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Triggers 1:09
A 69-second explainer of Triggers, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Triggers demo
What this video covers
Triggers are the prompts that start an action. External triggers come from outside - a notification, email, badge or button telling you what to do next. Internal triggers come from within - an emotion, routine or association that makes you reach for the product unprompted. The goal of habit-forming design is to move people from needing external nudges to acting on internal ones.
Early on, the app needed to poke you - a notification, a reminder. But notice the shift: by the end, it's a feeling that sends you back, no prompt required. That hand-off from external to internal triggers is exactly how a habit forms. The honest version attaches to a feeling your product genuinely helps with; the cynical one manufactures the discomfort just to be the cure.
