Book notes: Made to stick

I read this book and It covers 6 essentials keys to build a sticky product. I have added some of my take-ups along with authors storytelling.

  1. Simple
    Simple things scale. A product which is simple gets better adoption. In the book, the Author talks about SouthWest airlines secret to profitability. A simple message to the entire stakeholder: We are running the cheapest airlines in America.

2. Unexpected
To have your idea stickier you need to break someone’s guessing machine and then fix it. Robert Cialdini says: Mysteries are powerful because they create a need for closure. We have to add an element of inquisitiveness in our product.

3. Concrete
It helps us construct higher, more abstract insights on the building blocks of our existing knowledge and perceptions. Concrete ideas are easier to remember. Experiments in human memory have shown that people are better at remembering concrete, easily visualized nouns.

4. Credible
Ever wondered why celebrities and cricketers endorse all those soda and junks? A simple reason: we are their fan and we swear by them. They become a credible source for us.

5. Emotional
We tend to donate seeing a picture of crying baby or someone with ailments. People remember things better because they evoke more emotion, not because they are more frequent. People remember things better because the media spend more time covering them (perhaps because they provide more vivid images), not because they are more common. The availability bias may lead our intuition astray, prompting us to treat unusual things as common and unlikely things as probable.

6. Stories
Stories have the amazing dual power to simulate and to inspire. And most of the time we don’t even have to use much creativity to harness these powers—we just need to be ready to spot the good ones that life generates every day.