User’s Mind Driven by Motivation

We don’t need apps. In the larger scheme of our lives there is more best choice we could use. In the end, we are always aware that it is “just an App” but something happens and it feel like it so much more, an magic motivation.

Needs

In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote a paper titled “A Theory of Human Motivation”, which proposed a hierarchy of human needs.

The idea here is that people are not motivated to pursue the higher-level needs on this list until the lower needs are satisfied.

The model is not perfect but it works well enough to be a useful tool for discussing users’ motivations in Apps.

The levels of apps can scale across layers. Can you think uses of app that fo even farther down on the hierarchy? go to the third level and make a multiplayer solution?

Any apps that connects you with other people lets you fell a sense of accomplishment and lets you build and create things that let you express yourself fulfills the needs on the rest levels. The popularity and staying power with online communities and creation tools makes a lot of sense. It is also interesting to consider how the different levels can feed into one another.

All we are saying is that just we have physical needs and also mental, actual needs. We have three mental needs: Feel good at something (Competence), do things my own way (Autonomy) and connect with people (Relatedness).

It sounds strange to talk about a app fulfilling basic human needs, but everything that people do is an attempt to fulfill these needs in some way.

Motivation

Another way to think about motivation is by looking at where it comes from, to know where come motivation to keep users interested.

Designers must know that motivation can be intrinsic and extrinsic, and can grow on another.

The key idea are not binary. As designer is important to have a sense motivations in your App really are.

The motivations are about pleasure seeking. Some may be seeking pleasure, others to avoid pain. Over time you need to build up obligation to come back by a certain time or lose point, invite more friends or miss out on prizes like punishment. Gradually these Apps slide from pleasure — seeking motivation to pain avoidance motivations.

What motivation do users to use my App?

Which motivations are most internal? Which are most externall?

Which are pleasure — seeking? Which are pain — avoiding?

Which motivations support each other?