Persuasive Patterns: Restructuring
Hedonic Adaptation
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
Hedonic adaptation describes our tendency to adjust to both positive and negative life experiences, eventually returning to a baseline level of happiness.
Imagine moving into a beautiful new apartment. Initially, you’re thrilled – the spacious layout, the sleek appliances, the stunning view. After a few months, the newness wears off. The apartment begins to feel like just… your apartment. Our happiness levels, which spiked with the move, gradually return to baseline.
The same pattern plays out in digital products. You download a fitness app with great enthusiasm. The interface is sleek, the onboarding engaging, the gamified features motivating. You use it daily. But after some time, the workouts feel repetitive, the badges lose their novelty, and motivation dwindles. The features that initially grabbed your attention no longer hold the same power.
The study: Relative happiness of lottery winners over time
Brickman, Coates, and Janoff-Bulman (1978) examined how lottery winners and paraplegics adjusted to their new circumstances. Despite radically altered life conditions, both groups eventually returned to their baseline levels of happiness. Lottery winners reported a significant increase immediately after winning, but within months their happiness returned to pre-winning levels. Those who suffered severe accidents leading to paralysis also returned to baseline after an initial period of despair. The finding is stark: even the most dramatic positive or negative events fail to permanently shift our happiness set-point.
Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(8), 917-927.
For product designers, this pattern is critical: without deliberate strategies to counteract adaptation, even well-designed experiences will fade into the background. Several mechanisms drive hedonic adaptation:
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Sensory adaptation
Our senses adjust to constant stimuli. Just as a strong smell eventually fades, the initial excitement of a new experience diminishes as we become accustomed to it. -
Contrast effect
We evaluate experiences relative to recent events. A promotion feels incredible after a period of feeling undervalued, but the joy lessens if followed by further successes. As changes become the new baseline, their perceived impact on well-being fades. -
Aspiration adjustment
When we achieve a goal, our aspirations adjust upward, making it difficult to sustain increased happiness. This explains why each new product upgrade feels necessary rather than exciting – the previous upgrade has already reset expectations. -
Attentional shift
As new experiences become routine, we shift focus away from them and toward other aspects of life that remain constant. The novelty wears off, and what once captured attention no longer registers. -
Cognitive reappraisal
We reframe experiences over time. After a positive change, people may downplay its importance to align with their previous self-view, diminishing its impact on overall happiness.
Designing products for Hedonic Adaptation
The initial thrill of using a new product inevitably fades. Effective design counters this by introducing variability, meaning, and social reinforcement – the very elements that hedonic adaptation tends to erode.
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Support interpersonal relationships
Features that connect users and foster shared experiences combat adaptation. A gardening app that encourages families to grow vegetables together creates a stream of social interactions that extend engagement beyond any single feature. -
Encourage savoring
Shift focus from novelty to appreciating the present moment. A travel app that helps users create photo albums or share trip highlights extends positive feelings – users revisit the experience rather than chasing the next one. -
Support personal goal pursuit
Products that empower users to pursue goals create ongoing engagement. A fitness app with personalized training schedules and milestone celebrations keeps users motivated through the journey itself, not just the achievement. -
Introduce novel and surprising elements
A touch of the unexpected can rekindle interest without requiring constant overhauls. A surprising bonus, a limited-time event, or an unexpected upgrade (like a ride-sharing service occasionally providing a premium car) injects novelty that resets adaptation. -
Foster gratitude
Help users appreciate what they already have. A social media platform reminding users of positive past interactions can combat the tendency to chase the next big thing, anchoring satisfaction in the present.
Ethical recommendations
Exploiting hedonic adaptation to drive continuous consumption – creating cycles of constant upgrades that users pursue in search of sustained happiness – can lead to excessive spending, waste, and environmental harm. Products offering constant new stimuli or rewards risk fostering addictive behaviors at the cost of users’ financial stability and well-being. Design strategies relying on social comparison can fuel feelings of inadequacy through constant exposure to others’ curated achievements.
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Promote genuine value
Design products that offer lasting value, not just temporary satisfaction. Updates and new features should enhance functionality and quality of life, not merely reset the hedonic treadmill. -
Be transparent
Be upfront about realistic expectations of satisfaction. Help users understand that the initial thrill will naturally fade, and equip them with tools to sustain engagement on their own terms. -
Support responsible consumption
Design durable, repairable, upgradable products. Offer services that extend the product’s useful life rather than encouraging premature replacement. -
Encourage healthy balance
Provide tools to manage engagement – customizable notifications, usage summaries, or features that promote digital wellness – so users maintain a healthy relationship with the product.
