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Playbook · Idea / prototype to Searching (pre-PMF)

Idea and Searching × Value

Before optimizing anything, find a segment that needs the product badly enough to come back. Run the PMF survey by segment, switch interviews and the itch finder, study the few habitual users, and narrow to the people who love it.

M0-M1 ×Value2 lead moves
M0 Idea / prototype
Is there a real itch, felt often enough?
M1 Searching (pre-PMF)
Who, if anyone, is it a must-have for?
Value
Does any segment need this badly enough to come back?

M0-M1 × Value

The playbook

Goal. Confirm that someone needs the product before improving engagement. Game layers can't rescue a weak core.

Diagnose. The PMF survey with segment analysis (who benefits most, the main benefit, what to improve); switch interviews with adopters and churners F07; the itch finder, asking "why" down to an emotion HK-T04 (Hooked Ch.2); and, if a handful of users already come back on their own, what they have in common (Habit Testing's Codify step) HK-MEA03 (Hooked Ch.8).

Moves. Narrow to the segment that loves it. Remove what that segment doesn't use HK-ACT43 (Hooked Ch.8). Let more people reach the core value before registering HK-ACT40 (Hooked Ch.7). Split the roadmap between what lovers value and what blocks near-lovers who share the main benefit.

Exit. A segment at or above 40% "very disappointed" (a heuristic, directional from about 40 answers) and a flattening retention curve for that segment.

KPIs. PMF score by segment (primary); curve shape (diagnostic); n per segment (guardrail on the claim).

Lead with these moves

  • TechniqueEvidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.

    Itch finder: ask why until a feeling appears

    find the feeling behind the use

    Find the internal trigger by studying what users feel just before they act. Write a short story of that moment, then keep asking why until a feeling shows up, such as boredom, loneliness, frustration, confusion, indecision or fear. Check the answer against observed behavior, not survey replies.

  • TechniqueEvidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.Practitioner heuristic

    Codify: count habitual users and map the path they share

    habitual-user rate and Habit Path

    Set a realistic cadence for a devoted user, count the share of each signup cohort who meet it, and compare what those users did in their first days with users who left. The book's rule of thumb: below about 5% habitual, you have the wrong audience or a product to rethink.

Also in season

Not now

  • Scale paid acquisitionPaid traffic into a product that doesn't keep people yet just fills a leaky bucket.
  • Points and badges layerPoints bolted onto a weak loop don't hold people.
  • Streaks with freeze and repairStreaks reward coming back to something people don't value yet.
  • Small copy or button A/B testsAt your volume a small tweak would take months to read.
  • Annual-plan discountsLocking people in before the habit forms just delays the churn.
  • Hard paywall before the habitA paywall before the habit converts some and loses the rest.
  • Two-sided referral programReferral programs amplify love that isn't there yet.
  • Near-peer leagues (leaderboards)Leaderboards need a dense community to feel fair.

How to measure it

Questions to answer first

  1. What does a great customer do in your product, and how often?
  2. For each segment, does retention at your natural cadence decline toward zero, flatten, or rise again? Which segment flattens highest, and how big is it?
  3. Among users who used the product at least twice in the last two weeks, what share would be very disappointed if they could no longer use it, per segment, and from how many answers?
  4. What type of person benefits most from your product? Describe them as specifically as you can.
  5. What is the main benefit that users who love the product say they get, and what would make it better for those who only somewhat like it?
  6. Pick the most recent customer who switched to you from something else. What was going on for them right before they began searching?
  7. Is the product a nice-to-have or a painkiller today? What do users feel when they skip it for a while?
  8. Complete the sentence: "Every time [user] feels ___, they ___." Would everyone on your team give the same answer?
  9. If you shut down tomorrow, who would be genuinely upset, and how many such customers could you name?
  10. Are you counting on points, badges or other game layers to rescue a product people don't yet value strongly?

Limits

What we don’t claim

  • The Hook Model is a practical design tool, not a validated or complete theory of behavior.Hooked, Introduction
  • Octalysis is a practitioner framework built from observing games, not a validated scientific model.Actionable Gamification Ch.15, pp.399-400
  • The threshold is a heuristic, not a measured cut-off.
  • Seasons are defaults for the cell. Evidence from your own product can move a technique in or out of season.
  • A playbook names candidate moves; which one goes first depends on the binding constraint in your product.

Sources

Source IDs: HK-T04HK-T01HK-T02HK-MEA03HK-MEA04HK-ACT43HK-ACT40OCT-M03F07

Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.

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