fogg-behavior-model

• Designing onboarding and activation flows
• Improving conversion rates
• Building habit-forming products
• Increasing feature adoption
• Understanding why users drop off
• Planning behavior change interventions

```

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐

│ BEHAVIOR = MAP │

│ │

│ Behavior happens when Motivation, Ability, and Prompt │

│ come together at the SAME MOMENT. │

│ │

│ When behavior doesn't happen → at least one is missing. │

└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

High │ ·····

M │ ····· Behavior

o │ ····· Happens

t │ ····· Here

i │····─────────────────────────────

v │ Action Line

a │

t │ Behavior

i │ Fails

o │ Here

n │

Low └─────────────────────────────────────

Hard ←── Ability ──→ Easy

Prompts only work above the Action Line.

```

1. Motivation

What drives the user to act?

```

Motivation Sources:

Core Motivators (Fogg):

├── Pleasure / Pain

├── Hope / Fear

└── Social Acceptance / Rejection

Additional Drivers:

├── Intrinsic interest

├── Personal goals

├── External rewards

└── Social pressure

```

| Motivator | Low | High |

| ------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------ |

| Pleasure/Pain | "I should exercise" | "I want to feel great" |

| Hope/Fear | "Might be useful" | "Don't want to miss out" |

| Social | "No one cares" | "Everyone's doing it" |

2. Ability

How easy is it to do?

```

Ability Factors (Fogg):

Simplicity Chain (weakest link determines ability):

├── Time: How long does it take?

├── Money: How much does it cost?

├── Physical effort: How hard physically?

├── Mental effort: How much thinking?

├── Social deviance: How weird is it?

└── Non-routine: How different from habits?

Ability = Inverse of the HARDEST factor

```

| Factor | Low Ability | High Ability |

| -------- | ----------------- | ------------------- |

| Time | 30-minute signup | 2-click signup |

| Money | $99/month | Free trial |

| Physical | Visit store | Click button |

| Mental | Complex form | Smart defaults |

| Social | Public commitment | Private action |

| Routine | New behavior | Fits existing habit |

3. Prompt

What triggers action at the right moment?

```

Prompt Types:

Spark (High Ability, Low Motivation):

├── Inspires and motivates

├── Appeals to emotions

└── Example: "Your friends are waiting"

Facilitator (High Motivation, Low Ability):

├── Makes action easier

├── Reduces friction

└── Example: "One-click purchase"

Signal (High Motivation, High Ability):

├── Simple reminder

├── Just needs timing

└── Example: "Time to check in"

```

Step 1: Define Target Behavior

Be specific about what you want users to do:

```

Behavior Definition:

❌ Vague: "Use the app more"

✅ Specific: "Complete a 5-minute workout daily"

Components:

├── Who: [Target user segment]

├── What: [Specific action]

├── When: [Timing/context]

└── How often: [Frequency]

```

Step 2: Diagnose Missing Element

```

Diagnosis Tree:

Is the user doing the behavior?

│

├── NO → Diagnose which element is missing:

│ │

│ ├── Do they WANT to do it?

│ │ ├── NO → Motivation problem

│ │ └── YES → Continue

│ │

│ ├── CAN they easily do it?

│ │ ├── NO → Ability problem

│ │ └── YES → Continue

│ │

│ └── Are they PROMPTED at the right moment?

│ ├── NO → Prompt problem

│ └── YES → Re-examine all three

│

└── YES → Behavior successful

```

Step 3: Design Intervention

| Problem | Solution Approach |

| --------------- | -------------------------------------- |

| Low Motivation | Increase desire (spark prompt) |

| Low Ability | Reduce friction (facilitator prompt) |

| No Prompt | Add well-timed trigger (signal prompt) |

| Multiple issues | Start with Ability (easiest to change) |

After completing analysis, document as:

```markdown

Target Behavior: [Specific behavior]

User Segment: [Who]

Date: [Date]

Current State

| Element | Score (1-5) | Evidence |

| ---------- | ----------- | --------------------- |

| Motivation | [Score] | [What indicates this] |

| Ability | [Score] | [What indicates this] |

| Prompt | [Score] | [What indicates this] |

Ability Breakdown

| Factor | Current State | Bottleneck? |

| -------- | ------------- | ----------- |

| Time | [Assessment] | Yes/No |

| Money | [Assessment] | Yes/No |

| Physical | [Assessment] | Yes/No |

| Mental | [Assessment] | Yes/No |

| Social | [Assessment] | Yes/No |

| Routine | [Assessment] | Yes/No |

Diagnosis

Primary Issue: [Motivation/Ability/Prompt]

Root Cause: [Specific reason]

Intervention Design

| Priority | Change | Element | Expected Impact |

| -------- | ----------------- | ------- | -------------------- |

| 1 | [Specific change] | [M/A/P] | [Measurable outcome] |

| 2 | [Specific change] | [M/A/P] | [Measurable outcome] |

Success Metrics

| Metric | Current | Target | Timeline |

| --------------- | ------- | ------ | -------- |

| [Behavior rate] | X% | Y% | [Time] |

