What Drives User Behavior?

Why do users click that button? Why do they return to your app daily? Why do they abandon your carefully designed onboarding flow? Understanding user behavior is the foundation of successful product design, and Prof. B.J. Fogg's behavior model provides a powerful framework for answering these questions.

The Fogg Behavior Model

This deceptively simple equation reveals a profound truth: for any behavior to occur, three elements must converge at the same moment:

• Motivation: The user wants to do the behavior
• Ability: The user can do the behavior
• Trigger: The user is prompted to do the behavior

If any element is missing or insufficient, the behavior won't happen. Understanding this helps explain why users don't do what we expect, and more importantly, how to design products that work with human psychology rather than against it.

Motivation: The Three Core Drivers

Fogg identifies three fundamental motivators that drive human behavior:

1. Seeking Pleasure and Avoiding Pain

This is perhaps the most primal motivator. We're hardwired to pursue pleasure and avoid discomfort.

Example: Netflix
Netflix taps into pleasure-seeking by promising entertainment and relaxation. The autoplay feature leverages our desire to continue feeling good, making it effortless to keep watching rather than face the "pain" of deciding what to do next.

The entire streaming experience is designed to minimize pain points:

• No ads interrupting enjoyment
• Instant playback (no buffering delays)
• Seamless transitions between episodes
• Personalized recommendations reducing decision fatigue

2. Seeking Hope and Avoiding Fear

Hope drives us toward better futures, while fear pushes us away from negative outcomes.

Example: Duolingo
Duolingo brilliantly balances hope and fear:

Hope elements:

• Progress tracking showing improvement
• Achievement badges representing mastery
• Streak counts demonstrating commitment
• Level-ups promising capability

Fear elements:

• Losing your streak (loss aversion)
• Falling behind friends on leaderboards
• The owl's passive-aggressive reminders

3. Seeking Social Acceptance and Avoiding Rejection

Humans are social creatures. We're motivated by belonging, status, and social validation.

Example: Instagram
Instagram is fundamentally built on social motivation:

• Likes and comments provide direct social validation
• Follower counts signal social status
• Stories create FOMO, driving regular engagement
• Visual content allows self-expression and identity formation

The fear of social rejection (missing out, being forgotten, appearing unsuccessful) combines with the hope of social acceptance (being liked, remembered, appearing attractive) to create powerful engagement patterns.

Ability: Making Behaviors Easy

High motivation means nothing if users can't actually perform the behavior. The easier you make an action, the more likely it is to happen.

Fogg identifies six simplicity factors that impact ability:

• Time: How long does it take?
• Money: What's the financial cost?
• Physical Effort: How much labor is required?
• Brain Cycles: How much thinking is needed?
• Social Deviance: How socially acceptable is it?
• Non-Routine: How familiar vs. novel is it?

Reducing Friction: The "Login with" Revolution

Consider the classic example: "Login with Facebook/Google"

Traditional signup:

• Create username
• Create password (with complexity requirements)
• Enter email
• Verify email
• Fill out profile information

This process requires significant time, mental effort, and breaks the user's flow.

Social login:

• Click "Login with Google"
• Grant permissions
• Done

By reducing friction in the ability dimension, products dramatically increase conversion rates. The motivation didn't change; the barrier was simply lowered.

Triggers: The Spark That Ignites Behavior

Even with high motivation and high ability, behavior won't occur without a trigger. Triggers prompt action at the moment when motivation and ability align.

Types of Triggers

External Triggers:

• Push notifications
• Emails
• SMS messages
• Visual cues in the interface
• Calls to action

Internal Triggers:

• Emotions (boredom, loneliness, uncertainty)
• Situations (waiting in line, commuting)
• Routines (morning coffee, before bed)

The most powerful products migrate from external to internal triggers. Initially, push notifications might bring you back to Instagram. Eventually, the internal trigger of boredom or curiosity automatically makes you open the app.

The Strategic Interplay: Ability First, Then Motivation

Here's a critical insight many product teams miss: you should increase ability before trying to increase motivation.

Why? Because:

• Ability is easier to control: You directly control your product's UX and friction points
• Ability improvements compound: Making your product easier helps all users, not just motivated ones
• Motivation is expensive: Marketing, incentives, and persuasion require ongoing investment
• Frustrated motivation creates negative associations: When users want to do something but can't, they blame your product

Practical Applications

Diagnosing Behavior Problems

When users aren't behaving as expected, use the B = MAT framework to diagnose:

Ask:

• Is there sufficient motivation? Do users actually want to do this?
• Is the ability high enough? Can users easily complete the action?
• Is the trigger present and effective? Are users prompted at the right time?

Designing for Behavior Change

1. Start with the behavior you want
Be specific. "Use the product more" is vague. "Share a post weekly" is concrete.

2. Ensure sufficient motivation exists
Tap into core motivators: pleasure, hope, or social acceptance. Make sure the behavior serves a genuine user need.

3. Maximize ability
Remove every possible point of friction. Make the behavior so easy that users can do it without thinking.

4. Deploy effective triggers
Prompt users at moments when both motivation and ability are high. Over time, build internal triggers through consistent experiences.

Ethical Considerations

Understanding behavior design comes with responsibility. The same principles that create helpful, empowering products can create manipulative, exploitative ones.

Questions to ask:

• Does this behavior improve users' lives?
• Would I want my loved ones using this product?
• Am I helping users achieve their goals, or mine?
• Does this respect users' time and attention?

Key Takeaways

The Fogg Behavior Model provides a powerful lens for understanding and designing user behavior:

• All three elements must converge: Motivation, ability, and trigger must align for behavior to occur
• Focus on ability first: Removing friction is more reliable than increasing motivation
• Motivation comes in three flavors: Pleasure/pain, hope/fear, acceptance/rejection
• Triggers evolve: External triggers should eventually give way to internal ones
• Use ethically: Design for user benefit, not just engagement metrics