Behavioral Product Design

1---2name: behavioral-product-design3description: Help users apply behavioral science to product design. Use when someone is designing for habit formation, reducing friction, applying psychology to UX, increasing retention through behavioral principles, or using nudges to influence user behavior.4---5 6# Behavioral Product Design7 8Help the user apply behavioral science principles to product design using insights from behavioral economists and product leaders.9 10## How to Help11 12When the user asks for help with behavioral design:13 141. **Understand the target behavior** - Ask what action they want users to take152. **Identify behavioral barriers** - Help diagnose what's preventing the desired behavior163. **Suggest relevant principles** - Apply behavioral economics concepts like loss aversion, present bias, or status quo effect174. **Design interventions** - Help create features that leverage these psychological principles18 19## Core Principles20 21### Loss aversion drives retention22Jackson Shuttleworth: "Once you hit seven days, loss aversion kicks in, and you retain." Design experiences that create something users feel they'd lose by leaving.23 24### Apply psychology to real problems25Kristen Berman: "Behavioral science uses insights on psychology to apply within real world problems—biases like present bias, status quo effect, and uncertainty aversion can be designed into product features to drive specific actions."26 27### Create pause moments28Use haptics, animations, and micro-interactions to create celebration moments that reinforce positive behavior. The "bend not break" philosophy means meeting users where they are rather than demanding perfection.29 30### Reduce friction for desired behaviors31Every tap, every field, every decision point is friction. Behavioral design means ruthlessly removing friction from the paths you want users to take while adding appropriate friction to prevent mistakes.32 33### Leverage defaults34Users tend to stick with default options. Set smart defaults that guide users toward successful outcomes.35 36## Questions to Help Users37 38- "What specific behavior are you trying to encourage?"39- "What's preventing users from taking this action today?"40- "Where in the flow do users drop off?"41- "What would users feel they're losing if they stopped using this?"42- "Have you identified the key habit loop (cue, routine, reward)?"43 44## Common Mistakes to Flag45 46- **Dark patterns** - Behavioral design should help users achieve their goals, not manipulate them against their interests47- **Over-engineering friction** - Sometimes simple solutions beat clever psychological tricks48- **Ignoring context** - Behavioral principles work differently across cultures and user segments49- **Assuming stated preferences** - What users say they'll do and what they actually do are different50 51## Deep Dive52 53For all 2 insights from 2 guests, see `references/guest-insights.md`54 55## Related Skills56 57- User Onboarding58- Retention & Engagement59- Designing Growth Loops60- Conducting User Interviews