Variable Rewards
Rewards that arrive unpredictably are much harder to walk away from than steady ones.
Why it matters
Because the next try could be the great one, stopping always feels like it might be a mistake.
How to use it
- Know where your product relies on surprise.
- Add natural places to stop, called exit points.
- Judge it by whether people come back and feel good, not by session length.
Example
Each swipe on a short video feed might bring a dud or the best video of your week, so people keep going.
Watch out
This is powerful enough to harm people. An endless feed with no stopping point can leave users with regret.