What Is a Nudge?

A nudge is a subtle user experience & design choice to influence your behavior and decisions in a predictable way. They aim to guide users in the right direction at the optimal moment

For example, an app may send you an in-app message reminding you to go for a walk or do some light exercise after you've been inactive for a while. This little nudge gives you the motivation and reminder you need to build healthy habits. 

Types of Nudges Used in Apps and Websites

1) Default preferences

Many apps set default choices to nudge you in a certain direction. Things like auto-playing the next episode of a show or enabling location access are meant to make certain options more convenient. While these nudges can be helpful, be aware of how default settings are influencing your choices.

2) In-app messages

In-app messages are used to provide personalized and timely information to the users based on actions (or inactions) to encourage conversion. They can be used to cross-sell, upsell, promote offers, show targeted recommendations, and more. 

3) Suggestions

Recommendations and suggestions are nudges that apps and websites use to point you to certain content or actions. For example, streaming platforms recommend shows or movies you might like based on your viewing history. Suggestions make it easy to discover new things but also aim to keep you engaged with the app.

4) Coachmarks

Coachmarks are positional nudges that make features stand out and bring users’ attention to them, hence fostering their adoption and activation. They’re also used to encourage users to engage and convert depending on the context. 

5) Tooltips

Tooltips help guide users through your product to take them from one action to the other. It uses the art of persuasion that leaves users feeling empowered rather than overwhelmed and helps in decreasing the time-to-value. 

Metrics that can be influenced using nudges

1) App usage

In-app nudges are designed to keep you engaged and using the app. The more you use an app, the more data the company collects about you and your behaviors. This allows them to better target you with content and ads to keep you coming back.

2) Purchases

Apps that offer in-app purchases, subscriptions or upgrades employ nudges to encourage you to spend money. The nudges might highlight "amazing deals" or a limited time offer. Some apps also use progress bars to show how close you are to unlocking a reward to keep you hooked.

3) Engagement

Nudges can keep users active and engaged for longer. In-app messages, tooltips and checklists are all nudges designed to make using the app a habit. The more time you spend in an app, the higher the engagement.

4) Conversion

E-commerce sites and apps frequently use nudges like spotlights, contextual in-app messages, etc. to encourage you to convert and complete a purchase. 

5) Task Completion

Nudges are also used to guide users to complete actions like setting up a profile, making a purchase or performing a key task. Things such as progress bars, checklists and “nearly done!” messages subtly prompt you to finish what you started. The more tasks users complete, the higher the task completion metric.