Nostalgia: A Product Designer’s Secret Weapon-Nir&Far

Hi, I'm Nir Eyal and this is the near and Far Podcast. This podcast is about business, behavior and the brain. On this show, I do a few things. I read quick articles I've written about topics shaping your behavior. I interview authors of books I enjoy, and from time to time I devote episodes to answering your questions. If you want to ask me a question, visit the podcast page on itunes, go to Ratings and Reviews and ask me a question. By leaving a review, I promise to read it and possibly include your question in a future episode. Please ask me anything now. Enjoy the episode and for more, you can always Visit me@nearandfar.com.

Nostalgia A Product Designer's Secret weapon by nearandfar.com.

In this guest post, Ryan Hoover, contributing writer of my book Hooked, describes how nostalgia is used to drive attention and build an engaging product. Follow rrhoover on Twitter or visit his blog to learn more about startups and product design. Remember pogs? Remember tub thumping? Remember Nickelodeon guts? Now pause. How do you feel right now? Did reading those words stimulate any emotional reaction? Did it bring back memories? Excite you? Make you smile? Nostalgia is powerful. Simply mentioning the names of childhood toys, old TV shows, classic video games, and other pastime activities often instigate an emotional response reminiscence. But why? Why is nostalgia so compelling? And how can product creators use nostalgia to build more engaging products?

The Influence of Nostalgia the term nostalgia was coined by 17th century physician Johannes Hofer, based off the Greek words nostos return and algos pain. He prescribed nostalgia as a mental illness, attributing it to Swiss soldiers, symptoms of anxiety, homesickness, insomnia, and anorexia. Hofer believed continuous vibration of animal spirits through those fibers of the middle brain and in which impressed traces of ideas of the fatherland still cling was the cause of these ailments. Since then, we've acquired a better understanding of nostalgia, now defined in the Oxford Dictionary as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past. Typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. Nostalgia generally instills positive emotions of happiness, social connectedness, confidence, and optimism of the future. When feeling down, people seek nostalgia to raise their spirits. Dr. Cray Routledge, a professor of psychology at North Dakota State University, posits that nostalgia increases positive mood, perceptions of meaning, and a sense of connectedness to others. Thus, people may naturally turn to nostalgia if positive mood is threatened, a sense of meaning in life is undermined, or feelings of social connectedness are compromised. Negative emotions are powerful triggers influencing our behavior. Feelings of loneliness, boredom, or insignificance prompt people to browse their Facebook feed, search for a match on OkCupid, or send a photo to a friend on Snapchat. People turn to these services, often subconsciously, to improve their mood. In one study, Dr. Routledge examined the effects of music induced nostalgia, playing popular songs and providing lyrics to participants. Those exposed to the music were more likely to report that they felt loved and that life is worth living than a control group. Routledge further explains, nostalgia is a psychological resource that people employ to counter negative emotions and feelings of vulnerability. Nostalgia allows people to use experiences from the past to help cope with challenges in the present. Smart product designers and marketers recognize the influence of nostalgia, integrating it into apps and services we use every day. Here are a few products that use nostalgia to spark engagement and build compelling experiences. Timehop Nostalgia is a core component of Timehop's design. Each day, the service revives past status updates and photos shared exactly one or more years ago. Instantly memories resurface as these shared moments encourage people reminisce with friends and family. The other day, Timehop resurfaced a photo. This was from an incredibly fun 80s KOFY TV dance party two years ago. Instantly, I shared this with my friends to reminisce.

Hayday Hayday uses a similar approach, reminding users of the past, but it adds another dimension. Location Last month when I visited my hometown, I received a delightful push notification from Hay Day, prompting me to look back at your photos shared in Eugene, Oregon. Using the location data stored within the photo, Hayday generates a historical map of one's travels to surface. Delightful contextual memories from the thousands of pictures stored on my iPhone. Facebook Year in Review Facebook amused the world toward the end of 2012 with a special year in review, surfacing the 20 most popular posts in one's timeline. People enjoyed the digital scrapbook reviewing and sharing memories of the past year. Facebook repeated the successful campaign again at the end of 2013. Visit your 2013 Year in Review and observe your emotions and behaviors. Does it make you smile? Are you compelled to comment on those memories? This nostalgic look back also helps communicate the value of Facebook as a destination to store and relive memories the following year. Mindy as Dr. Routledge's research shows, music has remarkable nostalgia inducing powers. Mindy, a mobile app to watch and create seven second music videos, leverages this potent power to quickly deliver an aha moment, hooking users on day one. Browse the feed of user created videos to listen to the classics or create your own, selecting your favorite song from yesteryear. Surfacing Memories and Nostalgia.

Polar Polar, a mobile app of visual polls, covers a wide range of topics from current day politics to modern memes. But many of its most engaging polls, as found in its feed of top submissions, are based on old pop culture references and childhood activities like who's cooler, Marty McFly or Ferris Bueller, Dedenne or Mega AB Sol.

What game did you play? Hide and seek or Tag? Boya Boya, a new product from the folks at Monkey Inferno, thrives off of Nostalgia. After registering any account, users are prompted to describe themselves entering things they've done. These shared experiences ignite conversation as community members ask users about their experiences. Further digging into the Archives of the Brain.

Foursquare Time Machine in the summer of 2013, Foursquare Time Machine hit the Internet, igniting a wave of attention in the press and social media. People loved the data rich interactive map of their check in history. My memories Moving from Portland to San Francisco was most notable for me marking a new chapter in my life. Others reminisced of past vacations as the map traveled across the world.

Glimpse Glimpse, a dating app that uses Instagram photos to express oneself creatively, uses Nostalgia in its onboarding process. When first signing up, it prompts users to log in with Instagram and select nine photos to express one's personality. Browsing years of beautiful photos from the past is delightful and although it's not core to the product, the experience is fun and and engages users when they're most susceptible to churn before they recognized the value of the app. Be it a one time marketing tactic like Foursquare's Time Machine or core part of the product design like Timehop, Nostalgia is a powerful tool to re engage users and create compelling experiences. Consider how you can use Nostalgia to promote your product and provide interesting content people want to share. Deliver an aha moment on day one, encouraging users to return build sustainable value and delightful experiences by making people feel good. Ryan Hoover is the co creator of Product Hunt, a daily leaderboard for new products. Visit his blog for more writing on product design and follow him on Twitter rrhoover.

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