the six factors in detail, friction audit templates, and simplification strategies.

3. Prompt

Core concept: The prompt says "do it now." Without one, behavior doesn't happen regardless of motivation and ability. Three types: Person Prompts (internal reminders), Context Prompts (environmental cues), Action Prompts (designed triggers from the product).

Why it works: Teams assume motivation + ability is enough — it isn't, not without a well-timed prompt. But prompts only work above the Action Line: a push notification to someone lacking motivation or ability is spam.

Key insights:

A prompt at the wrong moment is noise; at the right moment, magic

Anchor moments tie new behaviors to existing routines ("After I open Slack, I will...")

Prompt fatigue is real — every unnecessary prompt degrades the value of future ones

Product applications:

Context
Application
Example

Notifications
Prompt only above the Action Line
Send digest when there's content to review, not on a schedule

Re-engagement
Tie prompts to real events
"Your report is ready" (event-based, not time-based)

Feature discovery
Prompt when motivation and ability align
Feature tour appears when user hits the problem it solves

Copy patterns:

"Your weekly report is ready" (context prompt — real event)

"One thing left to complete your setup" (action prompt with progress)

Never: "We miss you!" (product need, not user need)

Ethical boundary: Every prompt must pass the test "Would I appreciate receiving this right now?" — if it serves a product metric (DAU, re-engagement) but not the user's current goal, cut it.

See: references/prompt-design.md for prompt types, timing strategies, notification design, and anchor moments.

Tiny Habits Method

The practical application of B=MAP: make behaviors so small they need almost no motivation, anchor them to existing routines, and celebrate immediately.

The Recipe

After I [ANCHOR MOMENT], I will [TINY BEHAVIOR], then I [CELEBRATION].

Anchor Moment: an existing routine that reliably happens (opening an app, finishing a meeting, morning coffee).

Tiny Behavior: the smallest version of the target behavior — not "write a report" but "open the report template."

Celebration: an immediate positive emotion that wires the habit. Repetition alone isn't enough — you need the feeling of success.

Starter Steps

Every target behavior has a Starter Step — the tiniest meaningful version:

Target Behavior
Starter Step
Why It Works

Complete onboarding
Fill in one field
Momentum from completion

Use analytics daily
Open the dashboard
Seeing data creates curiosity

Collaborate with team
Send one comment
Social reciprocity kicks in

Scaling Behaviors

Once wired, tiny behaviors grow naturally: open dashboard → check a few metrics → customize → automatic morning habit. Never force scaling — let motivation and momentum drive expansion. The tiny version is the foundation, not a failure.

See: references/tiny-habits.md for the full Tiny Habits recipe, celebration techniques, and scaling patterns.

Behavior Design Process

Fogg's systematic process for lasting behavior change:

Step 1: Clarify the Aspiration

What outcome does the user want — their aspiration, not the product's goal ("stay on top of my team's progress", not "increase DAU").

Step 2: Explore Behavior Options

List all possible behaviors that could achieve the aspiration. Be exhaustive — don't commit yet.

Step 3: Match Behaviors

Assess each for motivation and ease; plot on a 2×2 of impact vs. feasibility (Focus Mapping).

Step 4: Start Tiny

Shrink the best-matched behavior to its Starter Step; design the prompt; add celebration.

Step 5: Optimize

Expand once wired. Fix bottlenecks with the Ability Chain; refine prompt timing from data.

See: references/product-applications.md when applying this process to a specific category — B=MAP mapped to SaaS onboarding, mobile, e-commerce, health, and education with per-category motivation timelines and bottlenecks.

The Action Line

Moving Behaviors Above the Action Line

Increase Ability (move right) — remove steps, pre-fill, defaults, templates, wizards. The most reliable approach.

Find better Prompts — anchor to existing routines; event-based beats time-based; trigger when motivation is naturally higher.

Increasing Motivation (move up) is unreliable — if you need motivation tactics, the behavior is probably too hard.

Retention Diagnostics with B=MAP

Map B=MAP to product metrics:

Metric
B=MAP Diagnosis
Action

Low activation
First action below the Action Line
Shrink onboarding to Starter Step; fix weakest Ability Chain link

Day-1 drop-off
Prompt failed or mistimed
Redesign first-day prompts; anchor to an existing routine

Day-7 drop-off
Motivation wave receded, behavior too hard
Reduce core action difficulty

Day-30 drop-off
Habit didn't form, no internal prompt
Create tiny habit recipe; add celebration loops

Low feature adoption
Feature below the Action Line for most users
Friction-audit it; prompt only when motivation is present

Notification fatigue
Prompts sent below the Action Line
Cut volume; send only with motivation + ability

See: references/case-studies.md for a worked diagnosis of Instagram, Duolingo, Slack, Calm, and Peloton — read it to see how M, A, and P are scored independently on a real product before diagnosing your own.

Common Mistakes

Mistake
Why It Fails
Fix

Relying on motivation for retention
Motivation always recedes; products needing it fail at the trough
Make behaviors tiny enough to survive motivation dips

Ignoring the Ability Chain bottleneck
You optimized time but the barrier is mental effort or social deviance
Audit all six factors; fix the scarcest resource

Prompting below the Action Line
Notifications to unmotivated/unable users = spam
Event-based triggers only when motivation + ability suffice

Skipping celebration in onboarding
Without positive emotion, repetition doesn't wire habits
Add success states and micro-celebrations after key actions

First action too ambitious
"Complete your profile" is a project, not a behavior
Shrink to Starter Step: one field, one action

Copying products without diagnosing B=MAP
A high-motivation audience's design fails yours
Diagnose your users' motivation, ability, and prompt context first

Quick Diagnostic

Question
If No
Action

Can a new user do the core action in under 60 seconds?
Ability too low
Friction audit; shrink to Starter Step

Does the product work when motivation is low?
Design depends on spikes
Redesign core behaviors for minimal motivation

Are prompts tied to real events or anchors?
Prompts feel like spam
Switch to event-based or anchor-based prompts

Is there immediate feedback after key actions?
No celebration = no habit wiring
Add success states, progress, social feedback

Have you found the weakest Ability Chain link?
Optimizing the wrong thing
Rate each of the six factors 1-5 for the core behavior

Do users scale naturally from tiny behaviors?
Forcing complexity too early
Starter Steps; let behaviors grow organically

Further Reading

Based on BJ Fogg's behavior design research:

"Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything" by BJ Fogg

"Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics" by Stephen Wendel (companion: applying behavior science to product design)

About the Author

BJ Fogg, PhD founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, where he has researched behavior change since 1998. He created the Fogg Behavior Model (B=MAP), coined the term "behavior design", and trained thousands of innovators — including Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger. Tiny Habits distills two decades of that research: lasting change comes from behaviors that are tiny, anchored, and celebrated.