Addiction vs. Control: how (not) to build habit-forming products

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Location: Hall 1B Topic: product management, development & ux

Key Learnings

  • Attendees will learn about the features and triggers that are designed into Social Media and Content Apps to "hook" their users (habit-building)
  • Attendees will be able to discern whether a feature is actually ethically designed or just a façade
  • Attendees will see examples/best practices on how products can be habit-forming, yet built responsibly

Speakers

Speaker: Sebastian Castaneda

Profession: Head of Digital Frontends

Workplace: jö Bonus Club

Description

Many Digital Products have the goal of capturing the attention of users for as long as possible, in order to drive more revenue (e.g. through Ads). However, after a phase of growth and the recent rise of awareness around Mental Health and Wellbeing, many companies have started to review their products to design them more responsibly. An example is the time management features built in social media (Facebook, Instagram) and content apps (TikTok, Youtube)- yet reducing in-app time seems counterintuitive to the business goal. Are time management/wellbeing features really giving users Control? Is there a way to build an 'Addictive' app responsibly? If you're building the UX for a product that mainly tracks 'Daily/Weekly Active Users' and you haven't had the chance to think if it's an ethical/responsible UX, this talk is for you.

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