Technique · Hooked
Stack social, material and mastery rewards in each loop
Map each core loop on three reward types and fill the gaps: a social payoff (who responded), a material or informational payoff (what's new or useful), and a mastery payoff (progress or completion). Score the coverage before adding mechanics, and add small, harmless surprises.
Plain label: three kinds of payoffAlso known as: Tribe Hunt Self, rewards of the tribe, rewards of the hunt, rewards of the self, reward grid, variable rewards, surprise and delight
How it works
Rewards vary in kind as well as size. Social rewards come from acceptance and recognition, rewards of the hunt from finding resources or information, and rewards of the self from competence and completion. Email holds people partly because a single check can deliver all three, and breaking an expected pattern brings attention back.
Evidence warning
Stacking pulls raises time spent; pair it with stopping points and user controls.
How to build it
- B2B
- On a dashboard: who commented on it (social), what changed since the last visit (information), goals hit this week (mastery).
- Web
- In a content product: replies to your post, new items in followed topics, progress through a collection.
- Mobile
- Rotating empty states and an occasional unexpected, useful insight.
What can go wrong
- Adding all three to a loop whose core reward isn't reliable.
- Stacking pulls with no autonomy controls.
Pairs well with
- A reliable core reward first.
- Keep users in control with opt-outs and stopping points.
In practice
Where it shows up
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
Sources
Hooked · Nir Eyal
Ch.4
Source IDs: HK-RWD38HK-T09HK-RWD41
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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