“You started. The hardest part is over. What I often tell runners at the start of the run is that running should not feel difficult, much to their protest. My name is Coach Bennet, and it is my pleasure to accompany you on your recovery run today.”
That is how Coach Bennett, the global head coach of the Nike Run Club, often guides me through a run.
He does not know me. But he has coached me through over 80 runs, from my first ever run which I jogged around my block for 20 minutes to my 5km run around my neighborhood, all while listening to him talk about how crossing the starting line in itself is a success worth celebrating.
These guided runs are part of an extensive guided run library on the Nike Run Club app, available for free to all users. Each guided run contains a podcast-like audio recording where coaches and world-renounced athletes guide runners through a run program while sharing insights and stories around running, mindfulness, inclusiveness in sports, and even climate change.
There is a guided run for every occasion. There is a “don’t want to run” run, meant for days when it is unthinkable to put on those running shoes. There is “fear less 5km” (not fearless, but fear less) which helps runners complete a 5km run while listening to Coach Bennet discuss managing fears. And there is “run with Eliud”, the world’s greatest marathoner, who takes runners through a 60-minute run while sharing about his running journey.
With more than 10 million downloads on Google Play Store and App Store, the number really speaks for the success of the Nike Run Club app as a product. It is more than just a running app. People return to the app because they get hooked. And they get hooked because the app has mastered Nir Eyal’s model of habit building by introducing elements of trigger, action, reward, and investment into the user experience.
The need for beginner runners to feel accepted and supported
Everyone knows running is hard. It is tiring. It is intimidating. Just the thought of going for a run can knock all the wind out of your lungs. But Nike Run Club app’s motto has always been that running is not supposed to be difficult. Most runs are meant to help you recover, either from a hard day at work, at school, or dealing with life in general.
It is not about how far or how fast you run. It is about celebrating small successes: simply showing up is a success, being able to slow down when your body needs to is also a success, and crossing the finishing line is definitely a success.
This overarching theme in all guided runs allows casual runners to access the world of running that seemingly only belongs to the athletes.
You do not have to pull off 100 meters in 9.58 seconds to be considered a runner. Nor do you have to run every day to call yourself a runner. Since you show up for a run, you are a runner.
Users who are new to running might not have built enough internal motivation to keep running. They need a lot of encouragement from a coach, a teammate, and a community to be able to keep trying. The Nike Run Club’s audio guides aim to address just that at scale.
Reward: it is all about making runners feel good about themselves
Very much similar to how we watch lifestyle content on YouTube, or feel-good movies on Netflix, the reward of the app pretty much centers around making runners feel good. But it goes one level higher and makes sure runners feel good about themselves.
The audio content is wholesome and overflowing with positivity. It is impossible not to feel fulfilled after completing each guided run.
However, it is worth noting audio guides are completely optional. Those who find having someone else’s voice in their head while running annoying can choose to run without. And as a running tracking app, it still works like a charm because of the following.
Badges & Leader board
With every running challenge completed, runners get a badge. The badges have no monetary value. But they carry bragging rights. You can share them on social media or simply have them accumulated in your personal activity log, for your own viewing pleasure.
You can also invite your friends to join the app so that you can track one another’s progress via the leader board if you have a competitive spirit.
The design of the app very much focuses on what you have achieved, instead of what you have missed. I personally think this is why Nike Run Club works for me while Headspace (a meditation app) did not. Headspace adopts a similar concept of beginner-friendly audio guides that help users build the habit of meditating. However, the fact that users have to do at least one meditation a day to maintain a streak means that if the streak is ever broken, it could backfire psychologically and make users stop using the app altogether.
While I understand Headspace’s intention is to give users the urgency to return to the app daily, the focus on the fear of breaking a perfect streak is not a positive reward. Nike Run Club got it right: people like to feel good about themselves.
Just like that, coupled with a notification center feature that reminds people to go for a run based on their previous running habit, the app has a system of reward-trigger-action in place.
Investment: make runners invest in the next action
After every run, runners are asked to rate their runs by giving a thumbs-up or down as long as selecting phrases that best describe their experience. Positive descriptors like “Good Coaching”, “Would Run Again”, and “Would Recommend” help users label the positive emotions they have after a run. Labeling positive emotions is believed to intensify the positiveness of the emotions; hence, allowing users to internalize the app’s reward on a deeper level.
However, there is definitely room for improvement.
The app has introduced a running plan feature that contains different training programs designed for different running goals. Each program has a suggested multi-week training schedule with recommended guided runs.
In my opinion, this is an excellent feature that helps a casual user transits into an engaged user because it requires a higher amount of investment from them to commit to a training plan. Those who use it are more likely to stick around.
Therefore, I would prefer that after each run, there is a call to action that takes users to explore a training program. That would make the investment element in The Hook Model a lot more impactful.
Conclusion
The Nike Run Club app is a good example of Nir Eyal’s The Hook Model at play. With a very clear value proposition and a well-designed system of trigger, action, reward, and investment, it is no wonder that its users can build a meaningful running habit.
What do you think they can do better? Are there other fitness apps that make use of The Hook Model successfully? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