Real life Hedonic Adaptation examples
Google Doodles
Google keeps users engaged with its search engine through the use of Google Doodles, which are temporary changes to the logo on Google’s homepage to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists. This element of surprise and novelty helps maintain user interest over time.
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft has shifted from providing a one-time purchase software product to a subscription-based service, allowing for continual updates, new features, and integration with cloud services. This shift not only enhances functionality but also keeps the user experience evolving, which helps maintain user engagement and reduces the likelihood of hedonic adaptation.
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch gaming console offers a design that caters to varying gaming preferences through its hybrid model. It can be used as a home console connected to a TV and as a portable device. Its versatile design, along with the frequent release of new games and accessories, keeps the gaming experience fresh and adaptive to different contexts of use.
Trigger Questions
- How can we break down long-term goals into achievable milestones?
- Can we introduce gradual innovations to keep users engaged?
- Are we offering opportunities for users to connect and support each other?
- How can we encourage users to savor and appreciate the current experience?
- Does our design foster a sense of accomplishment and personal growth?
- Are we leveraging a variety of rewards and challenges to sustain user interest?
Pairings
Hedonic Adaptation + Social Proof
Hedonic adaptation can be countered by the influence of others. Combine it with social proof by showcasing user achievements, progress leaderboards, or positive testimonials. Imagine a fitness app (using Hedonic Adaptation) incorporates a social feed where users celebrate milestones, motivating others and reigniting their own commitment (Social Proof).
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
We assume the actions of others in new or unfamiliar situations
Hedonic Adaptation + Goal-Gradient Effect
People put in more effort when nearing a goal. Pair Hedonic Adaptation with the goal-gradient effect by highlighting progress visually and emphasizing the rewards closer to achieving milestones. For example a language learning app (using Hedonic Adaptation) displays a progress bar that fills in with each completed lesson. As users approach the completion of a unit, the bar fills up faster, creating a sense of urgency and accomplishment (Goal-Gradient Effect).
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
Our motivation increases as we move closer to a goal
Hedonic Adaptation + Rewards
Hedonic adaptation can diminish the impact of rewards over time. Combine it with a variety of reward structures. Offer point systems, badges, and occasional surprise bonuses to keep users engaged. An example could be a gaming platform (using Hedonic Adaptation) awards points for completing tasks. However, it also incorporates weekly bonus challenges with unique rewards, surprising users and keeping them motivated (Rewards).
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
Use rewards to encourage continuation of wanted behavior
Hedonic Adaptation + Fresh Start Effect
This pattern can reset user perceptions and combat hedonic adaptation by framing new periods (like the start of a week, month, or year) as opportunities for a new beginning. Product designs that incorporate features allowing users to set new goals or start new challenges based on calendar events can reinvigorate user engagement.
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
We are more likely to achieve goals set at the start of a new time period
Hedonic Adaptation + Peak-End Rule
Combining hedonic adaptation with the Peak-End Rule involves designing experiences where high points and the final part of the experience are particularly memorable, counteracting the user’s tendency to quickly return to a baseline level of satisfaction. For example, an event app might send a memorable recap or a special thanks message after an event, ensuring users remember it vividly.
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
We judge an experience by its peak and how it ends
Hedonic Adaptation + Curiosity Effect
Utilizing curiosity can help maintain user interest even as they adapt to product features. By continuously introducing new, unexpected features or hidden elements that users can discover over time, products can keep users engaged for longer periods. An example is an educational platform introducing surprise bonus content after course completion.
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
We crave more when teased with a small bit of interesting information
Hedonic Adaptation + Scarcity Bias + Loss Aversion
By creating a perception of scarcity or potential loss, designers can leverage hedonic adaptation to instill urgency and value in continued engagement. This could be implemented in limited-time access to certain features, which prompts users to take advantage of them before they disappear.
We resume stable levels of happiness despite major positive or negative events
We value something more when it is in short supply
Our fear of losing motivates us more than the prospect of gaining
Hedonic Adaptation is one of the cards in this deck
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- Resurrecting the Motivation-Hygiene Theory: Herzberg and the Positive Psychology Movement by Sachau, D. A. at Human Resource Development Review
- Brickman, P., & Campbell, D. T. (1971). Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In M. H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation level theory: A symposium (pp. 287-302). Academic Press.
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- Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(8), 917-927.
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- Nelson, L. D., & Meyvis, T. (2009). Enhancing the Television-Viewing Experience Through Commercial Interruptions. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(2), 160-172.