The Power of Instant Gratification

Today I was thinking about what it was in the fundamental design of web apps like Twitter, Facebook and Zynga that made them so successful in acquiring and keeping users (causing enormous changes in online behavior).

I was reminded of an analysis that I did for a large social gaming company as part of their recruiting process. They asked me to play one of their Maffia games and determine what features were driving 'virality'. At first, I had absolutely no idea how the game had become so popular. The GUI was limited to having a user click a handful of buttons that would instantly give them points and 'virtual goods'. There was no story-line, no mental challenge, no advanced visualization; just an instant reward for performing a simple action (for example, to rob a store, one would just click 'Commit Robery', and instantly see an increase in wealth points without any chance of failure). It was the equivalent of flipping a series of light switches on and off and getting some psychological reward for it. "Strange" I thought...

After playing for an hour however, I was rather surprised. I had progressed quite far in the game and started to enjoy it. I'd built a mini 'empire' and had no idea how I'd gotten there. Each click had given me some slight enjoyment and they had magically added up to an hour of gameplay. Furthermore the game kept kicking me off every time I made progress so I never got to the point where I was bored of it.

Instant Gratification (aka the Bon Bon Theory)
My theory on what has made web apps is that they deliver instant gratification in limited doses. In the game described above, I felt instant utility through building my collection of virtual goods. The game design allowed me to instantly enjoy small doses of pleasure, while forcing me to come back later for more. In the case of twitter and Facebook, we are gratified by the emotional value of seeing a constant stream of information from those we value most. Once again, this utility is enjoyed over time as updates/tweets trickle in small doses throughout the day.

I call this the Bon Bon Theory because it reminds me of how quickly one goes through little wrapped sweets when they are lying around the house. They are just the right size to give you instant satisfaction but never sizable enough to satisfy a craving (and the solution is always simple-- you just go back).

This is an extremely powerful concept and should be considered key when looking at future web services as we become more and more connected (since being 'always on' makes it easier to administer each 'dose' of utility).