Technique · Hooked
Integrations that set up a well-timed next prompt
Ask users to connect a tool that knows when the need will come back, such as a calendar, CRM or wearable, and use it to prompt at that moment: after a meeting ends, after a call, after a workout.
Plain label: connections that time the next nudgeAlso known as: calendar integration, loaded trigger, context trigger, connect your tools, post-meeting prompt
How it works
Connecting a tool is an investment that gives the product what it needs to time its next external trigger to the moment the internal need appears, such as the worry about forgotten follow-ups right after a meeting ends.
Evidence warning
Ask for the narrowest access that times the prompt, and make revoking it easy.
Before you start
- An integration users already rely on at the moment of need (calendar, CRM, bank, wearable)
How to build it
- B2B
- Connect the calendar; when each meeting ends, prompt 'add follow-ups?' in the tool.
- Mobile
- A wearable connection that suggests logging right after a detected workout.
- Web
- A CRM connection that prompts notes right after a logged call.
What can go wrong
- Using the access for unrelated promotions.
- Broad permission scopes.
Pairs well with
- Prompt at the moment of need.
- Ask for the connection right after a reward.
In practice
Where it shows up
Slack · 2015
RoundSlack: the 2,000-message threshold
About 93% of teams past 2,000 messages were still using Slack, per co-founder Stewart Butterfield (First Round Review interview, Feb 27, 2015). No underlying data was published; correlational. It is not a paid-conversion figure.
M2 ×StartCase grade for the number: B. Evidence grade for the mechanism link: B.CorrelationalCompany-reported
Limits
What we don’t claim
- The Hook Model is a practical design tool, not a validated or complete theory of behavior.Hooked, Introduction
- Left Brain and Right Brain are a metaphor for extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, not a claim about neuroscience.Actionable Gamification Ch.13, pp.342-343
- Habit metrics need the longer habit horizon (weeks to months) before they can be read.
Sources
Hooked · Nir Eyal
Ch.5
Source IDs: HK-INV18
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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