Product Hook and User Release

As a writer, I frequently read.

As a Product Manager, I read about Product Management.

Because I have ADHD, I also read about... You guessed it - ADHD! (And Neurodiversity as a whole.)

So, when my audio book subscription service (no paid or unpaid advertisements here) suggested a book for me by Nir Eyal , an author I follow, I took a look. It was published in 2019, but it's new to me, and our apps are good at keeping us engaged, or rather... "Hooked".

First, I'll discuss the WHAT, and then the WHY.

• What is this book?
• Why does it matter to Product Managers, Neurodivergent people and everyone else in the world?

Indistractable

The title alone attracted my ADHD. Indistractable. I'm easily distracted.

The fact that the author also wrote a highly rated and reviewed book on Product Management made me even more interested. (More on that in the next section.)

In a nutshell, this book is about how to manage your time, technology and behaviors in a way to be in control of yourself and what you pay attention to. Obviously, time management is easily broken by unpredictable things, but Nir gives tips on how to manage as much as you can to make room for the unpredictable and unplanned.

There are 7 major parts to this book of 35 chapters.

And I don't remember a single mention of ADHD. But the book is extremely helpful. Anyone can use the tips provided here and be better than they are.

Nir frequently states in the book that "Time Management is Pain Management." Many of us have gotten addicted to our technologies, and that addiction often causes some "pain". It therefore makes perfect sense that by managing the amount of time we spend on our devices and specific apps, we can reduce the pain we're currently experiencing.

Even if you don't need "Time Management", but want to figure out a way to stop using your smartphone so much.... I recommend this book.

Since my articles focus more on the Product Management side, you can read a summary of what Nir says himself about ADHD and being Indistractable in his Newsletter and his blog.

Ironic Product Management

As mentioned before, Nir wrote one of the best selling books about Product Management, called "Hooked". If you've been in the discipline for any length of time, you've likely at least heard of it, if not read it.

You may naturally be asking yourself, "Why would a Product Manager, who wrote a book on helping tech companies get their customers addicted to their product, write a book that helps users reduce or eliminate that addiction?

"Hooked" is considered "the bible of Product Management" in some companies. It was likely was the mindset of the PM in charge of my audio book app that suggested "Indistractable".

...and it worked. I bought the book and read it.

I've read both of these books, and while I consider how to keep users engaged, I suffer myself from being too engaged with many apps. These products are great at what they do, and some of them make it extremely difficult to disengage.

Honestly, Nir was suffering from the same addiction, which was the motivator for the follow-on book. He has stated in the introduction “When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck.”

With "Indistractible", he's now built a Lighthouse.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

While these two books may seem at odds to each other, they are supportive to both Product Managers and Consumers.

Side 1

Product Managers are supposed to be the "Voice of the Customer".

In order to build something that customers will pay for and use, they need to know what the pain points are, what problem needs to be solved, and how to continually make sure that the user doesn't have that problem.

Getting customers interested in a product is one thing, but the key of "Hooked" is to ensure that customers stay hooked.

Side 2

Consumers have full lives. We want to interact with When getting a smart device, it's difficult to imagine how much time we could end up having that device in our face. Where desired, we need to understand how to turn off the addiction of the things we enjoy.

There are many addictive things in the world. People should have the power to choose their interests and even their addictions.

This isn't to say that everyone with a physical addiction has chosen to be addicted. However, the majority of adults know that smoking, alcohol, opioids, and other things can be addictive, and they accept that risk when they start. Quitting can be extremely hard on the individual and those around them. It often ends in tragedy.

We've been told for decades that certain things can be addictive and bad for us. There are laws against purchase, use, and even location of many of these items. While those limitations and restrictions seem focused on the consumer, it also helps prevent misuse by people who may not understand how addictive or "bad" for us these products are.

While it can be said that it's "easy" to "just put the phone down" or to "uninstall the addictive app", quitting technology has gotten to the point that we don't even realize how addicted we've become. There are laws against using a smartphone while driving, but people still do it. Knowing this, car manufacturers have installed technology that allows the use more safely.

Summary

Product Managers have behavioral scientists telling them how to get people reliant on the product.

What do consumers have to counteract this reliance that seems unavoidable?

We cannot rely on companies to create ways for us to use one product to counteract another. We need to take control ourselves.

When I create products and features, I absolutely try to figure out ways that will be engaging and intuitively interactive. I also build in ways to give users the ability to turn off or reduce the amount and types of notifications they get.

For every Product manager that reads "Hooked" for the benefit of their company, they should also read "Indistractable" for the benefit of their users.

Consumers would benefit greatly by reading "Hooked", to understand how the tech is being used against us, and then read "Indistractable" to stay empowered.

We can use technology to improve our lives.

We should also have the ability to improve our lives without it.