```

Example 1: Daily Exercise Habit

```

Target Behavior: Do a 20-minute workout daily

Motivation:

├── Want to get fit ✓

├── Feel better ✓

└── Score: 4/5 (High)

Ability:

├── Time: 20 min → Could be less

├── Physical: Moderate effort

├── Mental: Need to decide what to do

├── Routine: Not part of current habits

└── Score: 2/5 (Low - bottleneck)

Prompt:

├── No consistent trigger

└── Score: 2/5 (Low)

Interventions:

├── Ability: Reduce to 5-minute starter routine

├── Ability: Pre-select workout (no decisions)

├── Prompt: Phone alarm + clothes laid out

└── Routine: Anchor to morning coffee

```

Example 2: Feature Adoption (SaaS)

```

Target Behavior: Use new collaboration feature

Motivation:

├── Users don't see value yet

└── Score: 2/5 (Low - problem)

Ability:

├── Feature is buried in menu

├── Requires 4 clicks to access

└── Score: 2/5 (Low - problem)

Prompt:

├── One email announcement sent

└── Score: 1/5 (Very low)

Interventions:

├── Motivation: Show social proof ("Teams save 2hrs/week")

├── Ability: Add one-click access from dashboard

├── Ability: Pre-configure with defaults

├── Prompt: In-app tooltip at relevant moment

└── Prompt: Contextual suggestion during related tasks

```

Example 3: Newsletter Signup

```

Target Behavior: Subscribe to weekly newsletter

Motivation:

├── Valuable content promised

├── Social proof: "10,000 subscribers"

└── Score: 3/5 (Medium)

Ability:

├── Email only (simple)

├── One field

└── Score: 5/5 (High)

Prompt:

├── Popup after 30 seconds

├── User often not ready yet

└── Score: 2/5 (Wrong timing)

Intervention:

├── Prompt: Move to end of valuable article

├── Prompt: "Want more like this?"

└── Context: After user received value

```

Start with Ability

```

Why Ability First:

Motivation:

├── Hard to change

├── Often outside your control

└── Fluctuates over time

Ability:

├── Directly designable

├── Permanent once improved

└── Helps when motivation dips

"Make it so easy they can't say no."

```

Right Prompt, Right Moment

```

Prompt Timing:

Too Early:

├── User not ready

├── Creates annoyance

└── Wasted impression

Too Late:

├── Moment passed

├── Motivation cooled

└── Friction accumulated

Just Right:

├── High motivation moment

├── Ability is present

└── Action is natural next step

```

Tiny Habits Approach

```

BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits:

1. Make it TINY

└── Smallest possible version of behavior

1. Find the right ANCHOR

└── Existing habit to attach to

1. Celebrate IMMEDIATELY

└── Positive emotion reinforces

Formula: "After I [ANCHOR], I will [TINY BEHAVIOR]"

Example: "After I pour my coffee, I will do 2 pushups"

```

| Type | Motivation | Ability | Focus |

| ---------- | ---------- | ------- | --------------------- |

| Green | High | High | Just add prompt |

| Blue | High | Low | Increase ability |

| Purple | Low | High | Increase motivation |

| Gray | Low | Low | Major redesign needed |

| Method | Combined Use |

| ------------------ | -------------------------------------- |

| Hooked Model | Fogg explains the trigger/action phase |

| Cognitive Load | Ability = inverse of cognitive load |

| Loss Aversion | Powerful motivation lever |

| Curiosity Gap | Motivation through information gaps |

| Five Whys | Why isn't behavior happening? |

```

B = MAP CHECKLIST

Motivation Boosters:

□ Clear value proposition

□ Social proof present

□ Loss framing considered

□ Personalized relevance

□ Emotional connection

Ability Enhancers:

□ Minimum steps possible

□ Smart defaults set

□ No unnecessary fields

□ Mobile-friendly

□ Fits existing routines

Prompt Optimization:

□ Right type for situation

□ Appears at right moment

□ Clear call to action

□ Not interruptive

□ Contextually relevant

```

• [BJ Fogg's Behavior Model](https://behaviormodel.org/)
• [Tiny Habits - BJ Fogg](https://tinyhabits.com/)
• [Hooked - Nir Eyal](https://www.nirandfar.com/hooked/)
• [Atomic Habits - James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits)